Packing Re-Re-Post with comments

Post by Lara and Kevin

2 May 2014

Note—this is a REALLY long post and probably going to be pretty boring to anyone who’s not packing a bag in the near future. You have been warned!

For the benefit of anyone who may be joining Peace Corps, moving to a developing country for an extended time, or is just curious, here is the exhaustive list of what we packed to bring with us here, and our comments on what was useful and what wasn’t, re-loaded just in time for the new Salone volunteers to read.  We organized it into 3 categories: things we use a lot, thing we use infrequently or stopped using for some reason, and things we never use.

Things We Use a Lot:

(1) Netbook (an Acer Aspire One with Windows Starter)

-- Before we left the US, we debated about bringing a computer. Would it be worth the trouble? Would it die immediately?  We finally decided to bring one, and it was totally worth every penny.  We bought the cheapest computer we could find with the longest battery life.  Because the Peace Corps requires us to do something called a Volunteer Reporting File (VRF) 3 times per year, it has made it completely worth it to have our own personal computer.  Beyond our periodic reports, having a computer also allows us internet access at our whim (we have a modem that connects to the local cell tower—you can buy them here).  We rely pretty heavily on the internet access to update this blog, email family and friends, and stay in touch with project partners such as Engineers Without Borders.  On another note, we volunteers tend to exchange music and movies like crazy when we meet up, and now we have something like 120GB of movies on an external hard-drive.  Trust me, on nights when you just want to chill in your house by yourself (which for us are most nights), it’s really nice being able to watch a movie or a TV show.

(2) Solar Chargers that recharge AA and AAA Batteries

--One of these broke, but may be salvageable with a soldering iron.  These chargers are totally awesome and we use the working one nearly every day.  Once the sun goes down, the flash lights come out and it’s so nice not having to buy the super low quality, Chinese batteries that they sell here. 

(3) USB Solar Chargers

--Two of these were, until recently, on loan to other PCVs in country.  One came back to us, the other broke. We currently are using the Soladec and the Goal Zero. Both work great (see review of electronics).

(9) LED Flashlights

--Any flashlight that was made in China for America is better than the flashlights that were made in China for Africa, so we highly recommend coming with at least one—we like AA and AAA lights so we can replace the batteries easily.

(3) Headlamps

--We use them daily.  Being able to cook or work outside with both your hands has been wonderful.  Our headlamps have been the envy of most all our Salone friends and family.  This is one thing that is really appreciated as a gift, so perhaps keep that in mind if you want to bring a present for your host family.

(2) Shortwave Radios

--Some days we can get BBC radio in our small town—the stations change though, so for us it’s not a super reliable source of news.  Still, being able to listen to the BBC all the way out in our town has been wonderful and I suggest either bring a high quality radio with you, or buying a super low quality one when you get here and get a super long antenna with it.  Radios are definitely available in-country, if you’re looking to save packing space.

(1) Digital Camera

--You have to be able to document what you see here and digital is so nice.  I suggest a camera that takes AA batteries or if it’s a special type of battery, bringing two or three extra batteries.  In some places in this country it is really difficult to get things charged, so keep that in mind if your camera takes a special battery.

(1) iPod & iPod speaker

-- We’ve come to understand that music is both a cure and a cause of home sickness.  It’s so great to have familiar tunes, but it can also make you really miss home, so be aware.  It’s been wonderful to share our American music with the neighbors and being completely surprised by some of the music we have that they already know.  We also have an external speaker that we listen to our iPod with, and it’s awesome for when we’re hanging out with friends or working outside. The speakers are also great for watching movies or TV with friends.  You can buy portable speakers in Sierra Leone, but most of the ones we’ve seen here are flimsy and don’t last long—it may be worth it to bring one along with you.

(1) Surge protector

-- Hadn’t started to use this one until last year, when we got a car battery and an inverter to start charging at home.  It’s really nice to be able to turn my one outlet inverter into a 4 outlet power strip so I can charge most of my electronics.  This being said though, you can buy really cheap surge protectors here in country for the 220V circuit, but I’ve heard rumors that they don’t work as well and some electronics still get fried. I’d say this could be a worthwhile thing to pack if you’re bringing several electronics and you’re worried about burning them out.

(3) Kindle, in a zipper case

--Here’s the deal with Kindles: we love them and when the first one we brought broke, we had a couple more sent to us.  The Salone PCVs have over a thousand book files that we’ve collectively passed around, so just about anything you’re interested in reading could be available here. Unfortunately, this country is wet for 6 months of the year and even in the 6 “dry” months, humidity is crazy high, so the environment is not very nice to electronics of any kind.  A quick survey of other volunteers found that numerous others had Kindles that stopped working, but the convenience of having a ton of books to read paired with the relatively low price of a Kindle means that many of them have replaced their Kindles and continue to use them.  So try to be preventative and bring good, high quality zip-lock bags with some silicone gel packs, or some other way to keep the water out. 

(many) AA and AAA Rechargeable batteries

--As I said, made in China for Africa is awful and you’re going to want a way to run your electronics.  Having a whole lot of rechargeable batteries and a way to recharge them (we have the solar charger and also a USB charger we can plug into our computer) is useful, but not necessary.

(4-5) “Professional” outfits

-- When you first arrive in the country, you’ll be expected to wear business casual attire (see the Style Guide for reference) for several days of training with no chance of going out and buying clothes, so a week’s worth of professional clothes are good to have.  You will be able to hand-wash clothes though, so if you bring fewer outfits you may just be doing more washing after training hours.  One recommendation: don’t bring any favorite outfits that you want to be able to wear upon your return to the states. Hand-washing clothes stretches and wears them quite a lot, and just about anything you bring will see more wear and tear here than it would see in years back home.

(1) Jeans

-- Kevin wishes he had brought more than one pair of jeans.  During the rainy season, jeans can take up to 3 or 4 days to dry, if you’re not willing to iron them dry. It is never fun being forced to wear dress pants because your jeans are still wet.  Lara has a different attitude—she’s happy she brought jeans, but she did fine with one pair until she was able to find a second pair at a resale booth in country, plus since she lost weight in training and was wearing a different size by the time she went jeans shopping.

(10) Underwear

-- You’re going to want more than this in my opinion.  Sometimes you miss a weekend opportunity to wash your clothes, so you need some back-ups.  Also as I said with the jeans, sometimes clothes take several days to dry in the rainy season. Lara brought 20 pairs and that seems like a better number. Lara also brought like 6 bras and is very happy with that choice. [Note—you can buy panties, boxers, briefs, and bras here, but they’re thrift-store quality. If that’s a turn-off, bring your own.]

(10) Socks

-- This is a good amount of socks for us (Lara and I wear the same socks—we’re so cute, right?).  If you wear sneakers or dress shoes a lot of the time, you may want more socks, but since we wear our Tevas and flip flops a lot we don’t need too many.  Also, socks are pretty cheap here so you could buy more.

(2) Swimsuits

-- The beaches here are wonderful, but be aware that your weight will likely fluctuate here.  You will have to think about how your body will react to loads of rice 2 or 3 times a day. I’ve heard that with women it’s a coin flip of gaining or losing, but most men seem to lose weight here.  We have one volunteer that has lost over 70 lbs.  In summary: it’s not a bad idea to bring swimwear, but you can also buy thrift store swimsuits in-country so don’t sweat it too much. Also—don’t be afraid to bring bikinis! You won’t want to wear it in your village, but you’re very unlikely to have a beach in your village anyway.  For Freetown beaches, a cute swimsuit or two is great to have.

(15) Bandanas/handkerchief

-- Wonderful to have here when it comes to keeping the dust off things (like your hair) and out of things (like you’re lungs).  They’re cheap here too, though.

(3-4) Casual outfits

--One of my favorite things is a pair of athletic shorts with pockets that are great to wear around the house on a daily basis.  We basically wear t-shirts and shorts at home, and put skirts/pants/nicer things on to go out into the community.  See the Style Guide for more info on this.

(4-5) Pairs of Shoes

-- Both of us brought a comfortable pair of sneakers and a pair of hiking sandals, and we were happy that we had them.  Kevin’s favorite “shoes” are his Tevas—he wears them almost daily.  It is completely professional to wear sandals that enclose your foot (so not slip-on) for work.  Flip-flops are super cheap here, but we recommend bringing one pair so you can wear them to shower immediately.  In addition to those 2, Kevin brought a pair of leather shoes that he occasionally wears, and Lara brought her comfiest pair of flats and a pair of Mush flip-flops by Teva.  Both new and used shoes are available here, but Lara has a lot of trouble breaking a good pair of shoes in, and you will be walking several miles on some days—you need shoes that will stand up to that test.  If you have specialty shoes you rely on (for running, sports, etc), we recommend you bring them, knowing they might get worn out completely while they’re here.  We also think we would have enjoyed having our Crocs here, but we left both of ours at home.

(2) Cloth Belts

-- Leather belts can get moldy in rainy season, so it was recommended to us to bring cloth, and we think that was a good move.  Another note on these, your weight will likely fluctuate and with the sliding cloth belts you don’t have to poke new holes.  Belts are available all over the place though, so you probably only need one and if you decide you need another you can buy it.

(1) Half-slip

--Lara was told to bring this to wear with an outfit provided for us for our meeting with the president, but it wasn’t necessary. Then a year later, Lara's school got uniforms for the female teachers that were kind of see-through. Now she wears it 4 days a week.

(1) Jacket

--We’re still on the fence about whether this is a good thing to bring in your suitcase. The airport will be cold, as well as the airplane. After that, you’re not likely to feel cold very often. Still, some sites are in the mountains or near the coast and can get cold at night, and when you’ve finally adjusted to the weather, you might find 70 degrees to be chilly. I’d say whether you bring long sleeved t-shirts, jackets, or hoodies is up to you—know that you can buy all of those things here, even up to think parkas, knit caps, and winter mittens (Why? We wish we could tell you).

(1) Rain Jacket

--There’s only one Krio word for any form of wet and it’s “soaked.” We now understand why.  For us, rain jackets are a must, and rain pants are nice to have too…but they’re hot so you may decide they’re not worth it.

(6) Razor with extra blades

                --You can buy disposable razors and or even American razors with replacement blades here, but they are either “made for Africa” cheap, or really expensive.  We’re really happy that we brought our own razors.

 (4) Deodorant sticks

--Expensive here, and often only available in the cities.  So either you can do what everyone else does and just go without, or pack enough for two years.  I brought 6 and it’s almost lasted one year, and now I don’t mind splurging a little on the expensive deodorant that’s available here.

(1) Diva Cup

--Here's Lara's spiel on the Diva Cup:  This is one of those things you can live without in Sierra Leone (pads and tampons can be bought locally or provided by our medical unit), but I love the Diva Cup and plan to use it after my Peace Corps service as well.  It’s a great way to reduce waste (one of our volunteers has a great story about kids getting into her trash pile and discovering some things she was hoping would remain buried.  I don’t have that problem!), and I can pack my one Diva Cup when I travel rather than packing a handful of sanitary products. All I can say is that for me this was a great choice, but some other volunteers beg to differ.

(2) Nail clippers & Nail Files

-- Can be bought here, but we were happy we packed them. Fun fact: whether it’s the palm oil or the warm weather, I’m not sure, but our nails grow way faster here than they did before we came.

(1) Pair hair-cutting scissors

-- We cut each others’ hair (cute, right?), so a pair of good barbing scissors was important for us.  Lara has also done haircuts for almost half of Salone 3 and a few Salone 4’s as well.  Our first pair of scissors got lost, and we had to manage with a horrible pair of locally-bought barbing scissors for a few months until visitors came and brought us 2 pairs.  Several months later, one of those pairs is too dull to be worthwhile, so we are so happy we got 2.  Honestly, there should be 4-5 pairs of good scissors floating around in your training group, and then anyone who needs a haircut can beg (or bribe) another volunteer to do it.  There are 2 or 3 of us in our group who are brave enough to do haircuts, and at least 1 person in Salone 4.  Most Sierra Leonean barbers can only do extra-short styles, so if you want your hair to be longer than ¼” long, someone’s going to have to wield the scissors!

Travel med kit

-- We brought a lot of medicine with us, and it was nice at the beginning of service when the medical unit was pretty busy and we hadn’t quite figured out how to make requests and pick up our meds.  Now, just about everything we need can be provided by the medical unit, or our doctors can advise us how to buy it locally.  In addition to our prescriptions, like malaria prophylaxis and birth control, we can get just about anything over-the-counter, as well as supplies like bug spray, band-aids, sunscreen, and ear plugs (SO USEFUL for sleeping in the cities!).

(1) Small hanging mirror

-- You can buy them here, but you don’t realize how vain you are until you are without a mirror for a week or two.  We’re glad we brought the travel one to use while we were in transit.

(7) Toothbrushes

-- We have more toothbrushes than we can use before our service is up, but we love having the ones we’re used to rather than buying whatever’s available here.   

(4) Bar soaps/shampoos

-- You can buy cheap brands almost everywhere here, so unless you are brand specific, I would suggest only bringing one of each for while you’re traveling.

(Lots of) Pens, Pencils, and other school supplies

-- Pens here are pretty rough, but you can buy them. Pencils here are cheap so you can buy them here.  We’re glad we brought some permanent markers and calculators, though you can buy them here too.  The Sharpie is wonderful to label everything that is your own to prevent people from stealing from you.  Protractors, compasses, and rulers are great for loaning to students or giving to them as prizes, but we don’t personally use them a lot.

(2) Dry-erase blank posters and dry-erase markers

-- Started using this in our house to keep track of short term, in progress, and long term projects.  It’s super nice to keep things organized.  We didn’t go buy this though—my mom happened to have them and gave them to us.

(1) pack sticky tac

-- We used this often until we noticed it pulled paint off the wall.  It didn't take up much space, so we don't regret packing it.

(1) Can opener

-- Sierra Leoneans are baffled at our safety can opener that removes the top cleanly and safely.  The alternative is using a knife.  We’re glad we brought this, because we cook a lot and re-use our cans for all sorts of things.  We had a friend come with a replacement after a year and a half here. That's how much we use this!

(1) Veggie Peeler

-- There is so much fruit and different things here that you’re going to want to peel, we think its worth it to bring one if you expect to cook a lot.

(2) Pocket knives and (2) Kitchen knives

-- We suggest you buy knives for yourself in America and knives here in Sierra Leone so you can lend them to neighbors and such.  The alternative is that you get your good knife back with a giant chunk taken out of the edge because your neighbor cut through chicken bones with it.  We like our American knives too much to relegate them to that kind of fate (and locally, knives cost a quarter or $0.50!)

(1) Stainless Steel Travel French Press

-- If you are a coffee lover, they do sell ground coffee here (grown in Sierra Leone!) and it’s passable.  We’ve had some good coffee sent to us in a package and that has been so wonderful to remind us of home.  If you are into coffee I highly suggest you look into getting this (Bodum Brand which can be bought on Amazon.com), or expect to make "cowboy" coffee with a cup and a bandana, which is also fine.

(1) Clothes line

-- Rope is very cheap here so there’s no need to bring this.

(1) Knife Sharpening Kit

-- Should use it more, but still use it often.  This is also another great present for host families because the alternative is sending it to a blacksmith or using the closest rock.

(1) Multi-tool (basically an off-brand Leatherman)

-- Yet another thing you will find yourself using often and another thing your host family will envy.  If you can find a cheap version of this, they would love it!

(1) Roll duct tape

-- They sell clear tape here, but there’s nothing that compares to real duct tape.  Trust me, you’ll want this.  That being said, we had it sent in like 5 packages and now have more than we could ever get through. There are worse problems, I guess.

(2) Masterlocks

-- Peace Corps provided one for each volunteer and you can buy locks in country so there’s no need to bring, but that being said we are using every one that webrought with us to this country. It’s advisable to lock everything here, and no one here knows how to open a Masterlock, so it's extra safe.

(2) Kraft cheese packets

-- The only cheese that Sierra Leoneans know about is laughing cow (it doesn’t have to be refrigerated!).  If you’re a fan of dairy and you can get some powdered cheese or some easy cheese you will be so thankful that you brought it. 

(1) Outdoor Thermometer

-- It broke before we even got to this country, but since one of our radios has a thermometer on it, it’s always cool to see what the temperature is doing.  Plus your family is always going to ask you how the weather is here and with this you can give an accurate answer!  (Highest we saw: 118F; Lowest: 62F; Temp where we start to feel “cold” after getting used to being here: 74F)

(3) Games: Playing cards, Uno, and Bananagrams

-- We probably did not bring enough of these.  You find yourself with a lot of down time here so you’ll want something to do, and since therea re 2 of us, games are great.  You may also befriend some people in town that are way better at these games than you and it makes you super competitive and gets you out of the house.  For those of you who are familiar with strategy games like Settlers of Catan or Agricola, we are really disappointed we didn’t bring ours-- but not having it meant we invented our own board game here! (It's called Pave the Way and there's a post about it somewhere on this blog)

(2) Pillows

-- If there is one thing we can tell you, it’s that you are going to want your own American pillow.  You can thank us when you get here, after you've seen the alternative option.

(4) Sets of travel eating utensils

-- We use them a lot, but I don’t think you’d have to bring it.  You can buy utensils for very cheap here.  The nice thing about these, though, is that no one else has bamboo cutlery, so we know they're ours.

(6) Carabiners

-- This is one thing that you don’t think you use a lot until you’ve found a use for them all and you are suddenly out of them.  You are able to buy them here, but sometimes it’s not the easiest thing to find.

(2) Pairs sunglasses

-- You can buy knock offs here (like my awesome pair of Rey Bails), so you can decide if you want cheap sunglasses or nicer ones. Lara's happy with cheap ones. Kevin preferred his good ones.

(1) Battery operated Christmas lights

-- Stopped working after several months of daily use. Still glad we brought them. They were festive! 

 (2) Quick-drying bath towels

-- You can buy bath towels here but it’s nice to have new quality ones, and you'll probably want one before you venture out to the markets for the first time.

(2) "Got Science?" stickers [gifts from our dear friend and fellow mega-nerd Diane]

-- Nobody here understands it or reads it except for Americans.  Fun for us though!

(10) Water flavoring packets

--  Sometimes you don’t want just water and you need to stay hydrated. You can buy some flavors here, but they’re not always that good.  This is one thing we request from anyone sending us a care package—we drink a lot of flavored water.

(1) Tripod for digital camera

-- Love this thing.  We use it at big gatherings with volunteers, as well as for self-portraits.

(several) Sets ear plugs

-- You need them.  Sierra Leoneans have two levels of volume: really loud, and off.  Peace Corps can provide you with some but you have to ask for them.  I suggest you get a cheap pair that will get you through the first week or two before you get more from the Medical Officer.

(1) Set Full-size sheets

-- The only ones I’ve seen were either thrift store sheets or these flannel sheets.  It’s nice having some clean sheets of our own.  Kevin's mom brought a second set when she visited and we love having more than one.  They can be bought here, though, so one is probably plenty to pack.

 (2) Journals [One has several favorite recipes written in it]

--  Great place to write things that you don’t want to publish on a blog (like illnesses that you don't want your mom to read about), but don’t ever want to forget.  

Things We Don’t Use a Lot, or We Stopped Using:

Many of our toiletries:

--We don’t use much beyond shampoo, soap, chapstick, and occasionally lotion.  That being said, it’s pretty tough to predict what will be really nice to have and what you won’t use.

(2) Packs "Shaving Cream Sheets"

--The humidity here kinda killed these but they were pretty cool to have for a few weeks.

(1) Engineering Statics book

-- Don't tend to use this but we like having textbooks in the land without Google.

(1) 6th Grade Math Book

-- Was helpful in the beginning when we had no idea what we were going to teach, but now that we're in the groove of things, we don't use this book. 

(80) Honey Sticks for the kids

--Flavored honey in a straw! These things are awesome.  These became less for the kids, but rather for us.  The kids just don’t appreciate them like we do.

(a ton) Trinket toys from Kevin's Mom

-- Great to hand out to little kids when they do something for you.

(1) Camp shower
                -- Used it until it seemed like it was going to break and have stopped using it.  It’s pretty nice though to have a warm shower as opposed to a bucket bath, but we don't mind the bucket either.

(2) Water Bladders

-- Use them when we go on long bike trips, which we've done 2 or 3 times.  

(2) Pleasure-reading books [The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver and The Dirty Life by
      Kristin Kimball]

-- Read and passed onto other PCVs.  Not sure where they are now but we’re hoping to get them back before we leave just to see where they’ve been.

(1) Bradt travel guide for Sierra Leone

-- Surprisingly useful sometimes, surprisingly unreliable other times.  We lost our first one and got the new edition. We like this book when we plan to go anywhere we haven't been before. It's not always accurate, but some information is better than none.

 (1) Audubon Guide to African Wildlife

-- Unfortunately this book is for all of Africa and therefore when you want to find the breed of specific bird or lizard that’s in country, it’s pretty difficult and sometimes isn’t there.  But it has pointed us in the right direct a number of times and we were able to find the exact breed online later.

 (1) Night Sky Atlas

-- Super fun to have here because the nights here are so dark.  This is one hobby I surprisingly really got into while being here.  Also, we’re pretty far from Ohio so the whole sky shifted when we showed up and it’s been nice being able to pull out the atlas and identify constellations.

(1) Blue laser pointer [to point out stars, and also because laser pointers are neat]

-- If you really want to freak out a Sierra Leonean, bring a laser pointer that they can see into the night sky.  It’s pretty freaking cool.

 (1) Rubix Cube

-- Still unsolved by Kevin (and untouched by Lara)

(5) Large bubble envelopes

-- Nice to have so you don’t have to buy them here.  Shipping out of this country is super crazy expensive though.  The best thing we’ve found is that you send your mail with the next American that is shipping out for America and have them stuff it in their luggage and mail it once they get back.

(2) Small microfiber towels

-- Great to have around the house for cleaning. Towels are cheap here, though.

(1) Photo album with family/wedding/friend photos to show our host family and others
      in-country

-- I highly suggest you bring more than just pictures of you and your family.  Pictures of your house, car, pets, job, winter, and other random things that Sierra Leoneans want to know about you in your daily life in America.

(2) Baseball hats

-- Its nice to have.  Super sunny here and you don’t always want to wear sunglasses.

 (1) 70L Osprey backpack [Kevin's]

-- Anytime we travel to Bo or Freetown, we bring this bag with another smaller backpack put inside it.  We then fill them to the brim with grocery store items to bring back to our site or things that we got in a package.

(2) Airport bags to put packs in

-- Lara decided to put her pack in a rolling suitcase, so we thought about leaving one of these at home.  We did end up brining both and good thing we did because mine got eaten in the Philadelphia baggage claim.  The Airporter LZ was a huge disappointment from Osprey and I would suggest you find an alternative option to protect your baggage.

(1) 55L Osprey backpack [Lara's]

-- Use it less than mine because it’s smaller, but still nice to have.  If we know it’s going to be a heavy load that we need to pick up, we bring both Lara’s and my own.

(1) Rolling suitcase for Lara

-- Worked wonderfully for traveling here and from our host family to site, then again when we traveled home.  Nice for airports, but inconvenient on unpaved roads. Still glad we brought it.

(1) Mesh laundry bag

-- Pretty nice to have something that lets the air in and keeps the bugs out.

(1) 24L carry-on backpack

-- Has become our market bag and is wonderfully theft-proof. 

(1) Small carry-on duffle bag

-- Ripped on the way to the country.  I will probably give it to somebody here.

(3-5) "Space Bags" [you can squeeze the air out of them and pack things more closely]

-- Great for making those pillows that you ABSOLUTELY NEED TO BRING small enough to fit into your luggage.

Things We’ve Never Used:

(1) iPod

– Lara left hers on the plane in Freetown, so some lucky plane passenger presumably owns it now.

(1) Computer lock

(1) One-piece swimsuit

– Lara just prefers her two-piece.
(1) 35mm Camera
(10) US Forever stamps [to send letters home with people going to the states]

--We just don’t send a lot of letters, and those who have carried letters home for us were kind enough to pay the postage for us.
(1-2) Harmonicas

--Lara has always wanted to learn to play, but it’s just not been a priority here.
(1) Sketch book

--Lara has made exactly one sketch since she arrived. Still, she’s glad she brought it and it didn’t take up a whole lot of space.