Preparing for liftoff! 

Today is the day I've been waiting for  for the past month. As I'm sitting on the plane right now,  it hasn't settled that in  17 hours, I will physically be in the Philippines.

This morning, I drove up to LAX in a shuttle with Erin, Jen, Rico, Deejay, Tony, Cherry and Al- a few people that I will be spending the next 9 days with.  Out of those people, Erin and I are the youngest and the rest are very involved members in the FilAm community of different generations.

The last time I visited the Philippines was with my family, 12 years ago. At age 7, I don't remember much, but the things I do remember remind me that this trip will be a complete culture shock. What I remember most vividly is the heart humidity, population density and the food! Every day, I would go to the cornerstone with my cousins and buy soda in a ziplock bag and play racquetball in the streets with the neighbors. Now being older, I can't wait to venture  beyond  my Lola's  neighborhood and see different parts of the country.

My expectations for the trip are very different than that of a vacation. Though we do expect periods of downtime, we are scheduled to visit multiple GK villages, slums and other areas affected by the typhoon. The purpose of my presence here is to expose myself to the current state of the Philippines and to further understand my own background. As a college student, I am just beginning to find my identity and I truly believe that this trip will help me do that!

Sorry this post is so scatter-brained, but I will hopefully edit and have more to add once we land!  The plane should be taking off any minute now! Next stop, Tokyo. Then Manila! :)