Tuesday, May 20, 2008

MAILING ADDRESS

ahh! I can't believe I leave so soon-- 5 days!!

Here is my mailing address, I believe for the whole time I'm there, but definitely for the first three months.


"Julie __, PCV"
Cuerpo de Paz
162 Chaco Boreal c/Mcal. López
Asunción, 1580 Paraguay
South America

PCT stands for Peace Corps Trainee, which will turn to PCV for volunteer after the first 3 months. This is not where I will be living, it is just a PC office where I can go to claim packages.

Apparently mail in Paraguay is pretty reliable compared to other developing countries.. 80% of letter actually arrive haha. Airmail can take two to three weeks to and from Paraguay and surface mails can take months. Although recently airmail has been backed up because their are only two airlines that go to Paraguay, American airlines and Varig, and they are short on cargo space.

Numbering letters is recommended since some might get lost. It is suggested to not declare any value above 5 bucks on packages or else they will either be stolen or I will have to pay a fee to receive them.. also, I read something about packages being under a certain weight or else you have to claim them. For now, it's probably safe to send anything in those big envelopes, since they will prob be underweight, but more than that might be questionable until i get more info.

I will update this entry later with more info!