Packing and Arriving

There are only 11 days until I depart for Senegal and, in 32 minutes, there will only be 10 days. Therefore, I naturally should be thinking of logistics at this point, shouldn't I? I'm a bit behind schedule from where I was eleven days before I went to Europe - heck, I was probably packed by then! Oddly, while I remember vividly making my packing list for Europe, I remember very little of the actual packing, except that I packed my clothes in ziplock bags that kept breaking and worried about having enough contact lenses solution. 

Anyways, if you're reading this blog in preparation for your own month-long trip to Senegal, you may find my  packing list slightly helpful (though you will most likely find my commentary completely useless)! If not, you might want to keep scrolling. This may or may not be helpful if you're going on a CIEE Leadership Academy to a country besides Senegal.

Packing list:

• Important documents - passport, passport copy, etc; you know the drill
• International Certificate of Vaccination - considering it's required to get through immigration in Senegal, this is something you might not want to forget
• American cell phone, which will be turned off for the duration of my time in Senegal
• 3 long skirts - striped, blue, and grey
• Pants made from light fabric
• Black shorts that cover my knees - Head tennis shorts. I love these things, and they're great for travel  because they have, well, huge pockets meant to fit three or four tennis balls each! 
• 5 shirts - haven't decided what shirts I'm taking yet, but at least one long-sleeved one for mosquito protection purposes
• Jacket - haven't decided which one yet
• Two nightgowns
• 5 sets of underwear/socks (can't you see, I have a theme of "5" going on here)
• One-piece swimsuit
• Flip flops
• My tennis shoes for everyday wear
• A pair of flats for "dressy" occasions (if one has flip-flops/sandals/tennis shoes that can pass for "dressy", I'd recommend packing those instead)
• String bag for weekend/day trips 
• Camera
• 5 fully charged batteries for camera (should hold about 800 pictures, which should be enough)
• Contact lenses - the pair in my eyes, obviously, plus maybe two or three extra pairs (better be safe than sorry when it comes to contact lenses)
• Glasses
• 2 or 3 travel sized contact lenses solutions (6 or 9 oz total)
• Tiny French phrasebook. Minuscule.
• My new, ready-to-use notebook (once I finish my current one)
• Little book of photos of my family, my area to share with people I meet
• Homestay gifts, Baltimore themed. Yet to be purchased! 
• Anti-malarials (malarone) - copy of prescriptions
• Other medication - copy of prescriptions 
• Sunscreen (in 3oz containers)
• Travel umbrella
• Travel alarm clock
• Bug wipes
• Archtek toothpaste tablets
• Shampoo and conditioner in bar form
• Bar of soap
• Passport Health water bottle with filter
• My West African francs
• Enough American money to get me to the airport in one piece 

Writing this down, it seems like a lot of stuff, but looking at some of it in my backpack (I'm only taking a carry-on), it's not THAT much. Thankfully. 

Speaking of American money, let me excitedly mention my airport arrival plans. I'm not going to do this in too much detail, obviously, in the name of safety and security (I'll post more about my arrival plans, well, once they've already taken place). I leave at night to Senegal out of New York. During the day, because I don't live far enough away to warrant flying (plus, way too expensive), and nobody wants to drive to the New York area (a hassle, and way too expensive), I will be taking a bus and then public transportation to the airport. It should be, well, exciting, and I'm leaving PLENTY of time to get there. 

Oh, and speaking of West African Francs - I pick them up from the bank tomorrow! I can't wait to post pictures. Surprisingly, ordering West Africans Francs (as I'm sure you can imagine, not the most popular currency ordered in my small American town) was easy, and I could do it from my local bank.