Hello from the Tropics

Hi Everyone,

I'm on my way to work now, and then off to Boracay Island for a weekend of relaxing on what is apparently one of the nicest beaches in Asia, but I thought I'd post some of the email I sent out last weekend so anyone not on my list could have a read.

Well, what can I say so far...My apartment is beautiful, I really cannot get over how nice it is. I have all the comforts of home, which given the heat, means the air conditioner is much appreciated; and I am trying to be very mature about the cockroaches. The family that owns the building is extremely friendly (as are most of the people we've met - very warm and genuine), and had wireless Internet installed just for us! This is a major bonus! Although we are in a city, there is a yard of roosters right outside my window, I'm getting used to them now though and can go right back to sleep when they start crowing at 3am. The 2 guys are sharing a room that has roof access, so we spend a lot of time on the deck up there which overlooks the river and has a nice breeze in the evening. Fire works are quite popular here so we usually see some from up there too. We are on a pretty quiet street and there are always lots of kids around (they are on summer break until mid-June) who think we are pretty fascinating. We are only a 15 minute walk from a huge mall with a big supermarket, dept store and even a movie theatre, so it doesn't get much more convenient than that! Food is very cheap here (by western standards - as is just about everything), so we eat out almost every night. It is fun to go out to the local restaurants and Iloilo is big enough that there is lots of variety, but it makes for a long day! Although our days are very full the overall pace of life is comfortable, and this is something I really appreciate.

On Tuesday we went to the Guimaras Mango Festival and watched a mindblowing dance/story telling competition. It was phenomenal. There were four groups of youth, each representing a different municipality and the amount of work they had put into the presentations was amazing. Last weekend we drove across the island of Panay (which Iloilo is on) to the province of Antique; this trip took us through beautiful mountains, with spectacular views of the sea.

Now, I must go scrample to pack for the weekend, so that I can leave right from the office! I tried to figure out how to put the pictures on the bottom, but it wasn't happening, so if anyone knows, let me know...

I'm looking forward to hearing from everyone and all about what is going on!

Sarah