PRIORITY MAIL PANAMA STYLE

As with most things in Panama, you need to bring your patience and your sense of humor along.  After inquiring at Mail Boxes etc, it was going to cost a lot of moolah to send a cell phone back home to Colorado.  Heard from a friend that the local postal service has a version of "Priority Mail" and decided to give it a try - $15 versus $40 at Mailbox Etc.

First Visit to Post Office (El Correo)

Went to store and got wrapping pager and packing tape.

Wrapped, taped and addressed mobile phone and accessories to send to Colorado.

Took phone package, all wrapped up and taped to post office a week ago Friday. 

No tape allowed, told that package must be glued only.

Second Visit to Post Office 

Went to store and bought more wrapping paper and glue.

Wrapped and glued ...  a multi-step process with elmer like glue, one end/side at a time, and packaged items..

Very proud of ourserlves for completiing, took wrapped and glued package to post office today.

No good. Told that they have to inspect what is in the package, hmmm...they didn't mention this before and we didn't see the sign..  LOL

Ripped open glued package so they could visually inspect the contents.

Surprise - Well you never asked!!

They then produced a plastic shipping mailing envelope ... which wasn't produced a week before( we asked, but maybe they did not understand our version of Spanish??) and when they told us the package had to be glued, and inserted inspected items into plastic "EMS" mailing envelope.

Had to leave post office and go over to copy store and get a copy of my passport for the post office to keep.

Returned to the post office with copy of passport and gave it to the counter person.

Gracias Senor, that is "all" that was needed.  What, no copy of the videotape of my birth, no "shrubbery"??

I didn't dare ask how long it would take as the young woman who spoke English who helped me through the process was no longer there.

Wrote on package "broken phone - doesn't work in Panama" and claimed 0 value.

It is in the Panama postal system for delivery.

Good luck ever seeing that package.