Job Discussion Forums

JennyJ · Joined: 31 Oct 2005 Posts: 3 Location: Toronto, Canada

Hi all!
I�m moving to Arequipa, Peru in March and have to start thinking about what to take with me and what to leave behind. My plan is to go for at least a year and I will be getting my own apartment so I don�t have to pack too lightly.

If you could do things over again what items do you wish you would�ve brought with you (or brought more of) and which were nothing but dead weight or very easy to find? Eg. electronics, music, books, teaching materials, appropriate clothes/shoes, comforts of home�

One item I can�t decide if I should bring or not is a small, used laptop.

Looking forward to your comments!

lozwich · Joined: 25 May 2003 Posts: 1536

Not sure what Peru is like, but in Colombia I miss BluTack (that plasticine-y stuff used for sticking pictures on walls) and extra strong mints. Being Australian, I made sure I brought some Vegemite with me. Laughing

denise · Joined: 23 Apr 2003 Posts: 3419 Location: finally home-ish

I`d say that regardless of that apartment you`ve got waiting for you, it�s always good to pack light. You will acquire stuff while you`re here, especially if you`ve got your own place already. The more you bring, the harder it is to move out. One year is a long enough time to acquire things, but not long enough to make it worthwhile to bring loads of stuff from home.

Ideally, your school should have teaching materials. I brought along two of my favorite books with me when i went to Chile, and then when I moved up north to Peru I couldn`t fit them (having accumulated too much stuff...) and just had to give them away.

Bring things from home--photos, maps, etc. Things that will keep you from getting homesick, that your students will enjoy seeing, and that are small and flat!

d

samizinha · Joined: 12 May 2005 Posts: 174 Location: Vacalandia

When I got to Mexico, I instantly regretted not bringing my own bed sheets. The sheets here were such a low thread count that they scratched my skin. When I went to get a set at Sears, they cost a fortune! I brought back a lot of nice bedding from Ikea this December.
Other than that, I also regretted not bringing more nice jeans and maple procucts- stocked for the year now.

fresas · Joined: 28 May 2005 Posts: 16 Location: Cuenca, Ecuador

I can't speak for Peru, but when I was in Ecuador, I couldn't find chocolate chips anywhere. When I'd ask for them in the big grocery stores, I just got pointed to the already-made "choco-chip" cookies. So, if you're a baker, that might be something to consider (homemade chocolate chip cookies were a HUGE hit!)

Justin Trullinger · Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2006 4:30 pm Post subject:

Second the Blu-Tack.

Aside from that, if you're much of a reader, and prefer to do so in English, bring books. English books are a hot commodity amongst teachers, as they can be hard to find and expensive in South America.

Alternatively, study Spanish really hard...if you don't mind reading in Spanish, things are a lot easier to find.

Justin

MELEE · Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2006 10:33 pm Post subject:

This probably isn't very helpfull for someone on their first trip down, but the best thing I've brought from the US is my bread machine! I didn't bring it on my first trip down, and I think if I had stayed less than 2 years I could have suffered through. But its definately my most prized, couldn't-possibly-buy-it-here, possession.

In terms of teaching resources, it depends on what the place you work has, there is so much variety in that department. I usually recommend that people comming to work with us, let me know the titles of their favorite teaching books, and I tell them if we have them or not. If we have it they can leave it at home, if not, bring it down.

I also suggest sheets (for the reasons samizinha mentioned) and a nice towel, as they seem to treat their towels with scotch guard or something, so they don't absorb water, just push it around.

Beyond that, bring what makes you happy. If you play racket sports, a racket is a must. If you paint, bring your brushes. If you hike, bring your boots. That sort of thing.

I think the laptop would be a good idea, I have one, infact I buy a new refurbished laptop everytime I go home and sell the one I had for the same price, laptops are in demand here. That also means you should take care of it and definately DO NOT CARRY IT IN ONE OF THOSE OBVIOUS LAPTOP CASES! Get a padded backpack or similar for it.

Oh and if you were coming here, you wouldn't have to worry about reading materials, we have a library of over 800 paperbacks!

lozwich · Joined: 25 May 2003 Posts: 1536

MELEE · Posted: Wed Feb 01, 2006 11:35 pm Post subject:

Back in 1995 when I worked at the Centro de Estudios Interamericanos in Cuenca Ecuador, they had a library that was well over 2000 books at that time. Most of them came from a used book store that some realative of the former director had had, but went out of business. Hopefully it has managed to grow as much as our library has, if that were the case, there'd easily be more than 5000 books there now!

ls650 · Joined: 10 May 2003 Posts: 3484 Location: British Columbia

I think the idea of having a laptop (get a used one so that if it gets swiped you won't be too badly burned) is great. Not only is it a useful tool, but if you get one with a multiregion DVD drive you can watch movies or listen to music CDs.

If you're looking for English classics, try looking at ( http://www.gutenberg.org )
They have many thousands of downloadable novels, etc. for which the copyrights have lapsed. I recently read a copy of H. G. Wells' The Time Machine that I downloaded from there.

Justin Trullinger · Posted: Thu Feb 02, 2006 5:47 pm Post subject:

JennyJ · Joined: 31 Oct 2005 Posts: 3 Location: Toronto, Canada

Thanks for your suggestions! The lap top is a go but between english and spanish language books and novels I'm going to have to choose carefully.

Any recomendations for small gifts that I should bring down with me? Being from Canada maple syrup is what comes to mind even though I don't like it myself.

Justin Trullinger · Posted: Fri Feb 03, 2006 1:17 pm Post subject:

Those silly little moose toys they sell near the US border are quite popular here.

A list of famous Canadians? Most people here swear they've never heard of a person from Canada. THey have, of course, it's just that in the local view, English speaking north americans are usually assigned a different nationality...

Justin

Guy Courchesne · Joined: 10 Mar 2003 Posts: 9650 Location: Mexico City

MELEE · Posted: Fri Feb 03, 2006 2:56 pm Post subject:

[quote="Guy Courchesne
I have a regular supply line of maple syrup brought down to me...or I make sure to pick up a case every time I go back. Blasphemous Mexicans can't tell the difference between it and Aunt Jemima so I keep it all to myself.[/quote]

Being from a large corn surp producing region, maybe I should be offended?

But I'm not, I'd love to have a little real maple.

But I know what you mean, that's how I feel about wine and Mexicans.
my husband "Why don't we buy a nice bottle of wine to take to my family?"
me "Why, they won't like it anyway, better spend five bucks on a bottle of Boone's Farm that they will at least finish, than 25 dollars on one they will take one sip and make a face."

As for small gifts, go for the cheesy things, they are usually a big hit and less expensive than something we'd consider nice. Embarassed