Post Office, part 2

Alison:
After the relative ease - by Russian standards - with which we sent books back to California, we trotted back to the Central Post Office to mail back our winter clothes. Turns out, books are easy to send, clothes not so easy.

In an airless, hot room were five queues. Per my usual technique I just jumped on one and was handed a form written in French and Russian, and was yelled to fill out all three. I think. That's when Julia appeared, a good Samaritan and my assistant for the next 40 memorable minutes during which the postal worker packed and unpacked my boxes three times, went through Larry's long johns and asked in Russian what they were and why they weren't listed on the form correctly. Understand, our stuff is so ratty after four months of continuous washing and wearing that I was pretty embarrassed I was not throwing it all out altogether.

Ms. Nasty Postal Worker made us fill out the form a 2nd time - in triplicate - while Julia explained that not all Russians were mean and angry. Julia and Ms. Nasty began to argue at one point and I asked her what was going on. She had been trying to explain that the process was difficult for foreigners to understand and Ms. Nasty spat back "that's not my fault!"

Note to others: go to DHL, they are right down the street. This was one Russian experience not worth repeating.

Postscript: our stuff will arrive in two months. Perhaps...according to Julia.