Tessy wanted something felty but I can't take orders from people outside of the US because of the whole money exchange business so I said we could just make a swap. I could send her something made of felt and she could send me something unique to her area, like a Hobbit.
Boy, did she. Well, not a Hobbit. She did say she looked for the One Ring but that was destroyed on Mount Doom.
But she made up for it in snacks. Behold the New Zealandy loot:
There's candies (one called Pineapple Lumps - which is the must unfortunate and unappetizing name ever - that are like Charleston Chews but pineapple flavored. Yum.) and Marmite (I'm going to give it another try after my first and only attempt 20 years ago of eating fermented yeast, which did not end well.) and Milo (a chocolate beverage which I plan to wash the Marmite down with.), some music, a lovely necklace, a book and postcards, a calendar and a NZ flag and an All Blacks flag (go All Blacks!)(that's rugby)(there's a World Cup going on right now and truthfully I don't follow the sport but it just seems appropriate now to root for them.) and a mini Buzzy Bee which is a toy that was made popular thanks to Prince William the Toddler, and a map so when I go out to visit I will know where I can find and hug my favorite people.
And for something truly unique, there is some yarn made of possum wool. You read right. Wool made from possum. I don't know about you folk but around here possums aren't the most luxurious creatures. And doing a little research it looks like possum wool is unique to New Zealand (Teresa, our resident yarn expert who only reads this blog about once every 3 months, can verify). So I'm trying to imagine in a country that has more sheep than humans why someone would look to the possum and say, "I'd like to make a sweater out of that." They must be velvety soft down there. The yarn looks and feels like regular old, non-vermin yarn so keep your eye out for some sort of scarf in the near future.
Thanks Tessy! I'm going to learn the New Zealand national anthem and sing it while marching around my apartment waving the flag.
9 comments:
Awesome.
You must do a Tim Tam Slam. If Tessy has not included instructions, feel free to read this post written by a friend of ours who did a year here and explains what it is in American...which is a different tongue sometimes.
Wow. Are your friends for rent?
You have the greatest friends. I'm so glad I'm one of them!
You are cool.
That is a fabulous package to get in the mail! What fantastic friends! I feel like I've been a neglectful friend by not sending you anything for eons. Of course, if I were sending you stuff from Utah, it would have to include green jello, creamies (which wouldn't make it), a bump-it, and some sort of hair accessory that should only be allowed on 12-year-old girls but that makes it to church on the grown-ups weekly. Now I want to send you a Utah care package. I just need to get out of the house...
What a great package! The trick to Marmite--and I won't tell you to it's chocolate jam since you've already tried it, but that's what the lady that I grew up going to church with, who grew up in New Zealand, told me and somehow I still learned to like it!-- generously butter your toast first, and then don't slather on the Marmite- a little goes a very long way. I'd be happy to demonstrate:)
Ha - you may have to send the rest of your Marmite to the Taylor Family since your second attempt to this yeasty spread turned into a punch in the face by your tongue!
The best thing about other countries is the variety of snack foods.
You can quote me on that.
I think the test tube I was germinated and hatched in must have been next to a vat of Kiwi blood, and some of it mixed with my essense. Or...something about pineapple lumps.
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