Here’s a weird thing about Amazon.com. We were ordering some stuff with a gift card, but it wouldn’t allow us to check out. At first we thought it was the card. We checked around a little bit and found that Amazon wouldn’t ship some espresso glasses down here! Because they are “kitchenware” and “kitchenware” could include electronics, they won’t ship it. They will only ship DVDs, Music, and Books to PR–that’s it. Something to keep in mind.

Shipping is odd in general. For example, you can’t ship anything UPS Ground, since there is no ground. Everything is 2nd day air–but UPS won’t deliver in any rural areas (like ours). Also, UPS treats PR as International, so you have to do a customs declaration. But, USPS treats PR just like the states–same shipping rates, no customs, etc.

So, long story short, the best/cheapest way to ship to PR is via USPS Priority Mail. It takes about a week for mail to get from Chicago to Camuy. Parcel post works also, but takes about two weeks. Not bad, considering the distance.

In the end, the Amazon order went through–once we removed the glasses! Of course the Genius Patrol at Amazon shipped our package UPS! So now we have to drive 45 minutes up to Arecibo to pick it up! Their systems are screwy–we’ve gotten about 6 other Amazon packages and they all came USPS. Why Amazon doesn’t allow you to indicate shipping preferences is beyond me. I guess that’s why they call it Super Saver! Even though, of course, it costs $20 to ship it UPS 2nd Day Air, instead of the $8 it would have cost for USPS. Go figure.