Change of Address

 

When I moved to Mexico, I did not trust the Mexican postal service to reliably deliver my mail.  My distrust stems back to when I first met Alejandro.  I sent him a Christmas card from Ohio after Thanksgiving, and he received it in time for Easter.  

For the past two years, I have used Mail Boxes Etc. as a private mailing service.  Although Mail Boxes Etc. no longer exists in the United States (they were bought out by UPS), the company name is still used here in Mexico.  When I registered prior to my permanent move, I was assigned an address in Miami.  My mail would go through there, and then it would be shipped to Mexico City.  I would pick up my mail at one their offices here.  I had to pay for each item of mail that was delivered to me, but since I did not receive much mail, except at Christmas time, it wasn't an enormous expense.

Earlier this month I received a couple pieces of mail.  I went to the Mail Boxes office, and I was flabbergasted by how much I had to pay.  They have changed their prices, and infrequent customers, such as I, now have to pay the equivalent of around 22 U.S. dollars for each piece of mail.  If I receive around 40 or 50 Christmas cards, it's going to cost me a small fortune to pick up my mail!  I could rent a mailbox from them, but that costs 900 pesos per month (around 45 dollars or 540 dollars per year).

There are some places that required my actual Mexico City address, and there have been occasions where I have received mail here at the apartment building.  The mail may be slow... about a month to arrive... but then again it usually took three weeks for mail to be delivered by Mail Boxes Etc.  So, I am going to cross my fingers and trust the Mexican postal service ("Correos de México") to deliver the mail to me.  A few days ago, I send an email to my friends giving them my apartment address.  Come Christmas time, we will see if "Correos de México" comes through! 

(images taken from the internet)