Tigidiggi! Tigidiggi! Peanut Butter! Peanut Butter!

I have managed to find the internet and this makes me feel quite proud of myself. This will be a quick one as I don`t have much time and this french keyboard is really annoying. I just thought that I would share a funny story with all of you.

In Pulaar, the words for "I'm happy to be here" and "peanut butter" are very similar. Tigiriggi means "I'm happy to be here" and tigidiggi means "peanut butter." Now guess which one I've been walking around my house saying for the past week. Yes, that's right, that would be peanut butter. No wonder my entire family has been looking at me as if I am some kind of Pulaar moron. When I finally figured out my error yesterday I burst out into hysterical laughter which quickly turned into hysterical tears. This language thing is super frusterating! Can someone please just develop a pill that I can take before bed one night so that the next morning I could wake up speaking fluent Pulaar?

It's been a hard days night

Just wanted to let everyone know that I'll be out of internet range for about the next two weeks, we're going back to our homestay villages (Nguekhokh, is the name of my village in case anyone is interested) for more language and cross-cultural training. But that doesn't mean that you all can't still send me e-mails/letters/packages... just a thought. I'll be ecstatic to get them upon my return to the training center. 


I'm tired today, and I don't really feel that well. A lot of us are actually not feeling 100%. We're blaming it on the rabies vaccination we had yesterday. It's also been getting steadily warmer. I can't wait for the hot season. Almost as much as I can't wait for the rainy season. The rainy season here is apparently beautiful, but its also when we can expect to get the sickest with bacterial, viral and fungal infections. Hookworms, malaria and kidney stones, oh my! We had a medical session this morning, and the sentiment that we walked away with was basically, "you will get sick...and die." Gotta love those medical sessions, very uplifting. 


Today was a lot of technical stuff. Baby weighings, the health system in Senegal, an overview of the education system, an overview of the government, an overview of water and sanitation methods, nutrition information, etc. I'm exhausted just listing them. I sort of wish the Peace Corps would give us a little bit of a breather so we could recuperate. Just a day, or actually I'd settle for an afternoon. Not only did they throw a lot of technical jargon at us today, but once we were finished I still had to venture into downtown Thies for some "just in case" food to bring to homestay. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying the food isn't good, it's just that we eat the same thing every day, sometimes twice a day. I was so hungry before lunch today and when we sat down and took the cover off the bowl, I saw that it was exactly what we have for lunch at my homestay, everyday. I took one bite and suddenly I wasn't hungry anymore. Now I know why they call it the Africa diet. 


Asalaa maalekum,
Rachel

This American (not!) Senegalese Life

I've been asked by several people to recount my daily routine/schedule. I'll try to put as much flare into my descriptions as possible, but I apologize in advance if this is the most boring post in the entire world. 


5:30am The first call to prayer. I'm awakened by the noise that comes over the village's loudspeaker, curse a little bit in my head, and then roll over and fall back asleep.


7:45am My alarm goes off. Generally, I forget that there is mosquito netting tucked into my mattress and I try to get up without untucking it. Since I'm not really a morning person, this leads to entanglement, general confusion and sometimes a bit more cursing. My morning ritual consists of a trip to our squat toilet, I also use this opportunity to brush my teeth. Once I've finished, I get water from our spigot (if it's unlocked) and wash my face. Then, I stumble back across the compound and into my room to get dressed. Breakfast every day has been a baguette with butter on it. I also have a cup of a hot drink that is made from boiling tree leaves from one of the trees in the yard (once I have a better grasp on the language, I will be sure to ask the name of the tree).


8:45am I leave for class at Sidy's house. Even though he is about a 3 minute walk from me, I leave myself 15 minutes in case I get lost.


9am - 12pm Language class! Once we are finished, we usually hang out and talk for about an hour. Sometimes (most of the time) we treat ourselves to a fanta.


1pm I go home and take a nap.


2(ish)pm Lunch. This is over quickly, and then I take another nap. I know, life is tough.


3pm Emma, Hailey, Meredith and I usually meet and go to Sidy's for tea and cultural questions.


4pm Gardening. I wish the kids at the school we work at weren't such little sh*ts.


6:30pm Time for my daily bucket bath. Which, by the way, I have to draw water from the well for. And, I can do it all by myself now (well, for the most part).


7:30pm My family feeds me a pre-dinner (I have to figure out a way to stop this. Maybe if I just stay in my room until 8pm and pretend I'm studying they won't try to feed me so much).


9pm Real dinner time


10pm My mommy usually calls me (love you mom!). 


10:30pm "American Time." I've decided to allow myself a little bit of "American Time" every night. This might consist of a movie, some music, a book, or possibly just some journaling. 


11:15pm Bed. I'm not sure how, but I'm usually the first person alseep and the last person awake. I'm not sure how I feel about this...


Of course there are always variations to the schedule. For example, on Friday, Emma, Hailey and I met up with the other language group in our village (Andrew, Jen and Ivy) and walked 40 minutes to a gas station so we could buy ice cream (yes, we were that desperate!). Let me tell you, it was worth every minute of that walk! There and back! 


Asalaa maalekum,
Rachel

8 Days of the Week

Well it’s been almost a week. Did anyone miss me? I’ll tell you what I missed… an internet connection! I guess I’ll have to get used to that. I just got back from almost a week with my CBT homestay family. It was intense. Fun, but also intense. Once we got to site, Peace Corps pretty much just started throwing people off of the bus. I’m glad I wasn’t the first person; I think I would have freaked.

My homestay family is really great. As soon as I arrived, my “mother” told me that I was now just another one of her daughters. Also, one of my little sisters called me pretty the other day, and I just about melted. My family has had PCVs before. A year ago they had a married couple (Samba and Koomba) who now serve up north near the Mauritania border, and in the last PST they had a guy volunteer (Demba). Within the first hour that I was there, my mom had called Koomba to tell him that he now had a new “sister.” It was very reassuring to talk to him. He told me how lucky I was since my family is super awesome.

I have been given a new Senegalese name, so I am no longer Rachel. Here in Senegal my name is Penda Ba (Ba is my family name). It took a really long time before I got what they were trying to tell me. Once I did, everyone got very excited and started clapping. It sort of made me feel like a 5 year-old (this language barrier is very frustrating!). My family does speak French, but since I really don’t, I’m not sure how helpful that’s going to be (I hope I don’t wind up speaking some weird dialect that half French, half Pulaar). Luckily, my aunt speaks English! Yay! But I want to try really hard to not use that as a crutch. I want to be able to be all Pulaar, all the time. I’m still trying to figure out the family structure, but here’s what I have so far.

I have

• A grandmother, “Mama”
• My mother, “Neene”
• An aunt
• 4 sisters (I think); a 20 year-old (she has a one-month old daughter, my niece and a husband who lives with us too), a 16 year-old, a 9 year-old and a 5 year-old.
• 2 or 3 brothers (the jury’s still out on that one), I have no idea how old they are.

I don’t have names at this point. I know, I know, that’s really bad. I’m working on it, I swear!

The house that I live in is super nice for Senegalese standards, or so I’ve been told. There is electricity, although the power goes out often. I don’t have pictures right now, but I will take some when we go back on Wednesday. I can tell you that we have a Turkish style toilet (google it if you wants pics) and a well that I have to draw water from every time I want to take a shower (aka bucket bath. They are surprisingly refreshing!). I’m not going to go into the boring mundane details of what my normal everyday is like, instead I will recount some stories (both good and bad) for your entertainment.

Have you seen my lost Toubab

I’m not sure if I already mentioned this in a previous post, but “toubab” is a derogatory word for a white person or foreigner. I’ve had it yelled at me a lot over the past few days, occasionally accompanied by a rock hitting my shoulder or the back of my leg (no worries, a little bruising never hurt anyone).

But I digress, this is not a story of injury and sadness, but one of hilarity.

My friend Emma has had a hard time finding her way around our village (no judgment, to be perfectly fair, I still think that all of the houses/streets look the same. It is pure luck that the time when I have gotten lost, I have been with another PCV and have been able to blame them. LOL, JK). Over the past few days when Emma has gotten lost, word has spread that there is a lost toubab wondering the streets and one of her family members has come to get her. We all think that is incredibly entertaining and laugh about it often. I feel like I’m not doing this story justice, maybe it doesn’t translate well. I swear it was funny at the time.

Just swallow (no, there is no sexual connotation here)

My very first night at my homestay I had an eating issue. Just to give you some cultural background, in Senegal, lunch and dinner are served out of a big communal bowl. Everyone either uses their right hand or a spoon to eat. It is considered rude to reach into another person’s section of the bowl. The elder at the bowl will take pieces out of the middle (that’s where all the good stuff is; fish, carrot, bitter tomato, potato, etc.) and throw them into different sections of the bowl.

So, at my first meal, a questionable piece of meat was thrown in my direction. Bear in mind that we also eat at around 9pm and it is dark and you can’t really tell what you’re eating. Not wanting to be rude, I picked it up with my spoon, put it in my mouth and started to chew. I think I ate goat. And questionable goat at that. It was not pleasant. All I could do was try not to gag and swallow it as quickly as possible. I thought that spitting it out would be very culturally insensitive, not to mention make me look like an ass**** my very first night with my new family. Senegal is not for the weak of stomach. Boy do I miss Westville NYC!

Ouch!

I don’t mean to make generalizations, but a lot of Senegalese children that I have encountered are rude. And not just the harmless kind of rude like when they snicker behind your back and stare as you walk by. The physical kind, where they pinch you and throw rocks at your head. Part of our training is in gardening and sustainability. Therefore, we are responsible for starting a garden in our CBT communities. It is obvious that at the school in which we are doing our planting, that previous PC groups have tried… and failed. No wonder, the kids are supremely unhelpful for the most part. The other day, as we were getting water for the garden, a gang of children ran up to my friend Meredith and started pinching her arms. She had a watering can in each hand and was not able to fend them off. One of them drew blood! To her credit, she remained very calm and handled the situation a heck of a lot better then I would have.

When we told our language instructor, Sidy, he told us that we should hit the nasty children with sticks. Uhhh…what?!?! He demonstrated this for us the next day. A little boy threw something at us and Sidy went to chase him with a stick. The boy jumped through a window and into a classroom and Sidy broke the stick on the windowsill and then jumped in after the boy! Don’t worry, no one was harmed

Legendary!

Hailey fell on her butt when we were gardening. She went to jump on the shovel to get it to go farther into the ground, and she totally ate it. Sorry Hailey, but it was hilarious. The end. 

Asalaa maalekum,

Rachel

Language assignment

This morning we were given our language assignments. And mine is (drumroll please) ... Pulaar! While Pulaar is not the most widely spoken language in Senegal, it is the most widely spoken across western Africa, so that is exciting. Hopefully I can put it to good use for traveling. But I'm not going to jump the gun. I know that I have to actually learn the language first. Getting this assignment did give me a little bit of a clue as to where my final placement might actually be. It is mostly spoken in the north of the country (please see map above for reference), in the regions of Louga and Saint-Louis. There is also a chance that I might be placed in the region of Kaolack (directly above the Gambia), but through the grape-vine I have heard that there are only two open positions there right now, so chances are slim. 


Tomorrow I will be leaving the American paradise of the training center for my first homestay experience. I will be staying with a Pulaar family about 40 km south of Theis. They will be my family for all of PST (per-service training) and for the next nine weeks I will be going back and forth between them and the training center. It's really cool to think that as of tomorrow I will have a whole Senegalese family. Senegalese mom, Senegalese dad, Senegalese brothers and sisters, etc. I just hope they like me. 


To ensure that they like me, I went out to the market this afternoon to buy some "seriche" for them. Seriche are small gifts that one would bring as a show of thanks to the family hosting them. For 250 CFA (50¢) I bought a box of tea and a bag of sugar. That is apparently a very common ceriche to buy for someone. 


We leave tomorrow after lunch and will be away for 6 nights. I will not be bringing my laptop, so this may be the last post for a while. I'll try to take notes while I'm away so that I can type it all up when I get back. There are three other PCT going to the same village as me, they are all in my Pulaar language class, so I won't be a lonely PCT. We'll all have class together every day with our LCF (I don't know what that stands for, I better look it up on the acronym packet they gave us), and at the end of the 6 days we come back to the training center for 3 nights. From now until the end of PST, it's a lot of back and forth. 


Oh, and if you'd like to learn more about the Peace Corps program in Senegal, click here


So that's all for now, wish my luck at my homestay!


Asalaa maalekum,
Rachel

Senegal for Dummies

In case you were wondering what PCVs do in their downtime here’s a rundown; we basically revert back to all of our favorite pastimes around the 4^th and 5^th grade. Think Uno, Sardines/ Hide and Go Seek, card games and spur of the moment sing-alongs. Last night, after a rousing game of Sardines (which Jim, Kayla and I totally rocked if I do say so myself. Mattress room? Killer! Too bad about that sewer leak in the Maritania PC training center though…) we had some Kumbaya time in the Disco Hut, courtesy of Ian on guitar and Patrick on the fiddle. I’m pretty sure Will and Chelsea got some video of that, so stay tuned. We may be submitting a new Peace Corps recruitment video. Tonight, I think Karaoke is on the agenda. Apparently Costa is going to sing every song we can think of that has the word “man” in the title. “Piano Man,” “Man in the Mirror,” “Rocket Man.” I think you all get the picture.

Today we got out of the classroom and finally got our hands dirty. Literally. We learned about double digging for vegetable gardens and how to start a tree nursery. We also learned about bike repair and boy do I hope they go over that again before training is over.

Since we got here last Wednesday morning, we have been confined to the Peace Corps Training Center, or what I like to refer to as, “Senegal Light,” or “Senegal for Dummies.” I do have to admit though, I kind of like how much hand holding the Peace Corps does the first few weeks in country. This afternoon I finally got to experience the real Senegal, and I would be lying if I said that it wasn’t a little bit overwhelming. In groups of four or five, we were led out of the training center by older PCVs and led through the city of Theis (pronounced Chess, in case you were wondering). The goal of the activity was to familiarize ourselves with the marketplace downtown and then to reward ourselves with our first Senegalese beer. And let met tell you, by the end of the market, I was dying for a beer. The currency here is the CFA franc, and it is roughly 480 CFA to $1 US. My two beers cost me 1600 CFA, not too shabby if you ask me. It was actually the first money I’ve spent so far in Senegal.

A common Senegalese beer

I also rode in my first Senegalese taxi today. Sort of terrifying, but I’m sure I’ll get used to it. I’m sure it will be much better once I get a handle on the local language. Speaking of, we get our language assignments tomorrow so that should be exciting. And even more exciting is that we are going to our training homestays on Monday. I just hope my Senegalese family likes me. I think I’m even going to get a new Senegalese name. I just hope I don't forget my real one be the time 27 months are up.

Asalaa maalekum,

Rachel

Language emersion, sink or swim

They sure do pack it all in here at Peace Corps Senegal. Even though they do give us a lot of breaks during the day, I still sort of feel like my brain is on overload. 


This morning we started with a "survival Wolof" lesson. Boy was that embarrassing. I hope it's not a harbinger of how hard language emersion will be in the future. It also didn't help that when we broke down into groups of four, two out of the four of us not only had the Wolof down really well but were also fluent French speakers. Guess which half of the group I was in? I was definitely the person holding the group back. I sincerely hope that the Peace Corps mentality is not one of sink or swim. It would be very unfortunate to be the first PCV in history to be sent home due to lack of language skills and inability to master the local language. Due to that, I will dutifully dedicate the hour before dinner to trying to learn my "survival Wolof" vocabulary. 


I do have to wonder what happens if I get placed into another local language. I guess having the little bit of Wolof can't hurt, especially since its the language most widely spoken in Senegal. 


After our language lesson we had an introduction to our PST (pre-service training, the Peace Corps is BIG on acronyms) homestays. I believe that our first night there will be Mondays. Fears for homestay from our training group include; loneliness, isolation, sickness, cultural differences, embarrassment, humiliation, etc. I'm glad we started the lesson with fears and ended with hopes, otherwise the lecture would have just been depressing. 


After lunch we had a "cultural fair." We learned about local juices and foods, proper etiquette around the dinner table/mat with communal bowl on it, not to use your left hand for ANYTHING (don't ask), tea drinking in Senegalese culture, the Muslim religion, Senegalese dress, proper/common greetings and last but now least, bathroom strategies (please e-mail directly for more detailed information). Once all that was finished, we were tested on it. Fun. I anxiously await those scores. 


Not sure what's on tap for tomorrow, I left my schedule in the room. 


Asalaa maalekum, 
Rachel

Just dance, gonna be ok

Now for a little bit more elaboration regarding my first day as a PCT (Peace Corps Trainee) in Theis, Senegal. First of all, the training compound is really nice compared to what I was expecting. Our dorm rooms even have electricity in them and their is an electrical outlet by my bed (it is somewhat questionable though. I'm a little afraid of electrocution). I’m sharing my room with three other girls; Mindy, Jessica and Cady. Tonight, I will sleep with mosquito netting surrounding me and I’m sure it will be fabulous. Stay tuned for recountings of some vivid dreams, as I also started my anti-malarial medication today (Doxycycline for all of you nurses and doctors that are reading this). Side effects include:

• Stomach upset, diarrhea, nausea, headache or vomiting. Please notify your Peace Corps Medical officer should these symptoms persist or worsen.
• These symptoms are unlikely, but report to your Peace Corps health provider if they occur: stomach pain, yellowing of the eyes or skin, vision changes, mental changes.
• Increased sensitivity to sunlight (because I’m all ready so stellar in direct sunlight now).

Sounds fun doesn’t it? According to others that have taken it in the past, I should also expect some totally gnarly dreams. I’ve also gotten stuck twice more today, typhoid and meningitis. Of course both were done in the same arm as the yellow fever shot yesterday and as of right now it it’s a little painful to lift my left arm above my head.

I also had my technical interview today. I was in a room with three current PCVs and we discussed things like; would I prefer to start in a new site or replace someone (replace), would I want to be in a small village (50-300 people) or a larger town (no preference), would I prefer to be close to other volunteers (YES PLEASE!), do I like children and animals (duh!) and do I consider myself to be a self-starter (unsure on that one, please leave comments and let me know what you all think)? In my interview I was also asked if I would like to have any interaction with horses, as they noted in my resume that I have some experience in that area. I was told that in the past, some volunteers have actually had their own horses and have been able to pass them down to their replacement PCV. Did someone just drop me off in heaven? That would be amazing! I’ll be dreaming about that for the next nine weeks and keeping my fingers crossed that my pipe dream actually does come true.

We also met all of the staff that would be training us for the next nine weeks. Everyone seems very nice and well informed, but please don’t ask me their names for at least another week. I can barely keep track of all of my fellow trainees (at last count I knew 40 out of 46, not bad if I do say so myself). French Language interviews are tomorrow so I’m going to count sheep in French to help me fall asleep. Who knows, it’s not like it could hurt.

One last note; we did about an hour of Senegalese dancing today. I think one of my friends got some sweet pictures (possibly some video) so there’s something for everyone to look forward to.

My bed at the PC training center. Check out the mosquito netting!

Asalaa maalekum,
Rachel

# of Mosquito bites so far = 1

Welcome to the Jungle

Just a quick note to let everyone know that I have made it to Theis, Senegal safe and sound. We landed at the airport this morning at about 6am and then made the two hour bus trip to the training center in Theis. We had some delightful Senegalese food for lunch; rice with vegetables and lamb served with some delicious spices. We all ate out of large communal bowls and used our hands so there's a new and different experience for me. 


At the training center, I'm sharing a room with three other girls. I'll try and upload pictures of that later. So for now all is well and I'm hoping it will stay that way. 

Asalaa maalekum, 

Rachel

3...2...1...Blast off!

"The time has come," the Walrus said, 
"To talk of many things:
Of shoes - and ships - and sealing-wax - 
Of cabbages - and kings - 
And why the sea is boiling hot - 
And whether pigs have wings." 

~ Through the Looking Glass, Lewis Carroll

Well everyone, it's that time. As I type this I am sitting In Dullas International Airport waiting to board my flight to Dakar, Senegal. This has been a long time coming and yet the experience feels unreal. I can't believe this is really happening and I'm wondering if the next 27 months will all feel this surreal. 

I arrived in Washington D.C. on Sunday afternoon with my parents. We checked into a lovely hotel and I can't express how touched I was when my mom expressed to me that she just wanted to make sure my last night was special. We went out to a lovely dinner which was followed by a sleepless and restless night. While I can't say that surprised me, it was frustrating nonetheless. Yesterday morning my parents dropped me off at another hotel where I registered and officially become a part of the "Peace Corps family." We had our staging event yesterday where a lot of rules and regulations were discussed and this morning we were all sent over to the Department of Health and Human Services where we all received are vaccinations for yellow fever. Just in case you were wondering, it hurt. And no, I'm not the only one who voiced that sentiment, so you can stop calling me a wuss in your head. Here's an exciting piece of information, I know have an official Peace Corps passport (makes me feel special) and a WHO yellow card that declares that I have indeed been vaccinated against the dreaded yellow fever. Also, my baggage was underweight. YAY! Shockingly enough, I actually have less stuff then a lot of other people (see SWK, I knew I'd make you proud). 

At staging yesterday, I decided that I would start things off on the right foot by volunteering to be a group leader for today's trip from the hotel, to the clinic, to the airport and then on to Senegal. While this seemed like a good idea at the time, in retrospect someone else may have been better suited to the position, seeing as how I can barely keep track of myself. However, so far so good. I think I may actually know a majority of all 47 people's names in my training group. 

Another interesting piece of news for y'all. As many of you might know, this year marks the 50th anniversary of the Peace Corps. Because of this, there have been (and will continue to be) celebrations and news specials dedicated to exploring the Peace Corps and its mission. One of the girls in my group is actually being followed by CNN. They were at our staging event yesterday and will be at the airport gate to see us off this afternoon. I'm not sure whether any filming will be done in Senegal, but if you're watching CNN be on the lookout for me and my bright pink and blue sneakers. 

Before I finish my last stateside post, I'd like to thank all of my friends and family for making the last three weeks so awesome. I never would have made it this far without all of you and I just hope that I will make all of you proud over the next 27 months. Please keep checking the blog and feel free to send me e-mails, letters and any other treats you might be able to spare. I love you all so much and will be thinking of you always. 

Asalaa maalekum (peace be with you in Wolof), 

Rachel

Me and all of my stuff for the next 27 months!

Packing List

It's been three weeks since my last post and for that I apologize. I'm sure you're all thinking, "if she can't keep this up now, how will she possibly be able to keep this up in Africa?" I'm sorry! The last few weeks have been extremely busy an I promise to try and do better.

I'm leaving for Washington D.C. tomorrow morning, so obviously I can't sleep. I thought I'd take the opportunity to post my packing list (from the exciting and extreme to mundane and obvious) to help any future PCVs. A huge thank you goes out to SWK, who trekked all the way to Westfield from NYC to help me shove things into two bags. I should also point out that after freaking out for weeks that all of my stuff wouldn't fit, I have extra space! Who would've thought? Not me, that's for sure. 

Clothing

• 1 pair of jeans
• 2 pairs of hiking pants (one long, one capri length)
• 2 pairs of yoga pants
• 1 pair of cotton sleep shorts
• 1 pair of longish soccer shorts
• 3 skirts
• 2 dresses
• 1 fleece jacket
• 3 tank tops
• 4 work-out type shirts
• 4 t-shirts
• 1 long-sleeve shirt
• 1 "going-out" shirt
• 2 bathing suits
• 20 pairs of underwear
• 6 sports bras
• 4 regular bras
• 5 pairs of socks
• Hats (1 baseball, 1 other)
• Jewelry

Shoes

• 1 pair of Chaco sandals
• 1 pair of flip-flops
• Nike running shoes
• Cheap black flats

Gear

• Sheets (1 set of full-size)
• Northface rolling duffel bag
• Osprey Hiking backpack
• Northface daypack
• Brown cross-body purse
• Laptop sleeve
• Pillow (packed in compression sack)
• Sleeping bag
• Headlamp
• Travel alarm clock
• Water Bottles (2)
• REI Bug Tent
• Thermarest sleeping pad

Electronics

• Ipod/charger/case/headphones (3)
• Portable speakers
• Kindle
• Batteries (8 rechargeable AAA, 8 rechargeable AA)
• Battery charger
• Plug adapters (3)
• Converter
• Macbook (w/ extra computer battery)
• Digital camera (2; one point-and-shoot, one SLR)/extra batteries/battery chargers/memory cards (4)/USB cord/card reader
• USB key
• External hard drive
• Solio Solar Charger (I just hope it actually works)

Health and Body

• Sunscreen (lots! I am most likely going to be the "whitest person in Senegal," at least that's what my mother says)
• Ibuprofen
• Hand sanitizer
• Facewash
• Shampoo
• Conditioner
• Loofah
• Body lotion
• Deodorant (3)
• Razor and replacement blades
• Toothbrush
• Toothpaste
• Hairbrush
• Hairbands
• Headbands
• Tweezers
• Nail clippers
• Q-tips
• Mirror
• Makeup
• Chapstick (4)
• Feminine products (please ask if you require more details)

Miscellaneous

• Copies of important documents
• Senegal/Gambia travel guide (Lonely Planet)
• French/English dictionary
• World Map
• Photo Album
• Tupperwear
• Ziplock bags
• Leatherman tool
• Duct tape
• Drink mixes (Crystal Light and Snapple)
• Plastic accordion file
• Notebooks/Journals
• Daily planner
• Pens/Pencils/Markers/Highlighter
• Luna/Clif Bars
• Beef Jerkey