For quite a long while now I've been making mental notes of the things that I'm so glad I took and other things I forgot I even had... Here it goes!

• Scarf and gloves- so small yet make such a big difference. At times my face hurt from the cold (not here in Rio of course, mainly Chile and Uruguay) and my scarf worked as a dual wrap around my face and neck.
• Pillowcase- only a few times I used the pillow case I brought from home but I was so grateful I had it. I dont think I would have slept otherwise... The other pillows just didn't seem trustworthy.
• Mini febreeze- this teams with the pillow case. When I come across a questionable bed, changing to my pillow case and spraying my $1 bottle of febreeze makes such a difference
• iPod- best thing on me (besides the peanut butter). It's working just like my dad and Karen wanted. I'm able to do everything on it. Whip it out to take a quick picture, show someone pictures, check my messages and weather and talk on skype when there's wifi. I find wifi and in 10 minutes put my pictures from that day on facebook or post a blog. I love it!
• Passport cover- Patti gave me the cutest cloth passport cover made by indigenous women I believe, it's perfect. I can save my passport, current important tickets or immigration papers and I'm keeping all my ticket stubs (for a scrapbook maybe?)
• Yoga mat- although a little bit of a pain with my bags, I really use it often. In some places like Chile I used it everyday. It's so nice to have a space to stretch and do some exercises (I've gotten creative with my exercises using heavy backpack for leg lifts, dictionaries for weights, dancing or jumping jacks for cardio...) and once or twice it was nice to add some cushion to those questionable beds. Especially now that I'm settled in Rio, I'm glad to have it.
• Jar of Peanut Butter(Skippy Natural to be exact. Here they only sell Peter Pan which had a recall a few years ago... coincidence?? And it costs almost ten dollars)- according to everyone here I'm "so American" but I love it. And sometimes when I'm hungry or don't have options for breakfast, a spoonful of PB is so good! Or like when I found rice cakes! Just like home, delicious.
• Pack of Thank You notes- every place I've stayed I've left a nice thank you card and a small gift (I bought souvenirs from home before I left). I like to know that they're scattered all over South America :-)
• Beanie/ ski cap- one word: Pointless. I can't remember one time I wore it. I think once to show someone how funny it looked. I just used my scarf and hood from my jacket.
• South America map- more illogical than ski cap (but more logical than empty peanut cans, right Jason?) it's too big, I haven't taken it out of the pocket in my bag since I left Arizona. Turns out google is a lot faster and most people here don't need a whole map of South America to tell me where the nearest metro station is.
• Cel phone- although it's only been turned on a few times, those were very desperate times and I was SO happy my dad made me take it. Saved me a few times when I was in a pickle.
• Camera- not so worth it. It has a flash unlike my iPod, but the percentage of pictures I've taken with it compared to my iPod (purely out of convenience) is very little. Plus the cords to charge and download pictures to a computer are bulky.
• Mini Portuguese/ English dictionary- it's amazing how much time out of the day I used to spend with my nose in this dictionary. It's also amazing how much Portuguese I still don't understand :-)

And just to spice things up, a few things I WISH I brought:
•corn flour(the cravings for corn tortillas or any corn product is palpable)
•USB drive to back up pictures and now I borrow Ricardos for English worksheets and stuff
•Tabasco sauce (spice... That's all I ask for!)
•exercise band (got the yoga mat, forgot the band)
•extra toiletries like deodorant and razors because here it's WAY more expensive and they dont have deodorant STICKS (just roll on and spray)

That's about it... Lessons learned!