I meant to write one of these before, but I figure better late than never!
When I was invited to Vanuatu, I spent forever stalking blogs to try and get an idea of what my life was going to be like. Unfortunately, in Vanuatu, you can't really tell how it's going to play out. Post is trying to get volunteers more involved in their site placement, but sites range from totally bush (aka me) to really pretty fancy (internet, flush toilet, running water and electricity, meat every day.) I'm going to do this post from my perspective, so for a volunteer who's thinking or wondering if they're going to be assigned to a bush community. It's also really written for a woman -- I don't know as much about men's clothing here.
This is my idea of a packing list:
CLOTHES:
1 pair of running shoes and 1 pair of flip flops. You take your shoes on and off constantly so I don't recommend getting chacos or other fancy hiking sandals. The flip flops here are of poor quality but they're cheap and widely available.
Lots and lots and lots of underwear. Bras are available but they're either very expensive or very poor quality, and the sizing isn't that great. Sports bras aren't really available if you want something that'll actually work for exercising. The underwear is cheap Chinese synthetic stuff, very bad quality. PC provides a list that says 2 weeks, but I'd say more like 4. Get your mom to ship you some extra if you don't have any.
Bring socks for your running shoes. You can get socks here.
1 or 2 pairs of yoga pants, long or capri. You'll want this for your house. Maybe even one pair of bike or short shorts, also for your house.
1 pair of jeans, for being in the capital.
1 pair of respectable looking long shorts. You'll need board shorts, but you can buy cheap ones in the capital.
5-7 calf-length skirts. You can wear knee-length skirts, but calf-length skirts are better because in Vanuatu you spend lots of time squatting and getting up and down from the floor. These are very available in Vila.
6 tank tops and 6 t shirts. Vanuatu is a pretty casual place and very hot, so you'll be wearing tank tops a lot. I'd recommend not getting ribbed ones for all of them, just because this is a conservative place and some communities will think that close fitting shirts are inappropriate. This sounds dumb, but also check that the neckline is good for leaning over.
2 or 3 bikinis or swim suits (for town wear and vacation.)
1 zip up hoodie.
1 or 2 light sweaters.
1 raincoat with a hood. I wish I'd brought a rain coat! I brought a wind breaker -- not the same thing. And 1 or 2 high quality foldable umbrellas. The umbrellas here are terrible.
DON'T BRING: Dresses. (You can buy them cheap in Vila and, if you're like me, you'll bring ones that you can't wear. You'll get lots of island dresses to wear to church, anyway.) Don't bring too much lounge wear for around your house. I brought lots of short shorts that I can't wear anywhere. Nothing should be white. White things go brown super quickly. I'd say let go on sunglasses--they're cheap here. And you can buy jewelry here, too.
ELECTRONICS:
Electronics die in Vanuatu very quickly. Bring a laptop that you're not attached to, a big external hard drive, an ipod, a camera, and a kindle. If you have a smart phone, that's ok. Just remember that everything dies in Vanuatu. Don't buy solar panels in the states or fancy solar lights. Those are available in Vila at reasonable prices (and you don't know what you'll need until you get here.)
TOILETRIES/ETC:
If you wear makeup, bring a little bit. I haven't found any reasonably priced makeup in Vanuatu that's of decent quality. I don't wear it at site (doubt that anyone does outside of extendees with office jobs) but when you're going out to dinner with your friends, it's nice.
If you're really picky about any brands, bring that with you. Peace Corps provides sunblock, bug spray, face wash, applicator-less tampons, and so on. You can buy American or Australian brands of everything in town. In outer islands, usually stores will still sell shampoo, bar soap, and coconut oil, but they usually don't have deodorant, conditioner, lotion, et cetera. The sunblock they give is really, really thick but it does work. They give vitamins, too.
As far as medicine goes, bring a few months of everything you use. If you use herbal medicine or protein supplements or something like that, bring more. PC doesn't give that.
ENTERTAINMENT:
You can buy cards in Vila and there's a PC library. I'd recommend having a laptop, kindle, and ipod, but you don't need any of those. If you're really into some hobby, bring what you need -- like your guitar, art supplies, et cetera.
FOOD:
Bring a few snacks from home, to help with the first few weeks. It took me a while to get adjusted to the food and it would have been nice to have had something else to eat. Don't go overboard.
Bring spices. They're available in Vila but a little expensive, so it's worth while bringing some. Don't go overboard (I definitely did.)
Bring hot sauce!
DON'T BRING: Peanut butter (it's everywhere!! why did I bring two huge Skippys with me??).
MISC:
If you really like coffee, it's worth it to bring a French press.
1 pocket knife.
1 purse or backpack.
I think that's about it -- I'll update it if I can think of anything else.
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