You may be familiar with the famous quote,
“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” You may not be so
familiar with the saying, “A journey of 6, 637 km begins with a single shopping
trip.” When I touch down in Toronto after having been overseas for a year, my
return ‘journey’ begins almost immediately. With the knowledge that I will be
leaving the country again in a few months, I am constantly on the lookout for
items from Canada that will make my time in Dakar feel more like home. I start a
list even before I leave Senegal, but the list grows exponentially when I’m back on
home turf.
I’m sure I drive my friends and family nuts
when we are grocery shopping, making a quick stop at Walmart, or even
spending the day at St. Jacob’s market, because I am constantly talking about
how much more convenient this Ikea cheese grater will be than the one I have in
Dakar. Or, how nicely these candles will pack because they are in tins instead
of glass. Or even when I ask, “Can you help me carry my 8 cake mixes?” I am
like a squirrel greedily stockpiling for the winter all...summer...long. I know I
drive my parents crazy, because they are not shy to offer their comments. “Do
you REALLY need that charcoal grill?” “Are you sure you’ll have enough space for
those bedside lamps?” And I, being the master justifier that I am, manage to
come up with an acceptable excuse for each item, including the magic milk
straws, and 2 kg (4+ pounds) of candy. (It’s
for the kids!!!)
My list often includes items such as Bath
and Body Works hand soaps, sauce mixes, ziplock bags, Crystal Light drink
mixes, certain spices, peanut butter, instant oatmeal, molasses (to make brown
sugar which is not readily available in Dakar), craisins, sunscreen, bug spray, etc. The first few
years living in Dakar I devoted 3 kg (6+ pounds) to Starbucks coffee each trip.
However, in recent years two or three stores have opened in the city, that
offer a wide variety of North American products. I definitely pay more here (approximately $ 8.00 CAD for a medium jar of peanut butter) but can save the weight for other necessities, and of course some luxuries,
that are still not available locally.
This year I have moved to a new apartment
on campus to be closer to the girls dorm where I provide coverage on the dorm
parents’ night off. Being the nester that I am, this move created an additional
category of purchasing and packing needs. Among the housewares were three
canvas pictures, 4 varieties of material for throw cushions, the aforementioned lamps
and candles, placemats, and a shower curtain.
I build my cache all summer, filling tote
boxes to overflowing and the night before I leave for the airport, my friend
Laura, packer extraordinaire, comes and magically makes everything fit into two
hockey bags, one carry-on roller board suitcase, and one backpack.
The packing process itself begins a day or
two before Laura comes. I take everything out of it’s packaging and consolidate
it into ziplock bags. This makes things less bulky, but is especially important in
the eventuality that the luggage is left out on the tarmac in the rain. The ONE
time I packed myself (an unexpected trip) I arrived back in Dakar with soggy
ramen noodles stuck to everything else in my bags. Yuck!
Just before Laura arrives I take over the
living room of my parents’ house and lay everything out according to its
category; clothing, food, housewares, technology, teaching ‘stuff’, and ‘stuff’
for other people. There is inevitably a pile for other people because friends
who stayed in Senegal for the summer, or over the holidays will ask for a few
items. Knowing the joy that a box of Kraft Dinner, a pound of Tim Horton’s
coffee, or a bottle of a favourite salad dressing can bring, it’s impossible to
say no. It’s a two-way street and I have also been on the receiving end of
treasures from the homeland.
Once Laura arrives we start with my favourite part of the packing process;
sealing the bags of clothes. We pull out the vacuum and watch a pile of
t-shirts, dresses, and shorts magically reduced to half its size. We take turns
using the vacuum so that we can both experience the excitement, while the other
person attentively waits to pounce with the seal and cap.
Once the clothes are packed in their vacuum
bags, everything else is carefully added, insulating my wardrobe. The final
step is the weighing with my handy luggage scale. This is often the most
entertaining part of the evening as we endeavor to hold a 25 kg (50 pound)
hockey bag off the floor long enough to get a consistent weight reading. We
have tried standing on a chair, we take turns, we laugh at ourselves, and there
are high-fives when we are within an acceptable range, ESPECIALLY if it’s the
first attempt.
We have nearly perfected the process. Over
the years Laura and I have partnered, often with a few other friends, for this
travel day-eve tradition a total of 8 times and each time I declare, “The next
one will be better!” By this I mean, I won’t have so much stuff to fit in, or
I’ll be more prepared before you get here next time, or I won’t make you pack a
comforter and garbage can again. I am proud to announce that we broke all
previous records this past Christmas packing EVERYTHING that had been purchased
and piled, AND the whole process was completed in under an hour, AND everything
was within the weight limit, AND it all arrived in Dakar with no damaged items
or any other issues. The August packing nights are a bit trickier because I
have had longer to accumulate stuff. Very important, very necessary, very
essential stuff!
Every time I travel back to Dakar I pray that my luggage will pass the weight restrictions, and that everything will arrive, and that it will arrive in good condition. I bring
an extra shopping bag with me to the airport in case I have to take something
out of my luggage because it is overweight. However, there is always a text or
an e-mail sent once I’m through security to report that everything was
checked-in, even if the bags were a kilo or two overweight.
The ‘journey’ back to Dakar is definitely
more complicated than my typical habit of throwing clothes into a suitcase an
hour before I leave for the airport in the past. I’m sure that other travelers
could accomplish the same end goals with fewer lists, a reduced amount of
shopping trips, a less elaborate packing night tradition, and all on a much
shorter timeline, but this is the process that works for me and gets me
successfully from point YYZ to point DKR. I especially love Laura’s
first question when I get home; “When is packing night?” because it’s a
simple tradition (or not-so-simple depending on who you ask) that makes the
leaving a little more bearable.
Packing night August 2012:
**All of the items mentioned in this post have actually been purchase, packed, and transported to Senegal in my luggage, including the grill.
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