Send me letters today!

Hello friends,

I'll be arriving in Tanzania in two weeks. I am so excited, so nervous, and so not packed. Packing is overrated; I have been preparing in other ways. I've been reading up on Tanzanian history and politics. It's really fascinating. I am a huge dork. I also have a guitar lesson tonight! I've decided to bring the old guitar my brother never learned how to play to give myself something to do. If I'm ever going to figure out how to play that thing, I think two years without electricity is my only hope.

If you write a letter today, it might beat me there. But it might not. So get on it. I have seen other volunteers from my crew pleading for letters already and I have decided it is a competition and I must win. Letters are better than email because they are portable and I can read over them in my electricity-less hut on steaming afternoons when I'm sweating my toes off and missing the beautiful Michigan winters, which I will have obviously romanticized by this point. Bonus points if you include a picture or a note from someone under age 4. Extra bonus points if that person is named Noa.

My address until August (I'll let you know when it changes):

Lauren Fink, PCT
U.S. Peace Corps
PO Box 9123
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
**AIR MAIL**

Tips for sending mail: (stolen from another volunteer, whatup Sativa??)
-Go over the writing in red ink to make it look more official and important
-Indicate that it contains educational materials
-Never disclose a value over $10 for the items being sent
-Draw religious pictures on (Jesus, crosses, Virgin de Guadeloupe... etc). Apparently the search people aren't too keen on messing with religious crap.


For those who wish to send me presents, here are some ideas:
- Guitar tabs (bonus points for Simon and Garfunkel, extra bonus points for labor organizing tunes)
- Cliff Bars! I am addicted and they are indestructible.
- Powdered drink mixes (crystal light, etc.) - not cherry flavored if you can avoid it
- Recorded cassette tapes (remember the early 90s??). Bonus points for mixed tapes.
- Photos of all the fun I'm missing
- Love letters
- Books (I'll read pretty much anything)
- Seeds (things that will grow anywhere)
- Coloring books, markers, and craft supplies

I also want your addresses!! If you want a letter, please reply to this post or send me an email with your mailing address.

Who's excited?? I AM!!