Top 5 Friday - Top 5 Most Useless Items I brought with me to the DR

To continue on the topic of packing for the DR, I have found since being in country that many of the things I chose to bring were a little less than useful. In fact, many things have been completely useless for me! So for all those soon to be DR volunteers, take this little list as some suggestions for things NOT to bring. I present, the Top 5 most useless items I brought with me!

1. Polo shirts. I didn’t like them in the US. Why would I suddenly start wearing polo shirts all the time?
2. Toiletries. I brought several deodorants, toothpastes, face wash, plus big bottles of shampoo and conditioner. You can buy all these things here, and they aren’t that expensive. Huge waste of space and weight
3. Sleeping bag/mat/sheets/pillow. Maybe when I start traveling the country I will change my mind, and if I had been placed in a cooler area I might have a different opinion, but I haven’t used any of these things in country. I guess they could be nice when I have visitors or visit people, but they have been fairly useless so far
4. Clothes pins – really, did I think I couldn’t find those in country if I needed them?
5. Hair straightener – I’ve used it twice at nice Peace Corps events, and both times the humidity (or rain) made my hair curly within an hour.