So for those of you interested in being my pen-pal, or sending me little packages of awesomeness, I decided to list some of the pointers recommended by the Peace Corps in terms of mailing to the Dominican Republic:
- The mail service in the DR is neither as efficient nor as predictable as the U.S. Postal Service, thus it is important to be patient. It can take up to 4 weeks to receive mail from Santo Domingo to the United States via the Dominican postal system; from a Volunteer's site, mail might take in excess of a month to reach the U.S. We suggest that you let your volunteer know the length of time it takes to receive his/her letters and then try to establish a predictable pattern of how often the Volunteer will write.
- Numbering your letters allows your Volunteer to know if one is missing.
- Postcards should be sent in envelopes--otherwise they may be found on the wall of the local
- Sending packages. Relatives often like to mail care packages. Unfortunately, mailing packages can be a frustrating experience due to the high incidence of theft and expensive customs tax. You may try mailing inexpensive items, but there is no guarantee that these items will arrive. We do not recommend mailing costly items.
- It is recommended that packages be sent in padded envelopes if possible, as boxes tend to be taxed and opened more frequently.
Alanna Crotty, PCV
Cuerpo de Paz
APDO 1412
Santo Domingo
Dominican Republic
And I will definitely appreciate it! And try to write back in a timely manner =D
hey alanna! so, i do *not* mean to give some stereotypical condescending/facetious comment about your joining the peace corps, so forgive me when i say it this way, but .... i think it's *really* awesome that you're doing this!! (seriously!)
ReplyDeletei wanted to do it for the longest time, but other obligations (mostly financial) have kept me from searching for alternatives. (hopefully one day, though. or at least volunteering somewhere for a bit, huh? :)
i have a blog too, for the year i'll be teaching in spain. i know you'll be busy and often incomunicado (or incomunicadA, as the case may be. haha) but it's there if you're interested. - they're all the same, the first one's in english ;)
<3 jessica