The Big Announcement!

After a few clues here and here - I'm very excited to share with you that early 2011, I'll be traveling to... Manila, Philippines!

Clue #1 was a manila envelope (get it? I think I'm hilarious!) and Clue #2 was a Sampaguita, the National Flower of the Philippines (in the Jasmine family)

I've known about this project for some time, and I am so excited to finally be able to talk about this trip!

The Philippines!!!! 

Okay, now that I got my initial excitement/freak-out out of the way - here is what I know.  Sometime in February, I'll head to Manila for about 3 months for work.  As I plan my trip, I'm excited to use my blog to document planning, preparing and packing for this trip, as well as writing about the trip itself.

So, I thought I'd kick off the Manila-talk with some information about Manila and the Philippines.

• Manila is the most densely populated city in the world
• The Philippines is made up of over 7,000 islands
• The tropical weather keeps temperatures pretty consistent year round with lows in the 70s and highs in the low 90s.  The weather is also extremely humid.
• Roman Catholic is the most common religion, representing almost 80% of the population
• The two official languages of the Philippines are Filipino and English

But before I leave for the Philippines, I need to

• Finish my current trip in Augusta, Georgia
• Spend three weeks working at home
• Return to Augusta, Georgia
• Travel home to see family for Thanksgiving
• And take a small vacation for some much needed R&R

So this wraps up my exciting announcement - look for the new label "Philippines"!