My time here in Kabul has given me a whole new appreciation for the US Postal Service. Not just because they get packages here in 6 days, although that's impressive. But what really knocks me out is how unique and enviable the US mail system is.
For the most part, my international buddies just don't get mail. There's simply no infrastructure available to deliver such things from home, at least not affordably. For example, a medium sized flat rate box costs $10.95 to send here via US mail, but it would cost $45 to send to Romania. I'm not sure how much it would cost to ship direct from Romania to Afghanistan, but I'll bet it's a lot more than $11.
As you might imagine, the guys really like ordering things through Amazon, because here at ISAF they have the equivalent of a US mailing address. That means free shipping most of the time, and access to stuff they can't get any other way.
So the next time I hear a reference to snail mail, I'm gonna have to call foul. A letter may take a long time to get across the country compared to email, but my hat is definitely off to the fine men and women of the US Post Office.
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