What happened to October?

Wow, so yet another month has gone by without any regular updates on this blog. I just don’t know where the time goes. Seriously. I know I say this all the time, but I am still shocked by how quickly time flies by. I mean, it’s November! How did that happen? This is the first November in 11 years that I haven’t been in the US and it feels so weird to not have the change in seasons. We left NYC in the summer so being in the heat here didn’t feel that different. But now that all my friends in the US are complaining of the cold, and as we move into Thanksgiving and the Christmas season it just feels so strange that it is always still so hot and sunny here. Not complaining. As much as I *LOVED* NYC in the fall, I have always preferred the heat to the cold. But I do miss cool, brisk air and feeling cozy inside a warm apartment after a cold walk outside.

Anyway… October was another really busy month for me and for Marcus.

Things with Roots of Health are moving along nicely and we’ve been keeping really busy with all our work. We’re in the process of wrapping up our needs assessments of the communities in which we may start our services, and we plan to begin conducting our service delivery this month (hopefully!) To stay up to date on Roots of Health, check out my ROH blog.

Highlights from the month included our trip to Manila to celebrate my sister Sara’s birthday as well as to meet some repro health superstars in Manila – Carlos Celdran, Mike Tan, Chi Vallido and Ben DeLeon. Check out Marcus’ FB photos from the trip.

Later in the month we also celebrated my mom’s birthday here in Palawan. Those photos are here. On my mom’s birthday, our dear friend Suneeta arrived for an almost-weeklong-visit. It was her second time in Palawan so we skipped Sabang, but we did do some sights in Puerto Princesa, and of course went island hopping in Honda Bay. It was so lovely to see Suneeta and we are so glad she was able to come visit. Photos from her time in Palawan are here.

We have lots to look forward to in November including visits from my brother, Alex, friend from my high school days, Megan and Wellesley friend, Archana. I really will try to update this Team Swangelista blog more often this month, so stay tuned :) Happy November everyone!