Week 26: The Philippines

The Beautiful Philippines

It's week 26!!  We are halfway through our 52 weeks and I can honestly tell you it feels like it's taking forever!  Don't get me wrong, I'm learning A LOT and I hope the kids and you the readers are enjoying the trip too, but it seems like this project is losing some momentum.  Anyway, enough whining!  You didn't log on to hear me complain, you want to learn about the Philippines, right?  Let's learn some fun facts -

• There are more than 7,107 islands that make up the archipelago that is the Philippines.
• Luzon is the largest island.  Batanes is the smallest.
• The capital is Manila.  The latitude and longitude is 14.58°N, 121.0°E on the map.
• The official languages are Filipino and English.  There are more than 500 different dialects - Tagalog is the most used.
• There are more than 200 volcanoes on the islands.  Most are inactive but 22 are still active - um, scary

• Karaoke was invented in the Philippines because the Filipino people love to sing!
• The smallest living primate in the world, the Tarsier, lives only in the Philippines.  Isn't it cute?

• The oldest university in Asia is the University of San Carlos, it was founded in 1595 by the Spaniards
• Speaking of Spaniards, the Philippines were a Spanish colony from 1521 - 1898 and many of the names of the people and places have Spanish influences.
• The Philippines was a U.S. Territory from 1898 until after WWII in 1946 when the country gained independence.
• The people of the Philippines are a mixture of Chinese, Spanish, Arab, and Polynesian and so is their food.  Filipino food has flavors that are unique and different than many other "Asian" foods. 

We have a lot to learn this week so we'd better get on it.  The plans are to try some interesting new dishes and foods which means a field trip to the Asian market and a Filipino restaurant!!  We'll, of course, learn some phrases and words and I found a fun game for the kids and I (and you at home) to play.  I'd love some ideas for art projects if you have any - I'm having a hard time and that's usually the easiest part for me!! I'd love to hear any comments or suggestions.  Thanks for checking us out!!!!

A few amazing pictures of a beautiful country!