“The Economist” Held Hostage by Kyrgyz Postal Officers

I seem to be one of the few foreigners with trust in the Kyrgyz postal system: Not only have I redirected the journal “The Economist”  to my home address in Bishkek, I’ve also ordered several books on-line to be sent there. Other people might call me optimistic – but I simply calculated that while money and valuables will probably disappear from any parcel sent to anywhere abroad, a Kyrygz postal officer is unlikely to have much use for English books about politics. I was almost proven wrong. Almost.

Snail mail

The redirected Economist had – although with ten days delay – arrived regularly throughout June and July. But then amazon decided to “give me a quicker service” and send my books in three different shipments – on two consecutive days. Two of the shipments arrived more than a week before their predicted arrival dates: one was delivered to my home, the other I had to pick up at the main postal office.

But then – nothing. Around that time, my economist stopped being delivered as well. I practiced myself in the Kyrgyz virtue of patience for three weeks, but when I found another slip of paper, announcing the arrival of another parcel, I decided to take the opportunity to have a serious talk with somebody at the main postal office.

Taking hostages

This talk was cut short when I was immediately relayed to the local post office near my home. Imagine my surprise when I was handed out two economists and two parcels for my meagre slip of paper. Apparently the last of the three shipments was sent to the local post office instead, where someone decided to withhold my economist until I would come and pick the parcel up anyway. As unfortunately nobody had bothered to send me a notification for this shipment, the journals just piled up there until a second parcel arrived. This broke the spell because it initiated another notification which finally reached me.

When I left the local post office, my faith in the predictability of Kyrgyzstan and its postal system was restored: Passive, bureaucratic and disorganized? Sure. But pointlessly thievish? Never.