A bit of a change

Moving (very temporarily) to the Philippines is likely to be a bit of a shock. Considering the following:

Weather Forecast for 02/02/2013:
Boise: 37° F, chance of snow
Manila: 84°F, sunny

Population:
Idaho: ~1.6 million
Philippines: ~92 million

Population Density:
Idaho: 19.2 per square mile
Philippines: 797 per square mile

Language:

Boise: English, mostly (sad, as I'd like to be practicing my Amharic!)
Philippines: Tagalog, English

GDP:
USA: $49,800 per capita
Philippines: $4,263 per capita

Current Time:
Boise: 6:50pm
Manila: 9:50am, tomorrow

Physicians:
Idaho: 1 per 543 population
Philippines: 1 per 833 population

Vaccination Coverage in 2011: (as measured by DTP/DTaP 3+):
Idaho: 94.7%
Philippines: 80%

Measles Cases in 2011:
Idaho: 0
Philippines: 6,538 (~7 per 100,000 population)

Polio Cases in 2011:
Idaho: 0
Philippines: 0 (and I'm hoping to help keep it that way!)

I have a lot to learn. And a lot of sunscreen to pack! This is quickly becoming real. My flight departs at 9:30am on Friday. Just a couple more projects to wrap up tomorrow, a few hugs to give, and a last-minute list check or two. And then I'm off. My next post will--I hope--be from Manila.

T-Minus 8

I'm set to depart for Manila in 8 days. Hard to believe that it's just around the corner. I'll be in the Philippines for 3 months working with the STOP campaign as a World Health Organization volunteer consultant. Not too sure just yet exactly where I'll be, or how I'll be spending my time, but I'll be sure to keep you all in the loop.

A packing list is on my coffee table. I have about a thousand errands to run before the first of February. And I'm starting to get awfully excited, and just a bit nervous.

More soon...