From Russia, Without Love...

Emily and I decided to mail a few things home today so we could make space in our backpacks. We realized we didn't need some of the clothes we brought, because it isn't nearly as cold as we thought it would be. So, we went to the post office in Yekaterinburg. We didn't think it would be as easy as Korea where they have all forms in Korean and English and they have examples of each in addition to staff that probably speaks at least a little English. We were shocked at how difficult it is to send a package from a Russian post office.

First, we needed a box. There is no line to do so, you just cut in front of everyone, ask for a box, a woman asks how big, you tell her, and poof you have a box. That's easy if you're used to places with no lines and you speak Russian. Doing that as a foreigner who doesn't speak Russian is like climbing Everest. After you finally get a box, you have to figure out which of the six windows you go to. Just getting to that point took us nearly 45 minutes. Luckily, our guidebook told us what "international mail" looked like in Cyrillic. Without that, we would have been lost.

At the window (after waiting in line with more pushy Russians), you give them the box with a customs slip. At this point, you usually only have to fill out one form with your address, a line-item list of what is in the box, and the address you are sending it to. Not in Russia. We only had to fill out three forms to send our box, but people ahead of us had to supply a copy of their passports with six to seven forms, and in one woman's case a green card.

In addition to all of this, the international mail lady only spoke Russian. Luckily, there was a man who spoke German in line who asked, "Sprechen sie Deutsche?" Do you speak German? He had a sort of perplexed look on his face when I said, "Ja, Ich spreche Deutsche ein bichen." Yes, I speak German a little. Out of all people in the entire post office that would speak German, I'm sure the Asian guy was the last on his list. He told me what the postal clerk was saying, how to fill out each form, etc. Despite the frustrating circumstances, we figured it out with a combination of written French and spoken German and sent the package. Whether it will ever arrive is another question...