I like the Mexican postal system.
Before I moved down here, I heard all of the usual horror stories. Don't drink the water. Don't drive at night. And, most important, don't rely on the Mexican mail service.
It turned out all three were wrong -- to some degree.
There is plenty of water to drink in Mexico. Driving at night is not wise, but also not deadly. And the Mexican mail is every bit as reliable as the United States Postal Service. (And that is not praising with faint damns.)
There is plenty of water to drink in Mexico. Driving at night is not wise, but also not deadly. And the Mexican mail is every bit as reliable as the United States Postal Service. (And that is not praising with faint damns.)
It took me some time to come to that last conclusion.
One of the first things I did when I moved to Melaque was open a box at Mailboxes, Etc. in Manzanillo. But, after listening to my neighbors and two fellow bloggers, I decided I was wasting a lot of money. So, I closed the box and opened one at the local post office in San Patricio (posting my life).
One of the first things I did when I moved to Melaque was open a box at Mailboxes, Etc. in Manzanillo. But, after listening to my neighbors and two fellow bloggers, I decided I was wasting a lot of money. So, I closed the box and opened one at the local post office in San Patricio (posting my life).
It has been over a year now. And I have no complaints.
I have one correspondent in The States who does not have access to a computer. Our letters take about ten days to arrive. And they have all shown up.
Even my magazines arrive timely. My June editions are already here. National Geographic two days ago. The American Spectator this morning. (National Review and my newspaper, The Oregonian, show up on my Kindle. No mail required.)
The one exception is The Economist. In March (two flings and a funeral), I crowed about resolving my problems with my subscription. The print editions had finally started showing up in my mail box.
And they continued to show up -- until I left on my six-week jaunt away from Mexico. I thought I was going to find six magazines waiting for me when I returned. There were two. And none has arrived during the three weeks I have been back.
The Mexican mail system does not appear to be at fault. After all, my other magazines arrive on time. (I just noticed that The American Spectator comes with a Deutsche Post stamp and a Mexico City return address.)
With the absence of a print edition, I have been relying on The Economist web site. That may turn out to be a better option for me.
The news is timely. All of the articles are included. And it is quite a snazzy format. Color photographs and all.
So put me down as a very happy user of the Mexican mail system.
And a happier internet user.
And they continued to show up -- until I left on my six-week jaunt away from Mexico. I thought I was going to find six magazines waiting for me when I returned. There were two. And none has arrived during the three weeks I have been back.
The Mexican mail system does not appear to be at fault. After all, my other magazines arrive on time. (I just noticed that The American Spectator comes with a Deutsche Post stamp and a Mexico City return address.)
With the absence of a print edition, I have been relying on The Economist web site. That may turn out to be a better option for me.
The news is timely. All of the articles are included. And it is quite a snazzy format. Color photographs and all.
So put me down as a very happy user of the Mexican mail system.
And a happier internet user.
I have to agree with you mostly on this one. I had heard the stories of the post office also.
ReplyDeleteI have sent many things to Canada and all have arrived. Parcels I send by registered mail and you get a tracking number to watch it until it leaves Mexico. Everything that has been sent to me from Canada I have also received.
The only problem that occurred was once when someone sent me a small parcel, (unregistered mail) from within the state of Sonora. It disappeared and I tend to think that it disappeared right in the post office where she lives, where the people know her and know her artistry.
I would recommend using registered mail for anything important because of this one instance.
Good recommendation.
ReplyDeleteThat's good news about the "Mexican mail system". My prior experiences, years ago, weren't always promising, but maybe now I could attempt a mailing at some point. I'll try again from the States, and test the results.
ReplyDeleteThere's still something special when receiving cards, pictures, etc., in the mail, other then the Internet.
I am a satisfied customer.
ReplyDelete"And the Mexican mail is every bit as reliable as the United States Postal Service."
ReplyDeleteThis is NOT our experience over here on the east coast of Mexico. Getting mail is hit or miss and very expensive to boot. After seven years here we just tell people to NOT mail anything to us - consider it non-existent. That has worked ;-0
Yesterday when I was at the post office, I saw several priority mail
ReplyDeletepackages from The States being loaded onto the mail carrier's motorcycle. We must have better service over here.
I've often wondered about that. Is there any additional charge (from the magazines) for mailing them to Mexico? Another solution is to read them online. The New Yorker goes online every Monday and I download it to my Kindle. Same with Vanity Fair, though I often wonder if its worth it to burn all those gigabytes for the sake of getting VF a few days earlier (or at all in the case of some editions)
ReplyDeleteal
I pay the same subscription for each of my magazines as I did in The States. Not too long ago, most magazines charged a substantially higher subscription for foreign delivery.
ReplyDeleteI have never been able to figure out how to download The Economist on my Kindle. That would solve several issues. That is a good discussion topic when I am in San Miguel in August.
I get the Economist every week on my Kindle - do not understand the problem?
ReplyDeleteAs a Kindle subscription or as a download from the magazine's web site. The Amazon site says I cannot subscribe because I am in Latin America.
ReplyDelete