Since I only have 2 generally small backpacks, if I'm going to have any souvenirs from this trip I have to start sending things home. I can usually carry a few extra things in my backpacks before they get too full, but I've already sent 3 boxes home in the 2 months I've been gone.
The first 2 I sent from Brazil, and they didn't actually have too many things in it since I didn't go so big on the shopping. Fortunately I found a post office in the international airport, so it was easy to just stop there once when I arrived (to send everything from Peru and Bolivia) and once before I went to India (to send everything from Brazil and Argentina). Those boxes made it home in under 2 weeks with the cheapest shipping option, I figure they drove it up to Texas through Central America maybe? Shipping things in Brazil was a familiar experience, not at all like India.
In India, sending a box home was done like I would have never expected. Once I got all my souvenirs together, my friend Jaclyn and I went over to the post office. First you have to go to the packer dude. He takes all your stuff and packs it so it's ready for shipping. We expected he would pack it a box...this was not the case. He took my stuff, organized it a little more, and then put it back in the plastic bag I gave it to him in. Then he wrapped it tight in string how you would wrap a gift. Once he did that he took some white cloth he had handy and started to sew a little bag. Once sewn enough he put my plastic bag in it and finished sewing it shut. Now it was pretty much just my stuff in a white bag, and he wrote "To" and "Sender" on the cloth. It was then that I realized there was going to be no box.
I asked about boxes, but this guy was very noncommunative the entire time, so he continued to be of little help. He managed to say "market" though while shaking his head when we asked about boxes. Oh well! I wrote the info and then he told me I needed a customs slip. I never needed a customs slip in Brazil, but this is India. I filled out a few of the things that I remembered to put in the box and gave it to him. He folded up my customs slip and sewed a little piece of string to the cloth that he slipped the paper under. It looked like it could fall out any moment haha. We pretty much stood there in awe the entire time. Oh I almost forgot. After sewing the cloth, he lit a candle and then took a stick of wax and made stamped seals all along the seams of the package. I guess this would make sure it was tamper proof, still it was quite the process. It almost seemed like an ancient ritual with the burning wax and everything.
Here's what mine looked like when it was done.
So now we have our packages and we manage to get him to tell us where to go next, which is window 4 or 5 right behind us where the lines are. We practiced balancing our packages on our head while waiting in line, but it was much harder than all the Indians made it look!
Behind us then came another guy with a white cloth package. He stood behind us for a few seconds, and then proceeded to walk behind the post office desk (!?) and put it down next to the teller behind the window, and then walk back to us. As he was doing that, we were thinking maybe packages can be done different from regular mail or maybe there was a different line for foreigners, so Jaclyn went to ask. He told her to go behind the desk and talk to the teller directly. So she essentially just cut the line and had the teller do her entire transaction behind the desk. Wtf? Anyway, once she started paying I left my spot in line and followed suit. Again essentially cutting the line and paying for my package while all the Indians in line stood there with unsurprised looks on their faces behind the glass window. Never in the US would they let anyone step foot behind the desk haha.
I sent my package by SAL mail, which I think means by boat, so we'll see how long it really takes as a cargo ship goes 20 knots (maybe not even?) across the Atlantic ocean. I hear 3 months or so. Hah I'll practically be done with my trip by then! But it was only 1300 rupees which comes out to about 28 USD. For 4 kg(about 9 lbs) I say that's a bargain! It cost me $30-45 to send both of my Brazil boxes and they were significantly lighter. India was cheap so I could get flip flops, pants, shirts, and other random things for all $5 or less each. Maybe $6-10 if the vendor was really stubborn.
Of course you have to bargain hard to get those prices. They still start at prices that aren't that bad if you convert them to USD, but still a rip off compared to what they're worth. They all want higher margins. (Prices in rupees 50 rupees = 1 USD) They would start out at 900 and I'd bring them down to 250. If I really showed that I didn't want them I could get 150 or 200 from something that started at 600-1000. Sometimes they would even start at 1200 or so for something you could get for 200, it was ridiculous. After spending a few hours shopping I really got the hang of the bargaining thing. I could talk them down real quickly. I was with Jaclyn at the markets, and there was one store we had the most epic bargaining session ever. The vendor started out at 1450 and she retaliated with 650 (for multiple items here). They argued with each other for minutes, only moving by 50 at a time until it ended up at 900 where they both agreed haha. It was quite the scene.
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