So, the world's getting even crazier these days. In light of this week's events in Manilla, I received a call from on of my potential project leaders on Thursday. She wanted to know if I was still keen to go. Do I even need to type my reply? It's not that I'm fearless or stupid or anything, but I trust AVI and their connections with volunteers in the Philippines, the Australian embassy there and the Philippino government. Anyway, Georgia seemed relieved that I was still up for it, stating that the north of Luzon is quite safe, and that we'd probably end up driving straight out of Manilla to be extra safe/cautious.
On Friday, however, I missed a call from the Project co-ordinator, Froniga. Apparently, as another participant informed me, two more people had pulled out and, if the travel warning put out by the government didn't change, everything would be postponed at the very least, or possibly postponed.
So now I wait for official news. Damn weekends. I'm beginning to think that this project is cursed, with the number of people who have already had to pull out for various reasons (if the numbers get any lower now, they'll have to cancel it). Oh well, try and stay positive, right?
Sigh.
posted by Ads at 3:06 PM
Ok, this is a test of sorts. I'm not sure how successful this will be, but hopefully it will save all of your inboxes if I decide to be uncharacteristically verbose about my time in the Philippines. Anyway, I'm leaving on the 2nd of December and will be back on the 14th of February if all goes to plan. I'll try and stay in touch as much as possible, but I'm not too sure about how often we'll have web access, so yeah ...
Am I nervous? I haven't even had a chance to think about it yet. There's still so much to do over the next two weeks, so I doubt it will even hit me in Sydney during our pre-departure briefing. I'm not sure what to expect, but I'm guessing that it will be an interesting experience.
Ask me again in February and I may have a different opinion.
Adam.
posted by Ads at 10:18 PM
