What to Send Me

So now I have somewhat of an idea of what people can send me. I am appreciative of everything and expect nothing. A simple hand written letter will make my day! So here is the list.....

*Smell good candles
*Truvia sugar
*Orbit Gum
*Condiment packets- go through your refrigerator and send me all those left over ketchup packets and such!
*Spices. (Taco Seasoning) Since I do a lot of cooking now, I need stuff to mask how horrible my food tastes!
*Batteries (AA or AAA)
*Dried fruits
*Nuts
*Granola
*Wheat thins
*Cookie or cake mixes. My Swazi family gets a kick out of all our instant cooking, but she loves how you just have to add water to make delicious cookies!
*Drink mixes
*Coffee (grounded and instant)

*Glamour Magazine!!! Also like InTouch, OK, Us Weekly..... i still need to keep up with those Kardashians.
*PICTURES OF YOU! my kids and neighbors love to see my life back home.

A few tips on sending me mail:

It takes anywhere from a few weeks to a few months for packages to make the trip from America to Swaziland, and in my experience 3 weeks is average. Flat rate boxes are probably the cheapest option from the US post office, don't send things on expedited shipping, they do not come faster than regular 'air mail'. If you send something through the postal service, use this address to have it delivered to the Peace Corps office or my high school (preferably my school please!): 


Taylor Cruz, PCV
PO Box 2797
Mbabane H100,
Swaziland
AFRICA

or

Taylor Cruz, PCV
Lusoti High School
PO BOX 155
Simunye, L301
Swaziland
AFRICA 
 

Note the stressed importance of Africa on the bottom of the address, Swaziland shares a very similar postal code to Switzerland (SD) and it only takes one keystroke form a busy postal worker for your package to end up in Zurich instead of Mbabane. Adding Africa severely diminishes that possibility. Many people believe putting Christian symbols or phrases (i.e. "Jesus Saves") on packages reduces the likelihood that things will be stolen in the process.