PCRIM Invitees Please Read

I know that there at least 20 of you out there stalking the blogs right now just as I did last year, you're probably freaking out about what to expect and what to pack here, my friend is about to leave the US to become a senegalese volunteer and this post is taken from an email I wrote her:

Ok so here’s a list of stuff I found helpful to bring to Mauritania, I spent a lot of time agonizing over what to bring beforehand. You’ll be ok even if you don’t check off every item on this list!! But anyway here goes:

Flash drive
OFF/DEET
Tupperware (to keep ants out of your stuff)
Spices
A battery powered headlamp
Nalgene for your treated water
Travel towel
European power adaptor (I didn’t get one before hand I’m kicking myself now I’ve been through a few here and they make my ipod freeze)
New books
DVDs of new movies
Stationary
Stamps (sounds weird but you can hand off your mail to someone visiting the states it happens often!)
Multivitamins
Immodium – to use if you get sick when you travel
Sunblock
Scarf/headwrap (you never know when you might need it)
Ipod cassette tape converter for cars (this is good for long trips in taxi brousse and PC vehicles its like $10 at target it’s an Ipod converter for a car cassette deck)
Tropic screen mosquito net
Sharpie markers
MR. Sketch markers (the fun smelling kind)
Good drawing paper
Pencils/colored pencils (all of this art stuff is good for when you do trainings in brousse, women need health info but might be illiterate, big placards and posters with illustrations are like gold out here)
Photo album with pictures of home/family/friends – people looooove to share photos and hear about your family and it’s a good language lesson to try to remember the names for aunt, cousin etc in your local dialect.
Star chart ( the night sky is crazy here!!)
World map
Ipod with music – download Dimi Mint Abba.Yousson Dor (sp!) Akon, Baba Maal these are all Senegalese/Mauritanian singers and will lend you some cred with your host family during Stage, also download the language lessons they give you on Hassaniya/Wolof/Soninke/Pulaar, listen to them a little before you get to Mauritania it may help!
Fun stuff from home, stuff that represents your home town, I have a tee shirt with a map of long island on it, lol
Host family gifts/neighborhood kid gifts small toys or candy, it works for when they help you out, you’ll see
Lots of underwear!!!
Dove wipes for when you want to feel clean but don’t have water to wash your face
Nice outfit, at least a black pair of pants (you can get fun shirts made! Clothing here is an adventure)
Food- koolaid mix, crystal lite or gatorade, sauce mixes, spices that you like that can make anything taste good (for me old bay or garlic salt work) Cliff bars for when you can’t face another plate of ceb u jinn (you’ll see what I mean by the end of your first month here!) some sorta baking mix you can use to win over 2nd year volunteers at your site (like blueberry muffin mix or something, they’ll go crazy over it!)

Computer- ok at this point you don’t know whether your site has electricity or not. I’m not a laptop person, and didn’t bring one, and figure its better that I dont get upset if/when it gets stolen. But then again if you have electricity or internet access it may be a lot easier to rely your experiences to your family. And when you get to Nouakchott it could be helpful to have lots of hotels have wireless. My blog kinda died b/c of my lack of internet access. But also bringing a laptop is an obvious sign of wealth and that could lead to a lot of problems at site with people’s perceptions of you as a rich foreigner. The choice is up to you, worst case scenario you could wait to see what site you get, then have your parents either ship it to you.

Let’s face it, Africa is everything and nothing you expected it to be, smell, look or taste like. I am amazed by things I see every day, be it intense beauty, charity, cruelty or poverty. The most important things you need to bring with you you’ll find within yourself- keep an open mind, learn to laugh at yourself when others do, just basically smile and greet and laugh a lot. This is a place of superlatives- you’ll be the sickest you’ve been in your life, eat the weirdest things and have the strangest experiences both happy and sad. But that’s ok, TIA- This is Africa and it’s gonna shape who you are for the rest of your life! People will try to test you, so keep an open mind but keep your guard up as well, study the local language as best you can and as hard as you can. Ask a lot of questions during Stage (pre-service training), always go to your language facilitator if you’re confused about things that go on in your family. Make friends with kids in your neighborhood if anything crazy happens you can get them to tell you who did what (this has to do with theft and rock throwing, some kids are fucking bad! I got hit with a rock on the way over to the bureau to write this email!) Remember that cultural relativity goes both ways, if someone does something that makes you feel uncomfortable or exploited let them know and put a stop to it. Keep that in mind. Also understand that you’ll acclimate to everything, the heat, the people, the marriage requests, the food, it all takes time. “Petit a petit l’oiseau fait la nid.” There will be certain cultural differences that don’t bother you, and some will drive you mad, its ok to let that happen, we’re all human. Everyone picks their battles , we all have one (and mine happens to be wearing pants). And also keep in mind, you and I will never become Mauritanian, no matter how hard we try to fit into the cultural cookie cutter and pick up the language. But just being ourselves will be enough. Have fun with it! Give everything a try, goat brains, dancing, henna, strapping a baby to your back, greetings in other languages. Don’t worry about site announcement, even the most conservative towns have liberal people in them who will probably search you out because you’re a westerner. All you need to survive in Africa you already have in you, the courage and will you’ve had your entire life, the last 23 years have been preparation for this moment. Just remember that times will get tough, but the first 3 months is the hardest and then you get your freedom back!