Update to Packing List The Packing List in the Country Guide is good. If they tell you something, you can take them at their word. However, more information is usually a good thing for someone coming to Guinea for the first time. So here’s another packing list, hopefully with good advice. Between the two, you should be able to get a good idea of what to bring and what, if forced, to leave behind. This list is based on a couple of ideas: * Your life in Guinea will, to some extent, reflect your life in the US. If you need a lot of luxuries to be happy in the US, chances are that you’ll want to make extra provisions for some of these in Guinea. If you live simply, pack light and rough it. * “The Essentials” reflect the availability of certain items in Guinea. Most volunteers acquire items – hey, it’s two years. So, to keep you under 75 pounds, the available stuff is not listed as ‘essential.’ * “Stage is different than Site.” Pack for site, with a few exceptions. You won’t have much time to shop for things during stage (first 3 months). But, if you can get by for a few months on, for example, three or four t-shirts, you’ll have all the t-shirts you ever wanted at the markets in Conakry and your regional capital once you go to site. * The Regions: Guinea has three regions that have volunteers: Basse Cote, Fouta-Djallon, and Haute Guinea. Climate can vary from hot to somewhat mild, very muggy and humid to very dry. Dubreka, your training site, is hot and muggy. It also rains a lot during training. All three regions experience a drier season in between October and April, with very little rain in places like Haute Guinea and the Fouta. And all regions experience a wet season the other months, and it will rain a lot. But it can be pretty hot and rainy at the same time, depending on the region. Depending on which you stand better – the rain or the heat – it might pay to bring a light shell-type raincoat. Absolutely nothing too heavy will be very useful in Guinea, however. There are the occasional frigid nights in the Fouta. But as you do not know where your site will be before coming, pack at most a light jacket and a sweatshirt, and you can buy things accordingly once you know where your site will be. * Clothes: When I wrote the “Essentials” section, I had in mind a volunteer who would wear clothes a few times at least before washing; but who may wash clothes as often as once per week, thus not needing many clothes. Also, I think that it assumes that the volunteer will acquire things through the various means in Guinea: the “Free Boxes” at the volunteer houses, buying clothes at the market (soccer jerseys, used t-shirts, ‘jelly’ sandals, and imitation Tevas are all popular examples), or having them made for you at the tailors (very popular). I did all three in my first three months at site. Welcome to Peace Corps Guinea! However, I would say not to be too conservative. Add things in where you think you’ll need them. Something nice to wear out, to a club or wherever, is really nice, and if one or two extra pairs of socks or underwear will keep you sane, make room for them. * Guinean manufactured goods (electronics, flashlights, sandals, etc.) may be good…maybe not! They’re cheap. However, deciding whether or not to bring something or buy it in country really can be a tough call. Case in point: many volunteers brought nice, compact, dependable umbrellas from the States. Probably a good move. I did not, but bought a cheap Guinean one that may very well die before I leave country, but will probably hold out for most of my stay, and only cost the equivalent of $2.00. I can easily buy another if need be. * The other packing list will give you lots of ideas for luxury items. Seriously consider some of them that you might not have thought of yourself. I ended up bringing a mini-cassette recorder at the last minute, and I’ve been able to relay some cool stuff back to family and friends. * Kitchen items are mostly just preparing for site. Things like a can opener, spatula, and the like are probably considerably better than what you get in Guinea. They will just sit in your suitcase during stage, but that’s fine. They can also be mailed later, too; or, you can just buy the Guinean issue or see if an old volunteer has left one up for auction upon your departure for site. * Ziplocs and real, pop top Tupperware are mostly unheard of in Guinea. Not a bad idea to bring a few good ones, or arrange to have them mailed. * Most toiletries are available in country, though not necessarily in real US brands. You don’t want to have to worry about buying soap, toothpaste, or shampoo during stage, though you’ll probably be able to without much trouble. Laundry soap is widely available and not much trouble to buy. * The battery situation in Guinea is a little ridiculous. Guinean batteries are expensive, last a very short time, and are prone to pop and squirt acid. I’d bring some, or have some mailed if you feel like that is a good option for you. * Of the last two stages (G8 and G9), I believe only 1 set of baggage carried on the flight was misplaced, and even that was found within a few days. Mail, on the other hand, is frequently lost. If there’s only one of something, bring it. If there’s more than one (such as batteries), put it in a place to be mailed later. The Essentials (bring at least this much) Clothing Men * Underwear (8 pairs minimum) * Socks (I brought 4-5 pairs of athletic socks, 2 pairs of light hiking socks, 3 liners, and 4 pairs of dress socks. I wear the liners under dress socks and the hikers for comfort and to preserve the outer ones. This has been cool for me. As far as quantity, it depends whether you’ll stick with sandals or you’ll wear close-toed shoes a lot. For me, it might’ve been a few too many, but not by a lot.) * 2 polo type shirts * 2 nice, short-sleeve shirts * 1 nice, collared, long-sleeve shirt * 2 pairs khakis/slacks * 2 pairs multi-purpose pants (cargos; cargos with the legs that zip off; decent jeans – anything that you could just as easily hike in as teach in) [Regarding all teaching apparel – I like khaki and light green or brown stuff. Chalk dust shows up on dark stuff; really light stuff shows stains really easily. But any colors will work. And don’t go out and buy all new things just for Guinea. Just make sure its something in which you’ll be comfortable teaching. Remember, you’ll be here for two years.] Women (I consulted 3 actual G8 volunteer girls) * 3 long skirts (showing knees is taboo) * 3 nice button-up shirts * 1-2 pairs jeans * 1-2 pair pants that aren’t jeans (Jeans connote “young,” and most of us are already young for a teacher, let alone a Guinean teacher. This is a respect issue.) * Minimum 15-20 pairs underwear (Washboards are hard on them. They could be mailed, though, too, if you found yourself short of room. They’re light.) * 4 good bras (Can’t buy good bras in country) * 1-3 sport bras (depending on how much you like to exercise) * 1 pair of nice sandals (in addition to the shoes listed below, or as your teaching shoes) Advice (for female volunteers from the girls) * “If you plan on wearing closed-toed shoes, bring them; don’t buy them here.” * “Bring running shoes or cross-trainers. Even if you don’t think that you’ll wear them a lot, you’ll be thankful on certain occasions that you brought them.” * “Don’t bring whites. Other colors are fine.” (Whites are difficult to wash, and stain easily.) * “Don’t picture yourself as different in Guinea. Wear what you like.” * “Don’t bring really nice clothes. Bring what you’ll enjoy wearing. Durable, comfortable clothes are nice. Nothing too precious; it could fade or get ruined.” * “A lot of underwear and bras.” * “Not jewelry.” * “Can have clothes made in country.” * “Make a care package for someone to mail to you.” * “Bring or plan to mail a lot of tampons (2 years worth).” Everyone * T-shirts (4 or 5 total, at most. Why? During stage, you’re in class most of the time. At site, you’ll be teaching frequently and will probably accumulate t-shirts as much as anything, anyway.) * A cotton, long-sleeve t-shirt * 1 set of workout clothes * Swimsuit * 1 sweatshirt and/or light jacket * 1 hat (you could easily replace this with something cool in the market, but come with at least one) * Shoes: o 1 pair of teaching shoes (some combination of durability, comfort, and style) o 1 pair of light hiking boots or cross-trainers o 1 pair Chaco or Teva sandals Toiletries * Towel * A 3-month supply of the following: o soap o toothpaste o toothbrushes o floss o deodorant o hair products o etc. Kitchen * 15-20 Ziploc baggies * spices or other favorite things you won’t want to do without * a good knife (This may be your pocketknife or leatherman. Or, you may prefer a nice big kitchen knife. Kitchen knives of decent quality can be found in country.) Miscellaneous * Generous-sized school backpack (lots of pockets are nice, I’ve found) * Big frame backpack (In addition to traveling, you may want to take this on visits to Conakry or the regional capital. A nice big backpack will hold your clothes for a week, plus leave you lots of room to stock up on things you can’t get in the village.) * 2 good flashlights (LED flashlights are great. Also, 1 regular-style flashlight and 1 headlamp is a nice combination.) * Alarm clock (Bought mine for $3.00 at Wal-Mart.) * 1 Nalgene bottle * A good leatherman with a nice assortment of tools (You’ll find a use for them.) * Camera (This one can be a tough call. I brought a medium-quality point-and-click, many extra rolls of film, and an extra battery. I mail film back to the US, which costs very little. My mom then often mails back photos for friends here. Many Guineans will love a photo of themselves, if you feel like obliging. Film can also be developed in country, though the quality is generally poorer. Many volunteers bring digital cameras with extra memory cards, solar chargers, etc. Some have had nothing but good experiences. Others have had them stolen, others broken, others run out of batteries without means to recharge. Up to you.) * French Dictionary (Larousse’s Concise Dictionary is good. Make sure the dictionary is a decent size and seems quality.) * Pillow (Just one. Can buy more before going to site, if need be.) Nice Luxuries * Music (a decent walkman/Discman, but not too expensive, is good. A guy in our stage did MP3’s on CD with an MP3/Discman, though. Over 400 albums or so…) * Shortwave Radio (great for getting news at site) * Good bike helmet (Peace Corps furnishes them with your bike, but they aren’t always so comfortable) * Running shoes, if you run * Nice leather sandals (for teaching) * Travel towel * 1 good math or physics reference text for the Math/Physics teachers (for site; plenty in Dubreka) * A compact umbrella (Guinean umbrellas are a little cheap and break easily. You will use an umbrella in Dubreka (and probably plenty at site)!) * Other books (There are a ton of books in the regional houses. But throw in that one that you always wanted to read, but never found the time.) * Diary (More than one, or add refills…) * Decent calculator, again for the Math/Physics teachers (not graphing – too complicated; Guinea has little cheap ones, but bring a decent one from the States) * Extra clothing * Good can opener * Echinacea * Day planner * Hand sanitizer * At least a few American batteries Leave it at Home * Water filter (Plenty of water treatment is made available by Peace Corps. You will not need this.) * Sheets (provided during stage; buy new ones when you move to site) * Excess T-shirts * School supplies (Easily found. Many are provided by Peace Corps or by your school. Then pens in Guinea aren’t always great, but I think that even American pens hate the heat and humidity.) * Flip flops (available at any market) What you can easily get in Guinea * T-shirts, polo shirts, gym-type clothes * Sandals (all kinds, really) * Bandanas (same thing you find in the US) * Hats * Pots and pans * Kitchen knives * Plastic containers (but not good Tupperware) * Backpacks (of varying quality) * Books (lots to be borrowed from the regional houses) * Sewing items * Small calculators * Many electronics items (again, of varying quality) * Batteries (usually of poor quality) * Paper, pens, pencils, notebooks, binders, office supplies * Bug repellent (you’ll receive this from Peace Corps Guinea) * Math and Physics texts in French (these are just okay, but not very thorough) * Hand mirrors (cheap) * Wall mirrors (decent quality) * Multivitamins, Vitamin C, Ibuprofen, Sunscreen, and most basic medical supplies (free from Peace Corps) * Shampoo and Soap * Sponges and Scouring pads (for dishes) Food available in Guinea * Canned corned beef, chicken, and tuna * Canned veggies * Potato chips * Ketchup * Soy sauce * Generic kool-aids * Olive oil * Spices * Pasta * Black tea (and many others…) * Beer and booze!