And then I ran over my wallet

Well Tiana came down this weekend and that was great, and the time came on Sunday night to drive her up to the Providence train station, so we left as it was getting dark and stopped to get some gas a few exits down in N. Stonington. I got out with my wallet and cell phone (bad plan), paid with my credit card, got confused about the nozzles, put my wallet and cell phone on the back of the Focus I was driving, put gas in the car, capped the gas tank, and drove off.

Oops.

Got to Providence, couldn't find my phone, asked Tiana to call it, but there was no ring. Couldn't find my wallet. Immediately remembered what must have happened. Dropped off Tiana, drove back to N. Stonington. Asked at the desk: no wallet or phone. Searched the pump: no wallet or phone. Searched the trash: no wallet or phone. Searched the road: no wallet or phone. Searched the on-ramp and 1/8 mi. of highway: no wallet or phone.

Drove up on the highway to the next exit. Nothing. Looped back around and did it again: ran over black thing. Looped around again and pulled over near black thing: Found wallet! in two pieces! Then I searched around and found my cell phone in two pieces and no battery to be seen. Luckily those two pieces were the back of the battery compartment and the rest of the phone. All in all, i'm damn lucky and will never do it again.

But my wallet feels so soft now after being run over a few times.

An Inconvenient Truth

I just finished watching Al Gore's documentary on global warming, An Inconvenient Truth.

Relatively speaking, I've had a lot of education on global warming. I could explain most of what Gore presents in his film to a neighbor, friend or my cat. Could you?

The film was an outstandingly clear representation of the facts and scientific theories surrounding carbon emissions and their consequences. I thoroughly advise any of you who have not seen this film to see it, and I hope you do. I'm sure many of us can just do what we're told and don't need the understanding, but it's obvious only few of us are doing anything at all. So as far as I'm concerned, knowledge is power, and power and empowered people lead to action and change. So maybe more knowledge could help.

Not only that, there are still many people who still doubt that global warming, in any significant way, is happening. Of those that acknowledge that it's happening, many don't really believe that we're the cause of the all time CO2 highs and abnormal temperature fluctuations. They think that man could never have the scale of impact that it's being said we're having on the Earth. I mean cuz obviously, the atmosphere's really BIG.

THE CONCEPT THAT ANTHROPOGENIC ACTIVITY IS CAUSING GLOBAL WARMING IS NO LONGER A QUESTION IN THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY.

It's that simple. It was, and rightfully was, up for debate in the past, but today it is clear. Not only is it clear, but it is overwhelmingly clear. In fact, it's so clear that the theory of global warming has become one of those theories - like evolution, relativity, and a few others - that have so much supporting evidence that their only weakness is that they are labeled theories.

Scientists don't test facts, they test theories so no matter how correct a theory is, it will be called a theory, but it is essential that all you non-science folk separate this out from the colloquial use of the word theory.

So I am DONE listening to people tell my why they think it isn't happening, and I'm DONE listening to people explain to me that we just couldn't possibly be the root of all this. I'd be happy to help you better understand the situation, and I'd be happy to answer any questions that I can, but I cannot sit there and tolerate people I know refuse to face the way ALL the evidence is pointing. I'm all for open minded scientific thought, but quite frankly, that's just not relevant to the topic of whether this all is really the case. There may be subtleties and unexpected aspects of the issue, but that's not one of them.

I've included a graph showing this stark reality. Aside from that last point at 2100 (which actually is a very educated prediction), that graph is ALL fact. Take a look at how high that last CO2 point in 1994 is compared with the natural fluctuations (brown) for thousands of years. And that was THIRTEEN years ago.

General update and a buffalo

Well the days are going by. I guess that's a good thing? I sent my résumé, aspiration statement and final Cornell transcript to the PC.

I ordered Shoes, hat, sleeping bag, sheet, folding knife, santoku knife, leatherman, 2 cheap watches, travel speakers, journal, planner, and some other things recently. I can't wait for the shopping to be over. I mean I know i probably "need" all these things considering I didn't even own a sleeping bag, but it just feels like i'm focusing on stuff stuff stuff which is exactly what I don't want to be the case. It should be almost over though. Only a couple more particular things and then beyond that it'll just be taking care of my spare glasses/sunglasses and some toiletries type things like soap, Purell, etc etc. And now I can put a lot of the stuff that I do own up for sale on eBay and the like, to help lessen the net amt. of stuff I have.

Tiana says she's going to take time off between Memorial Day and that next weekend - making it possible for me to see her from the 25th of May till the 4th when I go. Seems like not that long of a time but it'll be eons compared with how often i see her now. I miss the good old days where summer was like one constant sleep-over. Still have sleep-overs? hell ya we still have sleep-overs. : )

I went over to the Banisters' house tonight for dinner, which was quite nice. Alan Banister was my science teacher at Pine Point School 8th and 9th grade, and remains a great friend and someone I look up to quite a bit. His wife, Patience, was my field hockey / lacrosse coach way back in the day, and she is one of the most kind, gentle people I know. I'd include a picture, but to be honnest, I don't think i have a picture of either of them. Maybe i'll get you guys to let me take one before I go - to go in my enormous photo album : )

So naturally it's time for more gratuitous wildlife pictures from Kenya. Did I mention I love my camera? This is a close up on a Cape Buffalo (Syncerus caffer). One of the "big five" and very impressive. Very impressive in twos, and rather overwhelming in a large herd that makes a solid wall on the horizon.

Just Wait

If you wait, it will come,
whatever is good for you --
young wings of gulls past
your windows, the darkness
quietly closing its doors
at dawn, breezes across
your face like songs. You
have to wait. All
it takes is being still,
so thoughts can blossom
as they should, so words
can come back home. Just

wait, the way a flame
inside a candle waits.

- Ham Salsich

Found this poem while cleaning out my desk today at my mom's house. Found all sorts of things from the ol' Pine Point days. Salsich used to write poems every morning and this was one of them. He was my English teacher. I still have his cat. His name is Luke and he runs this house.

and other things

Well it's nice to be home again. I think I'm on the verge of getting sick again but that's a normal feeling whenever I go from a situation of high stress to one of no stress. Usually goes away before I get really sick. Had the worst headache today I can remember having though. Went away *just* in time for ballroom.

I got my Otterbox and armband in the mail today and my step-mother and I had fun dunking it and my iPod underwater. And yup, true to its word, no leaks. And just like they say you can use it while it's inside the case just fine. Impressive. Thank you Otterbox! One more thing to check off my to-buy packing list.

Need to update my resumé and write my aspiration statement for the Peace Corps. Should get it done before I go to sleep tonight. Then I have to send them a copy of my transcript and I should be all set for paperwork for a while.

We still don't know what's going to happen with my mom and moving. I think that despite my mom's protests, Jodi and the kids are going to come out in about a week to visit and help with the packing/cleaning effort. Whether my mom has 1 month or three months, it'd be better to get stuff that can get done now, now rather than when I'm out of the country and Jodi et al. are not free.

Bio GRE went OK. I think that the vast majority of what I answered was correct, but I didn't pace myself well enough and ended up rushing the last third of the test which is the experimental section. Not experimental like one section of the general GRE is experimental, but experimental like the section that tests your ability to think about experiments. Not the best section to rush because there's a huge intro to each set of 4 questions and it gets hard to focus. So I just went through the section and answered all the evo/eco/neuro questions and then time was called. Could have been a lot worse. We'll see. Upside is that if I did a lot worse than I expected, I have time to take it again before applying to graduate school. Now to pick up studying for the General Test again.

One thing I don't want to feel when I go to the Peace Corps is out of shape. I'm fine feeling white, fat, foreign, ugly, tall, strange, rich, whatever. But out of shape just's a pain in the butt. So now that I'm home and will be for a while I'll try to be more regular with the exercising. We do have a sweet recumbent bicycle in the other room so there's no excuses.

Tiana's coming home this weekend which is excellent. Just excellent.
Oh yah, that's Tiana. -- >

Bio GRE AAAAHHH

Bio GRE tomorrow morning. Three hours of frantic recall of every area of undergrad biology as a standardized test. I don't really feel like I'm as prepared as I could be, but I guess that's how it'll always feel. Worst case, even if I bomb it or do a lot worse than I should, I can study up and take it when I get back in a couple years. It's totally study-for-able if you've got a Bio degree.

Here's a pic of the style of shoes I got on eBay about a month ago. $25.00 for very gently used Dance Naturals Article 2x in beautiful satin. They're almost $180.00 new. Shweet. Now to break them in owwwww.

Did I mention my backpack is beautiful? Arc'teryx Bora 75

Wish me luck tomorrow morning.

Home again.

Sorry to everyone I didn't make a point of saying good-bye to. My justification is that I will probably be back at the end of the year to help Kath move so I will see you before I end up across the ocean.

I'm home again, gonna spend all today studying for the Bio GRE (tomorrow) and do my taxes finally. If I feel like I know all of biology, I'll go down to the studio and do some ballroom tonight.

My backpack arrived while I was gone and it is GORGEOUS. I got it for $200 on eBay. Some guy had bought one for his wife but it wasn't tall enough for her. Retails for $375. Pretty awesome. Not extended, it's got a volume of 4400 - 4900 cu in.

This'll be my big bag for the PC .

Solar Panel

Well I was able to get an amazing discount on a solar panel through a company that sold it that had RPCV working for them who I got in touch with. The panels are really awesome, they're light, foldable, flexible, and tolerant of warm weather.

Here's the manufacturer's website: I went with the Sunlinq 12 W Solar Panel.

With their accessories and an inverter, I should be able to power all my electronics. Charge the laptop/iPod/batteries for camera, radio, speakers, flashlight, headlamp etc.

I <3 zebra

Not much to report today. Here's more Grevy's Zebra (Equs grevyi) from my class in Kenya .

New Hobby?

Everyone seems to have a thing that they do or want to learn to do that they bring to the Peace Corps and nourish. You know, the guitar-toting hippee and whatnot. Knitting? Too warm. Harmonica? Don't like it. The only two serious extracurriculars that I do are violin and dancesport. My extremely old violin's not coming with me to Africa and I wonder if ballroom-esque movement is culturally acceptable in Burkina Faso.

So what's something smallish, portable, and mentally challenging that would improve with time that I could learn?

Darts? Chess? Underwater basket weaving? lol

But what?

Dude, buy a Diva Cup

Alright everyone. I got my Diva Cup in preparation for going to the land of no tampons and I've tried it out. After some initial skepticism and discomfort because I was doing it wrong and wasn't used to it, I've decided it's great.

And I really have no idea why anyone uses tampons when they could use this. As not-clean as the concept sounds, it actually makes me feel cleaner. For once there's no absorbent sponge gross thing associated with my period.

No really, go buy one. Well as long as you're female and get your period. http://www.DivaCup.com

All that aside, they're cheaper, easier, and more environmental than any alternative. You can get one for $20 no problem and it should last you 10 years.

Grevy's

Not that zebra really have anything to do with anything, but I thought if i was going to show a picture of a Plains Zebra from Kenya then I'd have to show a picture of a Grevy's Zebra from Kenya. Grevy's Zebra are endangered. There's estimated to be only a little over 2,000 wild individuals left today, located in Kenya, Ethiopia and Somalia. For contrast, there's estimated to be close to a million Plains Zebra around in Africa.

Yes they're both black and white striped but notice the intense differences. Grevy's have white undersides with different tails, huge ears, tighter stripes, a longer main, and a crest that goes all the way down their back flanked on both sides by a white stripe. They're the largest species of Zebra. We were very lucky to see many small groups of them. Grevy's will get together in groups for short periods of time during the year, but with population numbers that low, it was uplifting to get to see so many.

Mites and Zebra

For a few days now it seemed like my research project was going to be dead in the water for a while, but new discussion and ideas have lead to a couple more types of trials I can run before I leave. For those of you that don't know, I work with the Lima bean plant, a herbivorous mite, and a predatory mite that feeds on it, looking at the impact of elevated ozone on the compounds produced in herbivory-defense by the plants.


And now for some gratuitous zebra vision. Yah, Kenya was this beautiful, all the time. Plains Zebra like these were as common as squirrels.

more geese

We feed the geese everyday now. They come waddling up and talk to us.
Maybe we should find something to feed them that isn't just white bread.
But what do you feed Canada geese?

Everyone loves PCVs!

Looks like I'll be able to get some pretty deep discounts on some of the more expensive stuff I need to buy. Chaco, Thermarest, MSR, and the solar panel company are all going to give me approx a 40%-50% discount on their products. Go them!

This'll cover:

Solar Panel
Thermarest sleeping pad
Thermarest stuff sack (for said pad)
Thermarest lounge sleve
Thermarest travel pillow
MSR pack towel
MSR non stick frying pan
MSR plastic spatula
MSR solar shower/dry bag (maybe)

I also emailed Title Nine and Leatherman to see if they're awesome like that too.

"This one goes out to the one(s) I love..."

Alright. This one is to my Dad and Step-mom (see pic). You two are the only current readers of this blog who might be a bit *cough* challenged *cough* in the skill of comment-posting.

Look at them. They're having a disagreement over Pictionary. That's right; Pictionary. How adorable. I'd probably fight over Pictionary too if I'd been married since the Ice Age. Haha wow I'm harsh. Muah!

So parents! It is your assignment to figure out how to leave a comment on THIS post.

If you can't post comments, then that's one fewer way to be in touch when I'm gone.

Call me if you need to give up and be told the instructions.

<3,
your daughter

I'm formally in now.

Forgot to mention: today I called my placement officer and formally accepted the invitation to serve in the Peace Corps in Burkina Faso.

She was very nice and said that if she could pick anywhere to live in Africa, it would be Burkina Faso. Now no offense to Burkina Faso; hell I haven't even been there yet, but I had to ask her if she was serious. She said she was and said she found it to be a much awesomer place to be than several other African countries that remained unnamed.

Go figure.

Moving out

Just heard that my mom has to move out of our house in Mystic. The house was owned by two brothers from whom we were renting, but as a result of a them hating each other, the evil brother has taken full ownership of the house and has served my mother eviction papers.

Not that my mother has ever done anything wrong, in fact, quite to the contrary. She's being evicted because the brother is greedy and thinks he can get $2000 / month for a run down house just cuz it's in Mystic. My mom used to be a real estate agent and she says that the house'd need upwards of $75,000 of work before it deserved that kind of rent.

Either way, she has to move out and that's sad because while we never owned the house, it was definitely the house with the most childhood memories for me. My mom's on quite the budget too so her options are limited at best. He wants her out by the end of April, but that's unfair, unrealistic, and well, not gonna happen.

At least it's happening now while I'm still in the country since the rest of her family is in the Midwest or farther from CT. Here's a pretty bird outside said house.

Welcome Book

The Peace Corps sent me a lot of information about Burkina Faso in my Invitation Packet.
They also sent me a link to a "Welcome Book" for new volunteers in the country. It gives all sorts of information about living there and what being a new volunteer is like. It's about 100 pages but pretty interesting. Click on "Welcome Book" to get there.

I also learned what my address will be. So for all letters, postcards, and packages, my address during training (through late August) will be:

MARK ALL MAIL AS AIRMAIL or it'll take years to get there. No really.
Put postcards in envelopes.
Letters should take anywhere from a week to a few weeks.
Packages should take a few weeks.

Elizabeth Jordan, PCT
S/c Corps de la Paix
01 B.P. 6031
Ouagadougou 01, Burkina Faso

This might end up being my address for packages throughout the Peace Corps, but I'll probably have a new address for letters and the like after training.

Final Packing List

****** I've edited this list with notes about what I brought, how much i appreciated it, what I don't reccomend, etc. If you have any more questions, email me. *******

*Definitely the most appreciated items were (in no particular order): shortwave radio, iPod, computer, bug tent, leathernman, nalgene.
* As far as gifts for people, like for your host family, bring something simple, like a postcard from your hometown or a hat from your favorite baseball team or a picture of yourself. It's getting easier to develop digital pictures here, so even a picture of them with you could be possible. I actually sent pics to CVS online and had my parents send them to me here of my host family and the loved it. Also, a deflated soccer ball (your fam will have kids) is really cool. Small things go a long way. Oh, and Jolly Ranchers. You're not expected to bring any gifts at all, and it's probably better to give the gifts at the end of your stay with them anyway. There are plenty of things they would love here that you can get here. Don't sweat it.

The packing list evolves... This was compiled based on the information sent from the Peace Corps and by the opinions of other girls my age who went to West Africa/Burkina Faso, what they loved having, what they regretted bringing, etc.
Items in pink are things I don't own yet, items in yellow are things I own, and items with question marks are things I'm not sure I need to bring or don't know much about. Hurray to all the companies offering discounts to goverment/service individuals like PCVs! I can't even explain how much money I've saved on these things.

FINAL PACKING LIST
Backpack (Arcteryx Bora 75, Women's)
- - This is an amazing pack. Daily village life has no place for big packs but for any big traveling and even for bringing stuff from Ouaga to village once and a while . Most of the time it sits in the closet; but you have to get here somehow. You can get big bags here, but they are not sturdy. Not sure you need a pack THIS good, but I got it on eBay cheap.
Messenger bags (Timbuk2 XS and Medium)
- Timbuck2 bags are like the most useful and durable bags ever. I use mine every day - especially the small one for going to school and market every day and they will be still be pretty much intact when I go home.
Sleeping bag ( Tropic Traveler from Cocoon 2.0 lbs), and Travel Sheet (7.8 oz)
- My sleeping bag is very useful. When I sleep outside I use it when it's cooler. The travel sheet is even more recommended because it is so hot here. With a tent and a sheet you can be comfortable all but maybe 2 months of the year. I got a discount on both when I ordered (I asked).
Pack towel (XL and hand towel sizes, here's an MSR one)
- I use these - particularly the small one - but not as often as I thought I would. There is always fabric around here. I use pagne fabric much more if for nothing other than the fact that it's prettier. You really don't need to worry about getting something to dry here so maybe bring a face towel but you can skip this.
Compressible Pillow , (I've heard the pillows there are less than par, thermarest is always nice)
- Very useful. You can buy pillows here but this thermarest pillow is fluffier than they are, and you can travel with it.
Hammock (travel ones are light and cheap) and I got one free - (will have this shipped)
- Ok you totally don't need a hammock but I am so glad I have it. Hang it at the school I live next to when I'm not there and it's one of the ways to keep cool. When you lay on a matress in the heat it is like laying in a pizza oven.
Therm-a-rest Trekker Lounge 25 (turns pad into lounge/chair) (will be shipped)
- Not really that useful. You can get chairs made or you can buy them. I don't recommend it.
Therm-a-rest sleeping pad, ProLite 3, (discount)
- Sleeping pad was very useful, for travelng to see people and stuff like that. Oh and everyone who didn't have one of the lighter, smaller pads was jealous. Mine has a hole now, but that's because Burkina is thorny.
Screen Tent (seem to be really recommended ... like the REI Bug Hut 2)
- Buy this tent. Just do it. Don't buy another one. Buy this tent.
Seal Line 6L Dry Case , Seal Line See Pouch (discount)
- Not that useful. Never really had any water problems here. I use it to keep dust off of my electronics, but could easily have done without it.
3 pair light Cotton Pants (like good ol' Gap pants)
Shirts..... hmmmm
2 long skirts - macabi
4 pair socks, 16 prs cotton underwear, 3 bras/3 sports bras
- This is what I have to say about clothes: I don't regret the 'teaching' clothes i brought and of course a favorite t-shirt or jeans but the truth of the matter is that there is no shortage of clothing here. Even if you bring lots of clothes, you will wear through a lot of them. That's ok. Lots of salvation army clothes end up here and you can buy a new shirt for 50 cents in the market and if you want, you can get as many amazing, excellently fitting clothes made here with tailors which I highly reccomend. Tailors can make western like clothes or african like clothes and there is never any shortage of fabric. Don't bring a lot of white things. I have never, not even once, worn socks. I gave them away. People who run do use them. Bring good bras, they are hard to find here. Same with underwear. You can never bring enough bras and underwear. I would have brought maybe 2 more bras and the underwear was sufficient. I've lost at least a couple of pairs through unfortunate bowl accidents.
PJ pants, Running shorts
- You're going to feel uncomfortable running no matter what. Try to make sure your running shorts aren't so short. PJ pants are great. GREAT.
2 pair Chacos (50% off! to PCVs!) (I like ZX/2 and Zong)
- Chacos are great. I use mine all the time. If you don't think you will or don't think you want them then don't worry, you can get cheap shoes here in any marché. Both the cheap flipflop kind you shower in and nice looking ones to teach in. 50% off discount.
1 pair Merrell Waterpros
- You can get lots of shoes here but nothing as sturdy as this. I used them to run. But my feet get really hot easily and I stopped using them and used open shoes all the time. You can teach in Chacos.
Swimsuit
- There is a swiming pool in Ouaga and in the training town, Ouahigouya. Bring it.
2 Bandanas, Canvas Hat
- Never realy used hats or bandanas. Other people do. Just not me. I gave them away. But I did get a really cool hat that had bug repellent built in and it was cool for a while for that at night.
Laundry bag
- Eh, not that useful. If you need to put clothes in something you can just tie them up in a pagne. You can also get things like baskets here and stuff if you want a laundry thing.
Umbrella
- Gave it away. Everytime it rained I just wanted to get wet. If you don't like getting wet then consider bringing one. Like one of those tiny ones they sell at walmart.
thin sweatshirt (the cornell one or lighter?)
- Bring at least one piece of warm clothing like this. It does get uncomfortably chilly in the 'cold' season and even when it's raining sometimes you're going to want something to cover up with.
Small non-stick frying pan, nesting pots, plastic spatula, tupperware (nesting)
- You can get any kitchen supply you might ever need here. It might just be a little expensive if you want America quality or not such good quality if you don't want to spend so much. I use a non-stick frying pan everyday. Bring a good one and take care of it and it'll last you the whole time.
Parmesan cheese, Koolaid packets, Easy Mac sauce packets and the like
- No there is really no shortage of these things ever. Ever.
can opener, sharp kitchen knife (apparently all the knives are dull there)
- You can get everything you need here but bring a can opener if you want. The knives here are not good quality but you can get them sharpened for like a nickel. I'd recommend bringing a good chef's knife.
ziploc plastic bags, small roll of duct tape
- Bring it.
carabineer (1)
- Eh, there are cooler things to use as keychains here.
pocket knife (Gerber Paraframe II), multi-tool (Leatherman Wave yay eBay)
- My gerber knife was so awesome and then it got stolen. I still use my Leatherman all the time. For the prices you can get on eBay, it's worth it. VERY USEFUL.
headlamp (energizer), flashlight (Maglite LED)
- Invest in a good headlamp / flashlight. Assuming you'll have no electricity you'll be using these everyday. EVERYDAY.
frisbee, uno, cards
- Some people's frisbees got a lot of use; mine didn't. UNO cards are great to kill time with friends. Regular playing cards you can get, even in village.
hand sanitizer (small bottle)
- There were volunteers who used this every single day before eating anything. You'll get sick regardless. I never missed it.
small mirror (kinda like this)
- You can get small mirrors here in the marché for cheap. Hard to travel with anyway.
burt's shampoo bar ? (1) + leave in conditioner?
- At the supermarket in Ouaga you can get any kind of American shampoo conditioner stuff you might want. And even though I wasn't expecting it, I did fine using these sorts of things in a bucket bath. The bar was actually kind of frustrating. I did appreciate it during training though because it was convienent when living with a hose family (not having to card 5 bottles to the shower). For my hair, leave-in conditioner wasn't good enough. I missed real conditioner.
soap bar (face and body), st. ives apricot scrub, Loofa
- You can get the equivalent of a loofa here. Um, apricot scrub is the best stuff on earth for getting crap off your face. You can get lots of bars of soap here.
lotion, lip balm, small amount of makeup
- Yah, a little bit of makeup was nice. Now and again you'll go out in Ouaga and want it. Peace Corps will give you lip balm, but if you want gloss to be pretty, bring it. In the dry season bring lotion if you like good lotion. You can get pure shea butter here for cheap, but if you're someone who appreciates your lotion in the States, bring a bottle and later on you can have more sent.
2 cheap watches
- You know, if they hadn't broken, I would have kept wearing them still. But everyone and their mother has a cell phone here so I just started using my phone as my watch. It's always on me. You can get really really cheap watches here too in any marché.
2 pr glasses, 1 pr prescription sunglasses, eyeglass repair kit, clotth/cleaner for glasses
- Peace Corps says to bring 2 pairs of glasses. Do it. I appreciated my prescription sunglasses because the sun is F'ing strong. Repair kit is so small and cheap it's worth it (leatherman tiny screw driver also works). Cleaner is worth it for glasses and for screens of electronics.
- Though they say not to, I, and several others, eventually went back to contacts, like we had in the States. I've had no problems.
1 Nalgene, 1L, Platypus 2L Platy Bottle + Drinking Tube + cover)
- Worth it. If I had to choose between the platy bottle and the nalgene, it'd pick the nalgene as far as being here.
6L Platypus Water Tank, Platypus Shower Adapter
- Don't recommend it. Bucket bath's are fine! Really! Water pressure's not enough in this thing anyway.
Scissors (for things like haircutting)
- I don't regret bringing a pair of haircutting scissors. Useful!
toothbrush, toothpaste, FLOSS
- Can get toothpaste and toothbrushes here. Floss - eh - in Ouaga yes, but bring some.
hairbrush,tweezers, razors/blades
- Bring a good hairbrush. You can get tweezers here. You can get cheap razors here, for really cheap. I gave up on my nice razor finally - it was just easier to buy cheap bic razors, which you can get in village.
accordian style folder
- Can get this here, but Peace Corps starts throwing lots of papers at you and never really stops so bring one, you won't regret it.
1 journals, address book, 18 mo. planner (Moleskin), book of US stamps
- Worth it.
Photo album (personal/public)
- A must. You can't bring too many pictures.
pencil case + pens pencils, crayons?, paperclips or stapler or something
- Bring a few of your favorites, but you can get anything like that here.
some form of Biology text
- Anything you need to know about the curriculae in the school system will be explained to you here and you will be given text books to help you. Beyond that I would say that you don't really need to bring anything - especially because the internet is never really that far away, and the questions I did end up having didn't really have their answers in my freshman bio book. It was a lot of weight that I never really used.
french dictionary / grammar book, french technical dictionary
- Peace Corps will give everyone a decent French/English dictionary and a very good grammar book. Bring a technical dictionary if you think you need it. They will give you vocabulary lists to help but I appreciate my scientific dictionary dictionary.
west african bird guide
- You can say what you want about Burkina not having much 'cool' wildlife but take my word for it, the birds are as good as they were in Kenya. I love birds, so this was really worth it to me, and this is a great guide.
star chart, map of Burkina, map of World
- Unless the budget got really bad, they will give you a great map of Burkina when you get to training. Starchart was great but that's because I'm a star nerd.
surge protector + adapter (US to French)
- You do not need to bring an adaptor. Almost everyone will, but you can get them for like 30 cents here in any market. If you need to bring a voltage adaptor for anything - that you can't find here - that's another story. Read your electronics and they will tell you what voltage it can take.
MyPower All battery thing
- Donated. Worked with my solar panel. Solar panel charged this battery pack and then the battery pack charged things, like my phone, gameboy, and even extended the life of my computer. Pricy if you were gonna buy it, but this was donated.
solar AA batt charger
- Before I had friends who had electricity, this was all I used. I don't use it anymore because I have a plug in my house now, but is very effective and I reccomend it. Will charge AAAs too.
16 AA rechargeables, 4 AAA rechargeables, battery charger (all donated by Sanyo)
- All Eneloop batteries by Sanyo. GREAT BATTERIES. You can get AA and AAA batts here but they are SO bad you'll wish you had rechargeables!
shortwave radio (Kaito KA1102)
- This might make the difference between feeling really alone in your house and feeling kind of connected. VERY GOOD radio. Highly recommend it.
Camera (Cannon S3IS), extra memory cards / CDs
- This is a great camera, but it's not new. Bring a cam with a good zoom is what i'd say. Never used CDs. Bring a USB key with a good capacity.
ipod mini and headphones (+ otterbox case + arm band)
- BRING an iPod. And the otterbox case is by far the best protection out there for your iPod.
Travel Speakers (Altec Lansing IM3C)
- GREAT small speakers. The sound quality is great and the sound fills my house and yard. Music is pretty much the best therapy here for feeling better and relieving stress.
laptop - Powerbook G4 (+ extra battery + case + keyboard cover)
- IF you have a laptop there is NO reason not to. We have internet at the hostel. Everyone who has one and didn't bring it regrets it. Most laptops do not need voltage conversion.
12W Flexible Solar Panel (like the Sunlinq one)
- This panel will do everything except charge a laptop. It extended the battery of my laptop but won't charge it like the wall would. If you want that then buy a higher wattage one. This is a great panel. Got a discount.
Game Boy Micro (am i a bad person?)
- Before I had friends and a life in village, this was what I did while listening to the radio and hiding in my tent because I was afraid of my house. I guess it was not necessary at all but looking back it definitely served it's purpose. Is now unexplicably dead. Cheap on eBay!
calculator (for grades)
- Very useful. Doens't need to be the TI-83 i brought, but having a calculator is a GOOD idea.