EL CORREO

The mail. Everybody here tells us that the mail is unreliable. Private couriers deliver the bills for internet, electric, gas, etc. Maria, the previous occupant of our house, is expecting to receive a bank card from the US. She said it usually takes from 10 days to 10 weeks to get mail and that the delivery only happens 60% of the time. Don't know how she got that figure. Her bank card has not come yet.

We haven't gotten a thing in the mail. No catalogs, nothing. Until today, when we got this:

"Day of the Mailperson." S/He wants a donation for the year's service. The term for this practice is mordita (little bite), or to put it plainly, bribe. Public servants (mailpersons, policepersons) earn but little, and if you want their benevolent attention, you are expected to pay for it.

But how would we do this? If we put money in the envelope and slide it halfway in/out of the slot, anybody could take it. When does s/he come? We asked a neighbor and she said in the morning. We've never seen him/her. Don't know what we'll do yet. Maybe nothing. In which case, don't bother sending us any mail.