Goin' 'Postal'!!!

Today I had another post office adventure, but this time it was in one of the bigger post offices in Limbe, a larger city about an hour away. I needed to go there to pick up a box sent to me by my boyfriend a good three weeks ago, but which I did not receive because the customs office at the Limbe Post Office decided to hold it "because the value of all of the contents was not declared." Hmmm... Of course, my experience with such matters in foreign post offices told me that something was amiss.

Of course, when I arrived at the post office, about 10 minutes prior to noon, I was told at the counter that I needed to go to a different area ("parcel pick-up" or something of the sort) to pick up the box. Since I was also trying to send a package to Heather (yes, the prize for winning the "guess the big bug on my wall" contest), it took a while to find out that I couldn't send the prize in the large envelope in which it was packed. Instead, I would need a 'carton' (British/Malawian English for 'box'). Of course, I could not buy this box at the post office, nor could the nice lady at the counter give me a clear idea of where I could buy one. After a bit of discussion about this, I finally decided to go to the "parcel pick-up area," where after a short wait, a nice lady greeted me and looked at the form I received in the mail from customs about 3 weeks ago. After a bit of discussion, she then informed me that it was lunchtime, and no one was available in the "parcel holding-room" (that's my term) until after 1 p.m., so I'd have to come back then.

O.K., so I decided to go find something to eat, and also look for a box in which to send the special prize to my sister... (By the way, the contest is still on to guess what I sent her... I'm hoping it'll get there in about 2 weeks, but some sources tell me it could take longer, so there should be plenty of time to enter your guesses. Come on, don't you wanna win the next prize?) I eventually stopped into an electronics store, as I was in the market for a couple of fans and a radio, and after seeing the ridiculously high prices, decided to ask if they had any small boxes they could spare for the package. Luckily, the salesperson was very helpful and after checking with the store owner, went to the back room and brought out two boxes to choose from, and let me take one of them, free of charge. After that was taken care of, I found a place to eat not far up the road, and was able to kill the next 45 minutes until I could pick up my box at 1 p.m. Yahoo!

So, I headed back to the post office a few minutes past 1 p.m., and waited a few minutes for the nice "parcel pick-up clerk" to finish her phone conversation, and then come to the counter to help me. Now, it's my belief that no one was really out to lunch. It's just a matter of course for post office clerks to behave this way everywhere in the world. Even if they can help you, they won't if the clock is at a certain hour. In the U.S., it's the closing time (4:00 or 5:00, depending on the Post office). Even if all you need is one bloody stamp, they won't sell it to you one minute after closing time. It's that same thing all over the world. Some big post office conspiracy, I'm convinced.

So, she finally comes to help me, then goes to the door where the boxes ('parcels') are kept (btw, they're 'parcels' if something is in them, but 'cartons' when empty... just to be clear..), and a woman appears. This is the woman I believe was always there, in hiding, but out of principle would not help me during the sacred 'lunch hour.' They proceed to open the box, and as they're doing so, I look at the customs form, which lists everything in the box, and a value of $100. Included in the box was an old Lexmark printer (worth about $50), 4 ink cartridges, some towels, a can opener, a fork, and a butter knife (this was when I couldn't find these things in Zomba-- I've since bought a whole set of utensils in Blantyre, since the box was sitting in Limbe for so long...)

I then mentioned to the ladies that the customs declaration form was clearly filled out, but the clerk disputed the value of the ink cartridges, which were not listed. I told her the value of the printer was only about $50, and the cartridges were worth about $10 each, and the rest of it was worth about another $10, totalling $100. She tried to argue that with the ink cartridges, the true value was $150. Clearly, this was a racket to get more money out of me. I almost gave in, but this time realized what was going on, and in the end she gave in and said $100 was o.k., and I was able to retrieve my box without any extra fees. Whew! I also managed to pack Heather's box with the help of a nice gentlement who lent me a marker and some packing tape, so all's well that ends well, and I didn't even have to "go postal." I even got a 'tracking number' for the package. I wonder if it means anything. Hopefully I won't need to find out. As always, I'll keep you "posted." Tiwonana Mawa!