What's Behind "Betsy and the Great World"

Well first off, welcome to my blog! I haven't done one of these since I was studying abroad in El Salvador about three years ago so I apologize if I'm a little out of practice with my writing!

So why the blog? I am just beginning my second year of working with the Casa Educational Network. I spent the last year back in El Salvador working as a community coordinator for Casa de la Solidaridad. And for this upcoming year I will be living and working in the Philippines for the inaugural year of Casa Bayanihan. (For more info about the Casa's check out our website: http://www.scu.edu/casa/) This program is exceptional and I feel so lucky to not only have had the opportunity to be a part of it as a student and then an additional year as a CC, but to also have this upcoming year to get to know a new country and be a part of the network's expansion!

Today marks day 7 of my stay here in the Philippines. Finally feeling settled in, although my bags are still not fully unpacked, but definitely well on my way of learning the lay of the land. The past week has been an absolute whirlwind of visits to communities, marketplaces, the Ateneo- the Jesuit university in Manila that hosts us, and the local mall to see The Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

On Sunday we drove about an hour and half to visit one of our cooks, Norma, and her family and share a meal...two days later and we are now paying for it as today also marks my first visit to the campus clinic and my first stool sample in the Philippines. Hooray! So while I have so much more to share with you, it's going to have to wait until I can sit for more than ten minutes without rushing to the "comfort room" or CR as they call them here. Thank goodness for euphemisms!

Here are a couple of pics to keep you entertained as a I wait for my lab results and medicine:

Guillermo, my fellow CC, and I getting ready to take off on Air Philippines! (Oh yeah, get used to my eyes being basically non-existent in most photos...thanks Dad)

Trying our first Kwek-kwek (sp?)

First community visit to ANCOP. So fun! Trena, one of the Casa Co-Directors, is the the woman in the black shirt with the Scream face. I don't know what Guillermo is doing but apparently neither does he...