Emirates Post

One of the biggest changes we've dealt with here in Abu Dhabi is the lack of a postal system like we were used to. Specifically, free delivery to our home, every day, 6-days-per-week. We have successfully mailed postcards from here a couple of times and I think they have all made it to their destination in the US. But we've never attempted to send anything bigger than a postcard. 

Receiving mail is tricky too. Because you need to rent a post office box, which costs between 250 and 1250 AED annually. So far this has been an expense we have avoided. I haven't even figured out the closest post office to our apartment. We get around using the post office whenever we buy something online, for instance, by relying on courier delivery. That works 100% of the time for packages originating here in the UAE. But we never did receive that giant shipment of homeschool books I attempted to have shipped here from the US last fall. And the grandparents have been less than pleased to be unable to send birthday presents to our quickly growing up chillins.

But today we were forced to figure out the post office because of a couple of texts I received notifying me that we had two pieces of registered mail and that we needed to visit the Central Post Office for collection.

I had no idea what this was about. 

But then Henry mentioned he was about to give up on ever receiving the replacement parts for his RC car (shameless Youtube plug here: SupeRCheap RC) that he had ordered from China. And it clicked that maybe those were the packages. So today, 90 minutes of waiting in line:

and 57 AED for public PO Box fees later (which is twice what he paid for the parts),

Henry is ready for some epic RC car action!

And I think we'll not order parts from China again.