Over-Supplied & Under-Prepared

I heard that line recently while listening to The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht on CD with my mom, as we drove back from taking Elise back to Ohio State. The speaker was talking about the young lusty aristocrats who, holding onto their birthright, hire someone to take them out bear hunting; they rarely succeed at shooting anything, much less bears, but the speaker comments that they are always changed by that experience. I immediately latched onto it, of all the many many lines in that book, because it made me think of... myself.

I have all this stuff. Stuff which I will be bringing with me to Cameroon, stuff to comfort me when I miss home, stuff to keep me entertained on down days, stuff to protect me from a difficult life for which I simply have no way to mentally prepare. So, rather than mentally preparing, I prepare by buying all this stuff that makes me feel more prepared, more comforted now. 

At least my books tell me I'm not the only one. In The Poisonwood Bible, the Price family packs up to go to the Congo:

"...our mother went about laying out in the spare bedroom all the worldly things she thought we'd need in the Congo just to scrape by. 'The bare minimum, for my children,' she'd declare under her breath, all the livelong day. In addition to the cake mixes, she piled up a dozen cans of Underwood deviled ham; Rachel's ivory plastic hand mirror with powdered-wig ladies on the back; a stainless-steel thimble; a good pair of scissors; a dozen number-2 pencils; a world of Band-Aids, Anacin, Absorbine Jr.; and a fever thermometer." It wasn't until they got there that they realized they brought all the wrong things.

Of course, I'm not going to the Congo during Ike's presidency, I'm going to Cameroon during Obama's. And I won't be able to tell you what I packed all wrong until later. So what, you might wonder, does one American need (read: think she needs) to survive in Cameroon? 

Keeping in mind that I do not yet know where I will be placed - and won't know until I am at least partway done my 8 weeks of training - and that Cameroon is called an "Africa in miniature" because it has so many different cultures and climates (which seriously makes it difficult to pack. Imagine being told that you're moving to a new place in the U.S. for two years, and you have to pack, but you have no idea whether you'll be in San Diego or Minneapolis or anywhere in between), I have made the following (sort-of) comprehensive list: 

• Too many clothes, generally of the Old Navy style, with knees not being permitted to peek out from under any hemlines, and with (unfeminine!) pants forbidden for important meetings;
• Rain jacket, since it is currently rainy season in some parts of the country;

This is how I picture rainy season. {via}

• Fleece or sweatshirt, I haven't decided which yet;
• Hiking boots, walking sandals, meeting sandals, black leather shoes for meetings (I already suspect I will regret that one) and sneakers (which won't stay white, grey, and blue for long);
• Not enough books, split between actual ones (with their booky-smell clinging to the pages turned over and over by different hands) and my Kindle (empty of any such enticing smell and difficult to bond with);
• Headlamp and flashlight (to read those books at night, when the electricity goes out... or simply doesn't exist);
• Sudoku and other puzzle books;
• UNO game;
• Pens, notebooks, stationary and assorted office supplies, as well as addresses for sending letters (if I don't have yours and you want letters, fix that ASAP!);
• A solar charger and rechargeable batteries;
• iPod and headphones;
• My already four-year-old laptop, which I don't expect to survive another two years; 
• An external hard drive and USB memory stick;
• Voltage and plug converters;
• Locks (for luggage and for lockers);
• Two super-absorbant microfiber towels in different sizes;
• Liberty water bottle;
• Sleeping bag;
• Hand sanitizer;
• Toiletries and all manner of things that smell good, because (and I quote) "there is plenty of time to smell like death here... sometimes it's nice not to."
• Good kitchen knife and knife sharpener;
• Spices, since you can't get nearly the high-quality assortment accessible here, and I like food;
• Chewing gum (if you've travelled and tried to buy gum, you'll know its not as good anywhere else as it is in the U.S., though why is a complete mystery to me);
• Leatherman tool (thanks Omar!!)
• Sewing kit;
• Duct tape;
• Pictures of family & friends, and other home-y things;
• Gifts for my Cameroonian host family.

If that doesn't sound like enough, I will probably find other things that I NEED before I go, things which will weasel their way into the nooks and cracks between other stuff in the luggage I will lug around. 

And then of course, there is the baggage that doesn't take up space or weight, but that I will carry around anyway: dreams, hopes, fears, goals, failures, loves, prejudices, expectations... I won't even try to delve into those!