Hello friends,
I am in the Philippines! I arrived safe, on time, and with all of my luggage, I count that as a victory.
For the past few days I have been staying in Manila, the capital of the Philippines. It is a big city with traffic that would even frustrate a native New Yorker. The weather is mostly warm and/or rainy but that really isn't much different from when I left South Carolina.
I've had some time to explore and get a bit more acclimated to my new home. I visited one of the two malls that are very close to where I am staying here in Manila, It has a cinema and one of my favorite clothing stores. I even went to see Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles last night and let me just say the cinemas here have the right idea. First of all, the seats are actually super comfy living room reclines and each comes with pop corn and coke and you can bring in your own food without getting banned for life. Cinemas are just better in the Philippines.
Quick update:
My placement has changed a bit from the Micro-finance program I was originally going to work with. I will now be working with Episcopal Relief & Development, specifically with their Episcopal Care Centers that are scattered across various parts of the Philippines.
Getting down to business:
For the next week I will be staying in Manila to attend a conference for the Episcopal Care Center, or E-Care. I will learn more about what the E-Care Center does and how it operates, as well as meeting people who work with different Centers across the Provinces.
After the conference I will make my way up to Santiago City, my new home for the next few months!
Peace,
Kayla
