Annie's Packing Tips Part 3: Things

Alright, so shoes and clothing are obviously the most important things you need to bring, but they're not the only things. In fact, I'd suggest that things you wear should only be about half the things you pack. What's the other stuff you might want to bring?

• Towel(s): Some people bring a quick-dry camping towel. That's pretty cool and it's awesome if you have one. I personally don't love the way they feel. I brought a beach towel, a bath towel, and a hand towel. That might be a lot for some people, but I have used them consistently throughout the entire time I've been here. You definitely want a towel you can take to the beach, and most host family bath towels are not fluffy in the slightest. I also lived with a host family during training that never kept towels around for drying your hands after you washed them, so I kept the hand towel in my room for that reason.
• Your favorite pillow: Makes sleeps much easier.
• Sheets: There's a version of the official PC Ecuador packing list that includes a set of sheets, full size, on it. This one's kinda your call. You won't really need them for the first 9 months while you're living with host families, so where they come into play is when you move out. Now, you can certainly buy sheets here, but they'll be lower quality and more expensive than what you could get back home. You also can't be certain of what size bed you'll end up getting, though most people choose a full. I don't regret giving up that space in my suitcase to bring them with me, but if you have one planned within the first 6 months at site, I'd leave them for a resupply mission.
• Coffee maker/French press: Ok, this is only for coffee addicts. If you're the type of person who needs a good cup of coffee (or 2) every morning, you might find it worth your while to bring a small french press or something to brew coffee in. In your host family's home you will probably only find instant coffee (and it's not good). Yes, Ecuador is known for its coffee, but almost the entire supply gets exported. You can get great coffee if you're willing to splurge a bit, though.
• Shaving cream: It's hella expensive here, so make room for a can in your luggage and use it sparingly.
• Deodorant: Though stick deodorant is available here, it's not the norm and it costs much more for a much smaller quantity than back home. It's not that heavy, so bring yourself a decent supply.
• Makeup: American brands are obviously very expensive here. Mascara, cover-up/foundation, and high-quality lipstick are what you want to bring extra of. There's a pretty decent liquid eyeliner you can buy here for less than $3 from a Colombian brand called Vogue. It might as well come standard issue in the med kit because I swear every single one of us has bought one. Also, if you're into particular eyeshadow palettes and primers and what not, I guess bring that, but if you're not picky about the quality of that stuff, you can find cheap versions here. If you are a pasty slice of cheesecake like me, you'll definitely want to bring various shades of foundation or any other skin-covering makeup as within 6 months, the constant exposure to the sun (we are on the equator!) will leave you looking like a well-done crème brûlée.
• Multi-tool: I really would recommend that you bring some sort of multi-tool. I brought a Swiss Army knife with a bottle opener, corkscrew, scissors, etc. and carry it with me everywhere (even though I'm not 100% sure it's legal). I'm always saving the day with it. If you can, I'd suggest getting something that has a pliers function in addition to the aforementioned alcoholic's-best-friend uses.
• Dental floss: Peace Corps does provide some in your med kit, but it's an unwaxed roll of absolute garbage that gets stuck in your teeth. I suggest bringing your own; it doesn't weigh much.
• Tiny Novelty Erasers: For TEFL specifically, little erasers make great prizes for games in class. They're a good alternative to candy, and the kids will definitely use them. Pencils and stickers are also great for this.
• Notecards: I have yet to find blank notecards or thank-you notes in Ecuador, so bring a few for writing notes to anyone who helps you out along the way, like a true American.
• Travel-size contact solution: I brought big bottles, but I didn't think of this until Staging in Miami and made my roommate (love ya!) pick some up for me while she was at Target. If you wear contacts, you're not gonna wanna take a 12-oz. bottle of solution with you on every weekend trip. Bring several in case you lose one in the chaos of a Montañita hostel room.
• Seasoning packets: You can find most standard herbs and spices here, but what you won't find are the pre-mixed seasonings that come in packets and take all the guesswork out for you. Things like: ranch powder, guacamole mix, taco/fajita/chili seasoning, brown gravy for Thanksgiving, and french onion dip.
• Special foods: This is a very vague category. What are foods that are worthy of that precious luggage space? What's the point of bringing something if you're just going to eat it and it'll be gone? I'd say that as far as foods go, only bring foods for 2 reasons: 1) comfort foods to help you deal with the culture shock and cope with stress--peanut butter, your favorite candy, etc., and 2) foods you plan to prepare for special occasions--potlucks, Thanksgiving, etc. You can read my second blog post for a story about that.
• Baking soda: While it's not completely illegal here, it is more or less illegal to sell it (in large quantities). You may be able to find it in certain tiendas in 10g packets, but it requires a lot of searching. Why? Because, drugs. This shit is more tightly controlled than Sudafed is in the U.S. Thanks, Ronald Reagan! And even if you're not one of these crunchy mofos that uses baking soda for brushing your teeth, washing your hair, washing your dishes, scrubbing your floors, washing your clothes, or any other of a million things that we already have products for, there's going to come a day when you need it for something, and you're not gonna know where to get it. So put a bit (you don't even need a whole box) in your suitcase, but make sure you hide it real good in case you get searched.

Things that really only I would find useful:

• Portable steamer: I don't like going to work in wrinkly clothes, and I don't for a second regret bringing my steamer, especially since during training my host family's iron did not work well.
• Sewing kit: If you know how to sew, you already know this is a must. If you don't know how to sew, I can't imagine you plan on learning anytime soon (I mean, what have you been doing with your life up to this point?), so I guess you'll just have holes in your clothes...
• Hot glue gun: I fix far too many things with hot glue to leave home without one. You can buy them pretty cheap here though, whenever you finally realize you need one.
• Eyeglass repair kit: I live in sunglasses and constantly need to tighten the screws on them.
• Flashlight: Duh. You'd think they'd put this in your med kit, considering it's an essential safety tool. Most people just use the flashlights on their phones, but I prefer to save my battery whenever there's a blackout.
• Painter's tape: For hanging stuff up on your wall without provoking the ire of your host mom or risking not getting your deposit back (though most people say that with landlords here, there's very little chance of you ever seeing that deposit again anyway).
• Water filter pitcher (Brita-type): Another one of the seemingly ridiculous things I brought with me. I grew up in the "Town of Perfect Water," so I've always been picky about water quality. For the last year and a half I spent back in the U.S., I lived in a city with water that sometimes smelled or tasted funny, so I got used to filtering my drinking water. Here, you obviously still need to boil your water (never put water straight from the tap in--it doesn't filter out bacteria and can in fact cause them to grow more quickly!), but the filter may improve the flavor and color of the water. Or maybe it's just a placebo effect. Idk, but my bougie ass needs the peace of mind.

Things you DON'T need to bring with you:

• Anything in your med kit: Your med kit comes with ibuprofen, acetaminophen, antacids, antihistamines, phenylephrine (decongestant), bismuth tablets (Pepto-Bismol), anti-diarrheal tablets (Immodium), bandaids, gauze, medical tape, scissors, bandages, antibacterial ointment, cough drops/throat lozenges (usually cherry flavored), anti-itch gel, antifungal cream, hydrocortisone cream, antiseptic wash, a thermometer, eye drops, latex gloves, tweezers, SPF chapstick, iodine tablets (for water purification), condoms, and oral rehydration salts (a.k.a. hangover juice). PCMOs will refill nearly everything in it as often as you ask (except for the anti-diarrheals), so long as you give them a decent window of time to get it to you (and sometimes you need to keep reminding them). Bring just enough of a first-aid kit to get you through staging and the first two days of training.
• Sunscreen: You get 4 bottles of SPF-30 per year, courtesy of PC. Anything beyond that is on you. You may think that's not enough for your pasty white ass, but after the first couple of burns, your skin starts to become more resistant to the sun, and you tend to skip the sunscreen. Worry about wrinkles and cancer when you're old and it's too late.
• Insect repellent: PCMOs provide unlimited refills of insect repellent, which is by no means as strong as Off! Deep Woods, but really, the mosquitoes only come out during rainy season.

Some people brought sleeping bags with them, and I still haven't decided if that's a Do or Don't. It's nice for them whenever they go stay at somebody's house because they have somewhere to sleep, but I've never been able to sleep on a hard floor with just a sleeping bag anyway. I ended up just buying an air mattress here, and I take it with me when I know I'll be staying at someone's house. (I also use it to entice people to come visit me in Guayaquil.) I guess if you're a super avid camper, you might want one?

That's a pretty good list for now. If I think of other stuff, maybe I'll write another post (after I've COSed, to keep with the timeline).

Annie's Packing Tips Part 2: Clothes

I'm going to avoid giving you specific advice on quantities of clothing to bring because every person dresses differently. Instead, here are some general guidelines and tips learned from mistakes (and wins!) I made in packing.

1. When packing clothing, have an A-team and a B-team. Your A-team are your must haves: essentials you will wear all the time, special items you can't leave home without, and required clothing for your job. Your B-team are extras: the difference between 5 t-shirts and 10, a pair of pants that kind of looks like another pair you already packed, socks your grandma sent you. Pack your A-team first but keep the B-team close by and ready, and add them to your suitcase if you have a couple of pounds to spare.

2. I already said this, but pack with Pre-Service Training in mind. That doesn't mean pack like your going to the Himalayas; rather, plan for a transitional fall-esque wardrobe. It'll be warm during the day and cold in the evening/at night/early in the morning, and it also rains for half the year. Bring layers that you can strip down and build back up, so that you also have something that works for the Coast. (By the way, sweaters/cardigans are not completely useless on the Coast. The A/C in a Sweet & Coffee can be something fierce!)

3. Know yourself as a person. You're not going to dramatically change the way you dress, so don't bring clothes that are a complete departure from your style. Many people go into the Peace Corps because they are looking to shake up their lives (I know I did), but don't make the mistake of thinking you can forcibly reinvent yourself--it won't take. If you do go through a style evolution, it will happen naturally and be directly influenced by your new surroundings; you can't predict a change like this. Along those same lines, don't invest in all sorts of adventure gear if you're not already a habitual mountain climber/scuba diver/adventure sportsman. You might get invited to go on a hike or two with a large group of people, but these usually aren't the sort you'd need specialty gear for. If somebody does invite you on an outing that requires gear you don't own, it's probably a sign that you are not physically or mentally prepared for something that extreme and should decline the offer. I am not an outdoorsy person, and tennis shoes/duck boots and a waterproof jacket have served me just fine on every hike I've been on, despite the fact that almost all of them culminated in me whining about how much I hate nature.

4. Ladies (and this could apply to guys): bring at least 1 cute "going out" outfit (see: clubbing) for cold weather and 1 for warm weather. Clubbing, or at least going out to bars, is a big part of Peace Corps culture, and you will partake (unless you're just truly an anti-social hermit of the highest order).

5. Also for ladies (or humans of the skirt-wearing variety): bring dresses that can be worn with and without leggings and that actually look cute BOTH WAYS to give yourself a more weather-variable wardrobe that takes up the same amount of space as a single-climate wardrobe. Obviously, bring a few pairs of tights and leggings of various thicknesses to wear under your dresses as well. (I brought 2 sheath dresses, and while they're great for school here on the coast, they didn't look that great with tights so I hardly ever wore them in the sierra.)

6. Bring at least 1 pair of ultrathin spandex shorts to wear underneath summer skirts and dresses. The thigh rub is REAL!

7. I have a few recommendations on jeans. Peace Corps will tell you that you cannot wear ripped/distressed jeans under any circumstances. With perhaps the exception of a few extremely conservative sites, that is a lie. You just can't wear them to school/work, training, meetings with government officials, or church. On the street/on weekends is fine. Many younger Ecuadorians do. That being said, I'm not a fan of ripped jeans unless they are the distressed-and-patched sort, so I'd advise against them on an aesthetic level. I'm sure you will rip a normal pair while you're here anyway. I brought 3 pairs of jeans total: 1 medium wash slim, 1 black skinny, and 1 dark wash wide trouser leg. The first 2 are definitely the ones I wear most often, and I wish I had brought 1 more pair of similar jeans. The trouser leg I brought because I figured they could be worn in more professional settings, but I didn't wear them often because they were too long to wear with flats and I didn't bring any cute boots! Overall, I'd suggest around 4 pairs of jeans for women, with at least 1 being dark enough to pass for business casual and at least 3 being of a solid wash (i.e. not sandblasted, acid washed, or distressed in any way) with no holes, embroidery, or appliques. You can wear these to training.

8. Other Pants
For women: In addition to jeans, I brought 1 pair of tapered suit pants, 3 pairs of ankle/cropped pants, and 1 pair of loose lightweight joggers. I wore the ankle pants during training but I was cold almost every time I wore them; however, they have been a lifesaver here on the coast. I wear them to school more often than anything else.
For men: I'd suggest a lot of chinos/khakis/cotton twill pants. Sadly, I don't think there's a male equivalent of cropped pants that would actually be considered work-appropriate. Also, there's just something about a guy in chinos and a shirt with the sleeves rolled up...

9. For skirts, follow the same rule as dresses: equally wearable with or without tights.

10. Bring more undergarments than you imagine you need. I probably brought about 20 pairs of underwear and 10 months in, I'm already tired of wearing the same damn underwear all the time. Bras wear out way faster if you're on the coast because of all the sweat, so bring more bras than you think you need too. For both, but especially the underwear, you may want to bring some that you don't wear right away but cycle into your wardrobe about halfway through service just to liven things up a bit.

11. Peace Corps suggests that you bring a hat, which is something I would second, adding this: a very basic ball cap that you don't mind sweating into and which you've already bent the bill on to make it comfortable and broken in. It's good to have a hat to cover your scalp from the searing sun. Even though I have one, I never remember to wear it because I'm just not a hat person and I hate the way it makes my forehead sweat.

That's about all I have for specific tips when it comes to clothing. Obviously, don't forget to bring a bathing suit! Never forget your bathing suit!

Annie's Packing Tips Part 1: General Advice and Shoes

Naturally, I have to start this post by apologizing for what a shitty blogger I am and the fact that I haven't posted on this blog in like 6 months. But this is who I am as a person; I've come to accept it and you should too. Now, let's get down to business.

"Annie, I'm a future Ecuador PCV who's about to depart in, oh, let's say, less than 3 months (lookin' at you, 119). What should I bring? Should I follow the packing list that Peace Corps sent me?"
The short answer is, yes and no. (Typical Mike "It Depends" Donald-type answer.) Some of the suggestions on that list were really helpful, others were straight-up useless. All that you can be certain of is that there is no way to pack perfectly for your Peace Corps service in Ecuador. You are going to a country where cities have both "Hornoquil" and "Friobamba" as nicknames. You have no idea where your site will be, and the possibilities are dramatically different. You are going to bring shit you never use, and you are going to wish you had brought shit you didn't bring. That being said, here's my first piece of advice/musing on travel and life experiences:

1. You are going to be living in Ecuador for over 2 years. How many items (of clothing, housewares, personal belongings, etc.) have you bought in the past 2 years of your life? Probably more than you can remember right now. Ecuador is no different. You're living here; you're not here on vacation or a semester abroad. You're going to have to buy things that you need for your everyday life. The goal of packing suitcases to bring with you from home should be to minimize how much you have to buy here, but 100 pounds isn't really all that much. If you save up some money before coming to Ecuador, you can give yourself the leeway to make some riskier/more unorthodox packing choices by knowing that if there is something you missed, you can buy it here. So tip #1 would be give yourself a replenishment fund. It could be a wardrobe replenishment fund, a hair/skin/beauty products replenishment fund, or even an imported food replenishment fund. It's just nice not to have to use the same 3 outfits over and over again because you don't have enough clothes. It's also nice to not have to use the cheap Ecuadorian shampoo.

2. Speaking of replenishment, my second piece of advice would be to try to plan to either have somebody come visit you or take a trip home within the first 6 months at site. This is the perfect opportunity for restocking on American goodies. If you can plan a restock mission before you move out of your host family's house (if that's what you want to do), you can also save on having to buy housewares here in Ecuador, as anything not made locally tends to be rather more expensive thanks to taxes and import duties. Also, the earlier your restock mission occurs, the easier it is to hold out on buying a brand new wardrobe for your sweltering/freezing/wet AF site that you were totally under-prepared for.

3. Some people might advise you to pack light, maybe bring only one suitcase instead of two. To them, I say, y'all dumb as fuck. You like spending every weekend doing laundry? Or worse, not doing laundry and smelling like a sewer rat? Ok, you do you, but I hope your site is at the top of Chimborazo so you'll never have to worry about sweat stains. And yes, I am judging you on the fact that every time I see you, you're wearing the same damn pumpkin-colored sweater or charcoal v-neck which I can only assume used to be black but has faded due to the fact that you wear it Every. Single. Day. Your 2 checked bags + 1 carry-on + 1 personal item are the only opportunity you have to bring as much of home with you to your service, so don't waste it! Even if you only need a week's worth of clothes, hell, fill your other bag with peanut butter and Hot Cheetos. I'd love to have a suitcase full of peanut butter and Hot Cheetos. Just because you're in the Peace Corps, it doesn't mean that you should have to suffer. And it is well worth the expense and ONE day of taxi and bus terminal hell to get all your stuff to site. This isn't Peace Corps Mongolia; it won't take you 2 days to get from the capital to your site. Ecuador is Posh Corps. Live like it.

4. Pack more for Sierra than Coast/Oriente. You should obviously pack at least a little bit for both climates, as you will be required to experience both, but it is a guarantee that you will spend at least two and a half months in Quito, whereas it's about 50/50 whether you get a coastal or sierran site (Oriente is also technically an option, but as my experience is with TEFL and that's who I'm mainly aiming this post at, it's highly unlikely--like 1 person out of 37 in my Omni got put there). You will also regularly be going back to Quito for required trainings and conferences. Whereas, if you ended up getting a site in the Sierra and had no desire to ever go to the Coast on your own volition, you could potentially make it through your entire service having only ever gone to the Coast once, for less than a week, during a required PST trip. I wouldn't suggest it, though, because the Coast is the best. But anyway, I digress. The point is that if you pack for Sierra and end up with Coast, it'll just force you to integrate faster because people on the Coast dress like it's 54 degrees outside when it's 87. And if you schedule your restock mission early, you won't be sweating through everything you own for too long.

Now, to get into the nitty-gritty of what to pack: This list primarily concerns itself with women and TEFL volunteers, because that's what I am. Understanding your job functions clearly is key to packing appropriately.

Shoes:
I'm starting with shoes because I wear a women's size 10 (sometimes 9½), which is nearly impossible to find here. Ecuadorian women, on the whole, have much smaller feet than I do. If you wear anything bigger than an 8-8½, don't expect to be able to buy shoes here for a reasonably cheap price. For men, I don't know where the exact cutoff is, but I know 12's are out of the question, and 11's are probably very difficult to find too. I probably brought more shoes with me than most people, because I knew I wouldn't be able to buy them as often or as easily as I might back home (also I love shoes).
I brought

• 1 pair of duck boots, 
• 1 pair of high heels, 
• 1 pair of wedges, 
• 2 pairs of flats, 
• 2 pairs of cute sandals, 
• 1 pair of Chacos, 
• 1 pair of flip-flops, 
• 1 pair of slippers,  
• and 2 pairs of sneakers: 1 with more support for running, and 1 with less support for everyday. 

The duck boots I thought would be a good idea because they, in theory, combine a rainboot with a winter/hiking boot, but in practice they are less comfortable than a real hiking boot, and as my site is Guayaquil, I would rather wear Chacos in the rain than some hot-ass boots. If my site were in the Sierra, though, I'm sure I would wear them more often. The heels I have worn exactly 1 time since leaving Miami (it was for swear-in), but if I had a do-over I'd still bring them, because I needed them for that occasion. The wedges I wore a few times to look cute, but they started to fall apart so I gave them away. I wore the flats a lot during training, so much so that one pair has almost completely disintegrated (gave them away) and the other is severely worn-down. I hardly ever wear flats at site because my feet sweat in them. All the sandals I still have and still wear regularly at site, though I didn't wear them much during training. The flip-flops and slippers are a must; I wear flip-flops all the time in my house, running quick errands, in hostel showers, on the beach, pretty much everywhere, and the slippers I wore in the house all the time in Quito, because in Ecuador you must wear shoes inside the house (and tile floors are cold). Both my pairs of sneakers were relatively new when I got here, but the ones with less support have really worn out, even though I mostly only wear them on weekends.
I also bought

• 1 pair of loafer-style flats during training, which I regretted within a week after realizing they didn't quite fit; 
• 1 cute pair of Brazilian-made sandals (only Brazilian shoes come in my size) when I got to site, which are the most comfortable sandals I have ever owned and which I wear at least 4 times a week; 
• and 1 pair of flip-flops, so now I have 2 pairs of flip-flops to rotate between. 

I got a hand-me-down pair of wedges for free from the Peace Corps Bodega (a.k.a. room in the Peace Corps office where volunteers leave shit they don't want), which fell apart the first time I wore them, so I gave them away.

If I could change anything about the shoes I brought, I definitely would have brought a pair of cute but comfortable booties or mid-calf boots to wear during training. I would have worn boots every day during training, were it not for the fact that the only boots I brought were half-covered in rubber, and thus I felt they were too casual for training and especially for our teaching practicum. Even though I would never wear boots at site, I'd give up the space in my suitcase for shoes that would have looked cute and kept me warm during training. Flats are too cold for 7am in Quito! Additionally, instead of bringing 2 pairs of athletic sneakers, I would have just brought 1 pair of running/exercise shoes and 1 pair of either slip-on tennis shoes or low-top converses--something with a more casual, nondescript vibe and less of an athleisure vibe. Finally, I would have invested in some more supportive, sweat-proof teaching shoes, as I can often spend 6-7 hours straight on my feet. I don't know exactly what I would have worn for the Sierra, but have you noticed that Crocs has stepped up its shoe game recently? I am having my mom bring me 2 pairs of Crocs sandals for Christmas after one of my co-teachers said they were the only shoes she wears to teach, worth even the $70-$100 price tag they come with in Ecuador.

One thing to note about shoe culture in Ecuador: It's very common for women to wear outlandishly high heels when going out at night, as well as when working in an office environment. The streets and sidewalks are fucking terrible for high heels, though, and at 5'6", I don't really feel the need to wear heels when I go out. Certainly when I go with a group of PCVs, we usually don't feel the need to get too fancy.

Last thing: My shoes wear out much faster here than they would back home-partly because I have fewer shoe options to rotate through, but mostly because I walk about 10x as much as I did in the U.S. What would take me 4 years to do to a pair of shoes back home takes me about 6 months or less to do here.