Ok, so I've been doing some "research", which means waiting for other people to find out what to do and then following their instructions, and my mailing address for the first TWO MONTHS will be:
Catherine Duthie, PCT
Peace Corps Training Site
PO Box 9123
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Africa
After the first two months I'll be done with training and then placed in a village. I won't know where my placement will be until I'm done, so once I get that information I'll post my new address.
I stole this from another blog...who admitted to stealing this from ANOTHER blog as well...but here is more information on mailing things:
-“There are a few things you can do to help hasten and secure the passage and delivery of your mail. Have anyone sending you a care package scribble religious symbols and biblical quotes all over the outside of the box. This sounds silly, but it works. Though many of the countries in which the Peace Corps serves are largely animist in religion, superstition runs high and even corrupt postal workers are wary of intercepting religious parcels. Along every step of the way, your mail will be subject to the whims of postal officials, customs officers, and delivery personnel who often take the liberty of rummaging through care packages in search of goodies from the U.S. If you mail is embellished with religious symbols, the odds of keeping it intact are improved. You may even want to ask the sender to write “Sister” or “Brother” before your name, the heighten the effect. Another trick is to have your mail addressed to you in red ink. I’ve been told red ink is somewhat sacrosanct in many third world societies and is reserved for only the most official of letters and correspondences. Though I’m unsure about this explanation’s validity, I can vouch for the trick’s effectiveness, having seen several packages addressed in red ink delivered safely and expeditiously.”
Also:
-Make sure you're using Airmail
-Number your letters so I know if one has been lost
-I've heard that padded envelopes have a better chance of making it than boxes
-It can help to include "educational materials'" or "feminine hygiene products" on the package in writing that looks official
I LOVE crappy kiddie candy...just throwing that out there!
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2 comments:
Oh, I am going to have a field day with drawing religious symbols all over your stuff. You know I'll take it to a whole new level.
Also, I wish I had an extra $3000 laying around so I could come visit you. :-(
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