“Then the Lord said to Jacob, “Go back to the land of your fathers and to your relatives, and I will be with you.” Genesis 31:3
July marks our 8th month of staying exclusively in the Philippines. It’s quite a milestone for us; since 2013, that’s the longest stretch we have ever stayed in one country. Even when I was pregnant with Journie and living in Bangkok, Thailand, we still traveled to other countries.
And for the moment, it looks like we’re going to be here even longer.
For a while, we thought we would be moving to Sweden at the end of summer. Bjorn and Journie’s passports expire this year, and renewing them in Thailand, Hong Kong or Singapore (the only places in Asia where Swedish passports are issued) seems tedious, expensive and nearly impossible. Better to just head back to the(ir) Motherland, we thought.
But now, Sweden is banning Americans from entering, so I can’t go. (Thanks, Covid-19.) And D, a friend in the States who gives me updates, gave me this very useful advice: Don’t come back here. Thankfully, Bjorn discovered that he and Journie can be issued temporary passports in the Philippines.
So we get to stay. This also means, however, that we have to do visa extensions once a month. Our previous visa extension visit included, but was not limited to: a long bus ride to the nearest immigration office and waiting at least 3 hours with Journie in the security office (the immigration office is located within a mall that Journie is not allowed to enter), with said security office being located on the bottom floor of a parking garage that, of course, has no air-conditioning. Or windows. Or vending machines. Or anything else of interest to a near 5-year-old. Hopefully, successive visits will require only 1 person to go, at which point I will gladly offer up Bjorn. Fine, OK, myself. (But really still hoping Bjorn will do it 😄).
Still, we get to stay together. I shouldn’t complain. I really like the area we’re living in: it’s relatively cool, we have friends and family in the area, and there are plenty of good places to eat, some of which actually allow Journie to dine inside (shhh!)*
However, a few days ago, some staff members came to our door, bearing a bag of rice and other food stuff—a sure harbinger of doom. Whenever food gets handed out, they’re usually trying to soften the blow of some really bad news. What with the rising cases of Covid-19 in the Philippines and the rumors I heard swirling around last Sunday, it looks like we could be headed for another lockdown.
Sigh.
But better safe than sorry. I’m still really grateful to be here—and hoping that any alleged lockdowns happen AFTER Journie’s birthday.
*People below the age of 20 and above the age of 59 are supposedly not allowed inside malls or restaurants.
Go Karlmans 