So now that I've come to the point in my service/school year when I feel like there's nothing new and exciting to blog about, I guess it's time I give back to the PeaceCorpsJournals blogging community and supply a packing list to those of you who are soon to begin your own Peace Corps adventures!
(To my confused family and friends, I stalked peacecorpsjournals.com hardcore before leaving country...it's a website where you can read any blog being written by any PC volunteer in the world – assuming they subscribe. Using the blogs I stalked there, I was able to tailor my packing list and mentally prepare myself for what I was really getting into.)
Here are my humble alterations to the official Peace Corps packing list.
Clothes: First of all...if you are generally a non-skirt wearing girl and you're headed to Central America, don't expect to turn into some skirt-wearing nun here. PC suggests skirts because of the heat, but people dress in normal clothes here, and my best advice to you would be to pack what you're most comfortable in back home. It's true that shorts aren't very common here, but jeans and capris are. I wear long jeans almost daily even though it's hotter than you can imagine most days, because that's what the Nicas do. It really is true that you just get used to the heat. (I gifted 2 of my 3 skirts to someone that needed clothes the other day...hadn't touched them since training...I'm just not a skirt girl.) I basically live in the same stuff I did at home: jeans, and comfy cute shirts that don't advertise my sweat.
Additional clothing must-haves:
Rain jacket/windbreaker because rainy season is no joke
Hoodie (if you're a hoodie person when it's chilly)
Bball/soccer shorts (for running, swimming, chilling in the house)
Shoes: If you're not a Teva/Chaco/Insertexpensivehikingsandalbrandnamehere wearer back in the states, don't expect to turn into one here. I read a zillion blogs about how people couldn't survive their service without their expensive/supportive/waterproof hiking sandals...but to be completely honest...I've worn the Tevas I bought about 3 times. I live in cheap cute sandals almost always, including when I'm teaching...and when I run or go walking/hiking I wear my Merril hiking sneakers – which are amazingggggg and extremely multi-purpose. I also have a pair of cheap black ballet-style flats which are a little more “formal” for important work days. (When the sole started to detatch itself from the shoe material the other day, the shoe guy in my town fixed them for less than 25 cents.) I've also had a million Nica girls ask me why I never wear heels...to which I honestly reply that I just don't like them – but if you happen to like heels, bring them! Girls get all dressed up to go to parties here...you're not moving to some cut off corner of the world where people dress in homemade skirts and walk around barefoot.
Also, I remember being told by a few people that I haddd to pack rain boots, but the thought of fitting them into the 80lb Peace Corps packing limit deterred me. Instead, I bought a pair of the black rain boots that everyone in Nicaragua owns for less than $7 in the marketplace in my training town.
Miscellaneous Dos:
Laptop
Mp3 loaded with music you love and with space for some new additions!
Digital camera (Chargeable would obviously be easiest)
Good flashlight or headlamp
Tampons (very hard to find here)
3 month supply of prescribed meds, including birth control (PC will provide the remainder)
Quick-Dry Towel (nothing ever dries during rainy season...and things get mildewy quickly)
Glasses that you look good in (the dust in the dry season makes contacts a pain)
Contact solution if you plan to wear them (PC will not provide)
Flip Flops to shower in (although you can find them in any market here, you might want them as early as day one)
Comfort snack food (but just enough to get you through the food culture shock)
Pictures of friends and family (to hang in your room/house and to share with people here...everyone lovesss to see pictures of the US, snow, and gringos!!)
Tea bags if you're a tea person (aside from a fancy store in the city, all I can find here is Chamomile and tea made from a plant called Jamaica)
Miscellaneous Don'ts (Or shall we say unnecessaries):
Giant Shampoo/Conditioner/Body Wash etc. (Believe it or not, people here bathe daily too lol. Just pack travel-sized to get you through your first week or so. Any decent sized town has a pharmacy where you can find anything you might need.)
Spanish-English Dictionary (PC will supply)
Any basic over the counter drug (PC will supply.)
Bug Spray/Sunscreen/Vitamins (all supplied by PC)
Expensive Short Wave Radio (completely unnecessary)
2 years worth of books (There are tonsss of great books in the PC library that we all exchange, so bring one or two you want to read and then see what you can find here)
Umbrella (You can buy a good one in any market for about $4 and the little easy-pack ones won't last a month during hurricane season winds.)
Feel free to comment with any packing questions...I remember how impossible it was to feel like I was packing correctly!
