Peace Corps Volunteer Clare Major's packing list for Senegal



So here's my list, with a few notations about what was useful and what I should have left behind.

Peace Corps Volunteer Clare Major's packing list for Senegal

Peace Corps: packing list

Peace Corps guidelines: Limit two checked bags and two carry-ons (one + personal item). No more than 80lbs total; no one bag weighing more than 50lbs. Total dimensions (length + width + height) of checked baggage may not exceed 107 inches; larger pieces of checked baggage can't exceed 62 inches; total carry-on can't exceed 45 inches.

Perhaps most importantly, you should be able to carry everything you bring.

So here's my list, with a few notations about what was useful and what I should have left behind... In addition, "What Should I Bring to Peace Corps?" has a great list of do's and don'ts from RPCVs.

Clothing:

• Shirts: 3 T-shirts; 2 tank tops; 3 collared shirts; 1 light long-sleeve; 1 fleece (They say "business casual" for staging, but it's not really necessary.)

• 2 long dresses; 2 below-knee-length skirts (I should've gone with longer, more comfortable skirts and more dresses.)

• Pants: 2 pr cotton/linen; 1 pr “tech”; 1 pr jeans; 1 pr light cotton for sleeping

• 1 pr exercise shorts

• 1 rain jacket (Marmot Pre Cip)

• 1 straw hat; 1 canvas hat

• Shoes: Chacos; Merrell trail runners; dressier slides (Cheap flip-flops are ubiquitous in Senegal, but Chacos are nice if you're walking far.)

• 5 pr socks

• 10 pr underwear; 3 sports bras; 2 regular bras (Should've brought more underwear and bras.)

• 1 bathing suit

• 5 bandanas

• jewelry

Toiletries, etc:

• toothbrush; toothpaste (1 in use, 1 extra); floss

• 2 pr prescription glasses

• 1 pr prescription sunglasses

• 1 pr regular sunglasses

• disposable contacts; saline solution; eye drops

• deodorant (1 in use, 1 extra)

• 1 bar soap; soap container

• small mirror

• leave-in conditioner

• comb

• razor; replacement blades; small can shaving cream

• 4 mini packs of Kleenex

• tiny bottle liquid hand sanitizer (Should've brought a bigger bottle. This stuff's necessary.)

• antimicrobial soap

• the “Keeper,” the best feminine product ever; pantiliners

• fingernail & toenail clippers

• hair bands, hair clips, etc

• 1 extra-large packtowl; 1 small packtowl

• moisturizing lotion

• Excedrin, ibuprofen

• Lip balm

• 6-month supply of prescriptions

• 2 boxes Pepto-Bismol

• small bottle of scented oils for bucket baths

Gear:

• Timex sport watch; extra battery

• battery-powered alarm clock

• digital camera (Canon s410); accessories; 4 memory cards

• USB card reader; blank cd-r’s for backing-up photos

• miniDV camera (Canon ZR40); accessories; 6 Sony Premium miniDV tapes

• iSun solar charger; BattPak; charging accessories (BIG disappointment. Try Brunton's model instead.)

• 16 AA rechargeable batteries; 4 AAA rechargeable batteries

• 2 pin (French) socket adapter

• LED headlamp

• 1 pr good scissors; 1 roll scotch tape; 1 roll duct tape (All priceless.)

• 2 combination locks

• 2 carabinier clips

• lots of Ziploc freezer bags (quart & gallon sizes)

• two Nalgene bottles

• 3 medium-size pieces of Tupperware, nested for transport

• kitchen knife

• Swiss army knife; whetstone

• 2 journals; 2 pocket notebooks

• pencil bag; pens, pencils, permanent markers, etc

• address book

• 2005 planner

• pillow; hand-rolled vacuum bag

• Thermarest (Not as essential as the pillow, but nice to have. I should've brought nice sheets, too.)

• cheap wallet; money belt

• $200 in traveler’s checks

• 18 passport-sized photos

• plastic document/file folders

• PC paperwork; Volunteer Handbook; personal papers, etc

Entertainment:

• small shortwave/AM/FM radio

• 40gb iPod; accessories; iTrip (to play iPod through FM radio)

NB: If you're bringing an iPod, it is utterly essential to get the Apple plug adapters. I charged mine through another converter/adapter and it temporarily fried the iPod, requiring a trip back to the US to be reformatted. Apparently other people have experienced the same thing.

• earbud headphones; tiny speakers

• poster-sized map of the world

• photo album to share; photo album for me

• deck of cards; Uno (Should've brought more kid-friendly games.)

• soccer ball (deflated); two needles

• essential books: Slaughterhouse Five (Vonnegut); Myth of Sisyphus (Camus); Daily Afflictions (Boyd)

• French grammar book; tiny French-English dictionary

Food:

• 1 bag Werther’s Original hard candy; 1 bag CremeSavers hard candy

• 3 pouches Kool-aid mix

• 1 box chai black tea bags

Gifts:

• LSU baseball hat

• tin of Burt’s Bees hand salve

• 2 boxes Crayola crayons

• small pad of paper; sheets of paper

And to carry it all:

• large (5400 cu.in.) Kelty backpack

• light duffel for transporting backpack by air; luggage straps

• North Face backpack (booksack size)

• small Eagle Creek travel bag (purse size)

• assorted zip-bags, stuff sacks, etc

And now, a few months in...

Things I wish I'd brought but didn't:

• index cards (for vocab flash cards)

• a digital outdoor thermometer

• a small star-gazing chart (village night skies are amazing)

• more good pens

• a film camera or two, in addition to my digitial camera

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.

When this story was posted in June 2005, this was on the front page of PCOL:



Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers

The Peace Corps Library Peace Corps Online is proud to announce that the Peace Corps Library is now available online. With over 30,000 index entries in 500 categories, this is the largest collection of Peace Corps related stories in the world. From Acting to Zucchini, you can find hundreds of stories about what RPCVs with your same interests or from your Country of Service are doing today. If you have a web site, support the "Peace Corps Library" and link to it today.

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American Taboo: A Peace Corps Tragedy Returned Volunteers met with author Philip Weiss in Baltimore on June 18 to discuss the murder of Peace Corps Volunteer Deborah Gardner. Weiss was a member of a panel that included three psychiatrists and a criminal attorney. Meanwhile, the Seattle U.S. Attorney's office announced that Dennis Priven cannot be retried for the murder. "We do not believe this case can be prosecuted by anyone, not only us, but in any other jurisdiction in the United States." Read background on the case here.

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June 16, 2005: Special Events Philip Weiss, PCV murder writer, speaks in Baltimore June 18 "Rainforests and Refugees" showing in Portland, Maine until June 25 "Iowa in Ghana" on exhibit in Waterloo through June 30 NPCA to hold Virtual Leaders Forum on July 29 RPCV's "Taking the Early Bus" at Cal State until Aug 15 "Artists and Patrons in Traditional African Cultures" in NY thru Sept 30 RPCVs: Post your stories or press releases here for inclusion next week.

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June 14: Peace Corps suspends Haiti program After Uzbekistan, the Peace Corps has announced the suspension of a second program this month - this time in Haiti. Background: The suspension comes after a US Embassy warning, a request from Tom Lantos' office, and the program suspension last year. For the record: PCOL supports Peace Corps' decision to suspend the two programs and commends the agency for the efficient way PCVs were evacuated safely. Our only concern now is with the placement of evacuated PCVs and the support they receive after interrupted service.

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June 6: PC suspends Uzbekistan program Peace Corps has announced that it is suspending the Uzbekistan program after the visas of 52 Peace Corps volunteers who arrived in January were not renewed. The suspension comes after a State Department warning that terrorist groups may be planning attacks in Uzbekistan and after the killings in Andizhan earlier in May. Background: PCOL published a report on April 23 that Peace Corps volunteers who arrived in January were having visa difficulties and reported on safety and visa issues in Uzbekistan as they developed.

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June 6, 2005: This Week's Top Stories Kinky Friedman will "sign anything except bad legislation" 6 Jun Niels Marquardt Makes Chimpanzee Protection a Priority 6 Jun Laurence Leamer needs approval for "Today" appearance 6 Jun Desperate Housewives' Ricardo Chavira is son of RPCVs 6 Jun Anthony Sandberg runs Berkeley sailing school 5 Jun Amy Smith field-tests sugarcane charcoal 5 Jun Mary Johnson organizes workshop on genocide 3 Jun Jonathan Lash in 100 most Influential Business Leaders 3 Jun Hastert jump-starts Chris Shays' Campaign 3 Jun John Coyne says 41 RPCVs applied for scholarships 3 Jun James Rupert writes on bombing in Kandahar mosque 1 Jun John McCain says to expand opportunities for service 1 Jun Jay Rockefeller's relationships with Japanese go way back 1 Jun Anat Shenker met her husband during service in Honduras 31 May Ryan Clancy punished without hearing for visiting Iraq 30 May Melissa Mosvick remembered as a fallen American hero 29 May Kurt Carlson played basketball against Togo's national team 29 May Helen Thomas's favorite president remains JFK 24 May

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