PO Box Blues

Getting mail is a special (read exasperating!) experience here in sunny DXB.

Most of us who have moved to this golden desert were used to getting mail delivered without a fuss to our home address before we immigrated here. However in our lovely sandpit there is no home mail delivery service and PO Boxes rule the land. What this means is that a few times a week I trudge down to Karama, sit in traffic and jostle my way to my PO Box to collect the mail...always a fun experience let me tell ya ;)

The funniest part though is when I give my new address to friends and family back home. It becomes a slightly disconcerning experience, when i give them the good ol':

Miss X
PO Box XYZ
Dubai
United Arab Emirates

I always feel like tempering it with an assurance that "I am not a terrorist I promise!!!" Many people back home can be a bit weary of the Middle East as they have never visited and have a rather scary view of the place due to what they hear on the news...and you have to admit that that address sounds like my friends' well intentioned care packages will be arriving at an unmarked terrorist training camp in the desert (and by the way I am 99% sure they don't have any of those here in beautiful Dubai though!)... but at least that line gets a chuckle.

So if you are bored and want to send me something...anything with chocolate is good ;) ...feel free, I'll be checking the PO Box tomorrow :)