Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Christmas in January...???

Well, I guess I should begin by noting that my blog was featured in a local blog here in Ubrique, Spain (http://loscallejones.blogspot.com)! I was completely unaware of the fact until several people came up to me and told me "I saw your blog!" I must say I was slightly embarrased, but also quite proud. I mean, it's not everday that someone writes about you or your blog :) But...because of this, I decided I should probably try to write a few things in Spanish as well...

Anyway, as many of you already know, I spent the holidays here in Ubrique. My Mom sent me a package of Christmas gifts on December 8th. I wasn't too worried, because typically pacakages arrive in two weeks. However, on Christmas day (Dec. 25) I still didn't have the package. On December 30th, I received a letter from Customs saying that the package had been retained in Madrid Customs and that I would have to hire a third party to assist me in claiming it. First I was told it had been retained because it didn't have the proper paper-work (which was not true) and then I was told it was because it exceeded the dollar limit for packages shipped from outside the European Union and as such I would have to pay taxes. I finally got in touch with Speedtrans, Int, who helped me through the process. I had to pay 25 euros to Speedtrans, write a verbal declaration of the contents of the package, and fax a lot of paperwork. However, it has paid off! Today is Thursday, January 14th...and 36 days after the package was sent, I just received a call that I would be getting my package in the mail! I'm super excited to open my gifts from Mom and Dad (even though I now know what they are haha) and can't wait to have my Christmas in January. I guess this is just another one of the challenges of living in a foreign country so far from home...

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AVISO: No puedo poner tildes, asi que, lo siento! Espero que se entiende aunque no haya tildes

Supongo que debo empezar por decir que algo fue escrito sobre mi blog en un blog que escribe un Ubriqueno! No tenia ni idea del asunto hasta que algunas personas me dijeron que "he visto tu blog" y "he leido tu blog." Tengo que admitir que me dio un poco de verguenza, pero tambien soy un poco orgullosa jaja. Quiero decir que no es cada dia cuando alguien escribe sobre tu blog o sobre ti :) Pero, a causa de eso, decidi que debo intentar escribir en espanol tambien, por si a caso.

Bueno, como algunos ya saben, pase las navidades aqui en Ubrique. Mi madre me envio un paquete de regalitos el dia 8 de diciembre por navidad (el dia 25 de diciembre). No estaba preocupada porque solo suele tomar dos semanitas para recibir un paquete de los eeuu. Sin embargo, mi paquete todavia no habia llegado el dia 25. Luego, el dia 30 de diciembre, recibi una carta de aduanas en Madrid diciendo que el paquete llego en Madrid el dia 24 pero habia sido retenido y que yo tendria que ponerme en contacto con una empresa (Speedtrans, Int) para reclamar mi paquete. Primero me dijeron que habia sido retenido porque faltaba algunos papeles necesarios (lo cual no era verdad) y luego me dijeron era porque el valor del paquete sobraba los 150 euros y porque venia de fuera de la union europea, tendria que pagar impuestos. Despues de mas de una semana intentando ponerme en contacto con Speedtrans Int, y me ayudaron con el processo de reclamar el paquete. Tenia que pagar 25 euros a Speedtrans, Int, escribir una declaracion verbal de los contenidos del paquete, y enviar por fax un monton de papeles. Pero...ha merecido la pena! Hoy, jueves el 14 de enero...y 36 dias despues del envio del paquete, he recibido una llamada y me han dicho que Aduanas me han enviado el paquete!!! Ahora solo hay que esperar! Estoy super, pero super emocionada para recibir mis regalos de navidad (aunque ya se que son jaja). Voy a tener otra navidad...esta vez en enero, pero no pasa nada. Supongo que eso es solo otro de los desafios de vivir en el extranjero tan lejos de casa...

1 comment:

jordi comas said...

I ma dealing with the same problem. Except I am in the UK, I do not have an NIF, and I can not get a hold of speedtrans. Arg!