Friday, June 27, 2014

Let's Hear it for the Post Office...

I needed to get some errands done today and decided that I'd go to the post office, then to Claro and finally to the grocery store.  After class I left my motorcycle outside the gate so that I could quickly drop off  my laptop and stuff, and get my money.

Back on the moto, I headed for the post office.  Well, that was easier said than done.  Pretty much every block all around the parque and post office, and even by the police station, had various forms of construction going on.  It made for an interesting time of trying to get there.  Plus, everyone else was having the same trouble, so traffic was at a bit of a standstill.

Although I usually follow traffic laws, I was getting frustrated and decided to ride the motorcycle like most Hondurans -- ignoring laws, lanes, and construction.  I zoomed past the barricade near the parque and by the time I was next to the cathedral, the guys working on installing tumulos (traffic bumps) started yelling at me.  I apologized and told them I was just trying to get to the post office, but all the construction was giving me trouble.  They waved me on.

I *still* couldn't get close to the post office because of MORE construction.  As I was zigging and zagging and weaving around cars, I found myself getting close to the Claro store.  Change of plans: Claro first, THEN the post office.  I parked my motorcycle right outside of Claro and walked in, only to see all the employees just sitting around, talking.  Their system was down and they couldn't do anything for me.  Great!  But the girl I talked to told me that if I come back on Saturday, even though they are normally very busy all day, she will let me just come to the front of the line and talk to her.  Hmmmm, we'll see how that works out.

After Claro, I finally made it to the post office.  I opened up the box and was shocked by what I saw.  It was stuffed!  I've never seen so much mail in the mailbox. I was just there two weeks ago.  I started pulling  envelopes out and began to see what looked like Christmas cards from friends in the States.  "Cool!", I'm thinking as I pull more and more out of the box.  Hey, there's a postcard from a friend during his journey on the Camino de Santiago in Spain.  Then I saw a very large envelope from a friend in Kansas, and a letter from a friend in NJ.  My NJ friend sent me an email this week, letting me know that the letter was on its way.

Finally, I pulled out a red envelope.  It was in Mom's handwriting.  Wow!  I started thinking that maybe Mom had written it out in November before she died and Dad put it in the mail.  I just stared at it, seeing how weak the handwriting was, knowing that in her last years it was difficult for Mom to write. "OK," I thought, "it took 8 months, but it got here."

I was still in a daze, staring at the envelope as I left the post office.  I put all the mail in the trunk of my motorcycle and started heading toward the grocery store, but was already thinking ahead to opening up the card once at home.  As I got near the mall, it was packed.   After all, it was Friday afternoon.

Too much traffic at the mall persuaded me to go to a different grocery store.  Once I got to Maxi Dispensa, I put my helmet in my trunk and took the card out. I decided not to wait 'til I was home.  I stood outside the store, trying to rip into the plastic bag that the card was in.  I'd seen that before here, so it didn't strike me as odd.  I finally opened up the card and the first thing I noticed was the $5 inside it.  Still nothing unusual.  As I was reading it, I saw that Mom had written that they had deposited money in my bank account as a Christmas present.  Now I was getting weirded out.  Mom died November 15, more than a month before Christmas.  And Dad bought me a present, not "put money in my account."

I looked at the date of the card: 12-9-12.  I looked at it again: 12-9-12. Finally I realized it was from 2012.  Really?  2012?  Then I remembered that that year (2012) Mom & Dad told me that they sent me a card and included $5 in it.  I never got it.  Well, it looks like after EIGHTEEN MONTHS my card had arrived!

After getting the few groceries I needed, I looked at all the cards I had picked up at the post office.  True enough, all of them were from Christmas 2012.  And as I looked at each one closer, it appears that they had been postmarked for early January 2013 in Honduras. Even the large manilla envelope from KS that contained a copy of my friend's book.  I don't know what happened.  Maybe all those envelopes were sitting somewhere in Tegucigalpa, or even in a forgotten corner of the post office here in Comayagua, but, whatever it was, they finally got to me.

So, for the rest of the afternoon, I've been in a bit of a daze, with jumbled emotions.  Through it all, though, I see it as some well-timed encouragement from God.

Kudos to the Honduran postal service for doing the right thing and actually delivering the mail -- despite the 18-month delay.  Plus, the letter from NJ got here in about 6 days!

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