Hello, My Name is Danny.

Meeting new people is never easy, but when one is surrounded by people with like interest and an enthusiasm  for adventure, friendships are sure to flourish.  For those of you who are wondering what I've been doing for the past week, I'll try to jam as much as I can into this short blurg (I'm super tired and want to sleep... so this is all you get!)

I arrived in Manila  on August 21, 2010.  We've been chillin' at a resort called Island Cove for the past week.  This provided a prime opportunity to get to know a lot of cool people over many, many pints of San Miguel and Red Horse.  I'm still not used to the weather yet.  It's not too hot, just uber humid.  It's basically been impossible for me to breathe, so I've been getting all kinds of sick - fun!  Our seclusion unfortunately doesn't provide much opportunity to explore Manila, so I welcomed any chance to get outta here and head to the mall or make a beer run down the street.  If you are interested in seeing pictures, check out my facebook page.

Today I learned that I will be placed in a province of the Philippines called Iloilo on the island of Panay (see map).  It's in the middle of the country in a cluster of islands called the Visayas.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iloilo.  The language I will be learning is called Hiligaynon.  It sounds unique and apparently it's the friendliest region in the Philippines.  Lucky me!

At some point, when I'm not about to smash my face into my keyboard for a long snooze, I'll write more... I promise....maybe.  Internet will be hard to acquire in my new location, so I'll try and take any opportunity I can to post photos and write a short, little something.

Detroitopolis

So since I've been circulating this blog amongst friends, I had better start keeping this up to date!  I have less than three weeks left until I head to Detroit for my staging event.  I arrive a day early, so I look forward to meeting some of the other early folk.  After two days in Detroit, we head out early for Manila.  It's about a 19 hour flight, so I hope I can sleep through most of that. 

At this point I'm buying some essentials and am slowly, but surely, beginning the packing process.  That's all I really have for now.  I'll probably post an update either before or after staging.  Maybe even during, if I get bored enough.