It took two

your license, mamsir

1) two student permits (apparently you can't get a license if you don't have the official receipt for your student permit, which i naturally lost a couple of weeks ago. so i actually had to go and get myself a second student permit just so i could present an official receipt. philippine bureaucracy -- don't you just love it?)

2) two fuzzy digital photos (for the aforementioned two student permits)

3) two hundred pesos for the license fee alone (not to mention what i paid my driving school for their "assistance")

4) two skipped meals (lunch yesterday and breakfast today)

5) two trips to the lto, over the course of

6) two days, all because of

7) two mixed-up photos (the driving school guy claimed my license yesterday afternoon only to find that it sported some anonymous guy's photo!!!! hello?!?!? does the "paul" on the license negate the "catherine"?)

...to finally get my very own driver's license!

weird. now that i have my license, i find myself longing to cower behind the security blanket that was my student permit. my student-driver foibles are no longer excusable!