Hi Leah,

There are two things to remember when packing for Benin: 1: most of the clothes you bring to Benin won't last 2 years and two, it is extremely hot. Since you can only bring two suitcases, you won't be able to bring that many clothes; therefore you will be wearing everything often. Clothes also don't last that long because washing machines are unheard of in Benin, and you will proably end up paying someone to hand wash everything. Hand washing and scrubbing is pretty harsh on clothes. For these reasons your clothes probably won't last for more than a year or so. My point is that even if you don't bring the perfect wardrobe to Benin, you can either buy what you need at the second hand clothes markets or you can have them custom made cheaply. This is what you will have to do no matter what after your first year or so.

I suggest you bring plenty of underwear because they don't sell brands that are available in the US when I was there. For shoes I suggest two pairs of Tevas. You will almost never want to wear closed shoes and socks because your feet will sweat like crazy. Even in the mud and rain Tevas are just fine. Bring one pair of comfortable flat soled dress shoes for conferences, meetings, ceremonies etc. Bring one pair of hiking boots too for when you are going on long bike rides or long walks.

Long dresses and covering your shoulders is good becuause you will be comfortable and not stand out so much. White people stand out no matter what, and we are often stared at so many female Peace Corps volunteers wear shorts and tank tops despite the fact that it makes the Beninese men gawk even more. If you want to make sure you aren't making yourself stand out more, don't wear shorts and don't wear tank tops. It is very hot and you will stand out already so it will be a personal decision that you will have to make. It will depend on how physically comfortable you want to be compared to how uncomfortable you feel emotionally by having the men stare. Jeans are fine but they are hot so bring only 1 pair since you probably won't want to wear them that much. Light weitght cotton pants will be more comfortable than jeans. As far as detergents, they are readily available there. Omo was the name of the soap the people who did my laundry always used. It's more or less an all purpose powdered soap and it did the job aok.



Bonne Chance!



Chris

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Replying to:

What types of clothing should I bring to Benin, the proper shoes outside of sandals or flip flops for the rainy season? Long skirts, can I wear short sleeved shirts or even modest tank tops or should I not expose my shoulders? Is it necessary to bring jeans or will cotton pants be fine? Also, what types of cleaning products did you bring such as bar soap or soap to clean your clothes with? Any info. would be great!

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