May 8, 2008

Revised Packing List

Hello, future Peace Corps Turkmenistan trainee. You have come to this site looking for information about Turkmenistan and what’s it’s like to live and work here as a volunteer. Well, I’m afraid you’ve come to the wrong place. I rarely update this thing, which you should take as a good indication of the level of internet penetration in this country.
I will, however, provide you with a revised and annotated packing list (a previous packing list with pictures can be found if you scroll down). Most of these guidelines can apply to both genders and both program assignments (health or TEFL), but keep in mind I’m writing as a male TEFL volunteer who lives in a village, not in a city. I don’t know, for example, about the availability and quality of tampons or bras here.

CLOTHES: As a general rule, pretty much all clothing you absolutely need can be bought here, which, if you think about it makes sense since people have lived here for centuries. But that said, I strongly suggest bringing what you like to wear. Bring the clothes that make you feel good when you wear them, if only for the sake of your own mental health. Don’t worry too much about being judged by what you wear. Appearing professional and relatively modest does matter, but since you have the status of being an American, you can get away with a whole lot. It’s definitely worth having the variety and comfort of your own wardrobe, and though there are perfectly acceptable clothes available here, they’re not often the style or quality you’d want. Also – and this is very important – keep in mind that it’s highly unlikely that you’ll have access to a washer/dryer, so plan on having slightly longer pants, longer socks, and clothes that never feel 100% clean. I took for granted before I came here the fact that dryers shrink your clothes every time. I wish someone had told me this.
- Socks – bring as many as space allows because this means doing laundry less often. Also bring DARK socks. If you bring a lot of white socks, you’ll just get depressed because they’re never going to be white again. This is a desert and there’s dust everywhere. Wear dark socks so you don’t have to look at filthy white ones.
- Baseball cap and beanie – can be bought here and you won’t need a beanie until wintertime so you might as well not bring one and save the space if your bags
- Scarf – same advice as for the beanie
- Long silk underwear – absolutely necessary, tops and bottoms. This last winter (which was the coldest since 1969) I rarely took them off. To the best of my knowledge, these cannot be purchased in-country.
- T-shirts and dress shirts – I brought like 15 of each and I’m satisfied with this number, though I could definitely do with fewer. These too can be purchased in-country, but I’d bring your own if you care about how you look. Bring both long and short-sleeve dress shirts because, when it’s hot, I see other teachers wearing short-sleeved shirts. Collared polos are also acceptable to wear at work (at least at my school).
- White undershirts – bring some, but don’t go crazy
- Jeans – bring one or two pairs, but these can be bought here as well and the styles (if you trust my judgment) aren’t that bad. Obviously I’m speaking as a male, so if you’re female, I’d probably bring some good jeans since acceptable jeans are harder to find for your gender.
- Fitness clothing – athletic pants can be bought here easily, but not sure about other items like running shorts or sports bras
- Underwear – as with socks, you should bring as much as space and weight permits because it means less laundry. You’ll most likely end up shitting your pants at some point, so be sure to bring underwear you don’t mind throwing away. I am not kidding about this.
- Coats – bring at least one heavy, one medium, one light, and one professional coat. All will be useful here. I haven’t seen raincoats here, so if you prefer using a raincoat over an umbrella, bring a raincoat.
- Pants – bring several pairs and, if you’re male, plan on losing weight while you’re here. You can find pants here, but, if you ask me, they tend to run on the billowy side or the so-tight-you-get-a-cyst-on-your-tailbone side.
- Shorts – bring them and feel free to wear them if you’re male. If you’re female, you should feel out your site first to see if it’s okay. Then again, there’s the maxim that you can get away with anything since everyone will think you’re weird anyway.
- Sweaters – bring sweaters you like, maybe two or three. Ones that can be dressed up and down. The sweaters here are the ugliest things I’ve ever seen. You will not want to buy the sweaters here. They are abysmally hideous.
- Accessories – bring a few ties, a few belts, a hat, a beanie, a watch, mittens/gloves, bandana, a scarf, and an umbrella. All of these can be bought here too, though.
- Brown loafers and black loafers – two things about shoes: 1) Make sure they’re easy to slip on and off since you’ll do this multiple times a day, and 2) If you’re buying new shoes, try to get some without a prominent ridge around the edge because such a ledge will only serve to collect dust. Shoe cleanliness is valued here and it’s advisable to keep them presentable and a ledge on your shoe makes that harder.
- Sneakers, walking shoes, hiking shoes – I don’t have hiking shoes, and I sometimes regret not bringing a pair because, you know, sometimes I need to hike. Sneakers and walking shoes are of relatively low quality if bought here.
- Chacos or Birkenstocks or whatever – these are cool and make you feel like you’re actually in the Peace Corps, but very cheap sandals are available here and I don’t find much occasion to wear sandals beyond walking around the outside of my house. Other PCVs love theirs, but I could easily do without the pair that I have. Plus, like I said, there’s dust everywhere and your feet get disgusting as foot sweat mixes with dirt and dust.

PERSONAL: Again, in general, you can find most things here that you need, but if you have something special like certain kinds of face wash, razors, acne medication, or sunscreen, you should bring enough to last until your first care package from home. Peace Corps supplies a bunch of stuff for you too. And, if I recall correctly, the make-up here is relatively expensive and hard to find. So if you wear make-up, bring enough.
- Soap, toothbrushes, toothpaste, lotion, shampoo, conditioner, razors, shaving cream – All found here relatively easily and cheaply. The quality is variable as you might expect, but if you stick with the Russian brands and American brands, you’re most likely in the clear.
- Floss – PC give you this unwaxed floss, so I suggest you bring your own. If you don’t floss, bring it anyway because you will have time to develop the good habit of flossing.
- Loofah – if you use these, bring one because you can’t get them here as far as I know.
- Condoms and lube – PC has a surprisingly large selection, and know that only 2% of all PCVs remain celibate during their service
- Hair product, face wash, acne medication, chap stick, tweezers, Q-tips – not easily found here, and if it is it’s probably not the brand or specific kind you like.
- Hand sanitizer – don’t go crazy and get a gallon of the stuff, but it’s definitely useful for when you go to an outhouse and there’s no soap or water to be found. I’d suggest bringing one or two small bottles and have others sent occasionally in packages.
- Medicine and first aid stuff – Peace Corps gives you a great little kit with all these things, and the medical officer will give you things like allergy medication if you request it

KITCHEN: Some people brought nothing food-related. These people are fools.
- Variable sizes of Ziploc bags – very useful and you can’t get these here easily
- Spices – dried garlic, dried onion, cinnamon, curry, sweet basil, Italian seasoning, cumin, nutmeg, chili pepper… bring what you like because you’ll invariably get to a point where you’ll want something that tastes different. Plus, bags of spices are small, they last a long time, and they wont take up a lot of space when you’re packing. Things you can find here fresh: dill, cilantro, garlic, basil. There’s also no need to bring salt or black or red pepper.
- Hot sauces – I suggest Sri Racha (aka Red Rooster or Hot Cock Sauce) and crushed red pepper flakes. These both go a long way in augmenting the Turkmen dishes you’ll be eating. Things that are ajy [spicy, bitter, or strong] aren’t as appreciated in Turkmenistan as they are in other parts of the world, so I would strongly strongly suggest bringing a variety of spicy things.
- Teflon pan – I personally brought one, and I do use it at times, but not nearly as much as I thought I would. Plus, it can be purchased here.
- Large canister of good powdered coffee creamer – you can only find instant coffee here and, though you might be lucky enough to have a family that has a milk-yielding cow, I wouldn’t depend on a constant supply of cream.
- French press and ground coffee – a dinky French press can be found here, but it’s very hard to find good ground coffee. If coffee is a necessity for you, I’d bring both of these or have them sent quickly.
- Seeds – flower and vegetable seeds are useful. Even if you’ve never planted anything in your whole life, your host family will probably know a thing or two about gardening, and they’ll think it’s amusing that you’re doing gara iş [“black work” – manual labor].
- If you have generous and thoughtful friends or family that plan on sending you things, I’ve found the following to be great here: CLIF bars and granola bars, really light just-add-water pre-packaged soups, junk food, more spicy things, ethnic food or food mixes, Velveeta cheese (there is pretty much no cheese here that you will recognize), and really anything that you liked to eat at home but doesn’t require special preparation.

MISCELLANEOUS
- Tiny keychain flashlight – absolutely necessary as there aren’t streetlights in most places and usually no light when you go to the outhouse. You can get them here because I see kids playing with them, and other flashlights are available too, but I can’t vouch for their quality.
- World map or atlas – so useful, not just for the classroom, but also for when you’re dreaming about vacations.
- Laptop – 110% yes absolutely bring your laptop don’t even vacillate on this issue I heartily suggest you bring this with you no matter how crappy or how new the machine is. It will be so incredibly useful to you and make your life so much easier and less boring. You’ll be able to pre-compose emails (or blog posts, like I am now) and also use your computer for work. Plus, you’ll be able to be part of PCV society that shares music and movies and TV series. I would also suggest that you find some program like iDump that allows you to transfer music to AND from an iPod on multiple computers (and maybe on multiple operating systems). As you could have probably guessed, a larger percentage of PCVs own Macs. I also brought a lock for my laptop, but I haven’t ever used it. It’s safer here than most places and I’m not scared about it getting stolen in my village. If it ever is stolen, you just ask around for the kid that has a new computer that he has no idea how to use.
- Feather duster – sounds ridiculous, but this country is a desert and dust gets everywhere. Every time I sit down to my computer I wish that I had one.
- Flashlight – valuable, but can be bought here. I personally brought a crank-powered one, and that’s proven useful, but my host family has their own flashlight that you can plug into the wall to recharge. The electricity goes out here regularly, so a flashlight is very necessary.
- Camera – a digital camera with rechargeable batteries or a rechargeable internal battery would be the best idea. Turkmens LOVE pictures and you’ll quickly become popular if you take pictures of them. And if you have a computer to load the pictures onto, that’s even more popularity for you. My family regularly brings me to parties so that I can take pictures of it. Then I burn a disc for them and they go print out the pictures at a surathana [picture house].
- Small speakers – tiny headphones and tinny laptop speakers just don’t feel the same.
- Cell phone – coverage for Turkmenistan is steadily expanding. I have no idea at all if an American phone would work here, but I feel that it should since SIM cards are SIM cards. Plus, you can still use your phone during staging in Washington, D.C. You might as well just bring it if it’s in your pocket anyway.
- Batteries – bring enough to last you until your first care package because the batteries here are pretty much worthless when it comes to a digital camera
- Leatherman – very useful on the one hand, but if I didn’t have one I’d survive. Plus, every other PCV has one, so if you really need it, you can just borrow it. But then again, it’s not a lot of space to sacrifice for a little multitool gadget.
- Sewing kit – don’t bother bringing this unless you’re serious about your sewing. Almost any female here over the age of 6 can do wonders with a needle and thread.
- Bath towel – oh my god in heaven bring a bath towel. I would suggest bringing a large bath towel and a hand towel (maybe even two of each). The towels here are very bad and it’s like they coat them in oil so you never really get dry enough. I know a towel is a lot of space to give up, but it’s so so worth it to be able to quickly towel off.
- Books – I wouldn’t worry about the books you bring. There are plenty here to read, but if you have a favorite you’d re-read over and over again, or if you read a holy book regularly, bring it. The only books I would bring, personally, are reference books. Books for pleasure are abundant here among PCVs. You should also bring a nice compact Russian-English dictionary. If you plan on learning Russian, bring a nicer one, but if you just need enough Russian to say “Three beers please,” then get a phrasebook or something smaller. Plan on reading a whole lot once you get here.
- American gifts for your host family – I brought bookmarks, only to find out that they don’t read for pleasure. If I had to do it again, I would have purchased cheap canvas bags for them, because sturdy bags are hard to come by here and they would get good mileage (or kilometerage, as would be the case here). They use plastic bags to carry around all their things and they wear them into the ground. So if you gift them a canvas bag they’d be so grateful. I’d get one about the size of a briefcase.
- iPod, flash drive, voltage converter – duh
- Nalgene – if you’re attached to yours, bring it, but I don’t think it’s necessary.
- Photos from home – you can bond with Turkmen over these. They love seeing your home and family and car, specifically.
- Mini-iron – there’s a genius PCV here who brought a small iron from home and it’s the most god darned useful thing, especially if you’re male and have to iron pants and shirts for work. I don’t have one of these, but I would have if I had the space and the foresight.
- Candles – they’re relatively expensive here and, as stated before, the power goes out a lot (especially as you approach winter). Plus, it’s nice if you like scented things. I didn’t bring any, but my mom sent me some and I use them frequently.
- Sleeping bag – I’m 50/50 on this one because I don’t find mine that useful. It’s useful when I do use it, which is rarely, but if I had to I probably could’ve just borrowed one from another volunteer. They are completely useless if you planned on using it for when you sleep at other people’s houses because the house will provide you with mattresses and pillows to sleep on (on the floor, obviously). The only situation where I would see it being useful is for camping, sleeping at other volunteer’s apartments who don’t have sleeping mats, or if it’s incredibly cold and your sleeping bag is one of those nice goose down ones.
- Other media – there are tons of DVDs here among the PCVs, both movies and TV series. The best thing to do and the thing that will make most of the T-16s love you is if you bring newer movies and TV series on your hard drive or as burned copies that don’t take up lots of space. Seriously, just download some torrents and bring them along with you here. Anything.
- Combination lock – bring a combination lock and maybe a few of those small ones that you need a key for. They’re peace of mind when you leave your belongings in a hotel or if you leave your house for a few days
- Cash – bring cash for a vacation, at least $600. There is no safe in the PC office for volunteer use, so bring as much as you comfortable with. As I said, it’s a safe country, and if you’re smart and just lock things up you’ll be perfectly fine. The money should be crisp and new. Oh, and as for wallets, make sure yours is large enough to accommodate manat bills, which are larger than dollar bills (they are 6”x3”).

Naturally, this is not an exhaustive list. It’s important to bring the right things, but I wouldn’t be overanxious and wouldn’t devote too much hand wringing to the subject. There is no perfect packing list. You can always have things sent from America. And if you happen to forget something, you can probably get it here or you’ll find you don’t need it. Good luck packing, T-17s. It is my sincerest hope that you are good-looking, fascinating, hip, intelligent, athletic, polite, courteous, respectful, caring, patient, warm, cheerful, outgoing, generous, friendly, energetic, humorous, gentle, well adjusted, industrious, affectionate, open-minded, honest, and helpful. We T-16s are expecting nothing less from you all.