A Traveler's Generic Phrase Book and Novel

by Shirley B. Trew

Thursday, April 26, 2012


POST #26—POST OFFICE

Where is the post office?
The post office. I want to mail a letter.
Is this the post office?
I want to mail this please.
Can I have stamps for this please? It's going to Tupelo.
No, I'm sorry. All I have is that twenty million bongo note. Is that a lot?

She wants to know if you have one hundred and seventy-five thousand bongoes in change.
Put your American money away.
That man behind us is getting impatient.
Do I have to put USA on the card?
How do you say USA in (language)?
How do you say receipt in (language)?
Maybe we shouldn't ask for a receipt this time.

The stamps aren't sticky.
Do I have to put my own glue on?
Is there glue for these stamps?
How do you say glue in (language)?
Where do I put the postcard?
Is there someone here who speaks English?
Do I put the postcard in here?
Are you sure this is a mailbox?
Maybe they don't have mailboxes.

Is that man a policeman/militia/priest/mailman/airline pilot?
Do I have to wait in line all over again to give the man my postcards to mail?
Maybe we should just mail them all from LAX/Miami/Kennedy/O'Hare.

Should I send a post card to my mother's cousin in Palookaville?
Do you think she'd like this picture of Indian dances?
Do you think she'd like this picture of independence day celebrations?
Do you think she'd like this picture of  people picking and sorting tea leaves?
Or the one of peasants cutting sugarcane?
Or this 500-year old temple/church/mosque?

Did we see this one or was that another one?
Look at this post card.
That's really beautiful, what is it?
It says here that it's the blank of blank.
Wow, let's go there.

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