Made in the USA

Jon's parents are coming to visit us tomorrow and in addition to being really excited about seeing them and showing off the area, there is another reason that we anxiously await their arrival. Visitors = Supplies. It's like adult-Christmas morning for us when people visit. We patiently pick them up from the airport, let them get settled in their rooms for a minute or two and then stare at their suitcases waiting to see what goodies lie within. So far, we have had parents visiting, so we have been shameless when it comes to asking them to smuggle items into the country. I got an email from Jon's mom the other day that proudly stated "We just finished packing two suitcases with the things you asked us to bring and they both weigh exactly 50 pounds! How perfect is that?" That's right. We have asked for 100 pounds of miscellaneous supplies to be brought to us from the good old US of A. What is it that we want? Here are some of our requested supplies -

• Ziploc Bags - They sell them here, but only in packs of six.
  
• Large Trash Bags - The trash cans here use bags the size of grocery bags. For us, that would last for approximately 20 minutes worth of trash.
  
• Splenda Packets - I have recently seen this in the store, so we can now cross it off of the list.
• Bath Towels - We have more bathrooms in this apartment than we had in the US, so we needed to bulk up on our towel supply. Unfortunately, the only towels that I have found here that don't feel like sandpaper cost US$50.00 each, so this made the list.
• Angel Food Cake Mix - I'm not a big baker, and this is one of my go-to desserts. For some reason, this delicious cake has not made it to Argentina yet.
• Frank's Hot Sauce - This is one of those items that you just can't substitute. I've tried, and the result was inferior.
  
• Salad Dressing Packets - Salad dressing is just not a big thing here, generally people just use oil and vinegar. I love my cruet with one of those All Seasons dressing packets and with just the two of us, one packet lasts for a few nights worth of salad.
• Reynold's Tin Foil - It's just better.
• 100 Calorie Packs, especially Mr. Saltys - Our friends in the US used to make fun of us because our pantry was stocked full of 100 calorie packs of all varieties. They are perfect for a snack and made packing lunch many times easier. Unfortunately, this luxury has not yet made it down to our neck of the woods.
  

Some of our friends have other regular requests, the most popular being peanut butter. Luckily, we don't eat much peanut butter even when it is readily available so this isn't an issue for us. All in all, we can find most of what we need at the grocery stores here. It is a nice treat to have some goodies brought in from home, even if it means putting our visitors to work. We promise it's still worth the trip.