bureaucratic. backwards.

in a place where there are Ms on women´s bathroom doors, and a Cs on the faucet knobs that makes hot water come out, a girl can´t help but think that this country is a little, well, backwards. my experience today confirmed this theory.

let me start from the beginning.

about a month ago, i ordered a pair of shoes online. about a week ago, i received a slip in the mail that told me my package was at a nearby post office. i expected this part. so today after class, i finally had time to go pick it up. or so i thought. i arrive around 11:30. the first office i went into directed me down the street - for international packages.

i walk into a warehouse that has several workers and customers, but it is absolutely unclear where i should go or who i should talk to. in my best spanish, i explain my situation to a random worker. he says something back to me that i didn´t understand, but sends me to another worker. i explain again, and she helped right out! she even went and found my package! i fill out some paper and think i´m getting to take my shoes and go. nopers. she proceeds to take my package into a little room filled with other packages and a line of people standing at the door. ok, i think. this is just how it works in ecuador.

after 45 minutes, the line has not moved. finally, the people in front of me start questioning the workers. they were speaking muy rapido, so i didn´t pick up everything that was said, but the next thing i knew mrs. postal worker looked at me and said, regresa a la dos y media. or something like that. claro, gracias, i said, happy to get outta there.

dos y media, yo regreso. i wait a few minutes, go back and forth between two desks a few times, fill out another paper, wait a little more. i even watch them open my package to make sure it´s really zapatos and not weed. finally, mrs. postal looks at me and hands me a slip of paper. necesita ir al banco de guayagil a pagar.

lord have mercy. ok, going to the bank. donde esta? i asked. jibberish was the reply. perfecto. i proceeded outside to ask the guard. he at least pointed, and i at least got the gist of what he said.

after a few blocks, i decided to ask another guard where it was just for good measure. besides, guards are usually good sources considering they stand on the sidewalk all day, doing i don´t know, looking around? they generally know their stuff. oh, not this mr. man. as certainly as i asked him where the bank was, he pointed in the opposite direction i was going, mas debajo. seguro? si.

the journey continues.

so, when i get to exactly where mas debajo is, i ask yet another good samaritan where the damn bank is. to my detriment, he points up. straight back up to where i came from, but on the other side of the street, he said. alrighty.

still walkin. four more blocks arriba, i peer across the street, and i see gloryland - el banco de guayaguil... directly across the street from mr. man. he sees me again, and i told him where the bank was.

i pay, return to the post office, wait a little more. what do you know, by 3:30, i have my package in hand... four hours to pick up a package from the post office. four freakin hours.

all for a pair of $35 shoes i bought on clearance.

the significant part of this insignificant story is that this is how everything works in ecuador. if i want to make copies at work, i fill out a form, give it to a secretary, wait a few days, go back and check on it, wait a little more, check on them again, and then maybe get the copies. í´m big on efficiency, and this is just inefficient. i´m not sure what to do yet, but i am working getting the system changed.



"bureaucracy is the death of all sound work." -- albert einstein