As we were exiting a cruise ship in Chili, for a 4 day extended stay in that beautiful country, I was carrying my pillow off the ship, thinking it would give me more room in the suitcase for “other things” – BIG MISTAKE.  The customs man stops us and wants to see what is in the pillow case (the easiest way to carry a buckwheat pillow is to carry it like a sack of flour) because it is illegal to bring any type of food product into that country – and it looks like I am carrying something like that in my pillow case.  Well – actually – it is an agricultural product but in processed form.  The poor customs guy doesn’t speak English and my Spanish is – well – el zippo!  As I said earlier – no one touches my pillow – and – we have 4 more days (and nights) in this country before flying home.  He’s trying to confiscate my pillow as  an “illegal food product” and I’m trying to “save” my pillow from extinction.

The Cruise ship’s Anthropologist is quietly observing this from a distance and she finally steps in to explain that the pillow is a processed product called Buckwheat hulls and is not really a food product – it is used for comfort as in a neck pillow.  Silently I’m thanking her for not broadcasting it’s real use – to “cool off” hot flashes at night.  Finally the head customs agent arrives and he speaks English.  He recognizes a woman in distress and approaches carefully, explaining the need to “check out” the pillow with an iron clad guarantee it will be returned to me at my hotel in Sanitago, Chili at the end of the day.  My husband is standing nearby, shaking his head and muttering “You’re going to get arrested – just give ‘em the damn pillow”.

It’s now 45 minutes later, everyone else is on our tour bus, waiting for u,s so reluctantly I surrender my pillow to customs and hope for the best.  On the tour bus, no one says anything to me, not even hubby – they also know not to ruffle the feathers of a woman in deep distress.  Later that night while our group is dining at a wonderful restaurant in Santiago, several fellow passengers (mostly women) inquire about the issue with the pillow.  To them I confide the real reason for the fuss – the hot flashes – and they all nod with total sympathy and understanding while the men just shake their heads.  Upon returning from that restaurant to our room – there it is – my pillow – as promised along with a phone message from the Customs Agent apologizing for the inconvenience and hoping the experience would not spoil my impression of his country.  Spoil my impression of Chili – not as long as I have my pillow and can sleep for the next four nights.  The pillow went in the suitcase before we went through customs in Miami.   Now it  always goes in the suitcase, no matter what.

I still have that pillow, even though the cruise was almost 12 years ago.  I think so much of these pillows that I now sell them online at www.buckwheatpillowsonline.com. If you have a story about your pillow or an experience with a buckwheat pillow, please write about it here – would love to hear from you.  Tikki