Philippine Postal System Trauma

Yesterday my post office nightmare came to an end. After 7 months, I can finally sleep soundly at night.

7 months earlier...

7 months ago was my birthday. Being in a long distance relationship has never been easy (nor cheap) but K and I have tried to make the most out of it. I had wanted to celebrate the day of my birth with him but since he couldn’t come over yet, he sent me a great present and wrote me a wonderful note instead.

The present was (can I write about it?? Hehe) a personalized “pull” (in Filipino: “sweater” ra diay) with a fabulous drawing (since K is quite a talented artist) and a pair of boxing gloves, to name a few. I was so excited to receive it (as I had begun to get hooked to boxing at that time) and when I got the notice from the post office I immediately went there to claim it.

Long story short, they asked me to pay a P3,500 tax for my BIRTHDAY PRESENT (half the price of the present) and so in not so ladylike terms I sorta told them to take a long walk over a short pier, dive headfirst, and never resurface. They didn’t even allow me to read the “birthday card” inside! Grrrr…

That marked the end of my post office days—or so I thought. A month after I asked them to send it back, the package still had not reached the sender. So I had to take a trip to the post all over again—this after having consulted 3 lawyer friends of mine. Seriously.

In the end, they told me they had sent it on January 12 and that I should just wait for it. They even showed me their books indicating such.

And so we waited…and waited…K came over to the PH to spend the holidays…he came back to BE…we waited some more…and waited still…I packed my bags and moved to Belgium and we waited again… winter went, spring came, and summer is almost here…well, I guess you get the picture.

But alas! The other day we got a note from the post informing us that an international package was waiting for us. More specifically, a return to sender package. We really hoped for the best and expected the worst. I will not begin to narrate the horror postal stories my trainees had shared with me.

I was finally able to open my present yesterday. Amazingly, everything was there (what a disappointment! ;). Now I hold the hopes of so many others who have been waiting for their mail (e.g. K’s aunt who sent a parcel to Mexico from Belgium in 2007). That package give people like me hope…and so much more. There is a God.

From now on we really ought to take the term SNAIL MAIL to heart.

Thank you post office. You didn’t fail me after all. ;P

Two Filipina Spies and One Paranoid Schizophrenic

As I was walking towards town to meet up with K for lunch today after school (hmmm…come to think of it, it was more like limping actually due to my newly sprained ankle which I acquired while playing football the other day) I saw two naturally brown-skinned girls walking in front of me. On instinct, I tried to eavesdrop on their conversation.

Normally, I pride myself on having good “gay-dar” but apparently, it only works for sniffing out gay people. In distinguishing a Filipino from a Malaysian, Indonesian, or Thai, I find myself to be quite incapacitated. As I was eavesdropping, I heard the word “tayo” which means “us” in Tagalog, our national language. I eagerly listened some more. *wink*

The other day, during drinks after Ultimate training I asked my teammates what the national language in Belgium is. They said it was Dutch, French, and German. In a country with over 170 languages but only one national language, which is Filipino, it is a bit hard for me to comprehend that this country has 3 national languages. Although we have 2 official languages which are Filipino and English (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Languages_of_the_Philippines).

So anyway, the two were walking and apparently, I ended up limping faster than they were walking coz I was able to catch up with them. We ended up walking side by side, which I found rather weird. The girl to the far right looked at me and smiled. I smiled back. The other girl was busy talking about this girl she didn’t like and I immediately detected the distinct Visayan accent speaking in Tagalog.

Without hesitating, I asked the two of them, “Magkaklase kayo?” (Are you two classmates?)—as they were speaking in Tagalog. The girl to the right replied, “Hindi, ako level one pa lang siya level 2 na. Ikaw?” (No, I’m still in level one and she’s already in level 2, and you?)

I told her I was in level 2.

Her next reaction startled me a bit: “Eh bago ka pa lang dito diba? Level 2 kana pala!” (But you’re still new here and you’re already in level two!)

I just stretched my lips apart in an attempt to show my teeth and fake a smile all the while thinking, “Umm…Have we met before? Do I know you?? How do you know that I’m still new here???”. Then I had all these weird thoughts racing through my head…Do they have a Filipino internal database here that I don’t know of? A has never mentioned that to me. How could this girl have known??

It was a bit creepy. Yeah, Filipinos are naturally friendly but how in the world…?? To distract myself I just asked the other girl in my dialect this time, “Taga asa ka?” (Where are you from?)

“Cebu”, she replied, “Ikaw?”. I smiled and said, “Dumaguete”.

“Ah, kabalo diay ka mu-Cebuano!” (Oh! So you know how to speak Cebuano!)

Me (mentally): Duh?? (see above dialogue)

But like I always tell K, Filipinos are everywhere in the world. I wouldn’t even be surprised if I go to Antarctica and meet one. We are just EVERYWHERE.

So well, when we reached the crossing we said our casual goodbyes and parted ways. I bet they will immediately update their database when they get to their headquarters:

Name: Jacki 00678121
Classification: Level 2--Het Perspectief
Location: Gent, Belgium
Origin: Negros Oriental, Philippines

Wrong move, Jacki. Wrong move.