Vipers and Geckos - Defining Friend, Foe, and Truth in an Alien Land: Defining Friend, Foe, and Truth in an Alien Land (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9798989757619)

Ditch the corporate suit, strap on a backpack, and plunge headfirst into the mystical culture of a remote Philippine island - get ready for a mind-bending and life-altering experience.

Join the author of Vipers and Geckos as she immerses herself on a remote island in the Philippines - getting an education she never imagined. On mythical Palawan, where she wrestles with ancient superstition, religious dogma, and a new paradigm of Truth that conflicts with everything she has known.

Ms. Pritchard offers you a guide to cultural adjustment as she grapples with a new language and tries to connect with an evangelical faith at a school for special children - her Masters in Special Education means little here. She confronts values and mores that clash with her birth culture as she weaves her way through her own mid-life transition.

This book is a testament to persistent curiosity, courage, and compassion - and ultimately transformation. Her roller coaster of stories will make you laugh, cry, get angry, and wonder if you might be able to go on a similar adventure that might give more meaning to your life. In the course of her adventure, she urges us all to set fear aside and delve deeply into cultures that might feel alien at first, whether you or someone else is the alien. In the end, understanding and respect is what matters.

New college graduates experience it as "a less extreme 'Into the Wild' and those in the higher decades call it, "a matured 'Eat, Pray, Love' - with a Reality Bite!

As a Peace Corps volunteer, she steps off the plane onto the fabled island of Palawan, unaware that her life is about to change forever. What secrets does this island hold? Dive into Vipers and Geckos today - where Truth, Faith, and Legend collide...along with a few Miracles.