This post is blatant plagarism

I was reading another volunteer's blog page (V is for Vanessa) and thought that she made quite a few good points about care packages. Seeing how I haven't put any sort of standards, it is hard for all of you guys to decide to send me something; no, even though there is none in the country, I don't need toilet paper.

Here is a direct quote of her website and her comments (I edited some things out that I wont use, such as women's underwear. If you really want to send it I have a good spot for a bonfire in my backyard...):


"

• Books!!! – Second hand books are fantastic & we all trade, so they’ll get lots of mileage.
• specific requests (book of basic yoga techniques, book of card tricks)
• Pictures - Of yourself, of family, of friends. Basically anything that I might want to look at...no porn...
  
• Music – CDs, mix CDs, MP3 CDs…
• Movies – VCDs (new, used or copied) or burned CDs of avi files (particularly good for television shows), NOT DVD's, I don't have a player.
  
• Candy – Individually wrapped, non-meltable candy, ie starburst, werther’s, jolly ranchers, Mike and Ikes....
• USB Flash Drive – I am without such an item and am in desparate need.
• Games, Toys & Timewasters – Good for entertaining kids and keeping volunteers from going crazy. (Frisbee, hackysack, juggling balls, sudoku puzzles, etc...)
  
• Dried goods - Dried beans (kidney, red, black, chickpeas), lentils and popping corn, etc.

ensure that everything arrives as smoothly as possible:
• Use secure packing materials & more tape than you think necessary.
• Print addresses VERY clearly.
• Pack tightly, don’t leave a lot of room for items to shift about.
• Try to distribute weight evenly.
• Put a packing slip inside with an inventory of the package & my address…just in case it gets opened along the way, they know where to send it and I know what’s missing.
• Apparently people are fairly superstitious and religious here, addressing mail to Father Page Weil or putting bible excerpts or phrases such as “God bless this package on its journey and all who handle it” help to ensure that it won’t get “lost” on the way.
• Don’t put real value on the customs form- they paste it on the package and if someone sees a high (by local standards) value, it’s more likely to get pilfered. Best not to say more than 5 or 10 dollars.
• Send mail directly to my site, the address is written below. Peace Corps won’t take my stuff, but it will take longer to arrive and I will have to pay to have it forwarded to me from Manila.
• Airmail is fast, boat mail is slow. It will take approximately 2 weeks for airmail from the US. Boat mail takes 2-3 months

"

Mailing address for packages:

*EDIT - I realized, after posting this, that it is a really bad idea to post my real mailing address anywhere public. If you want the address to mail things to me, just post a comment or email me.

Alrighty, enough of that for now.