Sending Things Home

Since our time in Portugal was during the winter and because Sao Tome is on the Equator, Jared and I had to pack for 2 completely different climates. But now that our time in Portugal is coming to an end, we are in the process of shipping our heavy, winter clothes (and all the stuff we bought/acquired) back to Virginia. We assumed we had several options for shipping, like in the US, however, this was not the case. Last month I sent my sister in Michigan a purse. The box I sent was fairly small and the purse clearly did not weigh that much. At the post office, it was around 11 Euros for shipping. Well, I decided to try out other places, so they other day, I took a similar sized box, stuffed with a similar weighing purse for my Mom in Indiana to Fed Ex way the hell out on the North side of Lisbon. I must have sat on the bus for 45 minutes. Anyway, the Fed Ex turned out to be an express only and I was quoted at 90 Euros. Well screw that! Jared and I (obviously) have chosen to go with the post office for our shipping needs! Now, my days are filled with dumpster diving for clean, usable boxes (because Fed Ex, UPS, and other places do not sell boxes) and filling them with sweaters, coats, scarves and the like.