Go to http://rusa-ross.tripod.com/.
The folks over there put a nice list of things.
Just browse around

Okay, for the record, I'm like a leap year, I do one useful thing every 4 years.... well you guys are lucky enough to get in on this one... I typed up my packing list:

Island Necessity Items
1) Off – or other bug spray
2) Sunscreen / Block
3) Umbrella
4) Flyswatter

Food Items
1) Powdered Protein (for those of you that workout) and any other supplements
2) Any other food you might eat, canned stuff is supposedly a good option

Clothing Items
1) Rain Coat
2) Swimwear
3) Night clothes (I sleep in the nude, so I’m just listing these for others )
4) Workout Clothes
5) Sunglasses
6) Sandals / Slippers
7) Sneakers
8) Pair of Dress Shoes
9) A Suit (or the female equivalent)
10) Very few warm clothes / a hoodie perhaps
11) And whatever else you wear on a daily basis

Toiletries
1) Contacts / Contact Solution
2) Glasses
3) Hair Gel / Spray
4) Facial Soap
5) Colognes / Perfumes
6) Lotion
7) Chapstick
8) Nailcutter
9) Specific Brands of Shampoo / Soaps / Deodorant etc.
10) Toothpaste (again specific brands)


Male Specific Items
1) Shaving Supplies
2a) For those of you with game: Condoms
b) For those of you with no game: Lotion and tissues
Be honest with yourselves, you all know which category you fit into

Female Specific Items (i'm probably missing a whole bunch here, so help fill in the gaps)
1) Feminine Products (i don't care to get any more specific)
2) Wax (the type that removes hair - help keep the island beautiful ) ... this could also be very useful to any metro guys out there

Electronics
1) Cell Phone (or Regular Phone)
2) Microphone for your Laptop to make phone calls
3) A laptop (and a laptop lock)
4) IPod, MP3 Player
5) Chargers for all items
6) Wires to attach MP3 Player to computer
7) PDA or some other Organizer (electronic or paper)
8) Alarm – that runs on Batteries
9) Batteries (or rechargeable batteries and a charger)
10) Headphones
11) Blender
12) External Speakers for Laptop
13) CDs / DVDs (also Blank ones)
14) Flash Drive (recommended is over 1 gig)
15) Foreman Grill
16) Surge Protector
17) Printer and extra cartridges / paper

School Supplies
1) Pens
2) Pencils
3) Highlighters
4) Scrubs
5) Lab Coats
6) Notebook Paper / 1-Subject Notebooks / Binders
7) Books
8) Staples / Stapler / Paper Clips
9) Duct Tape / Scotch Tape
10) Calculator (with Square root functions)
11) Book bag
12) Colored Pencils
13) Pencil Sharpener
14) Markers (Sharpies and / or Dry Erase)
15) Dry Erase Marker Boards (read that some rooms have these already, confused about that though)
16) Hole Punch
17) Latex Gloves

Home Supplies
1) Pillow
2) Pots
3) Dishes
4) Utensils
5) Posters or any other Decoration
6) Band-Aids (first aid supplies)
7) Any other Medications
8) Laundry Bag
9) Water Filter
10) Bottle Opener
11) Can Opener
12) Towels
13) Combination or Key lock (I think it’s for a locker?)
14) Sheets or any other bedding supplies
15) Any sporting goods you may wanna bring... for me this means Solo Cups and 2 ping pong balls


Alright, hope this helps a few people at least... and this is the last useful thing you can expect out of me till 2010... I'll see you all there in January...

~Kabir

Why would you need to bring a dress suit?

blaze1984, you might not want to sleep in the nude, there are critters at night that do bite

and the suit could be used for the white coat ceremony

__________________
If you want to do something, then you will find a way.
If you want to do nothing, then you will find an excuse.

would a shirt and tie suffice for that ceremony? Its only underneath the whitecoat any way, right?

ya thats what the boys wore,

__________________
If you want to do something, then you will find a way.
If you want to do nothing, then you will find an excuse.

shopping in dominica is not what you would expect, even for a carribean island. dont expect this island to have something. this is a list of thigns that i wish i brought with me or really glad i did that you might not think of.

1. cleets (if you even might play football or soccer, just bought a pair yesterday for 2nd semister)
2. sandals that you can strap into
3. snorkle and mask (fins?, your call) can buy all here but VERY expensive (might not use too often but worth having here since you will be here for over a year, there is coral/enough to see right off the beach!)
4. lifting gloves
5. nice water bottle, naglene type are nice
6. a golf size umbrella for those days when its pouring when you wake up
6a. a small umbrella to have with you at all times.
7. a nice travel coffee mug and small coffee maker (you can buy makers but expensive and very not nice)
8. ear plugs (they are expensive in the book store)
9. obviously want a bathing suit
10. plenty of pens in differnet colors
11. webcam and get skype!
12. nice headphones, the big kind that go over your head (nice to have but the little ones would work just fine)
13. look into vonage, get a box back at home, its usually free with service.
- you get a U.S. area code of your liking
- calls to you at whatever area code you choose are billed as if you are at taht area code
- you are not charged long distance to the US
- unlimited calls to the US for 25$ a month
- 500 mins a month to the US for 15$ a month
- HOWEVER, it is expensive to use vonage to call dominica
- you need an ethernet internet connection to use vonage
- almost all apartments will have this
- free voicemail over the internet
- if you are intrested, email me, ill send you a link so you a link via email to order. you get one free month and so do I! justpursuit@comcast.net
14. if you get vonage, bring a phone with you.
15. nice flashlight although you can buy decent ones here.
16. dont forget a sweat shirt or something, classrooms and library get very cold!
17. if you are picky about what kinds of soaps, toothpaste or pharmacy type things you use, bring enough down to last you your time here. most likely you wont beable to find the same thing here. but there should be something atleast kinda like it. (ex. for me im picking about facewash, which i havent seen here at all and deoderant)
18. decent sunglasses and a case to protect them in
19. bug spray, i got bit up a lot at first. but then hardly at all. but id bring a bottle or two if i were you.
20. alarm clock that works solely off of batteries or with battery backup! the power will go out on you here and i know of some places that have generators that they didnt work all the time
21. one of those foldupable laundry baskets
22. possibly a calcium suplemetn. there is no normal pasturized milk here. if that is an issue for you, somethign to consider.
23. a good laptop bookbag
24. a light blanket, most apartments only come with a set of sheets. you can buy sheets though for an extra set in the bookstore (on campus), grandbizare and bestbuy (in portsmouth), james store (next to campus), and then stuff in roseau (but its a hike). if you dont like your pillows, which i hated mine, they have alright ones (sleepable) at grandbizare in portsmouth (they are sealed in an airtight package, just ask if you want them, they are hanging in werid spots)

that is all i can think of for now...but here is the opposite

Things not to go overboard with.
1. i brought a lot of sunscreen but hardly wound up using it, if you burn easy bring it, but otherwise dont let it worry you too much. one bottle would problaby be plenty for the semister
2. cell phone, you will get one here. you can trust the dude that comes up to you in the bus when you first get on the island, you will probalby know exactly what im talking about when you get here. but i suggest cable and wireless (on campus) #1 or digicel #2. there is a cable and wireless in portsmouth that has a larger selection of phones if you are picky about your phone. they will have a promotional sale to get a phone as all the students are showing up on the island. get one then. everymonth they have differnet promotions too with cable and wireless, ask them in the begining of the month if you need mins or whatever.
3. a bike (if you are into that kinda thing) i know myself, i really wanted to bring a bike down with me. but i didnt and glad that i didnt. there are decent mountain bikes at courts in portsmouth. they are a little expensive but they will pretty much hold value when you leave to sell back to an incoming student.
4. stocking your apartment after you arrive dont worry about getting too much food and cooking stuff, etc. you wont have much time to cook if you like cooking. so plan on eating at the shacks, perky's, subway, or getting chinese a lot.

Im sure there are plenty more...

I know that seems like a lot of little things, but figure out what are the little things that you need/would want to have with you. lots of things like that you wont be able to get here. and keep in mind that this is my little list of things, not everyones including yourself. but i would have liked to know this list before i came down.

Good Luck, Dominica is Beautiful! After you adjust a little bit to the way of life its just like being anywhere else. We are also all in the same boat too! Overstudy like you have never before for the first exam. Keep the percentages is mind what the different exams are worth for each mini (aka study up for biochem and histo for mini one, get ahold of a grade calculator on excel, or make one and track your progress in other classes, study what you need to to pass, you may have to divide up how you study to do so). Keep inmind that you just have to pass too, although its always better to do well!

Again, best of luck,

-ed-

I'm in Dominica now.

I think that shampoo is definitely a must for those who wash their hair every day, like I do.

An air-freshener would help too. Humid weather makes the pages on the books curl and the rooms have a strange humid smell.

I live in a village-setting area with lots of bugs. So, any kind of insecticide (the chalks, the powder, the plug-in ones, the ones to burn, etc.) would help.

Overall, Dominica is beautiful
It's amazing.

I, too, live in a buggy area. I haven't had any problems. Of course, I don't really mind the occasional ant crawling over me or when a firefly gets in the house. And the centipedes here aren't worth complaining about. It's pretty hum-drum if you discount the stunning beauty of it all.

When things get a bit "humid" smelling, I just increase ventilation. And take a shower.

I brought costco-packs of vitamins, calcium, and ibuprofen along with razor heads. I'm using some really good brand of toothpaste right now. It's fluoridated and cheap... Joya, made in India and shipped through MIA.

I used to put on insecticide when I'd wake up in the morning. Eventually, I got tired of doing it. Now, I accumulate a certain number of bites and that's it. I just adapted to it.

/me shrugs.

__________________
So get on with it!
What does not happen today, will not be done tomorrow, and you should not let a day slip by.
Let resolution grasp what's possible and seize it boldly by the hair; it will not get away and it labors on, because it must.

- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Faust I, Zeilen 224-230

This is an amazing thread here. I have used this to start a list and I don't get to dominica till jan '07!! But i figure i start now and by then i won't forget anything. Plus I am doing MERP in august so i won't have a ton of time after to do tons of shopping. Question: Isn't DEET a proven carcinogen? Also, reading this stuff, nothing seems cheap/available there and i was just worried about vegies and fruit availability because i would like to cook for myself and save SOME money. And for the "you have no time to cook" comment: I'm indian, so i've been cooking since 11 and i can pretty much cook anything in like 15 minutes

But again, this thread is awesome!

__________________
Oxygen gets you high. In a catastrophic emergency, you're taking giant panicked breaths. Suddenly you become euphoric, docile. You accept your fate. It's all right here. Emergency water landing - 600 miles an hour. Blank faces, calm as Hindu cows.