Forced Hiatus

I had to take a brief hiatus from working on the site due to a death in the family on my wife's side of the family. There are still more things to work on but the biggest task is complete. I got back from Pittsburgh this afternoon.

I started to look at what I needed to do in order to be ready for next week when we leave for three weeks. Two weeks in the Philippines and one week in India. The two weeks being in the Philippines I think will hit me just as hard as my visit to Madrid earlier this year.

It isn't like I'm having a midlife crisis, but actually more like an acute heritage awareness that I've never felt before. As an American-Filipino I always felt like an outsider to both cultures. As a kid sometimes I never felt American enough around my friends growing up. Conversely when with my cousins I never felt Filipino enough. It was not until college that I came to terms and comfort of being me just the way I am.

I know that my parents instilled the culture within me but never imposed it. I know that they instilled it in me because the oddest smallest things Filipino can send me into a childhood memory.

This week I will be preparing. I will pack what I can already this weekend so that we're "ahead" a little bit and I can concentrate on finishing up work related tasks and projects. I'm also trying to figure out just how I plan on updating from the Philippines. Usually when we go to Iceland I write on a daily basis into my Palm handheld and then when I find some free wi-fi I send it all up. Since Dori is going to be working she will subscribe to internet access at the hotel so it won't be that bad. In fact now that I think about it the only time I am going to be unsure of it will be when she is actually going to be on vacation as well during the 2nd week.