Send Us Some Love: Care Package Requests

We’re not saying we can’t survive out here. And we’re not even asking for care packages. We know that married volunteers will get a heck of a lot less packages than the single ones: we have each other, so, who needs cookies? But in case you just had a hankering to send a package our way anyway, we thought we’d cut out the middleman (us) and just make public the sorts of things we miss, and love to receive.

-Good Earth sweet and spicy cinnamon tea (sold at Wal-Mart); remove the tea bags from their boxed packaging, and all you need is an envelope

-Pepperoni

-Tuna packets, not cans (sold at Aldi); cheaper shipping this way!

-Flavored liquid coffee-creamers, wrapped in bubble wrap

-Hot chocolate packets (we have limited cocoa powder, so from-scratch isn’t an option)

-Parmesan cheese

-Any sort of chocolate is always welcomed with open arms and mouths

-Any slender sort of beginner’s clarinet book, preferably jazz

-A dog collar for our dear Butche; we keep putting money into collars and chains, in an attempt to give her more than three feet of leeway from her tree. We beat our standing how-long-til-Ethiopian-made-products-break record two months ago, when her spankin’-new collar from market broke in less than 20 hours, and the neighbors were back to wrapping metal around her neck.

And, drum roll, please…

We haven’t had home-baked cookies from scratch since May 2012. It’s the one thing our makeshift baking apparatus isn’t capable of. Why didn’t we make sure we crossed this off the list on our trip home this summer? We have no idea. We were just so busy eating other things—everything—that we forgot to bake some cookies.

Our sitemate’s saint of a mother has proved for us it’s possible. She often sends Lauren boxes of home-baked cookies, which she vacuum seals. We’ve seen it: they stay fresh and lovely this way.

So, the big ticket item:

-Home-baked cookies, vacuum-sealed

If only the more missed items were easy to send, like eggnog or Easy Bake Ovens or, say—you!

As a reminder, this is our address:

The Luttrulls

P.O. Box 227

Adwa, Ethiopia

We Luttrulls may soon be releasing a rationing handbook: Tips on Self-Control so Your Happiness Goes Further. We’re infamous, and alone, in these parts for making candy bars or Oatmeal Crème Pies last three to five months, when they last other volunteers two days. Be proud of your Midwest hoarders, who’d undoubtedly have the best-stocked bomb shelter pantry. But it’s been six months; we don’t want to have to steal from Lauren. Pretty please.

We thank you in advance.