The Days Are Just Packed

As Calvin (the title character in the comic strip Calvin & Hobbes) would say, "The days are just packed." That's how I've been feeling. I've been pushing pretty hard to get ready for all of the teams that will be arriving this summer, and I've been loving every minute of it.

My first "team" is an student who will be working alongside our resident ethnomusicology as he provides workshops for indigenous musicians throughout the Philippines. So, no, she's technically not a team, but, Ellen and are responsible for her while she is here.

It takes a lot of logistics to work someone into a program like that, and I just counted 80 emails that I've received so far about this trip. I'm sure it'll top 100 by the time she arrives on May 16. All part of the job!

This morning, I went down to Intramurous, which is an old walled city in downtown Manila. It's a great place to learn about the history of the Philippines and to experience the culture. I am thinking about making it a key part of the orientation for our teams.

After I got home, I flopped down behind the computer and put some new pictures in our Photo Gallery. Click here to see them, or click on the link in the column to the right.

Tomorrow is Larry's birthday! The guy is turning 40, and tonight we're going to celebrate over dinner at a restaurant called . . . wait for it . . . Chili's.

Yep, the restaurant that epitomizes everything that is Amerikano is located just a few miles down the road. I vowed I would never would go there, because it just doesn't seem right to fly all the way around the world just to eat in a restaurant that I could eat in anywhere in the States. But, it's the guy's birthday--what am I supposed to do? Bottomless chips and salsa, here I come!