Tag: Postal guest

Hola mis amigos

Today I happily introduce to you the new tag of the blog called postal guest where we're Going to have a guest answering some questions for us. And the sweet Swetha accepted to be the first one!

Talk a little about yourself 

My name is Swetha and I’m 25 years old. I was born in India, grew up in Singapore, spent five years in Qatar and have lived in Saudi Arabia for almost three years now. I usually tell everyone that this is about as exciting as it gets!

When, and how you got into snail mail?

I got into snail mail when I was really young, probably around 8 years old or so. When we lived in Singapore, I used to watch my mom write letters to my grandparents in India and thought it was really cool, so I started writing to them as well! When my grandpa passed away a few years ago, I went through his belongings and found a couple of letters that I had written to him:

One of the old letters

When I was around 10 years old, I started writing to some friends that I’d met on the internet. I only stuck through with one of them, whom I wrote to for quite a while. We’re still friends to this day, and just started exchanging mail again!

What you enjoy the most about snail mail and what you dislike the most?

I love how personal snail mail is – you learn so much about a person through their letters, and each letter that I receive inspires me in so many ways. I always look closely at their handwriting, the way they’ve constructed various crafts, and even what their letters smell like! I think snail mail allows you to make a real connection with someone that is almost as good as interacting with them in real life.

I’m sure I share this with all snail mail enthusiasts, but I hate how long it takes for mail to arrive! As soon as I mail something out, I want to know exactly what the recipient thinks about it, what they enjoyed and what they didn’t. Similarly, when someone sends me mail, I want to see it immediately! The time it takes makes this all so difficult, especially since I’m always worrying about mail getting lost along the way!

Would you change or improve something in your country’s postal service?

I think Saudi Post (or any postal service in the region, really) tends to get a bad rap from most people here, because they think that it’s not efficient or trustworthy. However, I think they’re pretty great! Their prices are reasonable and although they can be pretty slow at times, I’ve never had any mail get misplaced so far.

That said, it would be nice if they allowed decorated envelopes on outgoing mail. My envelopes always seem so boring compared to the ones that my pen pals send me, so I have to work extra hard to make the contents look good!

Could you tell one of the most memorable or special things you received so far?

This is difficult, because I’ve received so many beautiful things from everyone that I’ve exchanged mail with. One of my penpals, Sofia, is incredibly generous and sends me the most magical things, my favorite of which is a little puppy figurine made from Red Jasper. I’m always rambling to her about how much I love puppies, so this was just perfect!

Can you describe in one word the feeling of receiving mail?

Exuberating!

Thanks so much Swetha for sharing a little with us your thoughts and feelings on snail mail

You can read more from Sweat in her blog, or see more of her outgoing and incoming letters on her Instagram.

I hope you liked this new tag, new guets are coming soon!

                                                                                                                 Mucho amor

                                                                                                                        Vi <3