Photography And Half-Thoughts By Mitchell Hegman

...because some of it is pretty and some of it is not.

Saturday, March 7, 2020

Clearing Customs


If you ever have reason to mail a package to the Philippines, you should expect a bit of time to pass before the package arrives.  Not time measured in days.  Time measured in weeks.
I sent a package in early December that arrived in Manila in less than two weeks, but notification for arrival took another month.  I sent another package in February with similar results.
My packages track in a timely manner (days) until they reach Manila.  Once they arrive in Manila, the packages enter a somewhat dense and mysterious processing system.  Apparently, certain time delays are incorporated into this system.

Honestly, the packages seem to get lost for a while.
The Philippines is an island nation, of course, and this may account for some of what goes on.  Having visited several islands in my life, I leaned about what island residents refer to as “island time.”
No need to hurry, man.
At least a part of the reason for hang-up on the most recent package is a bit more conspicuous.  Apparently, someone in customs found the three jars of homemade huckleberry jam I sent to the islands a bit suspicious and worthy of examination.
Posted is a photograph of how the packed looked at the end of a long journey.

Mitchell Hegman

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