Miles of Smiles

Someone told me that there was a study done which indicates that despite the poverty and hardship in which they live, Filipinos are some of the happiest, most content people on the planet. You know what? I believe it. I see people smiling everywhere. In my host family home there are people coming and going all the time and I'm always hearing laughter. I hear people talking to children using terms like "my darling" and "my love". It's great. I think it's contageous - because I gotta admit that I'm feeling happy most of the time these days. Hopefully, the Filipino complexion will be contagious too and some of these wrinkles I've accrued over the years will disappear! ;-)

Speaking of happy, I was reading about Kapangan, Benguet (where I will move to in June and live for the next two years) and it showed that the average temperature is about 18c which I believe is about 65f. Woohoo! I'm gonna get cooled down yet. God knows what I need.

And speaking of God. It never fails to crack me up that what a sense of humor he has. When the PC regional manager was telling me about my site assignment, she was telling me all about the high school and the principal and how excited they were to be getting a volunteer, etc. Then she informed me that there was one small thing that she needed to disclose to me. My little town has been in the news lately due to one of their crops. It seems that Kapangan is also known as the "marijuana capital" of the Philippines. Too funny. But not to fear, the mayor (who is the husband of the high school principal who will be my supervisor) has launched a "Don't Do Drugs" campaign in the community. Sure glad that I don't smoke marijuana! :-)

I'm out of here for today. Hope you're all enjoying life in America. And don't forget to *smile* at the red lights! :-)