Like @NerdyKeith I do have penpals all over the place, but it is via email. Envelopes, stamps, etc., are a bit of a pain. I commmunicate with old friends, friends of friends, net acquaintences, and fellow sailors presently sailing almost every one of the seven seas. I get their take on what is happening where they are and what they think of what’s happening in the States.
The most interesting stuff is coming out of Greece right now. The people are really unhappy with the present government, with extremist groups, both leftist and rightist, are popping up all over the place. They are on the edge of widespread civil unrest with skirmishes everywhere and the middle class family with kids is stuck right in the middle. At the same time, they are on the front line of the Syrian refugee invasion, hundreds of thousands of refugees coming in, many of them sick, into a country that has imploded economically where government corruption has become endemic. It’s a tragic mess.