In Stumbling On Happyness, the author leaves his readers with a recommendation that to make the world a happier place, people in situations are best–err–situated to give advice to other people about what makes them happy then. The issue is that people are just generally not very good about telling what will make them happy in the future or at fingering exactly what made them happy in the past–too many variables get stirred in and muddle the idea.
To this end, (whether or not they realize it) it is customary for Peace Corps volunteer bloggers to post packing lists of things so that new Peace Corps invitees to those countries can get an idea of what might be useful in country. The common items on the lists are ridiculously intricate but eminently useful Western inventions like Leathermans and USB keys.
It is also often claimed that moving home to America after a two year experience is just as or more mind-bending as moving into your host country. This is nearly true. Last week was the third year “anniversary” from the date that our training group landed in Tanzania and 9 months since I boarded the plane to finally leave Tanzania. Leaving your PC site is a bittersweet stretch–it involve a lot of hard goodbyes and American life may still seem quite distant. In retrospect, my bag was not necessarily packed with things that would make me happy today. Here are some things that I wish I had brought with me from Tanzania now that I am sitting in the United States with time behind me:
- Favorite dog-eared local language (especially Swahili) dictionary(s) – There are few great Swahili dictionaries. One of the best is Baba Malaika’s Friendly Swahili Dictionary (refreshed in 2008, published for 20+ years). Unfortunately it is hard to find internationally. Forget quick-cheap Amazon purchase–It sells on ebay and used book sites for almost a hundred dollars. You may want this for a variety of reasons: 1) nostalgia for quirky sayings and proverbs–you probably know exactly where they are in that book. 2) You may want to volunteer your translation skills. 3) you may want to communicate warmly with Host Country Nationals and just can’t remember that word.
- Peace Corps Cookbook - charming locally bound book that was oft-consulted in country. Good for your bookshelf’s character or an old favorite recipe still fondly remembered but only in the terms of you friendly jiko (brazier stove). It will give you a chance to rework the recipe for a grill.
- GSM SIM card with Phone numbers (you can read these with T-Mobile or AT&T phones) – Your phone is full of people and memories–its like your social network account for country except you can throw it away or have the sum of those connections lifted from your pocket if you are careless of that fact. (Granted, now it seems like so many of my Host Country friends now have Facebook too?). You will probably want to phone at least one friend or counterpart when you get home. But you probably also want to gift your phone to a worthy friend before you go. There is a good compromise: bring the chip home scotch taped to something rigid that you won’t lose. You can’t use the phone number in the US but with international telecommunications, having the numbers makes it easy to call anyway. T-Mobile outlets sells $20 locked phones which come bundled with some respectable amount of call time and can read these SIM cards.
- “Cultural Artifacts” – This one is personal. For me I wish I would have brought home: My three-legged stool and my cursed-ugly carved statue. Check wood items for termites. I did find travel-friendly versions of mortar & pestle, weathered hand-carved spoons for friends, unique Kanga garments that carry stories of special times or events. Election/political party oriented Kanga’s are excellent story-imbued carry-homes. I had a handkerchief from a wedding that had warm sayings painted in Swahili on it that I hadn’t thought twice about in country but was quite thankful I had packed.
- Picture of you at work. Don’t forget to have a picture of yourself in action at your site. Both of these last two can be key for “third goal” activities back on red-white-and-blue soil to help you bring the whole world that you left behind back home.
Above all, recall that as soon as you land in the impersonal US airport, anything you got in country is of a infinitely higher personal value than any Western items you carried into country. It is very easy here to go on Amazon and pick up a new backpack or even a laptop. As impossible to fathom as it may be, you can also probably drink most water after getting on the plane, so that closely held Nalgene need not be so anymore.
Related articles and links
- Congress approves Peace Corps, Sept. 22, 1961 (politico.com)
- Kevin Quigley: The Third Goal Is Our First Goal (huffingtonpost.com)
- Recently Returned RPCV mentoring (rpcvmentoring.org)
Unsmilingly photogenic. Did you think honest portraits required smiles?
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