Operation Smile Mission #2-Cebu City, Philippines

My efforts to blog my last mission were squashed when I got food poisoning on my 3rd day in Amman, Jordan.  I still need to back blog some of the that journey because in hindsight it was pretty hilarious.
I'll definitely try some of the local foods in the Philippines but I'm going to tame my adventurous foodie spirit and be a lot more careful so I can enjoy this upcoming mission and not just survive it. :)

So I leave tonight for the 2nd round of Operation Smile's 30th Anniversary mission in the Philippines.  The theme of missions is "The Journey Home" since this is where Operation Smile began their work 30 years ago. During the month of November there are 8 missions going on in different cities across the Philippines.  We all fly into Manila and travel out to our respective locations.  I will be on one of the larger missions in Cebu City, Philippines which is celebrating it's 15th Anniversary with Operation Smile.
Today was a whirlwind with recovering from my show last night, tying up lots of loose ends, packing, acupuncture, unwrapping an enormous stack of stickers from all of the awesome friends who donated to the Sticker Drive I had Facebook.  I took some from everyone but I had to leave about a third of the stickers behind because it would have pushed my suitcase above the weight limit. I have them set aside for my next mission. Thank you so everyone who contributed in stickers, toys, thoughts and prayers.  I am blown away by your thoughtfulness and generosity.

This was less than half of the stickers and toys that came in the mail. You guys ROCK!!!!

I was also blessed with a pre-thanksgiving dinner (since I will be eating mangoes instead of mash potatoes this Thanksgiving) with some of my nearest and dearest, Jenny and Bryan, Kate and Geoff, Megan and Joel and little baby Judah Budah.  It was comforting to spend the evening with some of my NYC family before flying to the opposite side of the planet by myself, accompanied by a full spread from Boston Market. :)