Balikbayan Box Arrival

[TheMason]

I recently returned from a 6-week trip to the US. While I was there I had shipped over a couple of boxes of goodies for me and my family here in the Philippines. The first box arrived the other day and within minutes the family was poking their heads in the door to see if we needed any help opening the box. Some of our seldom seen neighbors were seen in the vicinity just to say hello. We said hello to the neighbors and sent the family back to their house asking them to come back in an hour.My wife and I unpacked the box, tucked away the things that were for us, sorted out the rest of the items, and looked over the box to make sure it was all there in good condition.In exactly 60 minutes the family was back to see what treasures we (by we, I mean they) received. I hadn't included any spectacular items, but I had a couple bottles of Olay body wash, some shampoo, candy, and other sundry items for my sister-in-law. I had given her most of them, but she was out of room on her lap so I handed 3 bars of Olay soap to my 3-year-old niece and said 'These are for you and nanay'. My wife said something in Tagalog and my niece clutched the bars to her chest and ran out of the house screaming, 'they're mine, Uncle TheMason gave them to me'. She was back in a few minutes crying. The bars of soap had been bitten open and there were bite marks on the bars. Apparently, my wife had told her they were chocolate bars. My niece had not been deterred by the soapy, perfumy smell and had taken quite a big bite out of them. She actually bit two of them, I guess she wanted to make sure the first one wasn't a mistake.She was very disillusioned that Tita would play a trick on her like that, but we were all too busy laughing to worry about it too much.Everyone was happy and smiling as they went home with their gifts. It was a really good day, just like Christmas in May.I've been feeling pretty negative and cynical about life here lately, but its episodes like this that remind me about the good things and why I choose to live here. Life is so simple and people take great pleasure from the little things in life. I'm learning to enjoy a simpler life, but it never ceases to amaze me how happy the people are here. Life seldom gets them down and they truly treasure the good things that life brings their way.My other box should be arriving in 3 weeks or so and I can barely stand the wait. Every time a truck goes by our house I find myself looking to see if its the BB box for us. I think its a pretty good sign that I'm so excited about a box of spices and household items arriving.

[Jollygoodfellow]

I recently returned from a 6-week trip to the US. While I was there I had shipped over a couple of boxes of goodies for me and my family here in the Philippines. The first box arrived the other day and within minutes the family was poking their heads in the door to see if we needed any help opening the box. Some of our seldom seen neighbors were seen in the vicinity just to say hello. We said hello to the neighbors and sent the family back to their house asking them to come back in an hour.My wife and I unpacked the box, tucked away the things that were for us, sorted out the rest of the items, and looked over the box to make sure it was all there in good condition.In exactly 60 minutes the family was back to see what treasures we (by we, I mean they) received. I hadn't included any spectacular items, but I had a couple bottles of Olay body wash, some shampoo, candy, and other sundry items for my sister-in-law. I had given her most of them, but she was out of room on her lap so I handed 3 bars of Olay soap to my 3-year-old niece and said 'These are for you and nanay'. My wife said something in Tagalog and my niece clutched the bars to her chest and ran out of the house screaming, 'they're mine, Uncle TheMason gave them to me'. She was back in a few minutes crying. The bars of soap had been bitten open and there were bite marks on the bars. Apparently, my wife had told her they were chocolate bars. My niece had not been deterred by the soapy, perfumy smell and had taken quite a big bite out of them. She actually bit two of them, I guess she wanted to make sure the first one wasn't a mistake.She was very disillusioned that Tita would play a trick on her like that, but we were all too busy laughing to worry about it too much.Everyone was happy and smiling as they went home with their gifts. It was a really good day, just like Christmas in May.I've been feeling pretty negative and cynical about life here lately, but its episodes like this that remind me about the good things and why I choose to live here. Life is so simple and people take great pleasure from the little things in life. I'm learning to enjoy a simpler life, but it never ceases to amaze me how happy the people are here. Life seldom gets them down and they truly treasure the good things that life brings their way.My other box should be arriving in 3 weeks or so and I can barely stand the wait. Every time a truck goes by our house I find myself looking to see if its the BB box for us. I think its a pretty good sign that I'm so excited about a box of spices and household items arriving.

Those material items we all take for advantage must mean a lot to the Filipino,I guess we can compare their excitement over a box of gifts to when we buy ourselves something like a new computer and cant wait to get it home to try it out.Anyway its good to hear your feeling positive about your life,lets hope there is a chocolate bar in the next box. :cheers:

[tom_shor]

I recently returned from a 6-week trip to the US. While I was there I had shipped over a couple of boxes of goodies for me and my family here in the Philippines. The first box arrived the other day and within minutes the family was poking their heads in the door to see if we needed any help opening the box. Some of our seldom seen neighbors were seen in the vicinity just to say hello. We said hello to the neighbors and sent the family back to their house asking them to come back in an hour.My wife and I unpacked the box, tucked away the things that were for us, sorted out the rest of the items, and looked over the box to make sure it was all there in good condition.In exactly 60 minutes the family was back to see what treasures we (by we, I mean they) received. I hadn't included any spectacular items, but I had a couple bottles of Olay body wash, some shampoo, candy, and other sundry items for my sister-in-law. I had given her most of them, but she was out of room on her lap so I handed 3 bars of Olay soap to my 3-year-old niece and said 'These are for you and nanay'. My wife said something in Tagalog and my niece clutched the bars to her chest and ran out of the house screaming, 'they're mine, Uncle TheMason gave them to me'. She was back in a few minutes crying. The bars of soap had been bitten open and there were bite marks on the bars. Apparently, my wife had told her they were chocolate bars. My niece had not been deterred by the soapy, perfumy smell and had taken quite a big bite out of them. She actually bit two of them, I guess she wanted to make sure the first one wasn't a mistake.She was very disillusioned that Tita would play a trick on her like that, but we were all too busy laughing to worry about it too much.Everyone was happy and smiling as they went home with their gifts. It was a really good day, just like Christmas in May.I've been feeling pretty negative and cynical about life here lately, but its episodes like this that remind me about the good things and why I choose to live here. Life is so simple and people take great pleasure from the little things in life. I'm learning to enjoy a simpler life, but it never ceases to amaze me how happy the people are here. Life seldom gets them down and they truly treasure the good things that life brings their way.My other box should be arriving in 3 weeks or so and I can barely stand the wait. Every time a truck goes by our house I find myself looking to see if its the BB box for us. I think its a pretty good sign that I'm so excited about a box of spices and household items arriving.

Glad to hear everything was in good condition.