Something has been bothering me the entire time I have been here in Santiago (about four months now). Actually, more than one thing has been on my mind, but this one pops into my head every time I drive over the mail that has been delivered that day. You see, I don't have a mailbox. And I have no zip code. My address is similar to the one I had in the US, as there is a street and a number, but they are in opposite order. My city is Santiago but that isn't really the important part. The part that gets my mail here is my barrio - or rather the exact neighborhood of the metropolitan city that is Santiago that I live in. It just seems so...different. Not that this surprises me. Everything in Chile is different, even if it is the same. So, how does my mail arrive and who delivers it? Every once in awhile I catch someone throwing mail through my front gate, and it is always someone new. A guy on a moped that has a box strapped to the back. Or some regular Joe that has his i-Pod attached to his ears carrying a stack of bills. Do they not have mail carriers? Is there even a post office here in Chile? And how come there is never any postage on any of the mail I receive? Yes, these are the things that keep my mind busy...
So I asked my professora in class the other day - Is there un cartero in Chile (a postman)? And the answer is yes and no. There is a post office but it is for letters only (perhaps the random package too) but it isn't used much. It seems to have gone the way of the Bee Gees, hip in its day and now just nostalgic. The reason I keep seeing different people on mopeds throwing mail through my front gate is that most businesses have hired private delivery services to deliver their bills/notices/advertisements. (This explains why there is never any postage on my mail!) It has just become more cost effective for the gas/electric/credit card company to print out their billing statements, hire a handful of couriers and send them on their way. They can pay a courier $25 US for a days work (and don't hold me to that number, I made it up but I am guessing it is pretty accurate, if not high), and get 100 bills delivered, if not more. No postage, no waiting. The bills go out that day and are delivered the same day (which is a plus around here because you will get your gas bill on Tuesday and it is due on Friday). And it is probably about half of what it would cost to send them by mail. Pretty smart if you ask me. Now if I could just get them to stop throwing it on my driveway, in the rain, right where I will drive over it without seeing it until I have already pulled in, so that it is a wet, soggy mess and I need to spend the next day drying it out before I can open it...
So, if you don't get mail from me for the next couple of years, you now know why. I don't know where the post office is, or even if one exists here. Do they even make stamps (I have not seen one, and I have gotten plenty of mail)? And if I do somehow figure out how to mail it to you, it will still take 4-6 weeks to get it at your home. I will be spending a lot of time on email and facebook keeping in touch.
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