Almost ready to go

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Kamusta!

This is my blog. If I manage to avoid the tropical diseases, poisonous creatures, etc, etc I will use it to keep you all abreast of my escapades in the Philippines. I can also put my most artistic photos here without blocking up your inboxes.

I will be working with the municipality of Lanuza Agriculture Department as a Forest Management Specialist (when I know what that really means I will put it here on the blog). The area that I will cover is over 40,000 hectares of rainforest from sea level to twice the height of Ben Nevis. You may be forgiven for thinking that I was just off for 2 years of sunbathing, sipping coconut milk and learning to surf. But I am sure that the work will keep me out of most mischief - hopefully not all.

I fly out on the 27th March. The first couple of months will be spent, learning some language, meeting and greeting and getting familiar with the local fruit and veg.

I am working in the Philippines with a British NGO called Voluntary Service Oversees - VSO. So here comes the disclaimer bit: "the views expressed in this blog are my own and do not necessarily reflect those of VSO".

That’s all for now. Cheers Matt

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Photos

Melons
Matt feeling fruity

Comments

[deleted_14522]

Heroic
Mr Young, you're an inspiration. Great to see you last week, I hope all has gone well since. Currently busy enjoying the wet Edinburgh spring, now lit until 8pm thanks to the beauty of BST. Am expecting plenty of photos of sun drenched places and folk to allow us to enjoy your trip vicariously and in safety. Blogtastic, D. (Unfortunately much of the enthusiasm I had for writing a comment has drained in the ten minutes it's taken to register with the site - here's hoping I've cracked it...)

[Hannah]

Yum...fish heads
Just to get this straight, is the eating of fish heads a local delicacy or are the fish just served with head? Blog, blog, blog...hope this works. Han.x

[Ross]

Fruity
Nice photo! The look suits you...

[Cecilita]

Heroic indeed
Dear Matt, thinking of you from Brissie- we are not as far apart as we used to be! Maybe you could organise sailing down to oz at some stage. I hope all is going well and that you are learning loads of useful stuff in Manilla. C.xxx.

[Allan]

Mmm... Good fish
Fish served with head? I think I can feel the Ross Roberts effect even at this considerable distance. Cuisine sounds delightful. All the best Matt. Work hard and surf harder.