Tag: Aerocasillas

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Aerocasillas Miami Address – “Bien, Más o Menos”

Aerocasillas Office, Alajuela, Costa Rica, 30 miles from where I live

There’s a Costa Rican saying used a lot here to mean that things are “so, so” or “more or less good” as we would say in the states. It is “más o menos” which could be literally translated “more or less.” That is my answer when asked about Aerocasillas mail and shipping through a Miami address.

There are two audiences I am writing this for:

First, If  friend or family in the states, I have now determined that my two Miami addresses should be used if sending important paper mail or a package. A friend in Nashville sent me an important letter a month ago to my local Atenas Post Office Box – it still has not arrived as of today. Sent to the Miami address, I would have received it in a week to 10 business days (so far that has been been my experience with business mail and internet order packages). Now do be aware that the time is to the Aerocasillas office in Alajuela and I may not go get it the day it arrives. Depending on my schedule, it could be a few days or week later before I go pick it up 30 miles away by bus. I have been going 2 or 3 times a month. If you don’t have my Miami addresses (one for mail and one for packages), please email me or check my website or in the future it will be included on my email signature. And I will include it at the bottom of this article. At first I suggested you use my Costa Rica mailing address because there is a cost to me for the Aerocasillas service, but I have decided it is worth the cost for real mail. No advertisements or junk mail please! And I can do just fine without Christmas Cards from my friends in the states, since each day’s arrival of letters in Miami costs me $1.50. They seal one day’s letters in a plastic bag and send it by air to Costa Rica.

Second, If you are a reader considering a move here, then you will want to at least consider the services of Aerocasillas (called Aeropost in the U.S.), the only company I know that delivers internet orders to people all over Latin America within about a week to 10 days (depending on how you have it shipped to Miami). You will quickly see that they promote internet ordering because that is how they make money! I learned about it through the ARCR seminar and from their website. They have an arrangement where packages and mail can be delivered to the ARCR office for you to pick up, but for me the Aerocasillas office in Alajuela is closer and easier for my pick-ups. And there are other locations in Costa Rica you can choose for delivery of your packages/mail that might be closer to where you live.

WHY WOULD I WANT SUCH A SERVICE?

  1. Postal mail is extremely slow, weeks to months for delivery (see friends’ note above)
  2. Some U.S. Internet Companies won’t ship to a foreign address
  3. It could cost you as much or more to send it the slow way
  4. Speed and convenience are the two main reasons
HOW DOES AEROCASILLAS WORK?
  1. At no charge they gave me two Miami addresses, a PO Box for mail and magazines, and a street address for packages (many carriers won’t deliver packages to PO Box).
  2. As a real life example, I just ordered a pair or really nice leather sandals (what I live in here) that cost $71 through Amazon.com. I used my Miami street address for the “delivery address” on Monday 6 April. 
  3. By Friday 10 April they arrive at my Miami address (Aerocasillas facility).
  4. Usually the next work day it is on a plane to Costa Rica. In this case it arrived in the San Jose Airport in Alajuela, Costa Rica Monday (next work day) night, 13 April. They get it through Customs quickly and pay the tax & fees for me (on my credit card).
  5. Tuesday, 14 April I receive an email informing me my package is ready to pick up at the Alajuela Aerocasillas Office. That’s 8 days from order date!
  6. Wednesday, 15 April, I ride a bus to Alajuela ($1.40 each way), walk to the office and pick up my package and I happen to have another package and two letters. 
  7. I could pay when I pick it up, but it is quicker and easier to let them charge the cost of the package on my credit card on file with them. For a breakdown of the cost for the sandals, see the next section. 
COST OF GETTING MY INTERNET-ORDERED SANDALS DELIVERED IN 9 DAYS
  1. Aerocasillas freight charge: $15.50  (Above the $5.48 Amazon.com charged to Miami)
  2. Aerocasillas Combustible 19% (?): $2.94
  3. Aerocasillas “AeroProtect” (Insurance?): $1.00
  4. Aerocasillas Customs Service: $5.00
  5. CR Customs Duties: $11.44
  6. CR Import Sales Tax: $11.40
  7. CR Sales Tax: $0.65
  8. That’s $24.44 to Aerocasillas & $23.50 to Costa Rica Government
  9. TOTAL: $47.94   (It cost 67% of the cost of sandals shipped to Miami to get them to me in Costa Rica! And that is why cars cost nearly twice as much here! Retailers pay import taxes and shipping too.)
Now do you see why I say it is good, more or less? It is very expensive, BUT, I can order things like these sandals that I could not get here in many cases or if a company ships overseas, it could take more than a month to get here and still cost as much or more depending on a company’s overseas shipping policies. And I would have to deal with Customs myself in some cases. 
In the future I will have had time to shop locally or in San Jose and may find the same or similar product at a higher price but without some of the extra costs and hassle. Someone probably has a sandal like I prefer, I just haven’t found it here yet. Cameras and supplies will be the next big challenge when I’m ready and I will try local first, even going to San Jose. 
So, do I recommend Aerocasillas for someone moving here? Short answer is “Yes” because you can sign up and get the Miami addresses for free, then limit how much you use it, if any. Like VPN, it tricks some companies into thinking you live in the states. And VPN is another article for later!

MY MIAMI ADDRESS FOR MAIL & MAGAZINES:
Charlie Doggett
PO Box 025-331
SJO 170066
Miami, FL 33102-5331
Phone (305) 592-7754

MY MIAMI ADDRESS FOR PACKAGES:
Charlie Doggett
6703 NW 7th St.
SJO 170066
Miami, FL 33126-6007
Phone (305) 592-7754

By the way, today I went to Aerocasillas to pick up my newest photo book Where the Yigüirro Lives, then did some shopping at Walmart, which I do occasionally whether picking up a package or not! Same for PriceSmart (Costco) shopping some. Both are in Alajuela and easier for me to get to than the same stores in San Jose. 

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Today’s Alajuela Adventures

I travel by bus to our province’s capital every week or two, mainly for Aerocasillas & Walmart. Here’s today’s story with phone pix:

Iglesia Bautista 1946, Alajuela
I got the 9 AM bus to Alajuela ($1.43) and it got there in 30 minutes, the fastest time yet! Walking from the Alajuela bus terminal to Aerocasillas, as always, I saw for the first time the Baptist Church of Alajuela. I have walked by it before without noticing the small “Iglesia Bautista 1946” sign. It was started when I was just 6 years old! I know it is the date because we don’t use house numbers here! It is behind and overshadowed by the Alajuela Cathedral pictured in my January 15 post. 

Aerocasillas Alajuela Office

From the bus station to Aerocasillas (the blue sign on gray building) is an 11 block walk or as they say here, “about 1100 meters” or actually “oncecientos metres.” Today I had one letter, a check from the sale of my dining room table and chairs, finally! So worth the trip! Then this afternoon when I got home I received notice via email that a package will be ready for me to pick up tomorrow. Grrr! Maybe I go tomorrow or maybe next week! ! It is the replacement blades for my electric razor that I couldn’t find here. Oh well! Another adventure!

Then around the corner from Aerocasillas are two of my favorite landmarks and the cab stand:

Church of the Agony, Alajuela

La Bohemia Rock Bar across the street from Church of the Agony

Cab Stand at Church of the Agony – $3 to Walmart – All official taxis are red!
Maybe I’ll show a photo of the Walmart sometime, but it is just a big box! Today I walked across the street from Walmart to a new modern strip center with several nice restaurants. I chose Mexican, Taconteinto. It was very good and very expensive!
Then another cab back to the bus station where I just barely caught it as leaving and packed full. The first time I have had to stand all the way to Atenas, well, nearly all the way. Between La Garita and Atenas our bus broke down and we all had to stand on the side of the road at a partly covered bus stop for 20+ minutes waiting for a replacement bus to pick us up. We were all patient. “These things happen!” People don’t get bent out of shape when things go wrong here. Everyone just visited or used their cell phones. And 20-30 minutes for a replacement bus is actually pretty quick!
Waiting for a replacement bus on the western edge of La Garita. 

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What’s Different About Costa Rica? And My Buses…

So what is really so different from the U.S. about Costa Rica, note these interesting habits, traditions, & weird facts from an article in The Costa Rica News, one of the online English newspapers here. Just click the link above – It’s worth the time! We are different!

AND ABOUT THE BUSES I RIDE . . .

Here I’m waiting in line to board a bus to Atenas from Alajuela. 23 km, 15 miles.
Buses go everywhere cheaply, just don’t be in a hurry! This one is $1.43 USD,
or 715 Colones, and as a “collectivo” making local stops, takes about 45 minutes.
Nice vehicles, made in China, window for air & curtain to shield the sunshine.
One trip I had a large package and driver put it under the bus at no extra charge.

If I go to Alajuela to pick up mail at Aerocasillas or shop at Walmart, that is one day’s activity, usually just one or two things accomplished per day. That trip is usually a half day or more if I eat lunch in Alajuela. San Jose trips can take longer and I have combined the two cities for most of a day. Below is photo of bus schedule in Atenas for Alajuela & San Jose. I have this printed and on my refrigerator to check for when the next bus leaves:

Bus Schedule from Atenas to San Jose & Alajuela.
First column is Mon-Fri, Second Saturdays & Holidays, Third Sundays
Most buses are packed full to standing room only.
The most popular way to travel.

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Su Espacio -Your Space

Su Espacio is located in that corner building by the white pickup.
It is across the street from our only gas station in town which is part of
the largest Super Mercado, Coopeatenas – an important intersection for me!

The Spanish words Su Espacio mean “Your Space” in English and is the name of the community center where I had my second Spanish lesson today, located in the building pictured above across from the closest super market for me and the only gas station in town also owned by the super market. Like in small-towns in the States, there are sometimes monopolies by one person or company, though Coopeatenas is technically a cooperative owned by local farmers. 

“Your Space” could also be the theme for my first bus ride yesterday. I walked the 8 or 9 blocks to the bus terminal in Atenas and waited in line for the Alajuela Bus. It was packed with people standing. The 25 to 30 mile ride cost about $1.50 with multiple stops along the highway with people getting on and off. In the city of Alajuela, second largest city in Costa Rica and home of the San Jose International Airport, I get off at their bus terminal in central district and catch a taxi ($2) to Aero Casillas to deliver my last paperwork to make my Miami address work here. It was a notarized form from the U.S. Post Office saying I give Aero Casillas permission to receive and deliver U.S. Mail. One package and two letters are still in Customs waiting for this document before they will release the items. Thus I could not pick them up yesterday. A very nice clerk, the only one to speak English, said she would email me when the mail was released and ready for pickup, possibly by Friday. So I may make another bus trip soon! While in town I took a taxi ($2 again) to Walmart where I ate lunch and checked out the store aisle by aisle. It is pretty much the way I remember it from the August visit. I bought only 4 items: 2 cereals, a big towel, and ice cream on a stick, plus lunch in their cafeteria with typical Tico food. I had fish, rice and guacamole! Weird combo, I know!
After class this morning, I walked back to the apartment first so I could use my bathroom. The water line to Atenas from Grecia is broken, so no water in town meaning public bathrooms don’t work like the one at Su Espacio! Our apartments have a deep well and pump, so we always have water except from 10 PM to 4 AM when they let the pump cool off. Then I walked back up the hill to town to look at a house for rent and eat lunch. La Trilla (my plan) was closed with no water as was Antano. But fortunately the owners of La Caretta have a friend that stores water and they were still operating. I had a chicken casado (plate lunch) and met a couple from Iowa – snow birds! I then went by Coopeatenas and got three cardboard boxes for my move upstairs tomorrow. My friends from the August trip, Mark and Tina are moving to Panama tomorrow to try out that country for four months. I’m getting their 3rd floor end unit with better view, more air flow, more privacy, screens on windows, two balconies and no millipedes!  🙂 I’m literally and figuratively moving up in the apartments! And some of Phons family members are getting my downstairs apartment tomorrow night. 
So I am packing the rest of today, plus friends are picking up me, Mark and Tina for Wednesday night church. I had quit going on Wednesday night in the States, but will start again here since that is the English service each week. I’ll normally walk, but Mark and Tina wanted to be picked up because they are going to finish their yard sale at the church. Me and some of the apartment neighbors have already bought a lot of their stuff. I got the printer, desk chair, bath mats and plastic coat hangers, all at garage sale prices! I let the ladies have the kitchen stuff. The younger couple from Switzerland was so excited to find the muffin tin. It is funny to watch American and European expats function in this culture!
In addition to learning basic Spanish, I’m learning local ways to say things. Only older people still say Buenos Dias, Buenas Tardes, and Buenas Noches. Most just say “Buenas” regardless what time of day it is. So I’m learning to do that. When asked how you are (Como esta usted) and you are just “so so,” as we say in English, you say “mas o menos” which is how Rudy the caretaker answered me today. That is opposed to saying “bien” (good) or “muy bien” (very good). And the teenager on the bus yesterday saw a friend, did a fist bump and said “mae” which is like “hey dude.” This is fun! And everyone is very friendly here, maybe like small towns everywhere. A good place to be and no regular tourists because we don’t have tourist sights here. 
For those few, if any, readers who live in Atenas or are familiar with it, I should add that the rental house I looked at today is where the famous Kay of “Kay’s Gringo Postres” lives and I got to meet her and her husband Tom. They have  been here 7 years, but health issues have caused them to move back to the states near their son in Phoenix which is why the house is about to be available. It was a fun visit and would be a good deal financially and space-wise, but simply not as nice as the apartments. So we will see what happens. A younger couple from Texas bought their restaurant and still operate it under the same name. I haven’t eaten there yet because it is a further walk, but I will soon! Well, got to start packing!