little krupdates here and there: I Love Packages!

I love packages in all shapes and sizes. I especially love surprise packages, when you don't know that one is coming your way. We have recently received some wonderful packages for Baby Krupke from friends back home. It still amazes me that something can travel around the world in sometimes under 2 weeks. To receive a package, the postal service will ring our doorbell and bring it right up to the apartment. However, if you are not home to welcome your parcel, it becomes a little more complicated. We ran into this problem a couple weeks ago.

There was a note in our mailbox that a package had tried to be delivered, but no one was home, so it gave us the address of the post office where we could pick it up. The next morning, in 90+ degree heat, Nate and I jumped on our electric scooter for an adventure in retrieving our goodies. I must say, seeing both of us and my big baby belly on our little scooter, must be quite a sight. We lovingly refer to this bike as the 'Black Beast' which is quite ironic considering its size and power. Several people stare as we ride past, but it sure beats walking in the heat. Upon our arrival of the post office, the entire building was gutted and by the looks of it, about to be demolished. (This happens a lot in our city. Construction is a constant process and with all the man power they have, they can tear down and rebuild a building in just a few short weeks. We have often tried to go to a favorite restuarant or store, only to find a pile of rubble.) Plan B in this case was to try another post office in the area, thinking maybe all the postal business had be re-routed to one location.

Of course this other branch has different hours, and was yet to be open at 8:30 in the morning. That is another thing that you run into in this country. Most businesses don't post their working hours, it is all relative, so sometimes things are open, sometimes they are not. We thought we would try back at 9:00 am, so to kill some time, we rode on over to the food street in our neighborhood to get some breakfast. It was getting pretty warm, so I enjoyed a cold Gatorade and some Birthday Cake Oreos that I found on the shelf and had to try. (a new favorite I might add) and Nate enjoyed a steamed bun filled with meat and veggies called a baozi.

We headed back to the 2nd post office, only to find a line waiting outside the door. As soon as the gate opened it was like a gun was fired at the starting block. Everyone ran to be first in line, I just ran to find some air conditioning. Nate got in line, only to find out that the post office that was a pile of rubble was actually still running. You just had to go around back to a little room they were operating out of. Needless to say there were no signs anywhere. So we hoped back on the 'Beast' and rode back to the first location, only to be greeted by about 50 of our closets friends and neighbors all waiting to take care of their shipping and mailing needs. We took a number and waited our turn. Within 15 minutes and several forms of ID, we were able to get our goodies and head home. I have to continually remind myself that simple things, like running to the post office, just take more time here. When it was all said and done, it took us an hour and half to get our package, but it was well worth it. Our sweet friends, Jessica and Bridget, sent our little guy his first Ball State gear. :)