Beautiful and bright exotic flowers, vividly colorful against the gray skies.
The most delicious mangoes I’ve ever tasted. I think they were the first mangoes I ever ate, and I have yet to find mangoes as wonderful as those.
The most rain I’ve ever seen fall continuously. It just kept falling for days and days and days and…yes, more days after that. I guess that happens though, when you live somewhere tropical with a rainy season.
When I first moved there, someone told me there were two seasons: hot, and hotter. It’s true. But what they left out is that there is also humid, and more humid. So humid. All. The. Time. (I don’t like humidity, in case that wasn’t clear.)
Probably the country where we felt the most like outsiders, because our physical appearance was so different. There was no question we were foreigners there: Â we felt it and we looked it.
I was surprised to find that Spanish words were part of the language here, but once I learned the history of this country it made more sense. Still, it was definitely a big surprise when we found that we understood certain words, even though the language was so foreign to us!
This country has some of the most beautiful and pristine beaches I’ve ever seen. White sand, transparent turquoise water, palm trees swaying in the wind…Perfect paradise islands, with hidden lagoons of immeasurable beauty. I was awed by the serenity in the lagoons and the clarity of the gorgeous water. It was quite some time ago and I was young, but the beauty stayed with me and the memories are so clear in my mind, as if it were yesterday.
I know there may not be many clues, and they might not provide much direction, but can you guess which country this is (or maybe the continent/region it’s in)?
Next Stop 
I think you’re talking about the Philippines. Interestingly, most of what I know about the country comes from my interactions with a wordpress friend of mine there! Is that cheating? If I’m even close, that is?
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That’s not cheating at all, I think it’s perfectly allowable! 🙂 And not only are you close, you’re spot on – it is the Philippines! Thanks for taking a guess, and great job figuring it out right away! I always love getting comments and reactions so I really appreciate you taking the time to guess 🙂
Great job again, and I hope you have a wonderful weekend!
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Philippines! 🙂
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Yes!! 🙂 Awesome job guessing it so fast! This is only the second of the series, but it’s fun doing this – I always love seeing the comments and responses 🙂
Thanks again for guessing (and good job again!), and have a great weekend! 🙂
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Sounds amazing (except for the humidity), wherever it is!
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Like all places it has its good and its bad. I try to focus mostly on the good things in these posts, because there’s no need to dwell on the negative – all of it was part of the experience! The humidity is an exception because it is so memorable and such a part of this place that it had to be mentioned! 😉
Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a great weekend! Has it been cold lately in Switzerland??
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So true – I think focusing on the good is essential. It doesn’t mean the bad wasn’t there – just that keeping it all in perspective often involves making the bad secondary to the good.
It’s colder here in Geneva these days. We had our first honest-to-goodness snowfall today – big, fat flakes for hours! Have the fall colors totally gone from New England?
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That’s a perfect way of putting it and I completely agree with that. The bad things are tough when they’re happening or you’re dealing with them regularly, but with time you realize that it’s all part of it, and the good usually outweighs any bad.
The fall colors unfortunately left a lot earlier than usual this year because of the high winds from hurricane Sandy a few weeks ago – but while they were here, the colors were absolutely spectacular. We’ve actually had a couple of snowfalls already, but it only stayed on the ground once (and was gone 24-48 hrs later), so the temperatures have definitely dropped earlier than the last couple years!
Enjoy the snow – hopefully you’ll have a white Christmas (if that’s something you like!! I’m hoping for one here 🙂 ) In the meantime, I hope you stay warm and that you have a great weekend!
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What a strange year for weather. I hope you get a white Christmas! New England in the snow is one of the prettiest places I’ve seen – I look forward to any pictures from your area! As long as the ice stays away here, any snow is welcome – it’ll be my first Christmas on this side of the Atlantic and I can’t wait 🙂
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It’s definitely been a very strange year for weather! We had a super mild winter last year, and a record-breaking snow winter the year before, so I’m hoping for something in between this year!
I’ll cross my fingers that the ice stays away and the snow makes everything pretty – on both sides of the Atlantic – and I hope you’ll have a wonderful first Christmas in Switzerland! 🙂
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I’m glad someone else guessed this because I didn’t know … it sounds wonderful except for the humidity (which i also hate). These posts are fun and a way to learn at the same time … thanks! Are you ready for Christmas down there? How do you celebrate, being TCKs?
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I’m glad you like these, Paige – I have fun doing them! 🙂
In my family we were always big on Christmas – turkey for dinner, the tree decorated (weeks before!), singing carols together, gifts under the tree and in the stockings…I think the biggest thing that showed our TCKness at Christmas were the decorations from all the places we lived in. We had decorations from when we were little kids, but then from country to country we picked up locally made decorations (for the tree and the house). But celebration-wise, we’re pretty classic and ‘typical’ christmassy, and that’s something me and my husband carry on with (I love it!)! What about you? 🙂
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Well for the past 5 years I haven’t done much of anything at Christmas … twice I even spent it alone. All my family is on the west coast and I couldn’t bring myself to travel alone. But I AM going this year, and we also are pretty traditional. My mom is a great cook and we all eat too much and give (and get) way too many presents. But it’s good for us all to get together once a year and I’m looking forward to it. Just cross your fingers that there aren’t any snowstorms between now and next Wednesday……….
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I can only imagine that these past 5 years must have been difficult for you, especially at the holidays. I’m very happy to hear (well, read!) that you’ll be spending Christmas with your family this year – it sounds like you guys have our kind of Christmas (complete with too much food and too many gifts! 🙂 ). I’ll keep my fingers crossed tight that there are no snowstorms so you can make it over there safely!! 🙂
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I cheated by reading the answers. The entire time i was reading the post I kept asking, where am I? I liked the mystery.
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Thanks, I’m really happy you liked it! 🙂 Besides, that’s not cheating, you’re just informing yourself 😉
I liked writing these posts (although I didn’t have any official guesses on the first one a few months ago), and it’s really fun that people seem to enjoy them – that’s the best part!
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