Mauritanian Fourth of July!

Salaam aleykum! I was feeling a little bit down this afternoon, so I decided to check my email at the "cyber" after class today hoping that some news from home would make me feel like myself again. Nothing too extreme: just coming to grips with the inescapability of the heat, humidity, bugs, sand, etc. My dad told me before I left that I should try to take things in small chunks, one day at a time or one month at a time, instead of worrying about how I will cope with the hard stuff for the next two years. Easier said than done, but I remind myself ever day of that.
On a more positive note, we were able to organize a small Fourth of July celebration yesterday at the training center. The Peace Corps picked up the village volunteers, and everyone met at the center in the afternoon for a brief taste of America: movies, English conversation, hamburgers (even if it was camel meat!), and ultimate frisbee. Since all trainees are now living with different host families and in different parts of town or surrounding villages, it's interesting to hear about their experiences. I think that more so than other countries in West Africa, Mauritania offers some very different experiences to PCVs (Peace Corps volunteers) depending on their final placement. Since we have Fridays off (the weekend is Friday and Saturday here), I also really enjoyed having something to do with my time.
For the upcoming week, I've got language class and technical sessions all week until Saturday. And of course, spending the majority of my allowance on ice cream!