What are /r/peacecorps' favorite Products & Services?

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I mean this happens all of the time even in America.... Check out this article and I have friends that actually have worked at the school and they say its 1000% true on the corruption that exists there...

https://www.npr.org/sections/ed/2017/11/28/564054556/what-really-happened-at-the-school-where-every-senior-got-into-college

Not the same thing as a vibrator, but back when I first went to Peace Corps, I brought along a couple of... um... magazines. I tucked them in flat zippered exterior panel of my backpack. Upon arrival at the airport, we were informed that, by law, pornographic materials were illegal. Unlike nabubo's story upthread, our bags were searched. Thoroughly. I was sweating bullets, already trying to figure out how I'd live this one down even without the threat of jail time, but they never noticed the pouch and I walked out of that airport a free man.

Later, when I served in Guyana, computers had come a long way and such measures were no longer necessary.

Anyway, as for vibrators, don't they have some that look like other things, such as flashlights?

https://fsi-languages.yojik.eu/languages/PeaceCorps/English-TEFL/T0130_English_LPI.pdf Check out page 14--it gives a pretty comprehensive overview of the proficiency levels. Personally I started with novice low in French and local language and it essentially meant that I had zero or nearly zero comprehension of either language. By the end of training they wanted us to be at Intermediate Low and I think I was about there--I could talk about basic things, ask question, essentially a little above basic communication. Obviously the first few months at site can be challenging and frustrating language wise, whether learning one language or more than one but you just have to persevere and know that it is improving little by little each day. I went from basically 0 French and local language skills and improved to Advanced-Mid in French and Advanced-Low in local language in 1.5 years.

Skype. It works out to about 4 cents per minute if you buy a one time $10 plan. You can call from your computer or if you have a smart phone you can install the Skype app and use that

This is great information. Thank you for sharing. To add:

Packing: Almost anything you want can be bought on Taobao for cheap. You can even purchase imported goods for slightly more than you can get in the States. So, if luggage room is an issue don't sweat it. You can get it here. I used to load up on goods on trips home, but I realized that I can almost anything in a day or two. I currently live in Shanghai and have more options than I ever had in the States, but even when I lived in smaller cities Taobao was a lifesaver.

The only exceptions are electronics (like OP mentioned) and bras. Electronics: Bring your own. The ones here are of poor quality. Even the curling and straightens don't work well. (Only bring 220v compatible appliances.)

Bras: If you are any size bigger than an American C you won't be able to find something that fits you and works well.

Tampons: I'm not sure if PC China supplies, but if you have a specific kind you like bring them. It is almost impossible to find tampons in rural China. Family Mart, Lawsons and 7-11 sell O.B., but from my experience these stores only exit in larger cities.

VPN: I recently switched to Express VPN after the 两会 pretty much shut down Astrill. Express has been pretty good. For the computer it is great, but it drains phone batteries.

Edit: typos

1. Load up on ebooks, movies and tv shows that you'll want to watch/read during downtimes
2. Take lots of pictures of mundane things in your life - your family, your friends, your dog, your house, your car/bike/subway/bus ride. You'll be surprised how much people you meet will want to talk about these things.
3. Don't know what the electronics market is like in Indonesia, but you might want to buy a cheap but good quality unlocked android phone or old iphone to use as a local smartphone on a local SIM card. I'm a big fan of the Motorola G series https://www.amazon.com/Moto-G6-Play-Unlocked-Exclusive/dp/B079YTK8XV/ref=sr_1_5?s=wireless&ie=UTF8&qid=1537197732&sr=1-5&keywords=moto+g6
4. For that matter, buy anything you want from Amazon right now. There's probably not going to be prime 2nd day delivery where you're going. (although there might be soon)
5. You're going to do great. PST is a lot like a summer camp/boarding school experience. Someone will tell you where to go and what to do the whole time. It's a very psychologically intense but physically secure time.

Definitely focus on Tetun over Portuguese. Thankfully it is not a very difficult language to learn once you get the hang of it.

If you search “Peace Corps Tetun language course” on google you should be able to pull up some free resources if you search hard enough.

Here is some of the vocabulary from the first 10 chapters of the book.

Numbers and counting (in both Tetun and Indonesian) would be one thing that could be helpful to study a little before departure.

Really, you have a long time to study during PST so I wouldn’t worry about it that much.

The article doesn't really seem to answer the question about Senegalese "wanting" Peace Corps Volunteers, most RPCVs/PCVs know that the host country government has to buy into Peace Corps and local communities have to ask for a volunteer. I think that the interesting thing is that a president of Senegal said that pursuing free markets helped pull a lot of countries out of poverty, and Africa didn't pursue that course so that is a problem and that countries that receive foreign aid haven't been able to develop as fast. I ran across a book on Amazon I didn't purchase:

https://www.amazon.com/Dead-Aid-Working-Better-Africa/dp/0374532125/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1530766326&sr=8-1&keywords=dead+aid

It seems to promulgate the same idea that massive amounts of foreign aid cause problems as there is, obviously, corruption in a lot of countries and the massive influx of money destabilizes things.

HOWEVER, the Peace Corps, IMHO, isn't foreign aid, it is living with communities to promote change and capacity building, and not dumping in a lot of cash.

I'd take the article and the book (which I haven't read yet) with a big grain of salt as Forbes praises both of them, in addition to the Wall Street journal for the book. But I guess it is good to challenge your beliefs about how development should function and being too proud that America pumps billions into foreign aid every year.

I learned to master the art of riding a bike slow enough that you're not exerting too much energy while still cooling off from the breeze. Also I was able to find this powder in the provincial town https://www.amazon.com/Prickly-Powder-Snake-Brand-Classic/dp/B0188F24NO . It saved me from heat rash!

Not sure how applicable the information would be to PCVs (guess it depends on your location), but I found this Cost of Living World Map on Expatistan. It's pretty neat.

There’s mixed reviews- I’ve had better luck with free ones than with paid ones (hotspotvpn gets me onto Netflix, or Betternet for the regular things). For paid I used PureVPN but you have to let them know you’re in China since there’s a different program you download. I know other people recommend express, etc. but the fact is if there’s a conference, Congress, etc, you’re vpn will get throttled virtually no matter what you choose.

ya you're probably in for some culture shock then... I use StrongVPN, it's 55 for a year and has worked great. Though don't have it activated when you seed/leach any media. They will cancel or suspend your account. FYI the internet here can be shitty at times but it generally reliable.

There's a lot of free online resources like Memrise and Anki that will help with vocab. Oh you could download Pimsleurs audio mandarin lessons as well. It might be kind of hard to just teach yourself, but i would recommend at least familiarizing yourself with the language. I arrived without any knowlege of Mandarin whatsoever, and after PST I can get by in most day-to-day situations. But the more you know, the better.

Honestly I think that while teaching my kids English does help a little bit (in Cambodia most universities are only taught in English, and obviously knowing English helps them work in the tourism industry), I think the most important thing that I do is expose my kids to new ideas about the world around them. Success really is so hard to measure in PC, because you can't really see the impacts you made until years down the road. I just try to remember the starfish story, and that I'm making a difference to at least a couple of my students and community members.

I don't mean how does it exist as a post. I mean what is it like, literally how is it?

Edit: thought I had the grammar wrong. But here is an interesting explanation of the difference between how is and what is: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/grammar/british-grammar/how-is-or-what-is-like

I actually do mean how is it and not what is it like because I'm curious about the experience of it as a post not just what the place like.

Check with an advisor. Fidelity and some of the large firms will discuss with you free of charge. One of the keys is will you have time to recover the taxes you will pay on the conversation. In my case the answer was probably not so I stayed with a traditional IRA which allows me to control my investments from any place in the world. Here are some sources for more information: www.fidelity.com http://www.forbes.com/sites/financialfinesse/2013/01/24/7-reasons-not-to-roll-your-orphan-401k-to-an-ira/ http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-pros-and-cons-of-rolling-over-a-401k-to-an-ira-2014-01-24

Good luck

We had many people who were moved by the tragedy, and when I saw the article I shared with you, we simply shared it with them too.

OpenStreetMap is a simple application that anyone with an internet connection can contribute to. You just create an account and use a mouse to draw lines and shapes over satellite images. You can create a group account and track all the changes made by your team. You can log in right now and map your site.

Orgs like the Red Cross use those maps to make sense of the chaos on the ground. Google Maps certainly don't cover those areas.

Ok so the first application I want to make is a smart flashcard app for PCVs and for everyone.

What makes it different is that the decks of flashcards will already be pre-made for the users starting with the most frequent words first. They won’t have to sit there and manually enter all the information.

(I'm thinking from a site like http://www.101languages.net/indonesian/most-common-indonesian-words/)

I used them for getting all my Indonesian words.

They will be able to go through large decks of verbs, nouns, adverbs etc etc. and toss out words they already know which will feed back into the deck generating algorithm.

It means that the decks become more tailored to the users skill level the longer they use them.

They will be able to have multiple different decks depending on topics.

There will also be example sentences on the face of the flashcard with previously learned words highlighted within the sentence to provide context.

There will be the same exact sentence translated on the back.

(http://www.wordreference.com looks like a good place to get the data sets from. They have awesome sentence examples. I've been talking to their licensing person but I think if we all push them, we can get the data sets for free. They want 10,000 dollars for each of them :/ so maybe we'll have to go somewhere else.)

If they don’t recognize those words then they can select the flashcard for that specific word and re-add it to the deck.

When they flip the flashcard, the screen will just been split between the front and back of the flashcard instead of just getting a whole new new screen.

There could also have a professional and child/student version of this app depending on the users age.

/u/FiniteSum /u/meh273 /u/mxitcha /u/accolay /u/DevelopGH

I served in Mali and my parents used Rebtel. It ended up being cheaper than a phone card and slightly less than the rates Skype and Google wanted, and the calls were so much clearer compared to a phone card. Also, internet is not very reliable in Mali (don't know about Burkina), but I know we had trouble using Skype sometimes since we would get kicked off time after time. YMMV.

I've had OK luck with NordVPN (I bit the bullet and paid for it out of savings when I got to site, about $100 USD for two years). As others have said, Hulu is not playing around and has VPN detection software, but NordVPN also seems to be a little ahead of them most of the time. You can message customer service and ask what servers are currently best for watching Hulu haha.

I packed my winter clothes. Shipping a 1'x1' box is about $80 and takes 2-5 weeks for most. This depends heavily on your site. I packed lots of layers and a down sweater (lighter than a full jacket). I'm happy I did layers but I needed a more suitable coat (see above). I am very happy I brought my winter clothes with me since shipping to my site was complicated and took awhile to figure out, even with advanced Chinese.

I didn't bring a camera. Phone cameras are plenty for me and is one of the reasons I invested in a nicer phone once I got here. The Mi4 has taken great pictures for me, with the exception of moving shots.

I have PureVPN. They just updated it and have servers specifically for people in China to get out of China. It has not been working well for me but it doesn't sound like any VPN is working well at present. Either way, make sure you install a VPN prior to leaving the USA. I'd also recommend setting up a yahoo account with mail forwarding if you use gmail. Don't rely on a VPN (you'll find China alternatives for most things). Astrill is the most well known one but is also the first to be targeted when the internet gets clamped down. I've heard it works well. Private Internet Access is another alternative.

Every part of the test includes a writing section, so it's assume that excellent writing is critical to passing the test. You want a firm competency in using English to express ideas in a succinct way. If you don't know what passive voice is and how to write around it, or how to include a good balance of quantitative information that is relevant to a passage, then you need to learn. Strunk & White's The Elements of Style is key. I've passed the test twice, and that was the only thing on the reading list I ever touched.

For part 1 (multiple choice and short essay), don't waste time on the "pub trivia" section. Memorize the entire constitution and all amendments, it's generally good to know anyway. Know some famous jazz musicians (seriously). Everything else is general knowledge you can't study for, you either know it or you don't. What IS critical is that before part 1 you read your resume and really stop to think about every aspect of each job you've had. That's section 3 of this test, detailed knowledge of your resume, and it goes fast. Oh, and section 2 is multiple choice about English usage. It's the Strunk & White quiz. The answer is never semicolon, until it is.

The part 1 essay is asking for you to write a very simple three/four-paragraph essay. Thesis, reasons for your view, arguments against, closer. Nothing fancy. No big words. Even the content doesn't matter. Practice every day writing a simple essay in 15 minutes. When they give you 20 each in the test, you'll get done early and have time to review.

That will get you through part 1. Part 2 is harder, and part 3 requires real humans to help study. But that's more than a year away for you, so no need to worry about that now.

Dear God do not go to a tanning bed. Like others said, wear lots of sunscreen. To "prep" yourself, get sun protective clothes that you would actually wear. There are plenty of brands that have UV protective lightweight clothing that doesn't look like the classic rash guard you typically think of, but actual regular looking shirts (Columbia, Free Fly Apparel, Solbari, to name a few. Random ones on Amazon as well but these tends to look like athletic material) and wide brim hats (I like this packable, fashionable one - https://www.amazon.com/FURTALK-Womens-Travel-Foldable-Summer/dp/B079NC3YK4?th=1 ). I would definitely get at least one lightweight sun protective hoodie because though I'm in one of the hottest regions in Costa Rica, sometimes buildings have AC or the rainy nights can get cool. Also high altitudes are cooler and it would be good to be prepared for different microclimas. I also have a sun protective umbrella that I use for walking to and from school that I use all the time for rain too.

Also just so you know, do not eat citrus in the sun or cut or roll limes without washing your hands really well before going into the sun. Someone in my cohort (redhead) got a bad blistering burn that had to be bandaged daily.

Shantaram by y Gregory David Roberts. This not a Peace Corps book but it is a book about a western person living at the same level of a poor Indian community, while serving to help. David Gregory Roberts calls “Shantaram” a novel, but it is strongly autobiographical, concentrating on his life in Bombay from 1981 to 1987. One of the best books I've every read.

https://www.amazon.com/Shantaram-Novel-Gregory-David-Roberts-ebook/dp/B002U5HKZ6/ref=tmm\_kin\_swatch\_0?\_encoding=UTF8&qid=1658594107&sr=8-1

Your midi dresses with boots sounds great as long as you keep the boots as dust free as possible. You are also so lucky to be Africa! You can have all your dresses tailormade. If don't want to use only African prints you can bring fabric you like from the U.S. along with patterns or even photos of styles of dresses you like. African tailors are amazing and affordable and they will love your business. Make sure you go to a tailor recommended by your host family or other PCVs.

Typical East African women teachers wear either an African inspired midi dress or knee length dress or skirt. Or they will wear western style clothing because it is cheaper to buy second hand clothes shipped from the States and sold in the local markets. There is a huge issue around second hand clothes shipped to the Global South. If you want to learn more about why this is an issue I recommend this book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007TGOOAU/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?\_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1

I would not bring homewares unless you are a serious cook, and or cooking brings you joy then in that instance I would say bring your cast iron pot and vitamix. 🤣 But for the rest of us you will find everything needed to prepare and serve a meal. Save your valuable suitcase real-estate for things that make you happy.

Also, a cute idea for your host families in Muslim countries is to wrap their gift in a pretty scarf instead of wrapping paper. Scarves are worn everyday by many Moroccan women. The scarves I bought are large (35"x35") and very soft and come in many patterns. I bought two and I loosely tied them around my gift essentially making two gifts. In Mexico we will have two host families so I made two packages. They are under $8 and you could even get a few for yourself for when you visit a mosque or something.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09BJBSRX4/ref=sspa\_dk\_detail\_5?pd\_rd\_i=B09BJBDHCV&pd\_rd\_w=A19q8&content-id=amzn1.sym.24b0b161-2d2e-40f8-8233-013eb186b34a&pf\_rd\_p=24b0b161-2d2e-40f8-8233-013eb186b34a&pf\_rd\_r=HR5PCRWXQX92CCW351...

Maybe a nice pair of percale sheets!! And a battery operated or solar operated fan! Small enough to wear like this - I would have loved to have this at my site where I didn’t have running water or electricity -and the closest town was 30+ miles away.

TORRAS L3 Portable Neck Fan 360° Cooling Fan 8H Using Wearable Bladeless Neck Fans Wind up and down Personal Neck Fan 4000 mAh Rechargeable Fan for Travel/ Home/ Office, 3 Speeds Cooler (Pearl White) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B091D2G8YH/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_i_6H647AC11BDG2E2MMDK9

I don’t think I get anything out of this but with the link below you can get a sign up bonus when you open an account.

For example, deposit $1000 when you open the account and get a $100 bonus.

https://www.schwab.com/public/schwab/nn/refer-prospect.html?refrid=REFER64HRNNMB

Here search the book, download mobi file to computer, pulg kindle into computer and drop files into the documents folder of Kindle and it will show up just like a book you got on the Kindle store

I found a program available for free through my local library's website. It's called mango and it's pretty good... some would say better than Rosetta Stone. See if your library has something similar. I can use it from any computer as long as I have my library card. Both Russian and Ukrainian are offered.

I'm headed to Nepal at the end of the month and one of the volunteers created a Memrise course: https://www.memrise.com/course/2146821/pre-service-nepali/

Hope this helps!

Not a China Volunteer, but lived there off and on and family lives there now. We use Astrill VPN, and their customer support is absolutely stellar.

It's $100/year for an account, and I still keep mine in the US for security.

As free options go, I second BetterNet, but service was touch and go a lot. Also second /r/VPN ; those guys have a lot of useful info.

I've never been to Eastern Europe, but when I was studying abroad in China, everyone usesd a VPN to access Google, Facebook, etc. because they're blocked in the P.R.C. I had two VPNs I used on my desktop, StrongVPN and a VPN service that my university's abroad office made available for all study abroad students to use. I had to get a subscription for StrongVPN but the university VPN was free. I would recommend looking around to see if you can download any free VPN services before you go, also considering that they are less reliable so you may wanna download more that have great reviews. I also had a free VPN app on my phone that worked great but for some reason I cannot find it on the installed apps page in the Google Play store. I think it was "KeyVPN" or something? In my case, since China blocks western social media, a VPN felt like a lifesaver, but I would definitely recommend it in general for foreign travel. It protects your information and you have access to international Netflix! :)

I used to used Zenmate, it was fine, but then I got a new laptop at work and for some reason it stopped working and actually wreaked havoc with my browser (Firefox) and I had to switch to Chrome - it just wasn't worth the effort to try and figure out what the problem was. On Chrome I use Hola, it is free and it works fine. Mainly I listen to Pandora using VPN, though I sometimes also watch movies. In truth, there are a load of streaming sites that work quite well with or without VPN, they are based in Europe so no need to mask. I'm in Georgia; it may be different in Ecuador.

I've had this watch for about 3 years now and it's still going strong! Looks like it has everything you're looking for.

I brought a second-hand Canon SLR that I was gifted. It's hardy and stood up to Africa pretty well (and still going strong 4+ years later). It was a great way to learn how to use film, which was pretty easy to find and develop in my location. Even though I love that camera and it took great photos, it was still pretty cheap and wouldn't have ruined me if it had been broken or stolen.

I had one similar to this: https://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-IdeaPad-Flagship-Performance-Quad-Core/dp/B07439FYQX

It was a bit big of a screen to haul around, but it was light, basic and I didn't worry when the battery was shot and was full of dust. I sold it to my best friend for $50 when I left. It survived a good 4 years before I left it.

Challenges were keeping viruses off it (Macs were the WORST at passing on viruses in my country of service, since it didn't affect the Macs none of the Mac users had anti-virus software, so I had to lock my external from allowing Macs to write on them) and had to keep up with anti-virus software when I could.

ETA: I bought one similar to this little guy when I got back https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077G4RZ9X He's been great too and I've traveled with him quite a bit, but TBH I don't know how well it would have held up in my country of service for 2 years. Dust was more of an issue than humidity, but rainy season molded EVERYTHING.

Most ed volunteers might have electricity, but that's not true for Health/Ag volunteers. I know of 2 people in our health/ag class who have metered electricity at site. And getting solar panels installed is easy in the sense that many technicians can do it, but it's not easy if you don't have American money available, or are a new site, or have a medical emergency early on and have to wait 2 months for reimbursements, etc. And they don't give a lot of power during the rainy season.

I bought this laptop refurbed for $100 and love it:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B019ZZBCC0/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Razor comb hair trims are super easy and difficult to notice mess-ups. I often use it even after I get haircuts to lighten up my super thick hair.

https://www.amazon.com/Conair-Jilbere-Paris-Precision-Comb/dp/B0041TDN00/ref=sr_1_6_a_it?ie=UTF8&qid=1511290450&sr=8-6&keywords=razor+comb

I have an Osprey Escapist 32 that I really like. It's a very versatile bag that's suited for hiking, biking, or just being your daily bag. It even has a built in rain fly which is super useful. It's a little on the expensive side but I think it was worth it given I use it everyday.

https://www.amazon.com/Osprey-032132-550-2-M-L-Escapist-Daypacks/dp/B00M451YYU?th=1

This Penguin parallel text samples some of the best Spanish-language authors and has arranged them in order of difficulty. I took it with me when I stayed in Mexico for a while and was so glad I did.

In preparation for my Community Development position in Albania I've recently started a book called Community Development in Action. So far it's talked a bit about different approaches to education so it might have some application to your upcoming service (if not your primary work then maybe secondary projects you might become involved in).

https://www.amazon.com/Community-Development-Action-Putting-Practice/dp/1847428754/ref=asap_bc?ie=UTF8

Good pens. Always. Markers and white board erasers and things like that. I spent 25/hrv a piece on crappy white board markers that didn't survive me using them four hours a week over five weeks. If you bake, an oven thermometer. You can find measuring spoons and cups in country, but you have to go to a bigger city or EpiCenter for them.

Oh and since winter is coming: https://www.amazon.com/ICETrekkers-Chains-Large-9-5-12-5-Womens/dp/B00LDYIJ00/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1500978243&sr=8-1&keywords=ice+trekkers The ones you can buy at outdoor shops here are junk, and even the normal Yaktrax wore out on me this past winter.

Really, most things are available in Ukraine, so it all comes down to personal preferences for non-edibles. I've had some skin care stuff sent to me, but that's about it.

I wear jeans everyday at school and peel them off immediately after school. I wear sheer shirts, Peace Corps Colombia polos (you can buy during training), etc for school. At home, tank tops and shorts or exercising clothes - have a few "going out" outfits because you should look semi nice when you go out. Girls here wear really tight clothes, fancy bras (they can show off under sheer shirts) etc that will push your idea of what is "appropriate" - but then it will get so hot you'll put a sheer top on w/o an undershirt and integrate lol.

I have a super small chest so I live in cotton sports bras. Other PCVs brought their normal bras.

Shoes - I think almost all the girls bought the Adriana Flat Crocs or similar Crocs. They're comfy, dry fast, and go with most outfits. I live in mine. Running shoes for running, hiking boots for hiking (or when it's super rainy I wear mine to school cuz they're waterproof).

Bring twice as much underwear as you think you'll need. Cotton. I had my mom send me a new pack because the washing spinner thing had destroyed my underwear.

Edit: some girls wear dresses/skirts daily. Not me.

Colombians love to look nice so costume jewelry and makeup (I don't wear makeup in the states and here it's like my face is melting off)

If you are serious about a solar charger you are going to want some quality deep cycle batteries. Batteries in your country are probably going to be crappy chinese ones.

I believe there is a type you can fly on a plane with that are completely sealed. You would want at least 2. You could probably bring those and some other items needed and buy the solar panels in country. This would take quite a lot of tinkering but in my opinion would be dope if you are really invested in it.

It would be easier and cheaper to buy a small generator in country, or find someone in your village who has one and build a line into your house (I did this), or bring your computer to a charging station (I did this too). But the solar idea would be cool too.

These lights are game changers for people without electricity. I would buy at least 2 (I had 3 at one point and it was beyond epic).

https://www.amazon.com/Greenlight-Planet-Portable-Lantern-Charger/dp/B00CAAXWQ2/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1493932343&sr=8-2&keywords=solar+king

Flying into the country could be your 1 big chance to bring this stuff in, so if you are serious about solar look into flying with deep cycle batteries and see what kind of system you could realistically bring. Keep in mind you will definitely be able to find all parts in the capital, but American stuff will be higher quality.

https://www.amazon.com/How-Meditate-Practical-Making-Friends/dp/1604079339

This book is fantastic and comes with exercises you can use for different situations. Very down to earth and not too hippie.

I developed my practice partly through trial and error, but mostly through the techniques described in Pema Chodron books. The one I found most useful was in Comfortable with Uncertainty.

Buddhist inspired but non-denominational teachings with guidance on meditation. I highly, highly recommend it.

Have you tried vacuum/compression bags? You can get one that dont need a vacume. You might be able to fold the yoga mat up and push the air out. Or you can use it on your clothes I used vacuum bag for my clothes and ended with too much room, things were rattling around.

https://www.amazon.com/Samsonite-Luggage-Piece-Compression-Clear/dp/B00BBJJ1I6/ref=sr_1_12?ie=UTF8&qid=1487329721&sr=8-12&keywords=compression+bag

Ditto to everything /u/sphinx3peat said—you'll end up wearing mostly clothes you bought here anyway. Although if you're a guy with big feet, it may benefit you to bring a few pairs of shoes (a pair of running shoes, sneakers, and dress shoes), because sizes larger than 10-11 can be hard to come by.

As an ag/health volunteer, chances are you won't have electricity. I got a lot of mileage out of an Eton Rugged Rukus bluetooth speaker with a built-in solar panel.

You've probably already seen it, but here's our unofficial "Official" Peace Corps Madagascar Packing List. It was made by a current volunteer and is pretty comprehensive.

I recently took my month of home leave, and the things I was most adamant about bringing back were good Q-tips (the ones here are too bendy) and American deodorant (you can only get the liquid roll-on kind here).

I got two different dry bags...

This one is a lot heavier, but sounds like it's more airtight: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01ERK6R28/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

This one is soooo much lighter and more compact, but sounds less airtight: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007JWLHTK/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s02?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I've been using this one in country, and I really like it.

https://www.amazon.com/Lenovo-IdeaPad-Laptop-Z3735F-Windows/dp/B0167W1VAM

It only has a 32GB SSD, so it does not have a lot of memory but I have a hard drive and some thumb drives for that. You can also expand it with a micro SD card if you want. It's small enough and light weight enough to carry discretely, but the battery is good enough to watch television or movies for around 5 to 6 hours straight.

It was an older version of this: Dell Inspiron i3158-3275SLV 11.6 Inch 2-in-1 Touchscreen Laptop (link to Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Dell-Inspiron-i3158-3275SLV-Touchscreen-Generation/dp/B015PZ00A4)

And I just checked my order and it was actually $400 bc I went with the higher ram and hd size. But that little computer is an absolute beast. Made it through service, on my year-long travels and now is still my primary computer at home. The plastic is a little cheap and has been cracking, but seriously the best laptop I've ever purchased by a long shot.

*edited to add link

Can you get the little dehumidifers, that have the little balls in them? Kind of like this We could find them in pretty much any store in our city, it helps.