4 scarves, 1 outfit, some leather goods, 3 bottles of alcohol, pounds of pasta and risotto, bottles and bottles of olive oil and balsamic vinegar, plus some jewelry and tacky souvenirs. not bad.
Showing posts with label packing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label packing. Show all posts
Sunday, April 1, 2012
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
packing and preparations
I’m leaving in two days. Two days! Can you believe it?
I started packing yesterday, and it was way more stressful than I had anticipated. I want to pack everything, because if I forget or run out of something I can’t just run to the store to get some more. On the other hand, I don’t want to be weighed down by a lot of crap I don’t need, plus I plan on bringing a lot of new things back. Also, I had way more appropriate clothing than I was aware, and all those things they tell you to bring for a first aid kit – heavy!
I’m pretty uncomfortable about the money situation.. We were told to bring $1,500-1,800, and that the only reliable form of money there is cash. So that’s right folks, in the coming days I’ll be walking around wearing a money belt bursting with cold hard cash. Yikes!
We did a secret santa exchange at my office last week, and I got a wonderful gift. My co-worker Cynthia is an expert sew-ist, and made me the most excellent scrapbook I have ever seen. She embroidered “Madeline’s Journeys” under the red material, sewed the elephant (my favorite!) and attached the African beads. I love it!
And for any of you who may be interested in doing a similar trip someday, here is a list of all the documents I packed: 6 passport/visa photos, pictures of my family and friends with my address on the back (I’ve been told that if you leave them people will write to you), my proof of Yellow Fever immunization, a summary of education and experience, official transcript, and resume (for my Permit once I arrive), several photocopies of my passport and visa, a copy of my original prescriptions for Malaria and the like, my confirmation of enrollment in the program, travel contact information (provided by CCS), and my flight itinerary. I am also bringing some maps I copied from a travel book, and a typed copy of the notes I took from the book, plus some useful Swahili phrases I looked up.
2 days!!!
I started packing yesterday, and it was way more stressful than I had anticipated. I want to pack everything, because if I forget or run out of something I can’t just run to the store to get some more. On the other hand, I don’t want to be weighed down by a lot of crap I don’t need, plus I plan on bringing a lot of new things back. Also, I had way more appropriate clothing than I was aware, and all those things they tell you to bring for a first aid kit – heavy!
I’m pretty uncomfortable about the money situation.. We were told to bring $1,500-1,800, and that the only reliable form of money there is cash. So that’s right folks, in the coming days I’ll be walking around wearing a money belt bursting with cold hard cash. Yikes!
We did a secret santa exchange at my office last week, and I got a wonderful gift. My co-worker Cynthia is an expert sew-ist, and made me the most excellent scrapbook I have ever seen. She embroidered “Madeline’s Journeys” under the red material, sewed the elephant (my favorite!) and attached the African beads. I love it!
And for any of you who may be interested in doing a similar trip someday, here is a list of all the documents I packed: 6 passport/visa photos, pictures of my family and friends with my address on the back (I’ve been told that if you leave them people will write to you), my proof of Yellow Fever immunization, a summary of education and experience, official transcript, and resume (for my Permit once I arrive), several photocopies of my passport and visa, a copy of my original prescriptions for Malaria and the like, my confirmation of enrollment in the program, travel contact information (provided by CCS), and my flight itinerary. I am also bringing some maps I copied from a travel book, and a typed copy of the notes I took from the book, plus some useful Swahili phrases I looked up.
2 days!!!
Friday, November 27, 2009
packing list
Thanksgiving has came and went, and so comes the great American tradition of Black Friday. I used this national shopping frenzy as a great excuse to start buying things I need to bring with me on the trip, and got some pretty good deals. I scored some camping stuff (shower wipes, super strength bug repellant, a beach towel that fits in your pocket…) on sale, and got a bunch of culturally appropriate T-shirts (read: no logos or statements, high neckline and full cap sleeves) for $5 each at old navy. I picked up lots of health things like baby wipes and aloe vera gel at target AND got one of my perscriptions for only $4. Awesome.
I have now divided the CCS packing list into three sections: bought, have, and get, and the list is about four pages long. I’m hoping lots of the “gets” will be lovely early Christmas presents. I’m also planning to borrow whatever I reasonably can to keep costs down (who knew over the counter first aid kits were so expensive?!). I’ll try to hold off actually packing the suitcases until school ends next week, but I’m getting really excited!
20 days!!
I have now divided the CCS packing list into three sections: bought, have, and get, and the list is about four pages long. I’m hoping lots of the “gets” will be lovely early Christmas presents. I’m also planning to borrow whatever I reasonably can to keep costs down (who knew over the counter first aid kits were so expensive?!). I’ll try to hold off actually packing the suitcases until school ends next week, but I’m getting really excited!
20 days!!
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
updates
I tried to update a while back, but couldn’t remember how to log in to my account. Kids today and their technology.
Anyway, the deadline for my program fee has came and went, and thanks to everyone’s generosity I was able to pay it in full. I had estimated the trip to cost about $6,000. I contributed 1/3 of my own money, fundraised 1/3, and the final 1/3 was support from my family. THANK YOU again, to everyone who helped me to reach my goal.
My final fundraiser, to backtrack a bit further, went much better than I had expected. Capital Wine and Liquor had offered me 10% of sales from people who came in and mentioned that they were my facebook friends on the First Friday of November. Three friends came in, and Mark, the owner, made a generous personal donation as well. Many thanks to him and to Capital Wine and Liquor!
This past Friday I sent away my visa application (and passport!!) to the Tanzanian embassy in NYC. It was a fairly smooth process consisting of completing several simple forms explaining when and why I want to go to Tanzania, and how I will support myself financially while I am there. I had passport photos taken at CVS ($@ off with coupon, check their website!), and brought the whole shebang to FedEx. I purchased two three-day shipping envelopes with tracking, to prevent losing my passport. I was pretty nervous to let the passport out of my sight, but there isn’t another option. (Even if you apply in person, you need to leave the passport at the embassy for at least a day or two while they complete your paperwork.) I checked the tracking today, and my package has graced the presence of Menands, Tennessee, and NYC. It has yet to reach its destination. I’m beginning to get quite nervous that between 6 days of shipping and two weeks of processing I might not get everything back in time. If that happens, I’m REALLY screwed.
Today, I called my pharmacy to check on the prices of the prescriptions I need to fill when I go. The naive third world traveler that I am, I had expected a figure between $100-$200. WRONG. I have three medications (malaria, typhoid, and traveler’s diarrhea) prescribed. The rough costs are $20, $60, and $275. That makes a grand total of $355. This is in addition, mind you, to the $97 Yellow Fever shot I got a few weeks ago. Yikes.
On a happier note, I received a final preparation packet from CCS. The packet included a recommended packing list, contact information to leave with family and friends, and a powerpoint with some useful Swahili phrases and other information including pictures of the home base where I’ll stay. It’s a lot nicer than I expected. I’m not disappointed by any means, but I am concerned about the message sent by traveling all the way to east Africa to volunteer with some of the world’s poorest people, only to spend time in a nice building with all the amenities of home. I’ll have to wait and see what it’s really like when I get there.
Finally, another bit of good news from my helpful professor, Barbara Rio. She informed me last week that the SUNY School of Social Welfare had some scholarships that may be able to help me. I went in today with a receipt for my money order for my visa application ($100), and the school will mail me a check in the same amount! This is both exciting and unexpected, and I plan to put the check towards my prescriptions when it arrives.
The next step, as I understand it, is to be patient about my visa/passport, begin shopping for things I need to being (a English/Swahili dictionary, conservative T-shirts, etc), and pack! I’m leaving in 22 days!!!
Anyway, the deadline for my program fee has came and went, and thanks to everyone’s generosity I was able to pay it in full. I had estimated the trip to cost about $6,000. I contributed 1/3 of my own money, fundraised 1/3, and the final 1/3 was support from my family. THANK YOU again, to everyone who helped me to reach my goal.
My final fundraiser, to backtrack a bit further, went much better than I had expected. Capital Wine and Liquor had offered me 10% of sales from people who came in and mentioned that they were my facebook friends on the First Friday of November. Three friends came in, and Mark, the owner, made a generous personal donation as well. Many thanks to him and to Capital Wine and Liquor!
This past Friday I sent away my visa application (and passport!!) to the Tanzanian embassy in NYC. It was a fairly smooth process consisting of completing several simple forms explaining when and why I want to go to Tanzania, and how I will support myself financially while I am there. I had passport photos taken at CVS ($@ off with coupon, check their website!), and brought the whole shebang to FedEx. I purchased two three-day shipping envelopes with tracking, to prevent losing my passport. I was pretty nervous to let the passport out of my sight, but there isn’t another option. (Even if you apply in person, you need to leave the passport at the embassy for at least a day or two while they complete your paperwork.) I checked the tracking today, and my package has graced the presence of Menands, Tennessee, and NYC. It has yet to reach its destination. I’m beginning to get quite nervous that between 6 days of shipping and two weeks of processing I might not get everything back in time. If that happens, I’m REALLY screwed.
Today, I called my pharmacy to check on the prices of the prescriptions I need to fill when I go. The naive third world traveler that I am, I had expected a figure between $100-$200. WRONG. I have three medications (malaria, typhoid, and traveler’s diarrhea) prescribed. The rough costs are $20, $60, and $275. That makes a grand total of $355. This is in addition, mind you, to the $97 Yellow Fever shot I got a few weeks ago. Yikes.
On a happier note, I received a final preparation packet from CCS. The packet included a recommended packing list, contact information to leave with family and friends, and a powerpoint with some useful Swahili phrases and other information including pictures of the home base where I’ll stay. It’s a lot nicer than I expected. I’m not disappointed by any means, but I am concerned about the message sent by traveling all the way to east Africa to volunteer with some of the world’s poorest people, only to spend time in a nice building with all the amenities of home. I’ll have to wait and see what it’s really like when I get there.
Finally, another bit of good news from my helpful professor, Barbara Rio. She informed me last week that the SUNY School of Social Welfare had some scholarships that may be able to help me. I went in today with a receipt for my money order for my visa application ($100), and the school will mail me a check in the same amount! This is both exciting and unexpected, and I plan to put the check towards my prescriptions when it arrives.
The next step, as I understand it, is to be patient about my visa/passport, begin shopping for things I need to being (a English/Swahili dictionary, conservative T-shirts, etc), and pack! I’m leaving in 22 days!!!
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