This is my annotated Packing List for all those out there looking for packing advice. This is also linked to on the side of this blog.

****** I've edited this list with notes about what I brought, how much i appreciated it, what I don't recommend, 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.