Top 5 Friday – Top 5 Most Useless Traits brought with me to the DR

I've talked a lot about items that I did or didn't bring with me to the DR, but I thought it would be fun to talk about the personality traits that I brought with me that haven't been so useful. So here are the top 5 most useless traits of my personality that I brought with me to the DR!

1. A fear of insects, especially cockroaches and spiders. There’s no way to not have them in your house
2. Vergüenza, or embarrassment. People laugh at me all the time. You just have to accept the fact that you are going to mess up and laugh with everyone else!
3. A lack of Spanish skills. The first few weeks in country were really hard. I’m getting a lot better, but I still wish I had studied Spanish more and had a larger vocabulary
4. Light sleeping habits. With all these roosters, dogs, and early morning work by Dominicans, the ability to sleep through noise would be amazing
5. Independence. It’s funny, because to be a successful volunteer, you would think being independent would be extremely useful. Dominicans don’t want me to live alone, walk alone, travel alone, sit alone in my room, or in general do anything alone. If I was less independent, my life would be so much easier here!

Top 5 Friday - Top 5 Items I wish I had brought with me to the DR

To finish up this series, I figured I would talk about what I wish I had brought with me. It's impossible to bring everything that I wanted, and there were a few things that I did not bring that I really wish I had. So here are the top 5 things that I wish I had brought with me!

1. Rolling luggage. Basically anywhere you can roll a suitcase. While my duffel bags are super nice at times (shorter trips in particular), they are super heavy to carry long distances when others have rolling suitcases.
2. More photos. I don’t like to bring out my computer that often, and the only printed pictures I have are of me and my sister. I think the Dominicans might think I have no friends.
3. Yoga Mat – I had a yoga mat in my pile of things to bring, but due to space constraints I took it out. When I’m doing crunches or yoga in my room, that yoga mat would have been perfect. Definitely would have gotten more use than a lot of other things I brought!
4. Nice flats – I brought a few pairs of nice heels, but in a lot of situations they aren’t practical. Some pretty strappy flats would have been perfect to bring
5. Hanging organizers. I haven’t managed to find good ones here in country, and space can be VERY limited at times. Some good quality hanging organizers would have been amazing to put all my folded clothing in, rather than the crappy ones that I have now that are collapsing