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What to Pack

Are you an invitee getting ready to ship out to Cape Verde? Wondering what to bring and what not to? These are the recommendations from volunteers.

  • Headlamp
  • Voltage converter
  • Rechargable batteries and charger - batteries here are very low quality
  • iPod
  • Jacket. You won't need it often, but you will need it
  • Chacos are popular
  • A hat
  • Sunscreen
  • Insect repellent. You'll be issued this, but there can be shortages.
  • Non-stick frying pan. Bulky, but you will not regret it
  • Rubber spatulas, for above item
  • A good knife for cooking. Virtually impossible to find here
  • Pictures of your hometown and/or family. Great ice-breaker with your Cape Verdean host family
  • Bodyboard/surfboard. Very expensive in-country
  • Snorkel, mask, flippers. Also expensive here.
  • Good trailrunners. If you're into running, good stable shoes are a must for the hills
  • Some funky clothes. For Carnaval, of course.
  • Fancy sandals. Sandals are OK work attire here, but NOT flip-flops. Something leather with straps is perfect.

What not to pack

  • Long-sleeve shirts. You will invariably wear them rolled up anyway.
  • Heavy cotton bath towels. They are a nightmare to wash. Get one of those swimmers super towels instead.

2006 Survey

In December 2006 the Information Technology Committee conducted a survey of existing Albanian Peace Corps Volunteers in order to collect information about technology and communications.23 of 25 PCVs reported having a laptop, of these the greatest number were Dell (9), IBM (5), HP (3) and Macintosh (3).  Other laptop types included Toshiba, Compaq and Balance/Walmart.  Several PCVs had laptops sent after they arrived in country once they realized how important they were.  Laptops were used most frequently for Work, Games, Writing, Internet Access, Listening to Music, Photo Storage, Reading, and Watching Movies.    PCVs were glad to have or wish they had the following: USB key/Flash Drive/Thumb Drive (100% responded yes and there were many additional comments about the importance of having these) Microphone (6 people) Headphones (11 people) Wireless Card (13 people) Long Life Battery (16 people) MS Access (3 people) MS Publisher (5 people) Photo Editing Software (14 people) Surge Protector and adaptors (16 people) Other responses included: external hard drive for backups, a good computer bag, Front Page, Adobe Acrobat distiller, wireless router, CD/DVD burner, and software for teaching English  On average respondents access the internet: Daily (11 people) Several times per week (7 people) Once per week (6 people) Monthly (1 person)  They access the internet at: Internet Cafes (19 people) Work (11 people) Home (2) Friends Home or Work (6) They have no access at their site (5) University (1)  Type of access: High-speed (20 people) Dial up (7) Wireless (3) Satellite (4)  15 respondents reported having the option to have internet access at their home, which would average about $30 per month and possibly a $100 set up fee.  The majority of PCVs elect to not have this service as it is so expensive.  11 respondents use Skype to communicate with friends and family, an additional 2 use Yahoo IM.  Email providers used by current PCVs: 13 Gmail 7 Hotmail 5 Yahoo 1 ATT 1 Mail2World 2 use own hosting service  9 PCVs report keeping blogs, using typepad, blogger, wordpress, blogspot, live journal or their own websites.  14 PCVs report using Militel to communicate with friends and family in the US, spending between $10-15 per month (6), $30-50 (5), more than $50 (3).  Other options include Skype and Verizon International rate.  15 PCVs report bringing DVD collections with them of between 5 and 30 movies.  They are very happy to have them, watch them frequently and often have more movies sent from US.    18 PCVs report bringing music collections with them, using ipod, laptop, and mp3 players.  Collections range from just a few to 4,000 songs (up to 25 GB).    What current volunteers wish they had known about technology and communication in Albania before they arrived:

  • Bring copies of your OS and Office software with you in case you need to load new software
  • Bring a digital camera
  • Internet is fairly accessible to most volunteers and availability grows every day
  • Volunteers communicate by texting each other using PC provided cell phones
  • Bring lots of media!
  • Bring a laptop (5 respondents)
  • Be prepared to carry your laptop around a lot and often in wet conditions
  • Make friends with the internet café owners here
  • Amazon ships here! (Edit for CV - only books, DVDs and music)