Sunday, August 24, 2008

Photo #6

This is a photo of the Mauritanian map that the coordinators made on site placement day.  It was taken at the training center in Rosso.  I thought that the trees and leaves at the southern part of the country was really cute.  During our site announcement, trainees started standing on their respective sites.  Really exciting day!


Photo #5

This photo is from a hike that Sean, Becky, and I took a few weekends ago.  We followed the dirt road out of town and into the countryside/agricultural fields surrounding Rosso.  I thought it would give you a good idea of what the terrain is like here (note:  we chose this spot because of the trees, which are few and far between here!).

Friday, August 22, 2008

10 minutes to post...

Since I just spent the last 50 minutes of my internet time checking email, chatting with Kelsey and Amy, and researching possible African vacations for my family, I now have 10 minutes to post to my blog.  I think that the best use of my time would be a quick description of the wonderful day that I had today!
I woke up on the sandy courtyard inside Becky's host family's house.  I spent last night there since it's a lot breezier at her place and her family offered to make dinner for us -- beans and bread, yum!  We left her house early this morning, picked up Sean from his place, and then walked to the little market for breakfast at "Denny's," a stall in the middle of the fish market that serves egg sandwiches and coffee -- possibly the only breakfast place in Rosso.  So good!
We left Denny's and headed for the bigger market to buy gifts for our host families and language facilitator, since we're moving out of our homestays on Sunday morning.  My family was really excited when I came back from the market with gifts, but I'm making them wait until tomorrow to receive them.  I ate lunch at home (rice and fish and veggies), and then began to pack up my stuff while my host brother kept popping into my room with mint tea.  Washed some clothes and took a nap before a quick bucket bath and a trip to the small market -- again -- for one last gift:  a watermelon for our maid, who's my favorite person in our family!  And now I'm at the cyber cafe -- and in the A/C -- typing a blog post and making plans to meet at Elise's for a movie night tonight.
So, one more week in Rosso, 2 more nights with my host family, and 6 more days until the big swear-in party!

Friday, August 15, 2008

No news is good news

I just got an email from my grandparents reminding me that I haven't updated my blog in awhile.  Believe me, I've been checking the internet every couple of days for new emails from my friends and family and for more info about the coup, but they're right, I haven't updated in awhile.  So, here I am.
Despite the political situation, things are pretty tranquil here "masha'allah" (God willing).  I've been trying to watch the news -- Al-Jazeera -- for the most part, but my Arabic's not that good (yet), so I've been getting most of my information by word of mouth and BBC News online.  In more pressing news, I found out yesterday that Peace Corps's experienced some budget cuts, which means fewer of the "sanity savers" that we were looking forward to:  paid Nouakchott days, higher living allowances to keep up with inflation, fewer trainees next year, etc.  We might be in the best position as trainees since we haven't grown accustomed to these yet.  Thanks to the coup and budget cuts, we're going to have a smaller swear-in this year, but like I said, I won't know the difference.
We started model GMC (Girls Mentoring Center) this week, and I got to teach my first lesson!  It's probably the part of training that most simulates what my job will be once I'm a volunteer.  I really enjoyed planning the lesson (John and I taught the girls English slang words:  bummer, yo! yo! yo!, what's up, sweet, etc), teaching (in French -- woohoo!), and getting to know the girls.  Teaching is really invigorating for me, and I'm really looking forward to that part of my job.  It makes me wonder if that's something I'd like to continue doing after the Peace Corps...
Last night, we had a small party with some other trainees and volunteers at my friend Charlotte's host family's house.  We called it a "pot luck" because everyone brought something to share, and we hung out on her roof under the stars, and eventually set up our mosquito nets there to sleep.  Unfortunately, we were rudely awaken around midnight by lightening and an approaching storm, so we ran downstairs (with our mosquito nets) and set up camp in her salon.  This isn't the first time that rain has woken me up in the middle of the night, and I still think it's worth starting out on the roof for the cooler temperatures and breeze that it provides.  All in all, it was an awesome party and sleepover, and I slept surprisingly well.  I took some pictures of the sunset from her roof a few weeks ago, which I'll have to share with everyone.
Okay, I'm about to run out of internet time.  Ma salaam!

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Before my parents freak out...

It's amazing how fast news can spread these days.  I wanted to post to let everyone know that life here is proceeding as normal, despite the coup d'etat that took place today in Nouakchott: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7544834.stm.  I'm actually quite proud that Mauritania made headline news on BBC (and, despite this scary sounding article, the coup was non-violent)!  Suprisingly, my language facilitator was completely calm about the whole thing:  he kept getting cell phone calls throughout our class this morning, and then one of my classmates got a text from another volunteer about the travel suspension, so he reluctantly told us about the coup.  I wish I had had my camera to take pictures of our faces!  "Seriously?!," we cried.  "Don't worry though.  The coup was successful," he replied in French.  "Umm...that's a good thing?!," we responded, "Can you explain this in English?  Because we might not be understanding here."  From what I know, the former democratically-elected president was overthrown, and the military is in charge again.  I have no idea what this will mean for the country.  My language facilitator wouldn't speculate, so I'm not going to do the same.  All in all, it sounds a lot scarier than it is, and we've gone over Peace Corps' safety and security measures, and I have faith that they place our safety above anything.
In other news, I got my second mail delivery yesterday:  a card from Grandmom (with photos from the Donnalley beach trip) and one from my mom!  Yippee!  Mail makes me so happy now; thank you for that.
Other things that make me happy:  what I had for lunch today.  My language classmates and I decided to skip out on lunch at our host families' houses and treat ourselves to a restaurant meal.  We had hamburgers:  goatmeat patty, fried egg, french fries, onion?, ketchup, and mayonnaise on a huge bun.  These are the only kind of burgers available in Rosso, and they are absolutely delicious!  I would never have eaten one of these in the States, but after almost 2 months of rice and fish, I was dying for a burger.  To top it all off, I had a DIET Coke (diet drinks are hard to find here -- sugar is quite popular) and a Mars bar for dessert (straight from the fridge!).  I hope my enthusiasm comes through in my writing!
Okay, I'm signing off now because obviously I don't have much to talk about if I'm discussing my lunch -- except for the coup, I guess.  I wanted to let you all know that I appreciate your concern, and that we're all doing well.  

Saturday, August 2, 2008

To add to my list of traveling ailments...

Since I arrived in Mauritania, current volunteers have been telling us about the infamous "blister beetle," which leaves an irritating oil on your skin that bubbles, pops, and spreads to other parts of your body.  Absolutely disgusting.  Here's a picture of the little guy that I found online:
A few days ago, I found one of them inside my mosquito net while I was at the center.  I calmly put him into a cup and threw it outside.  But the next morning, I woke up with something that looks like this on my leg:
Yeah, gross.  It didn't bother me at first, just looked nasty, and some volunteers told me that certain people aren't allergic.  A few more days passed, and I've decided that I'm not one of them.  Our health handbook said that it should go away on its own in a few days or I'll have to pop it underwater.  You knew I wouldn't be able to leave Africa without contracting something bizarre.
And, by the way, scroll down for two more (happier) photos that I just posted!