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How about shipping the old fashioned way?

Does anyone here regularly ship stuff to their PO Box? When shopping on eBay I know a lot of people offer express mail shipping to PO Boxes, has anyone tried that? I know when I was in university back in Lebanon I used to order books from Amazon to my mailbox in Lebanon and it would take around 20 days to get there. How long does it take to get the items in Kuwait? Do you pay customs? How does one open a PO Box and what are the fees?

Update: I found this page with details. Mailbox annual fee is KD4 and KD2 as insurance for the key. I need to open a mailbox. [Link]

78 replies on “How about shipping the old fashioned way?”

Sure you will pay customs, as it will be delivered to Kuwait through a courier company and that new shit should be over all of them, FedEx, Aramex, UPS and DHL
.. I am waiting for a rawhide bones for my dogs, costs about 30$ :S
and I am going to pay KD20 for clearing them, what the fuck is that !!!!

Hi Mark, I used to order DVD’s from amazon.com in 1999 when the DVD was newly released I would order 5 movies and it would cost me around 50-60 K.D for the movies and the shipping would be around 40 K.D so the total sum would be 100 K.D. Regarding how long it takes to get to your doorstep I would say around a week or so.

By mistake, once, I got my amazon shipment sent to my billing address – not the PO box, but i’m sure it’s the same process. they deliver a card to your house saying that you have to go and pick up your shipment from ‘centraaal’ in khaldiya. you get into this run down, archaic building where you have to go from desk to desk looking for the right place to go (which ended up being in the basement). then the guy hands your card to a bangladeshi guy who manually goes through a bunch of reference cards and then looks around for your box – which could take a while. consider yourself lucky if they actually find your shipment. then an inspector asks you to open the box in front of him so that he can see what you’ve ordered. can’t they just automate the system and make it easier?
seriously – what’s up with all this crap? do they just not want us to live? you can’t get good books, movies, things here – and now they make it difficult to order from outside. enough already!

اذا بياخذون جمارك اكيد حتى البريد العادي بيكون عليه جمارك
والبريد العادي كله بوق

Used snail-mail in the days before shopandship. 15$ book from amazon with a 20$ shipping normal shipping charge to my company’s p.o.box. Those days it took a month for the book to show up. No customs fees or any charges then. I guess we are going back to the “good old days” when we had patience.

Mark, first of all, good luck getting a mail box, at least in Salmiya or anywhere near it, they are all taken, been trying for 10 years. As for regular post, takes about 3-4 weeks usually, but as I said EMS is the best in my opinion. Takes 5 days, and you pick it up from a post office. I order alot of stuff using EMS, and I’ve never paid squat for customs.

Mark, last time I tried which was about a couple of months ago in Salmiya, there was a long waiting list for PO boxes. Dunno if that’s changed.

how does EMS work?? U provide them a P.O.Box number with the phone number?? I ordered a couple of items on ebay from Hong Kong via normal shipping and they didnt arrive in almost a month!! I had to ask for a refund for both the items!!!

Musty, not all sellers use EMS. However if it’s available, just put the exact same details as you would for any other method, in addition to your phone number.

one of my friends just got his package and paid KD3

i think Aramex needs to review their E-mails before sending they did not meant that we have to pay more they meant that it could take sometime.

i dont know !

I did try sending stuff abroad. that worked just fine. but receiving stuff almost never work. always get lost in kuwait somewhere.

been using P O Box for all my Ebay purchase , most items are not shipped by Aramex or USWS , 1 out of each 10 purchases is lost
of the 9 arriving , 6 take over 3-4 months to arrive

not to mention the shape the package arrive in

once you start getting valueable items on regualr bases expet your rate of lose to incrase , a friend was losing 9 out of each 10 package he is sent , the MOC changed his P O Box 3 times now shifting him from one Zone to anotehr

I thought about having them delivered to my p.o.box , but the problem is its very slow , I tried it before and the post office in Kuwait is really bad. the chance you will lose your stuff is very high . I also think that you will get charged for customs either way.

Mark order by regular standard Kuwaiti mail and if you ever get your package you are a very lucky man cause the standard mail in Kuwait has a good reputation for being the worst mail ever. A bank in the UK sent me a credit card twice and their pin codes twice and I never ever got them!!!

its not legal for customs to charge for everything that gets shipped, its a matter of someone having the balls to file a law suit against kuwait customs, since i dont have the money or the time or maybe the the above mentioned someone else has to do it, and yes they will charge your for normal snail mail.

البريد العادي مستواه أقل من صفر وفاشل

طلبت كريم سنة 2008 قبل ما أفتح بريد ارامكس وللحين ماوصل

دخت أنا وأدور عليه ببريد الصفاة وكيفان وطلعت المطار ودخلت الجمارك وأروح من مبنى لمبنى وماحصلت شي وليومك هذا ماوصل شي

This is Kuwait. Letters and packages get dumped in the desert.

Half the stuff that gets mailed to me doesn’t reach me. Why would you use regular mail?

The best bet for the courier companies is to raise a lawsuit against customs. These new charges are akin to legalized extortion.

I had a shark’s head sent via P.O Box from the Maldives and it came in one piece. Took about 2 weeks but it caused a scene at the post office when the inspector opened the box. Guess they’re not used to seeing that often.

I regularly buy stuff from Ebay & get them shipped to my Kuwait POBOX. I use USWS for those sellers on Ebay who don’t offer International shipping or when the item is expensive & valuable & am afraid it will get stolen or lost before reaching me. Sometimes items take one week to 15 days other times a month & other times they just get lost. I pay through Paypal & usually get a refund when items are lost. I do not pay any custom when I receive items to my Kuwait POBOX but after this new law I don’t know what will happen if this will also affect shipments through regular mail!!! 🙁 I’ve had a splitting headache since I read Mark’s post yesterday night!!!

Ha!

khair insha2 allah…

We have a mailbox in mishref, at one point in time we asked for all the documents and registrations of various companies abroad to write to us there…

5 years on, and the mailbox is still as clean as when we first registered for it…

and for packages it will go to markaz 6orood in Keifan mostly… i have just had the honor of meeting the place 2 days back when i ordered something that was supposed to be delivered by UPS to my door step, turned out they shipped it to USPS to the 6orood center in Keifan

It has been lost in kuwait since 2 September… until today, and they cannot locate it, and it’s an ever worse mess than the clearing customs thing…

The only option as i told you is ship to a hotel room in bahrain, pay 10 kd o go pick it up o khalas
we can ship pool our shipments and assign one person a week to go get the items from his hotel o we all ship to him o we have a website for letting the candidate know what to expect and all o we all pay in advance

Or maybe if aramex would open a shop and ship center in khafji ham another good idea…

Bye Bye online shopping

or

Mark… believe it or not, I never had any of the lately-being-discussed USWS/Aramex/DHL accounts as I have been VERY successful with normal snail mail. Also, you do not need a PO Box.

I have had items being shipped from the US (USPS), UK (Royal Mail), Far East, China (EMS) etc. through their local mail several times.

The very first time, I waited for 2-3 weeks after shipping and then I got this little note from Kuwait post about a large package ready for me to be picked up at Kaifan PO (MOC) building. I went there and had to show my ID and picked up the parcel which was received by them 2 weeks earlier.

2nd time onwards, I just wait for 4-5 days after shipping and go to them (without having received any notification) and show my ID and print out of my address and sender address and tell them that they should be having something for me. It takes 2-3mins to locate it, they hand it over, and I leave happily!

Basically… notifying the receiver in Kuwait from the main PO takes LONGER than the actual package to arrive to Kuwait from abroad. Like I said, 5 days should be enough… or if you wait, you may NEVER get that little notification slip through Kuwait’s local postal system.

Basically… I don’t rely on the local post system at all, I bypass it by picking it up myself at the main PO.

And now, after reading what’s going on over the past couple of days… I’m happy I never had to go through all the mess PLUS I didn’t even have to shell out huge $$.

If there’s any more info. you need on snail mail shipping (although 5 days is hardly ‘snail’s pace’) let me know.

when i was replying to universities 2 years ago, i used to get my letters by snail mail. took between 3-6 weeks to get here from canada, if at all

hit or miss.

Mark, I tried sending mail regular stamped a couple of times from USPS to my family’s p.o.box address in Kuwait. This first small package I shipped got there within two weeks and everything was intact. The second small package that I shipped (which was 2 months after the first package: Jan. 2007) never got there until this day. I heard that the Kuwait mailmen aren’t efficient in delivering the mail from the airport to the designated mailboxes….. so its basically hit or miss. I hope your items end up with the right delivery-man 🙂

@Kuwait,
The problem with this approach is not may items can be purchased. Most of us used to rely on the shipping services to get electronic items that are available only to U.S. users. The shop&ship services effectively created a back door to get such items on the cheap.
Now the door is firmly closed – so back to haggling in Hawally or wait for a good deal in Carrefour/Geant etc.

And those who are saying that it is not legal for Customs department to charge customs duty – that is not true. There is no distinction between importing for personal or commercial use. All eligible items are subject to customs duty and customs clearance laws as per the regulations of the country. And all items MUST be inspected to ensure that they are not prohibited as per the laws of the country.

It’s just that the Customs department was keeping a blind eye to these small shipments as it was not worth their effort. Now that it is becoming more common, they just decided to step up to the plate and take some action on it.

*goes despondently in a corner and starts crying uncontrollably*

Regular mail is a joke. Either never arrives or arrives 3 months late. Have cancelled my Aramex account today. I did buy a few things from the US and had the option of sending them UPS international which was about $11 for a book and if you put your physical address and contact number they will deliver. All included in the price. However not many sites have UPS international option.

Well…i remember a friend saying that he had subscribed to a magazine from India using the P.O.Box. He was all excited to do this. He used to go to this central post office to get the magazine, which came way delayed after the publication. When he reaches there, he finds the cover binding for the magazine, all the inside pages are missing! He was too kind, to ignore it, he thought it must have been a mistake. He went there the next month and the next only to find the mags in the same condition.
He says that this happens due to the bengali helpers out there…and in terms of the delay in the system even a snail will be ashamed….

TFU . All the rules have been designed to favour a few and provide unpredictable trauma for others. There a few simple pleasures left being taken away.

I ordered a t-shirt online about 2 weeks ago.The problem is I selected ‘normal mail’ not courier when I made the purchase.I filled out my home address and work address on the form.Can anyone advise as to where I should collect this package because I have a feeling it won’t end up on my doorstep?????????

po box if not renewed every year gets cancelled. so if you forgot to pay the 6 kd or if you are late in paying your box number would be given to next in waiting list

مرة طلبت عن طريق بريد عادي بالغلط ورحت استلمه من كيفان وكل الي اقدر اقوله انه اكثر الي يشتغلون هناك ….. اجتماعيا صفر… ما يعرفون يتحجون مع الناس . الموظف طلب مني فتح الكرتون بطريقة بايخه جني اشتغل عنده وكانت ايدي مكسورة وقلت له ما اقدر رد علي شسويلك؟؟ فساعه وانا افتح الكرتون . ويقعدون يسولفون عن اشياء شخصية ما لازم تسمعها

Dear Kuwait #32
How is your post addressed if you don’t have a PO box?
Also, where EXACTLY is the Kaifan PO (MOC) building?
I’ve always used the post office to send mail out of Kuwait…no problems
I’ve also received stuff from abroad to a friends PO box in Abdullah Salem, mainly letters…again no problem.
Not too sure if I’d risk anything precious tho!

just another nail……

مارك طول عمري اعتبرك انسان متزن واختياراتك مدروسه
بس من قريت انك تبي تفتح صندوق بريد بالكويت بغير نظرتي عنك
مممممم
شلونك زين؟
امس شنو شارب؟ قول الصج
اقول خلك على مينونك لا اييك اين منه

Mark, don’t waste your energy opening mailing box. First of all many shippers say: We don’t ship to a P. O. Box. Also if you have even vitamins the Kuwaiti rule are very restricted and you have to give them a doctor written prescription which is good to protect what is importing or it will go back to the sender!.

I’m wondering if you have the UPS stores or Mail, etc that give you better service by renting a box which is used with street address ————– #77 sounding like apartment, and they hold the mail(large ones) leaving you a note but it is double to treble of the cost. Knowing your style I’m sure you don’t mind the cost.

The best option I recommend even in US, if you want to open a business account and they will keep a credit card as reference to insure the payment, and they will bill you monthly. Depending on the volume you will get the discount. I haven’t had it internationally for a while. Give it a try and FEDEX in Kuwait are still better than many, also you can track your shipment easy on line and they will supply you with all the printed air bills with your account #…..etc. I’m sure you already investigated some of these availability.……

Besides in the Arab world if someone liked the shipment they can claim it to themselves(stealing) and who can prove it as in US you pay 50 cent or more for insurance or confirmation of delivery……GOOD Luck.

Another problem it is worldwide because of this economy and postal services are not doing well, the prices and excuses beyond belief. It is not the old way at all. Kuwait was one of the best delivery system in the Arab country—?!? Example: Recently I asked for one box to be shipped from a state to another,, I got the regular postal about $15.00, UPS, 13.00 I ended up with FEDEX 9.00.

EMS…..sorry to tell you guys Kuwait post office isn’t a registered EMS
and with all my tries with it my items were stolen 3 times and one time it was sent back to the origin in a very bad shape *all the contents were smashed :p*.

if you want to use the P.O.Box it is better for regular mail because anything big and catchy would give it 80% chance of being snatched XD.

now about our lovely customs they don’t work with rules it is all about how you look and how your package look some stuff pass some stuff don’t and if you have an inside man you wont pay anything.

and for the information it’s illegal to pay customs for anything unless you buy a quantity of 3 or more from the same item. if you have the money to file a law suit a lot of people will thank you. just keep in mind you will be going against Kuwait customs, NAS company and Kuwait Airways.

So good luck 🙂

come on how will something as a normal laptop fit? in po box?

i am thinking about this UPS thing.
i asked for a check it came in 4 days to the regular Po BOX.

pretty great :).
never doing online shopping though if mail works we gotta encourage this.

Everyone that is effected by this should chip-in an amount of money that they can afford, in order to sue the customs on behalf of all of us.
If we organise ourselves instead of just complaining on blogs, I’m sure we can get somewhere.. Plus it would make front page headlines.

Do not even think about it .. Its really really baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaad
i tried geting stuff from the states twice .. Guess what ?

Never got them ! and of them, was the whole package of Friends !! Yes you can imagine how angry I was.

EMS works fine in Kuwait.
Give your correct POBox number to the shipper and also make sure shipper lists your mobile number as part of your address in Kuwait.
When shipment is received in Kuwait, the local post office in Keifan will either send you an SMS or will deposit a pink slip in your POBox asking you to collect your shipment. Mumtaz Post in Keifan will provide you with their reference number for pick up. The process to receive items is usually takes 5-6 days after its shipped.
If you order DVDs, books or magazines, those have to be cleared by the a representative of Ministry of Information at Keifan.
As regards customs duties, it depends on the customs guy at Keifan. Most of the time / for items of personal use / he will not charge any duties.
A lot of local businesses and traders in Kuwait get their samples by using EMS.
If you order items by ordinary air mail [NOT EMS], then the products will be delivered directly to your P.O.Box. For example books from Amazon, etc.. and this will take about 3-4 weeks. The item is just delivered to the mail box.
I have used both methods for years. My advice is do shipment as EMS, rather than ordinary air mail. EMS is faster and safer.

Mubah: you dont need an EMS account. Some online shopping sites have EMS as a shipping option, Just select that and provide your correct address. Once it reaches Kuwait you’ll be informed by sms.
I buy my hobby stuff from http://www.hlj.com and have it shipped by EMS. just takes 4 days to reach Kuwait and the packages are always well handled.

I don’t know what everyone is complaining about :s we use FedEX, Aramex and regular PO Box (in Salmiya!) and we’ve never ever had any trouble! we order online all the time and nothing has even gotten lost and we’ve never had to pay extra crazy amounts of fees. I guess it depends on everyone and their luck but really we’ve had things delivered to our regular PO Box for years and it’s been just fine. It does sometimes take up to a month for something to get here but hey, patience is a virtue 🙂

since everyone is talking about shipping, i’ll ask a question myself.

A friend of mine is sending me a Playstation 3 Slim from USA (Pennsylvania) on my regular P.O Box Address through UPS and it will be labeled as a GIFT, so what i want to ask is that will i be charged any kind of Taxes/Duties if so how much.

I have heard i would have to pay the 50% of the product’s price that i received.

Thanks For Helping.

UPS will leave a slip in my Po Box and ask me to collect my package from their office, but will UPS charge me anything on a package that is labeled as GIFT.

3. Mark | October 22nd, 2009 at 12:10 pm

I am not talking about shipping via a courier like DHL or FedEx, I am talking about regular snail mail.

4. Mark | October 22nd, 2009 at 12:10 pm

You know with stamps?

5. Mark | October 22nd, 2009 at 12:10 pm

Am I old?

6. Mark | October 22nd, 2009 at 12:10 pm

🙁

lmao the sad face at the end cracked me up

I ordered t-shirt by EMS mail

& I received it after 1 week from Shuwaikh Central

they sent me an SMS & told me this is your code xxxx

come to collect your goods in Shuwaikh Central

PO.BOX? YOU JUST MADE ME LAUGH
Last time I ordered using a mailbox, was a year ago, I got my package exactly a year later, and the folder had had some sort of accident, where about half the folder looked as though it had taken a swim, and the liquid on it dried. The book i’d ordered inside was also ruined. The other time I ordered, I just never got the package.
I’m told that it’s quite common for packages to get stolen, a professor of mine found a post card that was supposed to be delivered to her, and was made by an artist she comissened, on a notice board above a female employee’s desk, proudly pinned.

Good luck I say.

Ok let me explain this as much as i can:

I ordered LOTS of stuff from abroad, I tried almost every method. I’m one of the online shoppers freak. Now if you order something directly to your Kuwait address not using a PO Box, then you’re talking about less than 5% of receiving it at all, unless it is something that you need to pay customs to AND your mobile number is provided on the package. In that case they call you to come, so they can see if you need to pay customs. On the other hand, if you do have a PO Box number, then the item will be in your mailbox if it can fit. If it can’t then they put a receipt in your mailbox and you just take that receipt in where they keep they packages in the same building and pick it from there.

See, the whole idea is that if the package doesn’t leave the post office, then it is safe, but you have to pick it up yourself. However, if the package leaves the post office, there is no tracking of what the delivery man have done with it. Sometimes (in documents) they get rid of it or they return it saying the person wasn’t available (crap of course) so they can go back to their managers and just say I delivered all and done a perfect job, other times they open it (packages), if they like they take it, and if they don’t like it they still can’t deliver it opened so they get rid of it.

Time frame can take up to three months from receiving it in Kuwait to PO BOX.

I hope I was helpful

Thanks

Hey,

I use snail mail all the time in Kuwait. A lot of places will not ship to Kuwait, but a lot of the shopp owners on Etsy.com do.

I have had a LOT of stuff never show up. Mostly jewelry….sterling silver bracelet valued at maybe 20 kd.

I think the absolute KEY is to put your PHONE NUMBER in Kuwait under your address. And tell the sender to mail your package by REGISTERED mail which should not cost much more than standard US mail.

Now, the post office will actually CALL you and tell you that you have a package.

Of course you need a po box.

Mine is in Farwaniya. But my husband says there are loads available in Khaitan.

Hmmmm..it usually does take a month BUT all my packages reach Kuwait in less than ONE WEEK….

I have no idea why they float around for 3 weeks.

Last year my Aunt in NY sent me a laptop vis Kuwait snail mail. She sent it by registered mail and it got her without a hitch.

****Please keep us update on the mail situation Marky Mark! Im so depressed! I have 4 packages enroute from USWS….and am wondering if I will have to pay 80 KD at customs. Anyone have anyone WASTA we can borrow 🙁 ??

Pato, when you order MumtazMail'[EMS], your package is NOT delivered to your POBox,, rather,, Keifan Post eithe r SMS you or leave a pinl slip in your mail box to go to Keifan and collect your item. This kind of delivery never gets lost.

Every time I had something sent to me via regular mail (as a package – like Christmas gifts from home), and I had to go to Kaifan… it was a nightmare. One time, a patagonia jacket simply disappeared. Sender had tracking that said it arrived in Kuwait.. Kaifan had no idea where it was. Last and final time, years back, the guy opened everything up, was opening up food stuff. When I gave him shit about it, he pushed my box to the end of the counter and told me to go to hell. So I went to the manager and he told me everything will be fine, that this is Kuwait and I have to cool down. So I go back, and the same guy takes my box, pours the can of nuts out over a sweater my sister sent me, took a screwdriver and swished it inside a lotion bottle, and then threw everything back in the box and gave it back to me.

I was so close to jumping the counter and beating his face in… even recalling it now is making my blood pressure rise. So, I do not recommend snail mail. I have been using Fedex ever since, it comes directly to me, and yes, sometimes it is opened, but at least it isn’t happening in a humiliating way infront of me. And yes, there are fees now for everything which sucks… but i figure paying fees is better than ending up in jail for assault.

Hey,,… well i have used EMS and the normal postal service there were times i received my packages in 5 days sometimes 10 days … mostly if from US then it normally takes 15 to 20 days (ordering from ebay) and if products coming from china / far east…. those took like 1 month to 2 months … so the wait time is longer but you will receive your package (only problem is you keep goin after the postal guys and thats a pain)

i do that, all the time… clothes computers everything .. i try to use aramex as little as possible.. when i first started shipping to my p o box over a year ago i had doubted anything will ever reach me.. so far its going great and i do order ALL THE TIME… once they claimed nothing arrived and after 2 weeks they call back telling me that they found the package… not being able to track is really “uncomfortable” though

this message to mubarak

i agree with you about your situation . same as i . i collece my monaco number plates from shuwai5 and they told me be careful maybe the police wil catch you and that going to be your responsibility .. but at the end they gave me my plates and trying to advice me to dont use it in a bad way 🙂

Yes you can use EMS, but I don’t recommend it.

They flag every package thats over letter size and customs makes you pick it up from keifan, where they open it in front of you and check it.

If you have anything in there, you’re screwed. Even if you order from a store and they send you a catalogue with your order thats got women in bikinis for example, they’ll cinfiscate the package. Retarded.

Not worth it IMO. EMS takes a week to get to you, and I’ve never had any problems actually receiving the package, but customs is a bitch. You’re way way less likely to get flagged by customs if you go through a private courier.

I shipped a package via EMS from the USA to a PO Box in Al Ahmadi (postal code 61008). Can someone please tell me the location of the post office in Al Ahmadi where the recipient goes to get the package? Thank you for any help you can offer me.

A friend in UK sent me a parcel (mysterious xmas gift). He gave me the tracking #. After 2 days, the parcel reflected in the royal mail website that they passed it to kuwait post office.

The problem begins.
After searching the internet about the probability of a parcel in kuwait to be received by rightful owner..i got dismayed.

After 3 weeks of waiting..No green Card
Took a taxi and went to Kaifan (MOC) with the necessary documents. Inside I saw a booth with a sign> Parcel
No person in-charged in there so I bothered to ask the flock of women (drinking tea and chit-chatting> I assume they are the employees) where should I go to get my parcel.
Since they cant understand basic English, I tried >parcel, box, where,> making signs for squares.
One woman just point to the corner office. So I went there I showed to the person behind the desk my documents..She replied> RJ No here..no here..go shhhh..go shhhh..
What is shhhh? i asked…she showed me her flat palms going upwards with my eyes following that ascending hand and she made that sssshhhh sound again.

..ahhhhh airport! i said and we laughed with my energy starting to drain. but suddenly she said “go down”. I got excited and looked for stairs…then I went down and I saw a booth for claiming boxes. I gave my documents to one kuwaiti guy behind another window and he said “Not here>go to airport cargo…Im starting to ask myself why am I here in Kuwait?

So i rode a cab with disappointments..Suddenly my fighting spirit starts to regain and I instructed the driver to go fast to the airport cargo…

I arrived..out of the cab>asked the security>he pointed>I went…
I saw….I saw a nasty bldg called Mail Exchange Office
I think Im close to my elusive package..I felt the hot desert breeze.
I saw a warehouse with a lot of boxes from overseas but in bad state, like they exploded.
Then I asked a bangladeshi guy “Where can I claim a parcel from UK?” he didnt understand so I just said “Britanya, Britanya..where?
He replied 3rd floor…
So I climbed that lonely dark stairs..Finaly 3rd floor..
I walked to the hallway that looked like “in a post invasion condition”
I saw a lot of sacks from royalmail, some opened with parcels in it. Some boxes are just laying on the floor..one parcel was used to chuck the door to remain open..it was a horrible sight. The Nazi could have been more careful with the boxes when they invaded Poland.

I saw one bangladeshi guy and asked for my parcel..gave him my documents. With the sign of willingness showing through his eyes he accepted my papers and directed me to his Kuwaiti boss while he gets the records from those chai-drinking employees.

I was so excited I started to smell the desert oasis that once a hot humid breeze…The kuwaiti came, carrying loose files 2 inch thick.
Sat down and turns the pages one by one..then…suddenly after 5 pages..he just flipped the records just like an uninteresting magazine and said..Not here..Sorry not here..Go to your post office.

I didnt respond due to an interruption of the loud breaking sound of my heart. And that bangladeshi guy saw me with sadness and i felt the feeling of sympathy bcoz i think he knew that there is something wrong with the system he dared not to change or loose his job.

So i went to the post office near my flat..knowing there was a slim chance..but i did it anyway. I was greeted by Kuwaiti women, cited my problem and one talked to their manager..When she came back ..she said that parcels are not here but in the airport cargo. They were nice and concerned but felt helpless.

I went home…but with the Roman attitude of fight another day.

I imagined grandparents sending their loved ones some gifts, Official documents that need to reach a jobless person, tokens of appreciation, letters of hope by good news or praises to Allah, a merchandise bought with a last penny for the spouse working in a distant place and/or any other things that so valuable it makes living in Kuwait bearable.

Maybe I know what is the content of my parcel. A gift from a friend that was so secret, intriguing and worth fighting for..maybe my friend sent me….the elusive.. THE HOLY GRAIL

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