Packing List - Final Draft

There has been a lot of interest in our packing list, and so now that we're so close to having it finished, I decided to go ahead and post it here.

But before I do, I'll warn you that this LOOKS like a lot of stuff. In reality though, it is and it isn't. Peace Corps volunteers are allowed to bring 2 suitcases and 1 carry-on bag, meaning that Whitney and I combined get to bring 4 suitcases and 2 carry-on bags. Because of that, this will probably be one of the longest Peace Corps packing lists you ever see.

On the other hand, a LOT of this stuff is very small. So small that the way things are going, we're probably not even going to fill up all 4 of our suitcases.

Okay, enough blabbing. Here's our packing list.

Luggage:
3 expandable pull-behind hardside suitcases
1 pull-behind duffel-style suitcase
1 Osprey Atmos 50 backpack (carry-on)
1 Fiddle (carry-on)

Gear:
1 Victorinox multitool
2 compasses
3 compression sacks
1 roll unwaxed dental floss
1 bottle sunblock
2 quick drying chamois
1 solar camping shower
5 mini carabiners
2 rain ponchos
2 pair work gloves
1 pair rubber gloves
3 nalgine bottles
2 set travler's sheets (can be zipped together to form a full-size set of sheets!)
2 combination locks
1 roll electrical tape
1 roll duct tape
2 tubes super glue
1 tube goop
1 bag zip ties
1 box waterproof matches
1 12V DC electric fan
1 umbrella
1 Osprey Aura 35 backpack
1 pair bike gloves
1 swiss army knife
1 travel pillow

Electronics:
(We plan on powering most of these using a 12V DC solar power setup that we will assemble once we get in-country.)
1 Motorola cell phone/charger/accessories
1 Palm T5 PDA/charger/accessories
1 Palm Treo650/charger/accessories
1 Sony E-Book Reader
2 LED flashlights
1 12V DC LED area light
1 12V DC 4-way socket splitter
1 DC voltmeter
1 USB SD card reader
10 Secure Digital flash memory cards
2 USB flash drives (2GB each)
1 12V DC powered USB outlet
1 Cannon Powershot SD600 digital camera/case/accessories
2 pair headpones
1 12V DC battery charger
20 various rechargable batteries
1 solar calculator
1 set small speakers
1 tube shoe protector cream
2 wristwatches

Hobbies:
1 music stand
various sheet music
4 spare fiddle strings
various reference books/textbooks
1 LED book light
2 decks playing cards
1 Kenya travel book
various colors of seedbeads
1 bead organizer
1 sketchbook
1 case colored pencils
1 beach ball
1 sewing kit
1 frisbee
1 12-in-1 board game set

Brad's Clothes:
1 pair sneakers
1 pair dress shoes
1 pair Chacos sandals
10 pair socks
9 pair underwear
1 USF Public Health tee shirt
2 Cabella's fishing shirts
2 Colombia travel shirts
3 dress shirts
4 undershirts
1 bathrobe
3 pair dress pants
2 pair fishing pants
1 pair convertible cargo pants
1 pair blue jeans
1 pair athletic shorts
1 pair swim trunks
1 hat
1 cargo vest
1 fleece windbreaker
2 pair sunglasses
1 belt
2 neckties

Whitney's Clothes:
1 pair Crocs sandals
1 fleece windbreaker
3 pair eyeglasses/cases/cleaning supplies
1 purse
1 money belt
3 scrub skirts
2 Macabi convertable skirts
1 Old Navy Skirt
2 pair scrub pants
1 pair athletic shorts
2 tee shirts
5 long sleeve blouses
5 short sleeve blouses
1 pair pajamas
12 pair underwear
6 bras
2 culotte slips
6 undershirts
10 pair socks
1 pair flip flops
1 pair sneakers
1 pair dress shoes
2 hats
10 head scarves
1 swimsuit

Toiletries:
1 safety razor/blades
1 tube toothpaste
3 bars soap
1 bottle hand sanitizer
4 toothbrushes
8 small rolls dental floss
2 towels
2 washcloths
1 small mirror
1 nail file
2 first aid kit
1 medicine chest
1 fingernail clipper
1 deodorant
3 shower caps

Kitchen:
1 pair scissors
various ziplock baggies
4 tupperware containers
3 kitchen knives
1 pair kitchen shears
1 peeler
1 grater
1 measuring cup/spoon set
some loose tea
2 bags bobas
10 boba straws
1 jar honey
1 jar peanut butter

Stationery:
1 box highlighters
1 stapler/staples
9 permanent markers
3 crayon boxes
1 pad graph paper
1 box black pens
1 box assorted color pens
1 pencil sharpener
10 pencils
5 pencil erasers
3 rolls white-out tape
1 photo album
1 ruler
1 box paper clips
1 roll scotch tape
1 inflatable globe

Gifts for our hosts/special occasions:
1 swiss army knife
3 paring knives
36 American flag keychains
12 Mardi Gras bead necklaces
18 toy plastic animals

So there you have it. There's also a list of stuff we're planning on getting in-country, and a list of things going into our first aid kits/sewing kit/medicine chest, but I'll save those lists for another time.

Questions? Comments? See anything we're leaving out? Comment below!

The End of the Blog (as we know it)

The going away party was a grand success - many thanks to everyone who attended, especially those who traveled so far. There will probably be several informal get-togethers between now and our departure date so that we're able to see the folks who weren't able to make it to Tallahassee for the big send-off.

In other news, we've decided not to continue updates via this blog. With very good reason, the Peace Corps is sensitive about the material that gets published to the internet by volunteers. While Whitney and I don't anticipate saying anything that would get us in trouble, we would prefer simply not needing to worry that something we wrote here would be misconstrued or taken out of context.

But fear not! We will still be using the internet to stay in touch with all of our friends and family via the exciting new technology known as e-mail. We have set up a Yahoo! Groups listserv that will automatically forward our messages to you, and will give you a way to be in contact with us and each other. Updates will probably be infrequent - weekly at best, but perhaps only monthly if we're in a particularly isolated location. People who attended the party and gave us their email addresses will be added to the group automatically, but the rest of you will need to sign up below:

If you can't see the form, you can also subscribe by visiting http://groups.yahoo.com/group/lifecalls/join? or sending an email to lifecalls-subscribe@yahoogroups.com

Rings and things

We keep hearing from the Peace Corps and returned volunteers not to bring anything that can't be replaced, so a few weeks ago we decided not to bring our wedding rings. Instead we decided to buy modest silver bands to use as stand-ins while we're in Kenya.

Today we went shopping for said bands, and we couldn't believe our luck. We found these at the second place we looked. They were already the right size and just $20 each. We will see both sets of our parents next week for the going away party, and so that's when we'll give our real rings to them for safe keeping. In the meantime we've already started wearing our new rings in preparation for our upcoming departure.

Also, this picture was taken on the digital camera we'll be taking to Kenya with us, and resized using MobiSystems Paint software on my Palm Pilot. The quality isn't perfect but it does the job so I think we'll be fine.

Peace Corps Haircut

Our Peace Corps/Kenya Welcome Book said it was recommended that men not serve in Kenya with long hair. Thus, I give you short-haired Brad:



I like the change. But why did friggin Britney Spears have to do it within a week of me? Granted, she did it first, but still...

Finally

We got the lion's share of the invitations to our going away party into the mail today. A bunch more will be going out by email tomorrow or the next day. One of the holdups was getting our going away party website into a presentable condition. Additionally we turned in our updated resumes and aspiration statements on Thursday, and I'll be mailing off my final dental clearance papers on Monday.

This is our biggest milepost since getting invited. We've still got a lot to do.

More Details to Come

Brad and I (finally) got our invitation! We will be going to Kenya in May. We will be "HIV/AIDS and Hygiene Educators". Needless to say, we are both very excited.

Putting the Pieces Together

So we didn't find out by Christmas where we are going, but we are getting closer. I talked with our Placement Officer today (this is the first time I have actually spoken with her) and she was VERY helpful. I'm not afraid to admit that I was fishing for information right and left, and she was still very accommodating.

She called to let me know that Brad and I had been turned down by the host country for one of the two spots they were considering for us. She said the remaining spot was for the May departure and that she hoped to hear something back from that country within a week or two. She said there was still a possibility that we would be turned down for that spot as well (in which case they would have to go back to the pool of spots to find some new possibilities for us) but she was hopeful that wouldn't happen. She also told me that, based on Brad's asthma status, she felt it was very unlikely that we would end up in a French-speaking country.

This information, coupled with some unofficial information from other sources, points to two very likely candidates for countries we might be sent to. Kenya and Lesotho (according to unofficial sources) both have health programs scheduled to leave in May. Further, they have accepted asthma volunteers in past and are both English-speaking countries. Kenya has also been identified as accepting couples.

Of course, even if they really are looking at Kenya or Lesotho, there is still the possibility that we could get turned down for this position as well. If that were to happen, everything would be pretty much up in the air again. But it's still good to feel like we are really getting close. I've tried not to give my parents play-by-plays of my application process, but I did email them today with this information. It seems unlikely that we would get turned down twice and the information from the unofficial sources jived completely with what our PO was telling us. But maybe I just want to know so badly that I am willing to believe anything...

Hopefully we will know for sure soon enough.