One of my recent projects/challenges/cultural experiences has been to mail a small box of souvenir type things back to our family in the States.
Step 1: Go shopping for souvenirs. This was the fun part!
Step 2: Find a box and pack it with items. No problem; we had an over-sized shoe box from Noah's cleats. Packing things in a box so that they fit just right is secretly one of my favorite things. I am pretty sure I got this gene from my Dad.
Step 3: Find neighborhood post office.
Step 4: Take box to post office and mail it. This is where it gets really fun and a lot more complicated than it sounds. We went to the post office around 3:45 after we got the kids home from school and settled doing homework. We walked in and there were four windows. Only one window had a person behind it so we went to that window and told the gentleman that we wanted to mail this box to the US. He pointed to the window next to us and said we needed to be at that window. We stepped aside to that window and proceeded to wait for someone to come and help us. No one came and finally a man sitting behind a desk in the back of the office told us to ask the man at the window next to us what we needed. At least I think that is what he said by his hand gestures and because I understood the word for "ask". We stepped back over to the window next to us and again told the man that we wanted to mail the box to the US. He said that we needed to be at the window where we were standing but that window closes at 3:30. Really?????!!! But we also found out that the box needed to be wrapped in "markin" and stitched.
Step 5: Go to market to find "markin". We started at Gupta's because we know the owner (we have been to his store to practice language and tell him stories). He gave us beige material that looked kind of like cheesecloth.
Step 6: Find a tailor to stitch the material around the box. The first tailor we went to did not speak a lick of English and he finally understood what we needed. He kept turning the box different ways trying to figure out how to wrap the material around and quickly we realized this probably was not the best way to go about getting this done. We then went to a different tailor and waited a few minutes for him to finish the project he was working on. Then it was our turn and the tailor said that we could not use the material because it had writing on it (stamp marks on the material). We went to a different material store and bought some more material, took it back to the tailor to stitch it. He proceeded to measure the box and he made a really cool perfectly fitted sleeve of material to cover the box.
Step 7: Mail the box. Okay, now we were ready to head back to the post office the next day. We were on our way to the post office and we saw a guy selling sweet potatoes. The way the people eat them here is roasted over a fire and then eaten with lemon and spices on top. I have been wanting to see if I could buy the raw sweet potatoes and cook them myself at home. We stopped the guy and tried to ask him if all the sweet potatoes had been roasted already. We have not covered that in language class yet so we were not getting very far. Three ladies walked by and we asked them if they knew any English. They did know some and they were very helpful in helping us to communicate to the sweet potato walla. Then one of the ladies looked at me and said that she wanted to invite us to her house (right then). It was one of those moments that had to be divinely orchestrated so we accepted their invitation and walked with them to their flat. Along the way, we found out that their family was from Afghanistan and consisted of mom and 6 children (most are older teenagers and young adults). Their dad was killed by another family member and they cannot be in their country because of family problems. We had a very nice visit in their 5th floor very small flat. They were extremely hospitable and very kind. We hope to further our friendship with their family.
Back to the story....we went to the post office and walked up to the correct window. He told us where to write the sending and return address, and the custom forms that needed to be filled out. We paid the fees and were on our way to pick up the kids at school.
Overall, it was a relatively painless experience and very successful. I never did find out why the package had to be stitched in material. Oh, the many mysteries of living in another country!
Step 1: Go shopping for souvenirs. This was the fun part!
Step 2: Find a box and pack it with items. No problem; we had an over-sized shoe box from Noah's cleats. Packing things in a box so that they fit just right is secretly one of my favorite things. I am pretty sure I got this gene from my Dad.
Step 3: Find neighborhood post office.
Step 4: Take box to post office and mail it. This is where it gets really fun and a lot more complicated than it sounds. We went to the post office around 3:45 after we got the kids home from school and settled doing homework. We walked in and there were four windows. Only one window had a person behind it so we went to that window and told the gentleman that we wanted to mail this box to the US. He pointed to the window next to us and said we needed to be at that window. We stepped aside to that window and proceeded to wait for someone to come and help us. No one came and finally a man sitting behind a desk in the back of the office told us to ask the man at the window next to us what we needed. At least I think that is what he said by his hand gestures and because I understood the word for "ask". We stepped back over to the window next to us and again told the man that we wanted to mail the box to the US. He said that we needed to be at the window where we were standing but that window closes at 3:30. Really?????!!! But we also found out that the box needed to be wrapped in "markin" and stitched.
Step 5: Go to market to find "markin". We started at Gupta's because we know the owner (we have been to his store to practice language and tell him stories). He gave us beige material that looked kind of like cheesecloth.
Step 6: Find a tailor to stitch the material around the box. The first tailor we went to did not speak a lick of English and he finally understood what we needed. He kept turning the box different ways trying to figure out how to wrap the material around and quickly we realized this probably was not the best way to go about getting this done. We then went to a different tailor and waited a few minutes for him to finish the project he was working on. Then it was our turn and the tailor said that we could not use the material because it had writing on it (stamp marks on the material). We went to a different material store and bought some more material, took it back to the tailor to stitch it. He proceeded to measure the box and he made a really cool perfectly fitted sleeve of material to cover the box.
Step 7: Mail the box. Okay, now we were ready to head back to the post office the next day. We were on our way to the post office and we saw a guy selling sweet potatoes. The way the people eat them here is roasted over a fire and then eaten with lemon and spices on top. I have been wanting to see if I could buy the raw sweet potatoes and cook them myself at home. We stopped the guy and tried to ask him if all the sweet potatoes had been roasted already. We have not covered that in language class yet so we were not getting very far. Three ladies walked by and we asked them if they knew any English. They did know some and they were very helpful in helping us to communicate to the sweet potato walla. Then one of the ladies looked at me and said that she wanted to invite us to her house (right then). It was one of those moments that had to be divinely orchestrated so we accepted their invitation and walked with them to their flat. Along the way, we found out that their family was from Afghanistan and consisted of mom and 6 children (most are older teenagers and young adults). Their dad was killed by another family member and they cannot be in their country because of family problems. We had a very nice visit in their 5th floor very small flat. They were extremely hospitable and very kind. We hope to further our friendship with their family.
Back to the story....we went to the post office and walked up to the correct window. He told us where to write the sending and return address, and the custom forms that needed to be filled out. We paid the fees and were on our way to pick up the kids at school.
Overall, it was a relatively painless experience and very successful. I never did find out why the package had to be stitched in material. Oh, the many mysteries of living in another country!
love this... I kept thinking "why fabric?!" Sometimes the small daily things are the ones that can become so frustrating. I'm glad your heart is so attuned that you veiw those experiences as painfree. Thankful for new friendships and hospitality, what a gift!
ReplyDeletethat is so bizarre it had to be covered in fabric! but i love that you met a new friend. how lovely!
ReplyDeleteIsn't that fabric thing so frustrating... I am sure it's left over from the British... so antiquated and none of their labels stick to it. I usually stitch it myself or argue and insist they send it without the stitching.
ReplyDelete