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| Me after digging my well |
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| Aforementioned well |
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| My garden space |
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| Awesome terraces |
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| Onions! |
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| My host nephew? |
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| My Malaria test. It was negative! |
There have been a few new developments since my last post. Primarily that I have to change garden plots because my village failed to mention that my plot has salty soil so nothing will grow. I tasted the salt its there. I really wish they would have told me this before assigning me that plot. Such is life. Two weeks of hard work for some pretty pictures I suppose.
Hello!
ReplyDeleteMy name is Nicky and I am leaving for PC in March and am due to arrive in Senegal! I love your blog and am using it along with some others to help my prepare for my trip! Thank you for all our lovely pictures!!!
I wanted to ask you, what you think about packing. Thats the stage I am at right now, and it is OVERWHELMING to say the least (which I am sure you remember). Any tip? Things to bring? Things to leave out???
Let me know! And keep up with the updates! We love them.
Thanks so much for posting this. It's good to know someone besides my family is reading :-). I was there and believe me I know its overwhelming. I will get into some specifics but as a general rule I would say that I worried far too much about getting everything packed. If you really need something you can probably get it here and if you can't there's always care packages. Now down to business.
ReplyDeleteFirst and foremost bring a laptop. It is sooooooo worth it. I would suggest buying a small netbook as those are much more practical to lug around country. Also a 10 hr or more battery is very nice to watch the occasional TV show or movie in village. It helps keep me sane. Netbooks don't always have the biggest hard drives so I would bring an external. The bigger the better. Although make sure it runs on USB power only.
Other things I was really glad I packed: Multiple head lamps, rechargeable batteries, a solio solar panel for your cell phone, a backpacking tent (The REI Bug hut is popular), spices, candy, beef jerky (you know comfort food), clothes that won't fall apart when you hand wash them, my female friend says CAPRIS and a diva cup, a waterproof camera (I like the panasonic one), flash drives, a good pillow (It's my most prized possession), a sleeping bag or blanket, American stamps... Obviously other things but that's all I can think of for now.
Things to leave out: Anything medical unless its specific prescription medication you need (Med is great and gives you everything for free), toiletries (bring a small supply, but you can restock here. Except for nice face soap or lotion says my female friend), cooking supplies, stationary stuff (bring some good pens and a few good notebooks but everything else I brought I haven't touched), and likewise there are more things I'm sure but I can't think of them. It is a major pain living out of a suitcase during PST but I actually like having all my stuff now... it's a trade off. If you have any specific questions just ask and I can put in my two cents on that specific thing.
Try not to stress too much. Enjoy America, family, and friends and come with an open mind. Also for me anyways the first two weeks were incredibly difficult... I kinda wanted to come home. You may not have this same problem, but if you do just know that PST is hard and life really does get soooo much better once you are in your village and really working. Feel free post other questions if you have any. Other people helped me so I'm here to help the next stage :-).