6 Months in the Phils

I'm sitting here, munching on dried mangos, and wondering if any of you really know the wonder of the Filipino Dried Mango?? They're a sweet and sour, chewy goodness that is best done by the 7D company. I'm going to miss the Phils.
Of course I'm not going anywhere! Just this week I past the 6 month mark, I almost can't believe it, I've been in this country for so long. I've passed halfway, there's only some 4.5 months left! And as I passed 6mths, I also ran out of visa. Whoops, so I spent 2 days in hiding, as an illegal alien. Ok, so maybe I didn't really hide, but yesterday I did send one of our clinic security gaurds down to renew it for me.
We have 4 gaurds at our clinic and they rotate throughout the day. These men are so sweet, opening my apartment door for me, carrying the drinking water jugs, getting us new gasul, and even going to immigration to renew my visa. It's been a bit of culture shock to relinquish some of these duties I would consider as markers of independence. But in keeping with my goal of learning and living within the culture, I am allowing a man to carry the heavy drinking water instead of doing it myself. I'm learning.
On top of these and the quinessential duty of "guarding", our guards also help out during our prenatal days; they gather charts, and take BPs and pulses and weigh our moms. They're great! A typical security job in the Phils includes wearing a stiff uniform, standing at a door, holding a gun. I'm glad our guards do so much else (and don't carry guns), they're part of the clinic family.