Suriname Air Freight Surprise ✈️ Want To See Our Goodies? 📦
Breaking news from Suriname!! We just received an air freight package from Miami. It was full of various things I ordered online and shipped to my Mom's house in the USA.
Much-Needed & Long-Awaited
It's taken a few years, but we finally learned how Surinamers get stuff. With hyperinflation and no economy of scale, air freight from Amsterdam and Miami are the way to get goods semi-affordably, or at least cheaper than locally purchased items.
Now even common foods like tomatoes have become unaffordable in Suriname, and it's actually quite rare to even see them, as well as any fresh vegetables.
UPS, DHL, and FedEx have all proven unaffordable ways to access goods from abroad, but now having discovered the slightly more affordable freight options, we can purchase goods online and consolidate them at a warehouse in Miami, where they are sent on a cargo plane to Suriname.
A 30 minute bicycle ride from our apartment here in Suriname and I can pick up the goods from a holding facility owned by the company. We left Cambodia when Monkey-B was barely 5 years old, and Khmer literacy is becoming increasingly difficult, so I got her a Khmer letter tracing book to educationally freshen things up.
Srey-Yuu received a friendship bracelet kit and instructional book, a surprise my Mom snuck in the box for Srey-Yuu's upcoming 12th birthday. She's already taken to it quickly and produced a few bracelets, and she'll likely be posting about them soon.
As we are chefs, I got @sreypov and I some TVP, umami powder (for culinary experiments), and plant-based milk powder. The cost of soymilk has gone too high, so we more or less stopped consuming it a year ago. Also, I managed to score a USB wire to charge a freebie camera I've had for several years.
We managed to charge the battery that was in the camera, and our expert insect photographer can learn some photography skillsets. She's now going to learn ISO, aperture, and shutter speed settings, because these skills will be needed to take advantage of this camera's features.
I had a bit of a battery issue for nearly all of my devices, so that problem was solved. Three months ago I froze an HDD containing all my photos and music, but somehow managed to get the thing spinning again, so I removed it from my computer and put it in storage to await data recovery.
Luckily I was able to reinstall the HDD momentarily and transfer the data to an external hard drive before it crashed again. I upgraded to a 4TB SSD, so I installed the new drive, and then copied 2 TB of files back to the new memory drive. Bing bang boom, good as new!!
The girls got some doll clothes (another surprise from my Mom) and I purchased them a STEM toy, the RollerCoaster Challenge box you see them holding. Surely Srey-Yuu will be posting about this new edu-toy in the Toys on Hive Community
I couldn't resist buying some humorous t-shirts for the whole family. Monkey-B got the "Khmer Lives Matter" with a hidden twenty dollar bill inside, and she could care less about cash at seven years old.
Srey-Yuu got the "Khmer Girls Are Sweet Like An Apsara" shirt, also with a hidden twenty dollar bill. Luckily I found the shirt in black, because that seems to the only color she now likes for clothing. I guess all articles match when everything is one color.
Okay, arrest me woke police, but I had to buy this shirt for @sreypov, it was simply too appropriate. As a fluent Khmer speaker, sometimes I am even surprised at the sounds I've made when hearing myself in digital recordings.
Last but not least is the shirt I got for myself, a little something to feed the ego and remind the family who to respect. I am Dad, the Cambodian Legend. Thanks for reading folks, just wanted to share these upful vibes and much-needed morale booster that came in the form of air freight.
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STOPI loved the Srey-Yuu friendship bracelet kit, I saw a model that is in a thick color with blue lines in the box, that is super cool, I love it
Also all the t-shirts are super cool, my combination of colors of clothes is Black and red are colors that together look very good, the t-shirts are very funny models
and I would like to see a post about the game soon and see how it interests me, greetings to all your family and have a nice day
Thanks for stopping by my friend. Srey-Yuu is acutally working on a post to show how the rollercoaster game works.
So awesome. I am so excited for you guys. Yay!!!
Love those shirts!!!
Thanks, I think everyone scored with this shipment.
Loving the T-shirts and other goodies.
Luckily Pov has a good sense of humor. I was a little scared to show her the shirt I picked for her.
Lol. You probably know her better than anyone.
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Congratulations! So it's a good and affordable route, you guys will be able to get affordable supplies. You guys pose some good smile on your face! Am very happy that you all enjoy the open box! Oh and congrats on getting all the data back!
Typical shipping methods like DHL, UPS, and FedEx are all too expensive, but we are fortunate to have discovered the air freight options. Slower and cheaper is the name of the game. So glad to have not lost years of photos. That was stupid of me to trust everything to one spinning relic.
Very cool man! The struggles makes you figure things out. If you stay in Suriname longer then that’s a business asset knowing how to get things freight. How was the tax?
There could be hustling opportunities via air freight indeed. Our biggest problem is having no social network here, and we are unlikely to develop one anytime soon. We initially made many friends here, but they different lifestyles and standards of living, and I think many are uncomfortable even visiting us in such a small space. So far so good with tax, sending all things as personal effects are tax-free, but I'm definitely in the gray zone.
This is such good news, indeed! I am so glad that you figured out a way to get goods that you needed! The smiles on everyone's faces are priceless! Blessings to you and your family! 💜
Yeah, these boxes are full of much-needed morale and surprise. Give thanks my friend.
I am not yelling....hahahaha...
Good to see those smiles :)
I knew you'd like that shirt.
Congratulations, those are plenty of stuff , love the t-shirts. I can imagine how expensive things are there. Are the "must haves imports" being taxed there by customs?
Many things are technically supposed to be heavily taxed, especially computer stuff. I guess I've been lucky so far. I did attempt to purchase an SSD in this country, but I couldn't find one with a sticker new than 2013. The state of the economy is truly abysmal.
Hope your your visa will finally by done soon ... I can i imagine life in your new destination will be easier for the whole family. Best wishes!
Oh fun!!!! Christmas in the middle of summer!!!!!🥳
Indeed, it is a pretty exciting moment, especially since there is very little to buy within the country. Even just riding a taxi to and from town, and eating one family meal in the city is more expensive than the shipping costs for a package.
Oh that’s crazy how it works there!! How do locals afford their living there? Are they mostly wealthy or income is high enough to measure off the high living expenses?
I still don't know after two years, but I've learned this is a country full of secrets. The minimum wage here is the same as Cambodia, but yet everyone has a car, big house, A/C, and maintains a very North American lifestyle. I'm also puzzled that everyone is always at home, seemingly full of free-time and money.
I don't think we'll ever understand because most people we encounter aren't very upfront and honest with us.
Such an interesting place! Did you guys haven’t met a family local that become close friend? In Canada I find wherever we live always really down to earth people that we eat together have fun time together share life stories. Do they maybe get big government benefits every month on top of their minimum wage maybe lol