Oh I gots me some needs...

Things I need:
Long Johns
Warm Winter Socks
One or two sweater-vests (to wear with my work clothes, business dress)
One or two sweaters, medium or large preferable (large tends to be too big for me, even with shrinkage)
A few undershirts, plain white shirts preferable
Good dictionary and thesaurus (I should have at least a thesaurus that I didn't pack - while that's going, try for my other books as well, i.e. the
literature anthologies etc.)
A good pair of gloves and a hat for winter, maybe some scarves as well

Things I wouldn't mind having:
Some food items, peanut butter, snack items, herbs/spices/sauces to make/season food with (i.e. basil, nutmeg, vanilla, cinnamon, parsley, paprika, ginger, cumin, ketchup, mustard of all types, bbq sauce, parmesan cheese, brown sugar, olive oil, etc. etc.) Good food items other volunteers have gotten include: clif bars, various nuts (peanuts and walnuts are common here - they get different tasty kinds like Trader Joe's), various candies (non-candy bar), cookies,
crackers, pretzles, drink mixes like gatorade. Just need to be wary of things getting crushed in a package. Tastes from home and new tastes are most welcome.

Pictures, particularly of people from back home.

Movies: Some of my favorites like Rocky, Finding Neverland, etc. from my own collection. I still haven't seen the new Batman (the only movie I've wanted to
see this past year - I've held off watching a bootleg version to get something undiluted). Don't send movies in cases - those are easy fodder to get stolen.
Unmarked boxes and decoys work best, particularly tampon boxes.

Books -
books 1, 3, 4 of the Camulod Chronicles
English class/course books, primarily grade-school level
Anything, really, that could be a source of entertainment. Electricity is off for roughly 4 hours or so every day (and rising - it's going off earlier every day) and I could use something to pass the time. I've already gone through 4 decent sized novels in the past 2 weeks. My collection of Redwall books, the Wheel of Time, Harry Potter (maybe not, those are all hardcover), would all work well. Heck, if you're feeling adventurous, you could even give me something not from my collection! Most any book is interesting, as long as it isn't a technical manual or romance novel. Fantasy is my old standby, but I'll read most any genre.

Any sort of classroom materials, dry-erase markers, erasers, logbooks, etc. Not necessary but I think they would help out a bit.
Pictures, maps (of America, the world), posters that can be used for teaching. Display materials! Songs, dances, ideas, anything.

Maybe a blanket or two. It will be pretty cold here.
If possible a decent dress jacket to be sent over - something that will go with my navy and khaki colored pants (my navy jacket is too big, don't send that)

Toothpaste: I like Crest Pro-Health: Night (in the purplish box/tube). My two tubes exploded a bit on the way to Talas; they're still usable, but I have less
of it now. At first I was adverse to having paste sent, but simply looking at all the sugar consumed here makes my teeth ache. That plus I can't be too
careful, esp. with good toothpaste (and how I get very little in the way of dental).
Razors: Decent shaving razors are hard to come by and I think I left my spare blades for my schick in CT. Definately not electric. My disposables only go so
far.
Deodarant/good smell spray - I get at most one decent wash a week. Nuff' said on that.
Stain removing products, I primarily have those pens in mind. For those times when I'm enjoying sheep eyeballs too much, there won't be enough stain remover
to help the sloppy Italian in me.


PS And oh yeah, outdoor sinks/bathrooms suck -- not because of function, but because of location at this time of the year.

PPS During the writing of this and the other document over the course of a couple days, the power has gone out every single time. Hurray for laptop batteries!