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June 2005

Banca boat	Cat city	Catblogan murial	Fishing
Jamie, Kelly and Ann	Jeepney 2	Jeepney	Masbate Church window
Nipa hut1	Outside my hotel room	Pedicab1	Rush hour traffic
Samar family	Samaran Women	Sunset in Allen	Sunset of W Samar
The local boys	fishing boats	island view	view from the bridge

As usual the Philippines was hot, humid, very colorful and teeming with people. Along with the glorious sunset and worn-out historical buildings the poverty was very apparent. The security environment continues to be a major issue especially since another ferry sank with 200 people aboard and as the President is on the verge of being thrown out of country.

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October, 2002 / January 2003

See page below for Kelly's overview for this trip!

Me in my favorite spot	4 of us at dinner	Boat from the Island	View from the water	Jamie and Kelly at the Ball
Kelly in her full length ball gown	Beautiful Boracay	Kelly.resting.during.the.hike.jpg	Sunset.in.PG.jpg	The.Banaue.Rice.Terraces.jpg

#1 Me in my favorite spot
#2 Four of us at dinner - Kyra, Randy, me and Bruce....a few new friends
#3 Boating to Mindoro Island
#4 Beach view of Mindoro Island
#5 Jamie and Kelly at the Marine Corp Ball
#6 Kelly in her full-length ball gown
#7 Beautiful Boracay
Kelly resting during the hike
Sunset in PG
The Banaue Rice Terraces



October 25, 2002

Hello friends and family,

First please forgive me for not keeping up with my e-mails; I am totally swamped with the safety situation here in the Philippines and all over Asia. I will try to answer some of the latest questions of "what is going on & where are you".

Due to the continuing resolution of the U.S. Fed. budget I have been grounded for the past month in the Philippines. I have been traveling around the country specifically to S. Philippines and outside the Metro Manila area. This month security conditions in the Philippines have notably worsened amid a spate of bombings stretching from Zamboanga City in the south to Metro Manila in the north. Although each explosion has spurred accusations of Muslim extremism, the country hosts a variety of potential perpetrators, including communist militants, extortionists, and disgruntled individuals. Authorities have tightened security, but the economy continues to suffer, threatening to trigger its own form of social unrest. Peace Corps/Philippines and I are constantly sending out security notices to our Volunteers and meeting with Embassy official to keep up with the latest.

I also am in continuous contact with my other countries especially Nepal due to the Maoist activities and with the possible pending war with Iraq......  China, with it's anti-Americanism, in a whirlwind. In fact, Peace Corps miracously found money to send me for a 3-week security assessment and staff/volunteer training in the next few weeks, so back on the road I go. I will be gone for the majority of November and hopefully staying home (Manila) in Dec. My Mongolia trip for Dec. has been put on hold and more than likely Nepal will be my next country of travel in Jan 2003. I still plan to take 3 weeks off in Feb. to relax and rejuvenate.

Since I have been home, I have been fortunate to meet some amazing new friends who I try to see periodically for sanity sake plus I was able to get some good SCUBA diving in and see some of the islands....I am desperately trying to balance my life but work is always the priority. Luckily, I love my stimulating job and for the time it is keeping me out of trouble. 

I will try to respond as quickly as I can to all your e-mails but it might be a week or two so please bear with me. And thank you for visiting my website and le