The simple life

Well everyone, we've made yet another trip to Manila! Our temporary visitor visas expired on the 17th, but we still had not received the necessary documents from the U.S. to get our 2 year visas. So, our options were to leave the country for a few days or pay for an extension at Immigration. We so badly didn't want to go back to Immigration and I so badly wanted to visit Thailand for a couple days! But, we were made aware that by leaving, our current visa process could be put on hold or even denied and we would be forced to start over. So, we hopped on the all too familiar buses and made our way back to Immigration.

But praise the Lord, this trip was a breath of fresh air. The process to extend was swift and easy (and pricy). We were there less than an hour when they told us to come back later because they had to process our forms. But, much to our surprise, there is a Starbucks across the street! So we enjoyed coffee and pastries while we waited. We then went back and were there for only a few more minutes and freed to go! This was much different than our typical 6 hour day at Immigration spent going window to window. So for now, we are allowed to stay until January. Lord willing, our documents will be here by then and we will make our final trip to the city.

All in all, the trip was somewhat fun, but it's always good to be back to the simplicity of life in Maria Aurora. Here are a few pictures Josh and I captured last week of typical life here. After spending a few days in the over-crowded, loud city, these pictures take on a new meaning for us. Enjoy..

Coconut trees in our yard

Local sari-sari stores sell meals, veggies, snacks, drinks, etc.

Praise the Lord for the abundance of water here

This speaker blares music every morning for the local high school students to exercise

Main transportation in the Philippines, called a tricycle

Lots and lots of rice fields

Water buffaloes aren't only found in Veggie Tales 

Rice and corn grains are dried in the street like this

Lots of fellowship over speed scrabble

Sheer Beauty

Please continue to pray for our visa process, language learning, and relationship building. Thank you.