the un-glamor of a dip passport

Living abroad sounds all glamor and adventure when I talk about the custom ball gowns, inexpensive four course dinners, Holiday parties with views that sweep across all of Manila and weekends away to some of the most beautiful tropical islands in the world. Yeah, it's awesome in lots of ways. I love living overseas with my family. With all the neat perks it's easy for everyone to overlook that our current home is still a developing country. Third world in fact.

It's not so easy for us to forget this fact. It's actually really easy to remember that the Philippines is still a third world country when I get a call from the medical clinic telling me that I have two nasty bugs in my gut. The bacteria E. coli and the parasite E. histolytica. Both at the same time. Third world country awesomeness at it's finest.

I'm reminded often that I live in a developing country when I see grown adults popping a squat on the side of the road to do their business that surely drains back into the water supplies that are used to wash clothing in the small shanty villages throughout the area. Or as I drive up to large commuter bus I see a man urinating on the side of the bus as it idles at the intersection. He zips up and hops back on. I guess that's his pit stop, right there, in the middle of the street. I am mostly reminded of where I live right now because being handed a paper bag with a stool sample cup for collection is just part of reality. Taking metronidazole and the metallic taste it leaves in my mouth is not new, I was pregnant the last time I had an amoeba. Praying that my youngest child, the one who started this LBM trend last week, is not infected as well is all part of our "normal".

I'm looking forward to absorbing the nutrients from my food again soon. For everyone who is envious of our Yaya, driver, and white sand beach vacations, think again. Those things just placate us in between the stark reminders of how far away from home we really are.