Mon Aventure Africaine

One month later...

2009-11-14T12:55:00.002-05:00

Bonjour mes amis,

It appears that I've been in Burkina Faso for one month now: I'm feeling a lot more comfortable here, but as I just arrived at my new site less than a week ago, I'm still the new kid in town. It's been an interesting experience simultaneously counting up (one month in Burkina and one week at site) and counting down at the same time (nine months of service left). Sometimes I feel guilty for it, but I think that as long as I remain focused on my work, I'll come out of this experience satisfied with my work.

And I can't complain about working in Bogande! It's much more ofd a town than a village: there are three high schools and even more primary schools, along with a post office and a cyber café! No paved roads, but a tree-lined gravel main street. I have my own house now, right next to the school, with a private courtyard, outdoor shower, two rooms and a covered porch! It's quite a change from the one room I rented from my former host family! My neighbors are super friendly and I'm slowly getting to know them.

Okay, I'm sure I could write more, but my credit is almost up. Happy Thanksgiving if I don't post before then!

I'm in Burkina Faso!

2009-10-18T08:31:00.002-04:00

Bonjour!

I finally made it back to Africa. I feel like I can breathe a hugh sigh of relief now that I'm a real Peace Corps volunteer again. I arrived in Ouagadougou on Thursday afternoon after almost 24 hours of traveling. All in all, I was not expecting the trip to be that long. I think when I looked at my e-ticket, all the time zone changes were confusing so I wasn't expecting to be traveling for so long. Could have been worse though; I didn't have any bad flight delays, etc. The country director, a Peace Corps driver, and another volunteer were at the airport to pick me up. I found them right away, which was something I was nervous about. They took me to the "transit house," which is where I've been staying since I arrived. The transit house is a big Peace Corps house with about 20 beds where volunteers can stay when they come into Ouagadougou. It sounds like most volunteers are pretty close to the capital, so they come in about once a month.

On Friday, the Peace Corps office is only open for half a day, so I met everybody in the morning, had a few meetings, and signed some papers. And I got fitted for a bicycle! All Burkina volunteers get their own Trek bike and helmet to use during their service. There's some "community" bikes in the Ouaga, so I've ridden around town a few times and it's so much fun!

Yesterday, I had a language class in the morning. I'm going to be learning Gormantchema, which is in no way related to any language that I currently speak. It's a little frustrating to be starting this whole language-learning process over again, but I know the extent to which local language knowledge can help your service. Tomorrow evening, I'll be moving in with a host family who speaks Gormantchema, which should help facilitate my language learning.

And finally, I got my site assignment as soon as I arrived. I'll be moving to Bogande, which is in the eastern part of the country. It's halfway between two larger towns -- sort of like M'Bout was -- so it's not a tiny village, but not a real city either. I haven't been out there, and probably won't see it until Peace Corps drops me off on November 2, but I'll be visiting villages in the area.

So for now, it's back to Peace Corps life -- slightly different, but still essentially Peace Corps life.

Photo #26

2009-10-13T08:38:00.002-04:00

And the winner is...BURKINA FASO! See my posting below. (Photo credit: www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/burkina_faso.htm)

And I'm off! (again)

2009-10-13T08:15:00.002-04:00

Wow, I haven't posted since July. I think so much happened between then and now that it just became too overwhelming to try and explain it all. I'm going to attempt to summarize the last two months:
--July 24: I receive a call from Peace Corps while I'm in Kaedi telling me that I need to be in Nouakchott in three days for an "evacuation drill." (I'm already heading that way anyway since I have a flight home on August 6.)
--July 27: All volunteers currently in country leave Nouakchott really early in the morning on a bus to Senegal while a safety and security team from Peace Corps Washington assesses the security situation.
--July 27 - August 6: We all chill in Senegal at Peace Corps Senegal's training center while the team tours around the country to look at security stuff. (I have no idea how this works.)
--August 6: I fly home to AMERICA! Mom, Dad, Grandma, and Grandpa pick me up at the airport.
--August 10: I get a call from Peace Corps Washington that the Peace Corps Mauritania program has been suspended (no going back) and that they've closed my service (no direct transfer option).
--August 10 - September 25: I call Peace Corps Washington every day in an effort to get back overseas to finish my service ASAP.
--September 25: I'm assigned to Burkina Faso!
--September 30 - present: My flight has been changed three times from October 8 to October 11 to October 12 to October 14? Is Peace Corps trying to make this difficult?

So I think that just about sums it up. I can't really say that I'm that nervous/excited to leave yet because it hasn't really hit me. I've had so many false alarms that I think I've learned to keep calm until the very last moment. I know that I'll still be working in girls education and that someone from Peace Corps should be at the airport to pick me up. In typical Peace Corps fashion, they haven't told me anything else: what part of the country I'll serve in, what size town/village, will I have a site mate, what local language will I learn? I'm expecting to find out all of that information as soon as I arrive, so I'll let you all know when I get there! Hopefully, that will be soon...

Photo #25

2009-07-10T12:57:00.003-04:00

The 2009 M'Bout GMC delegation: me, Hapsatou, Keri, Nangui, Haya (our mentor), and John. Most of the conference activities took place here, the Stade Olympique in Nouakchott.

July, July!

2009-07-08T15:08:00.004-04:00

So, I haven't done much work this summer, but a lot's been going on. Many volunteers' summer plans changed dramatically when we found out that we wouldn't be welcoming a new class of volunteers mid-June. Normally, Peace Corps Mauritania trains a new class of volunteers over the summer, second-year volunteers close their service at the end of the summer, and everyone helps out at training (first- and second-years). Unfortunately, our new class didn't receive visas from the Mauritanian government and since it's impossible to know when the government will begin issuing visas again, Pece Corps released those new trainees to other programs.
This is bad news for those of us who still have a year left. As it stands now, all second-year volunteers will leave the country by August 6 and since we didn't get newbies, our numbers are essentially cut in half.
All of this I knew before going to girls' conference in Nouakchott. Each year, Peace Corps organizes a conference for GMC girls and mentors to discuss issues pertaining to girls education in Mauritania. It's an honor for the girls, and for many of them, their first time to the capital. John and I were forced to leave M'Bout a day late due to rain (we had to wade across the seasonal river with three girls and a female mentor), but we made it for day 2 of the conference. With girls from around the country, we learned yoga, visited some working women at thier offices, painted, sewed, watched skits, visited the beach, and met girls from centeres around the country. The activities were really well-organized, and despite the stress that ever volunteer was feeling by the end, the girls had a great time. My host sister Nangui, who was one of the girls chosen to attend, couldn't stop talking about it when we got back to M'Bout last week.
During the conference, we did get another important email from Peace Corps concerning an offer of "interrupted service" (IS). Because of a recent murder in Nouakchott, Peace Corps was allowing any one in my class to essentially leave early with all the benefits of two years of service. This offer had a deadline of July 6. For a number of reasons, I decided not to take IS: my previous two-year commitment to Peace Corps service, our newly created mentoring center which would be unmenned if I left, my feeling of safety at site, and my love for my host family and friends. Yesterday, I found out that 21 volunteers did take IS, which means that by August, our program will shrink from 120 volunteers to about 50.
Fewer volunteers means a lot of empty mentoring centers, which brings me to my last bit of news. Since John and I will be the only girls education volunteers working at the same center, John has decided to move 120km south to Selibabi in order to take over their center. So, as far as I know, I'll be living and working in M'Bout next year without my "sitemate". John won't be far, but I'm going to miss him. There's a chance that a new volunteer would be assigned to my site, but I don't know when that will be.
(Sigh...) All in all, things aren't bad, just different than I thought they'd be. Now more than ever, I'm looking forward to my trip home in August to tahings over with my family and friends and come back refreshed and ready for my second year.
On a more positive note, we had a great Fourth of July gathering in Kaedi. Cooked and grilled some delicious food, hosted a talent/non-talent show (I did a circus / gymnastics-type act with two other girls), and dance to the song "Sandstorm" in a real sandstorm! I've been hanging out in Kaedi since then, but I'll head back to site in the next few days in order to spend time with my host family before my trip home. Don't be suprised if my hands and feet are henna-ed when I get back home -- my host family's been threatening me for quite some time now...

Photo #24

2009-06-29T12:05:00.004-04:00

This is a photo of the seasonal river that we had to cross recently in order to leave M'Bout for the girls conference. The day before, the rain had swelled this river dramatically forcing us to postpone our trip to Nouakchott until the next morning. You can see John wading across on his way back to help the truck.

Photo #23

2009-06-29T11:45:00.004-04:00

Me, Coleen, Teresa, and Julie Ann took this photo in Mali while we were hiking. We're looking out onto the dunes from the top of the escarpment.

Photo #22

2009-06-29T11:39:00.005-04:00

I took this photo from a rooftop terrace where we stopped for lunch one day while hiking in Mali. The blue barrel in the foreground is a smart, little shower that they set up: the owners put well water in the barrel and then you turn the spigot on when you want to bathe.

Photo #21

2009-06-29T11:31:00.002-04:00

This photo was taken in Dogon Country, Mali, where I spent six days hiking last month. I think we were hiking DOWN when I took this (thank goodness!), but I'm still pretty sweaty. Villages in Dogon lie below, above, and on this cliff, which is what we were hiking along. We all thought it was SO green, although it was still well into their dry season.

School's out for summer!

2009-06-04T07:56:00.003-04:00

Bonjour tout le monde!
You all should be very proud since it's been less than a month since my last post. I'm starting to get the feeling that time passes differently for me now then it does for you all in the States. For example, I told my family that I would post the mock Peace Corps ad that Becca and I made on YouTube soon, and when I told them soon meant 3 weeks, they sounded really suprised. Three weeks doesn't seem long to me any more. Guess that's what happens when you've been living in Africa for a year!
Shortly after my last posting, we had our closing ceremony at the mentoring center in M'Bout, and then I went to Kaedi (where I made the awesome video!) and Nouakchott for some Peace Corps business. I left Nouakchott at the end of May and headed down south to St. Louis, Senegal for the International Jazz Festival there. We were allowed to audit our vacation days as long as we worked one three-hour shift selling Mauritanian artisan crafts at a booth at the festival. I spent about three days on the beach, worked for a total of six hours, ate, drank, and was merry. I took some photos of the stuff that we were selling so that you all can put in orders next year; it's pretty hard to find cool souvenir-type stuff in Mauritania, but the festival brings together stuff from around the country and there's a lot of neat stuff from all over West Africa.
On Monday, I travelled down to Dakar with Colleen where we met up with Matt and his brother. Together, the four of us spent one full day in Dakar picking up visas at the Malian embassy, buying bus tickets, jumping on a really cool trampoline by the water, and hanging out by the pool at the American Club. The American Club was kind of a whim: it's where the softball tournament is held every year, they have a pool, tennis courts, snack bar, and bar, and we had heard rumors that Americans can use it for free (true!).
Yesterday, we loaded onto a bus for a 26-hour ride from Dakar to Bamako. The bus left around 5AM Wednesday morning and we got in around 7AM this morning to Bamako. Now, I thought I was a well-seasoned bus traveller, but this was probably more uncomfortable than any bus I took in South America. Regular coach bus, but the air-conditioning didn't work. And no bathroom. And a three-hour long border crossing. I'll let you imagine the rest.
But, we're here in Bamako now and really excited to explore the city! Everything is so green! And there's hills! I've heard it referred to as Dakar with a more small-town feel. I'm bummed that we don't have much time to spend here because we're probably going to leave for Mopti (NE of the city by about 7-10 hours -- another bus ride) tomorrow. Tough decision, but we're in a bit of a time crunch due to the PCV soccer game next weekend, and we want to spend as much time hiking in Dogon country before then. I'm going to take lots and lots of pictures in Dogon, and hopefully post them sometime before I return to the States in August. (I know, I know, it's a long time for you guys, but I've got a busy summer schedule, ma sha'allah.)
I think that's about it for now. We're about to go hunt down the only TexMex restaurant in Bamako. Funny story though: We had heard about a Mexican restaurant in Dakar (There's only one in Nouakchott, so I don't get that kind of food very often.], and after a bit of wandering, we found it down a dark street. Not a whole lot to look at in the front, so we went inside. I was expecting some cheap kind of TexMex like you would find in the States. Nothing too fancy, since we all just had teeshirts and jeans on and hadn't showered since before our taxi ride from St. Louis. Walked into a swanky ex-pat restaurant where everyone's head turned to look at us come in and the hostess asked if we had a reservation. Reservation?! I've been eating with my hands for the past six months! All four of us had our minds so set on nachos and margaritas that we decided to look at the menu anyways -- phew! Pricey, but really good cheese quesadilla and mojito. And little scented towlettes to wash your hands. We laughed for so long at the table that I'm suprised they didn't throw us out. Hoping for a better experience this afternoon...
Keep in touch, everyone. Two months 'till I'm State-side!

Top Best King Hip Hop Boys

2009-05-17T08:42:00.002-04:00

I knew that I needed to write a blog post today when I saw this phrase on one of my host brother’s friend’s tee shirts. In English. Huh? There’s so many weird things like this on people’s clothing. I think that a lot of these Western-looking clothes come here from China because I’m certain that a native English-speaker wouldn’t have the creativity to make some of this stuff up. I’ve even heard of Peace Corps volunteers who were walking around, saw a really weird saying on a tee shirt, and traded shirts with the person on the spot! I’m assuming this is a lot easier for male volunteers…

Speaking of clothing, I recently purchased my second “mulafa,” or full-length veil worn my Moor women here. A lot of female volunteers in the northern part of the country wear mulafas every day, but I’m not a huge fan and people tend to be less conservative in the South where I live (if you call ankle-length skirts and tee shirts less conservative), so I haven’t had much experience with them. I decided to buy one to wear on three-hour off road rides from M’Bout to the regional capital. It helps keep the dust, sun, and hot air off of your skin.

Anyway, when I got back from Kaedi – wearing my new mulafa – my host family informed me that the pattern I had picked was called the “Barack Obama.” I have no idea why: it’s blue with navy tie-died stripes. No Barack Obama faces or stars and stripes. Huh?

But now, my host family has started referring to it, not as your Barack Obama mulafa, but instead simply as “the Obama.” It’s weird in context: “Aren’t you going to wash Obama?” “You should gum (starch) Obama.” “You decided to wear Obama!” Even this morning, they pointed out a girl on her way to school who was wearing “Obama.” I always chuckle to myself.

In other news, John and I are wrapping up our last week of GMC activities. We had the girls finish off their computer lessons by writing thank you letters to the teachers and mentors who volunteered at the center this year and on Tuesday, we’re going to have an end-of-the-year party/lesson with snacks and a lesson on the history of American music. After that, I’m off for about a month of vacation in Nouakchott, St. Louis, and Mali. I’ve been slacking off with my picture-taking, but I’m hoping to do and see a lot of the touristy things on vacation, so hopefully, I have some good ones to post when I get back.

All the volunteers here are also anxiously awaiting the arrival of the new trainees next month. I now understand why everyone was so excited when we arrived here last year! It’s hard to explain why we want so desperately to meet a group of 60 total strangers, but it’s like you know that your experience will be so similar and it’s fun to watch it through someone else’s eyes.

Hot season is here in full force now, and the humidity has returned. We get sand storms now like you get rain storms in the States. The other night, we had sandy wind for about 6 hours, which is terrible when you normally sleep outside. I’m dreaming of cold season…and of my trip home in August…

Happy Easter!

2009-04-13T06:52:00.002-04:00

Salut tout le monde!
I can't believe it's been almost a month since I last updated my blog; time seems to be passing quicker, but my countdown to summer vacation still seems to creep along. I've been in M'Bout for about three weeks now, since my last trip to Boghe/Kaedi, and we've had the center open for classes five afternoons a week. We teach the girls about three times a week, and then adult /mentor classes the other two days. It's been awhile since I've worked a five-day work week like that, and it is tiring! By the time our day off rolls around, I'm ready to sleep in and chill out at John's house for the better part of the day. Saturdays are definately the most tiring with four hours of girls' computer lessons in the morning, and then an hour or two of adult English club in the afternoon. It seems like my life changed so quickly once we got the center activities up and running; we went from wandering around town for a few hours each day talking to people about a center that we didn't even have yet, to being at the center five afternoons a week and having a real "office" space to work and a group of girls to teach.
The hot season has arrived and is beginning to affect everyone's daily activities: at my host family's house, we've started doing everything about 30 minutes earlier in the morning, more naps in the afternoon during the hottest part of the day, and then not really going out again until about 5 in the evening. I know that my dad is going to say, "Oh yeah, sounds really rough. Taking a nap every afternoon," but I can't say that it's a very good sleep when you wake up soaked with sweat on whatever area you had touching the mat. (I prefer side-sleeping now because it leaves the least surface area touching the mattress.) Everyone's starting to look forward to the rainy season: it's more humid, but things cool down significantly after the rain passes, there's grass everywhere, and the rivers, lakes, and wells fill back up.
I still really enjoy spending time with my host family. Now that my Hassaniya is better, I can understand more of the conversations going on around me and initiate conversation as well. One night, I was sitting outside my family's boutique with my host sister Halima and wondering if she knew the same star constellations that I do: Big Dipper, Little Dipper, Orion, etc. I asked her in Hassaniya, "Do you see those stars?"
"Yes," she responded.
"Do you see the spoon (Big Dipper) that the stars make?"
"Huh?"
"You see those stars," I pointed, "One, two, three..."
"No, no, no. Stop!" she urged. "That's not a good idea."
"To count the stars?"
"It's not good. You have your stars and I have mine." I didn't have the language skills to ask her exactly why we shouldn't count the stars, but I like this idea. "You have your stars and I have mine": Like the stars were given to each individual to decide exactly how they want to interpret them. How they want to see them. And yet we know that they're exactly the same no matter where you are in the world.

Back to work

2009-03-18T06:22:00.002-04:00

Thanks to everyone for the congratulatory words and emails in regards to our GMC (girls' mentoring center) opening. I was just telling John that I think we both need to take a step back sometime in order to see the full extent of our work here; opening the GMC didn't feel like a big deal (probably because we were both stressed out about it and because it didn't go exactly how he or I envisioned it), but it is the culmination of 6 months' work here.

After we opened the center and had our first adult English class, we both left for a few days in Selibaby and a double birthday party. I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before, but all volunteers talk about "hitting their limit" at sight. I usually know that I'm about there when I start having urges to throw rocks at kids, hit creepy men in the face, or laugh at pretty much everything. Then I know it's time for some American time in a regional capital. It's refreshing to hang out with other Americans, cook for ourselves, and waste entire days watching movies in front of a fan.

On Sunday, John and I travelled back to M'Bout, and yesterday, we had our first GMC meeting for the girls. We've split the girls into 2 groups: first- and second-year middle schoolers and third- and fourth-year middle schoolers. This works a lot better since our space is small, and we're planning on just teaching the same thing two afternoons in a row, which isn't really that much more work for us. Yesterday, we went over the center rules and had the girls decorate index cards with their names, school years, and birth dates. I'm hoping to do a lot more art activities with them because art is not taught in the schools here, and most of them have had very few opportunities to do something creative. We'll begin our computer lessons on Saturday, which I think the girls are really looking forward to as well.

I think that's about it for now. I know that a lot of you in the States are still very much in winter mode, but the hot season is coming upon us fast here. Midday is scorching (I think it was 105 the other day), but it's still cooling down at night. I'm dreading the time when I wake up sweating in the morning. Think about that when you're shoveling snow!

And the GMC is open!

2009-03-10T12:07:00.002-04:00

First of all, I think this is my first blog post from M'Bout! About a month ago, John and I got the internet set up, and it's running pretty well now. The service was donated to the girls mentoring center (GMC) by the provider, and we receive a set amount of credit each month automatically. It's really pretty cool.

And now for the big news...(dun, dun, dun)...we have officially opened our GMC! After six months of hounding the mayor for a space, a funding proposal for materials, an essay contest to choose the girls, and an afternoon of putting everything together, we had an opening ceremony / open house last Sunday, March 8, which happened to be International Women's Day. We invited all 40+ middle-school girls, their parents, the mayor, school directors, teachers, and local NGO workers to come see the center, drink tea and zrig (a milk drink), and ask us questions about upcoming events. It was hectic and crazy -- the 50 gallons of water that we bought that morning were all contaminated with gasoline, so John and I ran around town looking for some more water for about an hour -- but I think, everything considered, it went pretty well. We probably had about 50 or 60 people come, but we had planned for 150, so we were both a little disappointed about that. Not all of the girls came because there was a soccer game that same evening at the school, and even though we invited all of the girls' parents to come, we only got one dad. I thought that parents would want to know where their girls were going after school, which is why we invited them, but most adults tend to stay home here and I realized afterward that I've never seen an inter-generational party here. We have them in the States all the time -- family get-togethers with parents, grandparents, and kids -- but I think that this is a strange concept for Mauritanians. Plus, the one father who came (a retired teacher) told me that most parents just aren't that invested in their daughter's education. Sad, and probably true. Still, it feels good to have things up and running and to have some structure to my time now, with lessons about 5 afternoons a week.

Speaking of lessons, John and I taught our first adult English course last night. It went fairly well, but also made me realize that speaking a language and teaching a language are two completely different things. Most of the students are just excited about the chance to speak English with a native speaker, so that's encouraging. I'm going to try and get some ideas from other volunteers when I go to Selibaby this weekend.

Take care, and I'll write again soon!

W.A.I.S.T.

2009-02-21T11:50:00.011-05:00

I'm not quite sure how to describe the whirlwind week that I just spent in Dakar, but I'm going to start writing and hopefully create some sort of coherent posting. When I left Kaedi last week (with 13 of my region mates), we boarded a pickup truck for the seven-hour drive to Rosso on mostly paved roads. The next day, we all had a quick safety and security meeting and some softball practice before leaving early the next morning on a chartered bus to Dakar [aaah, Dakar...our promised land]. We arrived at the American Club in Dakar that evening where I found out that I would be staying the weekend with a American woman who works at the embassy and her son. Another volunteer and I went to their house where they served us a delicious homemade paella, let us take a hot shower and sleep in a real bed!
The next three days I spent on the softball fields at the American Club. I played four games for the Mauritanian Scallywags (we lost three and won one on a technicality), ate hotdogs and cheeseburgers, and drank enough beer to satisfy me for a long, long time. I met a lot of other ex-pats from Dakar as well as volunteers from Senegal, Gambia, Mali, and Guinea. I'm not sure if I can fully describe how amazing the weekend was: it was like going back to America without ever leaving the continent of Africa. The Mauritanian volunteers have a reputation for being the wildest bunch, and I think we lived up to that. Not only did our "A" team with the social division, but we did it with style -- dressed in pirate costumes, dancing on the sidelines, and having the largest cheering section of any group there. I can see why the second-year volunteers have been talking about this softball tournament since we arrived in June!
After the tournament finals on Monday, I took my time getting back spending a day at the grocery store (we spent two hours there!) and beach and another day exploring the markets of Dakar (the main market was just as overwhelming as it was the first time I took my family there in December). On Thursday, we spent 15 hours travelling from Dakar to Kaedi, which is in fact really good time!
Tomorrow, I'm planning on riding back to my site with the Peace Corps shuttle which is coming through for site assessments.
So that just leaves my monthly anecdote:
Tradition is that a lot of Mauritanian volunteers (girls and boys) shave their heads into mohawks for WAIST (the softball tournament). Since I didn't want to shave my head, I had one of my friends braid my hair into a mohawk:
It looked so sweet! And because it was really comfortable, I tended to forget about it. Like when I was having dinner with my homestay family in Dakar and discussing the cultural differences between Americans and West Africans and the impact that this has on development work, etc. And then the next day, I donned this outfit for the softball game:
If you have ever tried to catch a fly ball while wearing an eye patch and striped onesie, you'll believe me when I say that it's not easy...
Aaah, WAIST...

Photo #20

2009-02-10T11:01:00.004-05:00

This is a photo of John holding my youngest host brother Abderrahmane. John's wearing his holiday boubou and traditional sirwal pants (although you can't see in the picture). Abderrahmane has a diaper on for the occasion! (Diapers are really expensive -- about $1 for a diaper-shaped plastic sheet that you tie on.) Usually, he's bare-bummed, so holding him can be interesting...

Photo #19

2009-02-10T10:41:00.002-05:00

This photo was also taken on the first day of Tabaski. Traditionally, every family kills a ram, gives 1/3 to friends, 1/3 to the poor, and feasts on the last 1/3. John and I ate so much meat that day! My host family (from left to right: my host dad Ali in the blue boubou, my host mom Makhalat is behind him, my host sister Nangy has the pink blanket on her head, my host sister Zeinabou is wearing the yellow mulefa, me, and my host brother Hussein) and I are eating a tajine, or meat and sauce which is served with bread. This is how we usually eat: on the floor, around a communal bowl, and with our right hands. I'm wearing a new outfit that I had made for the holiday -- my host family flipped out when I walked out of my room that morning!

Photo #18

2009-02-10T10:22:00.002-05:00

This is my two-year-old host brother Hussein. He's just starting to talk in a comprehensible way and is pretty much adorable. I took this photo on the first day of Tabaski, which is the biggest Muslim holiday of the year. He's showing off his new clothes that my host dad brought back from Nouakchott for all the kids. And that's John's foot in the corner.

Helping the children?!!

2009-02-09T09:21:00.004-05:00

December, January, and February are exciting months for us Mauritanian volunteers, and all of the socializing left me with little computer time. There's a distinct contrast between the long, monotonous days at site and the busy days that I spend in Kaedi or Nouakchott or Senegal. It wasn't until these past few weeks at site that I actually began to appreciate my time in M'Bout and the home that I'm making for myself there. I took some photos of my host family, and I'll try to post those soon.
I've been thinking about this post for the past week and about what I could write that would help all of my friends and family get a better grasp on my life here. Recently, I've realized that I fear Mauritanian children. Imagine that you're walking down the street alone, minding your own business, and when you turn the corner, you see a group of ten-year-olds up ahead. You look for another street, but they're between you and your destination. You HAVE to pass by them. Seven months ago, I would have thought, "Ah, cute," but living in Mauritania has changed that. Now, my heart rate picks up, my palms start to sweat, and I start humming to myself (a nervous habit), all the while getting closer and closer to the children. Groups of children are frightening: they're unpredictable, they outnumber you, and they have the freedom to act outside of social constraints. Every child in M'Bout knows my name and shouts it out (usually after I pass them), sometimes they ask me for money, and sometimes they scream "nassraniya" (white girl) and dance (not kidding). And then just when you think you can write off all Mauritanians between the age of 7 and 17, a nice, cute kid will walk up and politely greet you. Sometimes I think that anyone who wants to help the children of Africa just hasn't spent enough time here.
John and I continue to work to get the mentoring center up and running. The last time we were in Kaedi, we purchased all of the classroom supplies and rented a pickup truck to bring them out to M'Bout. Unfortunately, we still haven't secured a space for the center, so the materials are in the corner of the mayor's office collecting dust. Without a space, I'm not certain which direction I want to work. School gets out in May this year because of the presidential elections in June, which makes me wonder if we'll even get things started this year. We can't work any faster than our Mauritanian counterparts, and it wouldn't be sustainable if we could. I always tell my parents, "We're getting things done, just not as fast as I would like."
This week I'm travelling to Rosso for a safety and security conference and then onto Dakar for the annual West African Invitational Softball Tournament (WAIST). All the second-year volunteers have been talking about WAIST since we got here, so I'm really excited!
For all of you back in the States, stay warm!

Photo #17

2009-01-10T12:45:00.008-05:00

This is a photo of Nouakchott, which was taken from an airplane. Compare with the photo below.

Photo #16

2009-01-10T12:24:00.003-05:00

And for comparison, Dakar. See blog entry below.

Photo #15

2009-01-10T11:58:00.004-05:00

This is outside our hotel in Saly, Senegal. The statues were their idea...

"It's like having the flu or joining the Peace Corps..."

2009-01-10T10:27:00.003-05:00

Happy 2009! I'm back in the Kaedi at the moment after quite a bit of traveling during the past three weeks. It was so nice to be on the road again and exploring the continent after more than 3 months either at site or in the regional capital. Living here now feels so different from the three and a half months I spent traveling in South America: I feel so much more tied to these communities because of my work here, whereas before, I was completely free to pick up and move at any moment. This seems obvious now, but I assumed they would feel the same at the beginning.

Shortly after my last blog post, I travelled from Kaedi to Nouakchott where I spent a few nights IN A HOTEL! Although the novelty of this wore off by the time I finished my Christmas vacation, I'm not sure anything can compare to the first time I unlocked my hotel door, checked out the hot water heater, mini-fridge, TV, and real bed! I was able to see the Peace Corps office in Nouakchott for the first time (really nice) and discover the capital before heading south to Rosso. While I was in Rosso, I ran into another volunteer who was heading to Dakar, so we decided to travel together. I'm so glad that she was able to help me cross the border, exchange money, and negotiate the taxi rides, especially for my first time. Plus, it's always nice to have someone to travel with. Our trek to Dakar should have taken about 5 hours, but it ended up taking between 8 and 9 hours to make it to our hotel -- so goes traveling in the developing world!

The next morning, I picked up my mom, dad, and sister at the airport in Dakar! Yay! We headed straight to our resort in Saly, Senegal where we spent four nights. Our resort was absolutely gorgeous! They had an extensive Christmas Eve celebration, and although I know it wasn't a typical Christmas, I'm truly happy that I was able to spend the holiday with my family.

From Saly, we traveled back to Dakar for three more nights in another really nice hotel (thank you, Mom and Dad!). We saw Dakar's natural history museum, presidential palace, and central market, as well as the Ile de Goree, an island of the coast which was used extensively for slave trading. Although the traffic in Dakar is horrendous, it's a pretty city, especially along it's jagged coast. I prefer it to Nouakchott, which is 1ok from the coast (for some unknown reason) and in the middle of the sand dunes.

My family left on New Year's Eve, and I left Dakar that same day for St. Louis where a lot of volunteers were spending the holiday. St. Louis is really cute. The city straddles the main land, an island in the middle of the Senegal river, and a peninsula, which borders the Atlantic. I was able to see some volunteers from different parts of the country who I hadn't seen since we swore in at the end of August. We got our fill of St. Louis's restaurants and bars before heading back to Nouakchott for an in-service training.

I spent the last week in Nouakchott for training. Although I didn't find the sessions very helpful, it was really good to exchange ideas with the other volunteers and plan for the next six months and really fun discovering the city. Half of the country's population lives in Nouakchott, and there's a lot there to discover (read: eat). It's so different from Kaedi and M'Bout. I feel like Nouakchott could eventually leave the rest of the country in the dust; it's developing faster and just feels like two different worlds. I'm not sure if this is really surprising, but it was to me.

On Thursday, my region mates and I bought out a taxi and came back to the Gorgol: home sweet home! It feels nice to be back, speaking Hassaniya again and knowing my way around town and just generally feeling comfortable because I know what's going on. As I was walking back along the dirt road from the market with a bag full of produce this morning, I was thinking about how weird it is that this life is normal to me now. Welcome to 2009.

I am the true Fluxx Master.

2008-12-18T11:14:00.003-05:00

The title of this blog is from an ongoing conversation that John and I have been having in regards to a card game that we play at site. It's called "Fluxx" (if you like games, you should definitely try to find this in the stores!), and it's a card game with "ever changing rules." Both of our laptops were broken for a little while and we haven't had a lot of work in the past few weeks, which means that we've been playing a lot of Fluxx...

I'm currently back in Kaedi for a few days before heading to Nouakchott and Dakar, Senegal for the holidays, but I wanted to update you all on the past month and a half since I haven't had a lot of internet time recently. I spent Thanksgiving in Selibabi and did some emailing from their office there, but we were having so much fun eating and drinking and being merry that I didn't get around to my blog.

I have my journal in front of me again, so I'll give you some snippets from the past month:

*November 18: The weather is finally cooling off, especially at night, which makes sleeping a lot more enjoyable. Despite that fact, I'm still up around sunrise each morning to go for a run or walk on the gravel road that leads out of town and into the agricultural fields which surround M'Bout. We heard today that our project proposal (for mentoring center start-up funds) was approved, so now John and I have the task of purchasing materials for the center. Although I'm not actually working more hours each day, I feel good about the fact that we have some pokers in the fire.

*December 3: Even the days feel cool and comfortable now, but I found out that it was 92 today. I thought that I was very in tune with the weather, but it turns out that I can no longer trust my body thermometer since I thought it was about 70. I have finally started reading Edward Abbey's Desert Solitaire after receiving a recommendation from Casey in Vina del Mar last December. It's living up to his recommendation. Although the writing is merely normal, I love the subject matter and how passionately he describes the American wilderness. I feel like a big part of me is dormant right now -- the "outdoors-woman"? -- and reading about his adventures reminds me of some good times that I've had in the woods.

*December 15: I wrote this entry two days before I left M'Bout for Kaedi. From the moment I wake up, I have pangs of excitement about leaving M'Bout and seeing Nouakchott for the first time and seeing my family in Dakar! And we fixed my laptop yesterday, so John and I can watch movies again at his house, which means I can also do yoga with my yoga DVD. I was doing pretty well on my own with only a list of the positions, but it's soo much better with Rodney Yee's voice and soothing music.

Which brings me to the present...

I have one more day in Kaedi to get some loose ends tied up and get ready for my vacation! I took some photos during the Muslim holiday of Tabaski, which we celebrated about a week ago in M'Bout. Everyone got dressed up in new clothes and went around visiting friends and family and ate a lot of sheep meat (do we call this mutton?). My host brothers were so cute in their new clothes, and I was very thankful to have so many friends in M'Bout who wanted to share the day with us. John and I visited five different families on the first day of the holiday. I will try to post photos tomorrow.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Photo #14

2008-11-04T11:39:00.004-05:00

This is a photo of John's hangar, which is in front of his house (you can see a corner of the house in the right side of the photo). His bamboo bed and mosquito net are underneath. Unlike my hangar, his has oilcloth on top, which helps keep the rain out, and flaps on the side, which you can fold down for shade and to block sandy wind. We do most of our hanging out underneath the hangar. The three oil drums in the foreground are where we keep our water for bathing, drinking, cooking, washing, etc. It costs about $1.50 to have a full barrel delivered, and we need a new one about every week. Kids ride by on donkey carts with water barrels strapped to the back, so you have to flag one down and then pay him. And you use a flexible rubber tube to siphon water out of the barrel. It takes some getting used to, but we've had a lot of practice by now!

Photo #13

2008-11-04T11:12:00.004-05:00

And, this is John's house. It's much newer than mine, and he lives by himself, but we both spend quite a bit of time at each other's place. He has one door, but the house is split into two rooms. The windows even have glass, but we keep them open since it's cooler. There's a little shed between the side of the house and the wall, where we keep our gas stoves for cooking. And there's an outside outlet, so we can watch movies on our laptops outside. Talk about luxury!

Photo #12

2008-11-04T11:05:00.004-05:00

I took this photo on a backstreet that runs from my house to John's house. You can see that most of the houses in M'Bout are like mine, made of mud with thatched roofs. The little boy has his government issued blue backpack on since school recently started. ALL the kids have the same one; they got them for free from UNICEF, and the bags were filled with notebooks and pencils and school supplies. Pretty neat. There's also a fence on the left side of the picture where someone keeps their animals at night. It's pretty common to pen your animals up at night (my family ties each goat and sheep up by their hooves to logs, buildings, etc.), and then let them roam free during the day.

Photo #11

2008-11-04T10:59:00.005-05:00

I took this photo inside my bedroom. There's a piece of fabric over the door to help keep the flies out without blocking the breeze; I have the same thing over the window. Currently, the floor is just loose sand, but I'm going to hire someone to put concrete down when I get back to site this month. After that, I'll put a plastic mat over top to make things more comfortable. Since it's daytime, my mosquito net is in my room, but I move it outside every night.

Photo #10

2008-11-04T10:51:00.005-05:00

This is a photo of the inside of our house (which is made of mud and has a thatched roof! Every Peace Corps volunteer's dream!). You can see the three inner doors -- the closest one is my bedroom, the middle one is the salon, and the far one is my family's shared bedroom. Sometimes when it rains, we all sleep here in the hallway. Oh yeah, and chickens and goats wander in and out, as you can see here.

Photo #9

2008-11-04T10:43:00.004-05:00

Home sweet home: this is a photo of my house in M'Bout. The two openings lead to a veranda, and then there's three inner doors for the three inside rooms. Every Mauritanian house has some sort of hangar in their yard, which is the thatched roof, open-sided structure that you see in front of the house. We spend most of our time under the hangar because it's cooler and breezier than inside the house. At night, I sleep on the right side of the bamboo bed that you see on the right side of the picture, and the rest of my host family sleeps on the left.

I'm baaaaack!

2008-11-02T12:09:00.005-05:00

I think it's been a month since my last blog post, but considering that I also haven't checked my email for a month, this doesn't seem quite as long. Since my last post, we first-year volunteers celebrated our four-month anniversary and more recently, celebrated Halloween. I left M'Bout trying to explain to my host family and friends there about American Halloween celebrations, and although they were definitely sympathetic, I think they had a hard time picturing it. Speaking of my family and friends in M'Bout, John and I have decided that we have successfully begun to "integrate" into our community. Although we have little to show in terms of our girls' mentoring center at this point (we have a promise for a space and a possible community contact/mentor), I can't describe how good it feels to walk around town every day and have people recognize you / know your name and to know where to find things at the market and even to know who to talk to around town in order to get things done. I don't think I've ever lived in a small town before, but I'm really enjoying the "small town" feel of M'Bout. And...I took some photos around town before I left, so hopefully, I'll be able to put those online tomorrow.

I wasn't sure where to start writing this post because it's been so long since my last one and so much has happened (and not happened at the same time) and because each day is truly an emotional roller coaster. So, I decided to give you a quick recap of three random days from my journal:

-- [October 7] John and I made our way back to M'Bout from Kaedi by taxi for the first time. Previously, we had always been fortunate enough to get a free ride from friends, but because most everyone we knew was out of town, we went down to the garage to find a car. We arrived at the garage before 8AM and found three cars going to M'Bout. We each bought a ticket in the front of the car. (There are different prices for the cab of the pickup truck and the bed.) We waited under the hangar until 11AM when John asked the driver when exactly he was planning on leaving. He said we'd probably leave around 4PM! We were irate! We had been waiting and having people awkwardly stare at us for hours only to realize that we could have walked back to a fellow volunteer's house and hung out! We left our stuff in the car, went back to the house for lunch, and then took a cab back to the garage around 3PM. We FINALLY left Kaedi at 5:30PM! I call it the ride from Hell because it was bumpy and slow and I was packed in to the backseat with John and two other (rather large) Mauritanians. Needless to say, I was completely exhausted when we arrived back in M'Bout at 9PM. Only took over 12 hours to finally return to site. You can see why we don't come in that often!

-- [October 14] John and I met a couple of NGO workers in M'Bout, which gave us some promising contacts for our mentoring center. Eventually, we'd like to use these people as teachers at our center. Also, my host brothers and sister went to school for the first time today. I wasn't sure if class had officially started (it hadn't) because they went to work in the fields that morning and didn't go to school until after lunch. I think they have to pick up their schedules. I think I've written this in a couple of letters, but the school system here is completely baffling to me. Also, I was very excited at this point about traveling to Lexeiba (the closest site to M'Bout) to visit two other volunteers and to see Lexeiba's girls' mentoring center. It's always really nice to see some familiar faces and bounce ideas off the second-year volunteers.

-- [October 24] I went for a run in the morning, then to John's house for some oatmeal, and then to the mayor's office to chat. Sometimes, this is an infuriating experience because the mayor is a little chauvinistic and tends to ignore me because I'm a woman. Normally, I choose not to socialize with these sort of men here, but he's our main community contact so I'm forced to tolerate it. He seems to really like John though. This experience made me think a lot about my sense of self here in Mauritania. I wrote in my journal that "I think I need to remind myself from time to time of who I really am / the core of my being. I'm confident in my sense of self, but sometimes this place shakes me. All of a sudden, I'm helpless and incompetent in things that I used to take for granted. I think there are times when all I can do is hope that I will learn from this experience and never feel like this again. Deep down inside though, I'm confident with myself, and I think life would be a lot scarier if this wasn't so."

Okay, like I said before, each day is really a roller coaster, so don't think that I'm constantly worrying about things or upset or unhappy. There's a lot of times when I'm laughing at something my host brother did or watching a baby goat (that's cheesy, isn't it?) or greeting people around town. My journal tends to be a place for me to vent, so I may focus on the negative, but I wanted to give you a sense of my life at site.

Can't wait to hear from you all soon! Get out and vote tomorrow; we'll be waiting eagerly by our short-wave radios for the results!

Sorry, no internet in M'Bout...or is there?

2008-09-14T13:03:00.003-04:00

Salaam aleykum! It's been awhile since my last update: things were definitely pretty hectic around swear-in time, but then came to a grinding halt when the Peace Corps Range Rover drove off leaving me and John alone in M'Bout for the first time. And since there's no internet cafe in M'Bout, I think that we'll only have access to the internet every 2 weeks when we make the 3-hour trip to Kaedi, unless of course, we correctly understood the mayor, who said that we do have internet in M'Bout in which case, I'm sure we'll be in there more often than we need to.

To sum up the last month -- the first month of my "official" volunteer service -- I would have to say that we have a lot less work than we thought we would. Each day is a struggle to find something to do, something productive no less, and a struggle to resist the temptation to hide inside John's compound (he's just moved out of the abandoned hotel and into a new 2-room house) and watch movies on our laptops. Nevertheless, I've started to establish a routine, which is surprisingly comforting and motivating: sunrise, wake up and go for a run or walk on the gravel road heading out of town, have tea and bread with my host family, bucket bath, go to John's for breakfast #2, go to the mayor's office / market or do laundry, eat lunch with my host family, read / listen to my radio / drink tea / journal, go back to John's to make dinner and hang out until around bedtime. Sounds pretty exciting, right? We're hoping to have more work to do soon, once we get our mentoring center up and running, but everything moves so SLOWLY around here.

So, we arrived in Kaedi last night after a (free) three-hour ride on top of some luggage in the back of a pickup truck. The plan is to stay here through my birthday on Thursday (woohoo!), then head back to M'Bout and start (in earnest) month #2 of service. We've made some good community contacts at this point, but a lot of people have been out of town for Ramadan, so hopefully, we'll meet a lot more now that school's about to get started.

Last week, John moved into his new house, and I decided to stay with my host family. I live with a rather large family (or average my Mauritanian standards) who are absolutely amazing. My host dad Ali speaks really good French since he lived in Toulouse, France for a few months, and the rest of the family speaks Hassaniya, so I'm continuing to practice. There's 7 boys ranging from 20s/30s to a few months old and 4 girls. We live in a three-room mud house (I have one of the rooms) with a bathing room, pit toilet, and outdoor hanger where we all spend most of our time. It's definitely not the nicest house in town, but my family is really kind and friendly and generally awesome, which I think makes up for the lack of electricity and cement walls.

What else? So much has happened during the past month, and I don't think that I could ever put it all down here, but I'll try and give you guys something to work with. I've started running again (I was sick for about a week with giardia), and like I said earlier, I go every morning around sunrise when it's still cool. One morning, I was headed back into town, but was still about a mile out when I crossed a creek and noticed a baby cow standing by itself on the other side. The cow started following me, so I stopped running thinking that it was attracted to my motion. I didn't want to steal it from some herder kid. But it kept following me. So I started running faster, and the calf started running faster. I started walking again. The calf started nudging my elbow. I turned around all of a sudden and yelled at the cow in an attempt to scare it. No luck. The cow followed me at a gallop all the way back to my family's compound at which point it must have gotten scared of the children because it walked away. I have no idea what happened to it after that. And that pretty much sums up my life nowadays, as exotic, weird, sad as that may be.

Photo #8

2008-09-13T07:03:00.004-04:00

My site mate and me! John took this photo of us at the hotel where he's living for the month. I live across the street from him in a family's home, but we alternate between hanging out at his place and my place most days.

Photo #7

2008-09-13T06:55:00.008-04:00

Dun, dun, dun, duuun! After weeks of anticipation, I'm finally posting a photo of the Mauritanian baby goat who shares my name. I took this photo of "Cortney" (brown and white) and "Sidi" (golden goat in the background) outside of my host sister's boutique in Rosso. They had just wandered inside (not unusual), but were on their way out behind their mother.

Photo #6

2008-08-24T13:39:00.004-04:00

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

2008-08-24T13:25:00.004-04:00

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!).

10 minutes to post...

2008-08-22T15:11:00.002-04:00

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!

No news is good news

2008-08-15T15:18:00.002-04:00

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!

Before my parents freak out...

2008-08-06T13:36:00.003-04:00

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.

To add to my list of traveling ailments...

2008-08-02T08:03:00.002-04:00

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!

Back to D'Jourbel

2008-07-31T04:46:00.004-04:00

Since my last post was all over the place, I'm going to try to synthesize my thoughts this time and write a bit more logically. We returned to the training center on Monday and spent the past two days attending sessions on safety & security, general Mauritania information, and various Peace Corps philosophy/tools. This morning, we're returning to our host families. We've got about 3 more weeks of language class and technical training, then another series of center days before swear-in on August 28! Then, BIG PARTY! In the spirit of setting small goals for myself, this is the next big thing that I'm looking forward to.

I'm a little nervous about returning to my host family's house today. I'm sure that I've forgotten a lot of Hassaniya, which they'll probably notice right away. And life is totally different when you're living with a Mauritanian family than when living with 70 other Americans. I'm always on cross-cultural high alert and trying desperately to coordinate my life with theirs. It's like "little America" inside the center sometimes, and as non-integrated as that sounds, it can be a wonderful break. I'm excited about improving my Hassaniya though and about getting back into my daily routine.

Speaking of daily routine, I've discovered two races here in RIM (Republique Islamique de la Mauritanie). One is the Nouakchott marathon, which takes place sometime in the winter, and another is the Atar half-marathon, which is every spring. I want desperately to participate in both of these! Since running seems to be my main form of exercise, I also think that these will be great training goals. I think that the marathon is open to anyone, but the Atar half-marathon is a Peace Corps-organized event, which will be a great opportunity to see the other trainees and catch up after months apart at our sites. Our country director is really flexible in regards to our in-country travel; he understands what a hard country this is to live in and does a number of things to preserve his volunteers' sanity. Everyone appreciates it.

Overall, things have been going pretty well. I wanted to say that a few weeks ago, I realized that I was truly happy here for the first time. It was during an early-morning hike that I went on with my classmates Becky and Sean. We were hiking around in the fields outside of Rosso before breakfast and in the pinkish light of sunrise, and I felt so completely relaxed and content to be here. It took me three weeks to be able to be that relaxed here, but I was very glad when I realized that in myself.

I'll try to get some more photos up soon when the internet connection is less crowded.

Photo #4 (insha'allah)

2008-07-30T05:52:00.005-04:00

Thanks to this speedy internet cafe connection, I am finding it much easier to post photos now. And since we have the weekend off (the first time in the past month!), I have plenty of time to catch up on these sorts of things. I know that this photo requires some explanation: this was taken from the backseat of one of the Peace Corps cars (lovingly called the "vomit comet") on our way from Kaedi to M'Bout. Did I mention that it's the rainy season here? Kaedi and M'Bout are located in the Gorgol region along the Senegal river, which means that they get a lot more rain than the rest of the country. Although they are working on the road, it stills becomes flooded during the rainy season and impassible for cars -- trucks are fine. We had been driving for about an hour and a half before we came to this "creek crossing." Our driver stopped the car, got out, walked around, and then without even checking the depth of the water, drove us straight through to the other side (he did tell us to close the windows before!). I have no idea how he decided which creeks were safe enough to cross and which weren't, but I have faith in his driving skills. I can tell you that I'm not looking forward to finding my own ride from M'Bout to Kaedi in the future!

I'm hoping that this gives you a glimpse into the irony that is my village. It's a good-sized town -- the last census says about 21,000 inhabitants -- but it's out in the middle of nowhere. No paved roads for miles around. But it has electricity and running water and a market and restaurants. And impassible, rough dirt roads. Which is why I'm posting this photo.

Photo #3

2008-07-29T06:17:00.008-04:00

This is a photo of my language class that was taken during one of our tech sessions. Along with our facilitator, Sy Samba, the five of us meet for about 6 hours a day / 6 days a week for Hassaniya lessons. The boys are John (my future site mate) and Sean, and the girls are Becky, Charlotte, and me. We're going to miss each other when we finally get posted to different regions across the country! We're standing in a date grove outside on of the training villages. It was an absolutely gorgeous place to spend the day, and surprisingly cool in the shade with a breeze. It's date season here, so we had plenty to snack on.

Off to the Gorgol!

2008-07-26T12:19:00.002-04:00

I've been checking my email for the past couple of days but haven't had a chance to post on my blog. It's been a busy week! A week ago, I moved back into the Rosso training center and said good-bye to my host family for the next 2 weeks. We had a few days of sessions and then on Monday, we received our site placements...dun dun dun! I'll be moving to the Gorgol region (southern Mauritania along the Senegal river) and starting a new Girls Mentoring Center in a small town there. I'll have one site mate, John, whose also a Girls Education volunteer, so we'll be able to work together. I'm really excited about my placement for a number of reasons: (1) we're starting a new program, so we can do whatever we want with it / don't have any expectations to live up to; (2) I have a site mate, so I won't be the only American in my village!; (3) we're in the south, which is a lot greener and more liberal than other regions in Mauritania; (4) our town of 21,000 is a great size -- not too big or too small. All in all, I'm stoked about starting my service and finishing training, but we still have about a month until swear-in.
On Tuesday, we left Rosso for the 6-hour trip to Kaedi, the Gorgol region's capital. The road was so rough! Half of our group took a "taxi-brousse" (taxi), which had to pass through Nouakchott, but we chose to take the Peace Corps land rover which took the rougher, but more direct route along the Boghe road. I was very happy to be traveling again and roaming around the Mauritanian countryside -- southern Mauritania is a lot more "African looking" than the dry and deserty north. When we got to Kaedi that evening, all the PCVs in the region were at one of the volunteer's house and they had cooked an absolutely delicious American meal for us! I think tears came to my eyes when I saw it! The next day, we met a bunch of officials in Kaedi and had a workshop with some of the community contacts (not mine unfortunately), and on Thursday, John, Becca (a PCV in a village near mine), and I went to visit my village for the first time! Also a very rough road. I'm sure I'll explain my village a little better in my future posts. We were only there for one night because we had to get back to Kaedi before the next big rain storm hit and the road became impassable.
Phew! In conclusion, a lot of things have been going on during the past week, but then again, I have a lot of down time and time spent chatting with the other volunteers in this region. I've also had to think about what I want my living situation to be like for the next two years: do I want to live with a family or on my own? I'm still undecided. But you'll be glad to know that our region has the best region dog in Mauritania! Her name is Kelbi and she's absolutely adorable.
And since this post is why too long, I'm going to cut it off here. Maa salaam!

Photo #2

2008-07-16T09:29:00.007-04:00

This is from the first part of our training, while we were staying at the PC training center. The staff set up a "khyma" or large tent for hanging out under. Definitely the coolest place to be and the underside is beautifully decorated.

Photo #1!

2008-07-16T09:14:00.003-04:00

Salaam aleykum! I'm at the center today and trying to upload some photos for y'all (yes, I just said "y'all"). This photo was taken during the first weekend that I was with my host family. This is my host sister's mulafa, which they dressed me up in and then took me to the market to "show me off." Mauritanians love to dress up their toubabs!

Ca va mieux...

2008-07-13T06:14:00.002-04:00

Woohoo! I'm back on my own laptop, which means a QWERTY keyboard and punctuation. Second woohoo!: I survived my first bout of "toubab" (Pulaar for white person) disease this past weekend, and although my digestive tract hasn't recuperated 100%, I'm able to walk around town and sit up now, which is much better than last Friday. Now that I'm in the clear, I feel like I've conquered some sort of Peace Corps rite of passage, but I was miserable for about 24 hours lying on my matela and reading and explaining to my host family why I didn't want to eat handfuls of oily couscous.

We're starting our last week of "Phase 1" now. I'll be living with my family until next Friday and going to Hassaniya class like normal, then moving back into the training center for a few days before we find out our permanent site placements! This is a very big deal around here since sites vary greatly in available resources and general atmosphere. And then we'll all disperse to visit our permanent sites for a week before returning to Rosso and our host families for the second part of training. I'm not sure if I've explained that clearly. It took me awhile to wrap my mind around it in the first place.

In other good news, our goat Amineta had twins yesterday morning! One boy and one girl, who we named Cortney and Sidi. I'm going to take pictures this afternoon, in particular for my mom whose been asking about the goat every time we talk! They are so soft! I'm not sure my host family understands my fascination with the goats because they roam the streets here like pigeons in New York City, but baby animals are always cute in my opinion.

My facilitator also took our language class to the Senegalese border yesterday, which is probably the most scenic part of Rosso. I definitely need to go back with my camera because there were wooden boats (beydouns) lined up and ready to ferry people across the river to Senegal. So much movement and people in such bright colorful clothing in front of a background of reeds and a wide, brown river. And you could see some green palm trees off in the distance! Trees! Senegal is quickly taking on a mythical aura.

Thanks for all the emails, everyone. I'm going to attempt to answer some now that I have free internet at the center. I love hearing from all of you. It makes the distance from here to the USA not feel so far. A la prochaine...

Never thought Id say it but I love cloudy days...

2008-07-08T15:13:00.002-04:00

First of all youll have to excuse my punctuation. Im at a internet cafe and not quite understanding this keyboard but I want to update my blog while I have the chance.
Secondly Kelsey Mommy Daddy Grandmom Grandma Aunt Erica and Tia Maria thank you so much for the emails. I am feeling much more comfortable here today and your messages made me smile. It become increasingly cloudy all day long so I think it may rain tonight which is actually good news since rain tends to cool everything off. If I could find the exclamation point Id insert it here.
A few of you asked about what I weaar running since were not supposed to show our legs or shoulders in public. When it comes to sports here the rules are more relaxed. I wear capri pants and a teeshirt and although we receive our fair share of strange looks I dont think its directly related to our running attire. I did see another runner this morning for the first time, perhaps he was inspired by Jackie and me. Also Rosso is a much moreliberal community than many others so its not necessary for me to cover my head during the day or while running. The more I talk to current volunteers the more I realize that Ill just have to figure out the dress code for my final site when I get there. Its good to be respectful but maintain a bit of your own culture at the same time.
I have about a week and a half of language class left before site visit when Ill be visiting my permanent village. My hassaniya is slowly improving and Im trying to use it more and more at home with my host family instead of French. My host family greatly appreciates my efforts. For example the other night we had aich for dinner which is a cold soup of ground millet milk and sugar. Absolutly disgusting. I choked down a few bites and then tried to casually slide the bowl back towards my host mom. Salma you hardly ate, she exclaimed. No no Im fine, I said. You dont like it, she asked. Maa nibqi aich, I replied. I didnt know what to say since I couldnt eat another bite but wanted to be polite. She started laughing, took me to buy a sandwich, and then proceeded to tell everyone she knows what I said about her soup. They always laugh when they hear. Thank you Hassaniya.

Mauritanian Fourth of July!

2008-07-05T14:19:00.003-04:00

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!

Aana ismee Salma!

2008-06-30T14:48:00.003-04:00

Once again, I am sorry to report that I don't have any photos for you all today; I came to the "cyber" sraightaway after class and didn't think to pack my camera cord. I have taken a bunch, especially me in my hostsister's "mulafa" (full-length veil worn by almost all the women here in Rosso), which I'm excited to show you all. I bought my own mulafa last weekend, which my host sister insists I wear to class every day,but considering I can't walk very far at all in it, I'm not planning on that any time soon.
Since my last post, I've moved out of the Peace Corps trining center and into my host family's house, which is in a different part of the city. My host family is very kind, and their house is quite nice by Mauritanian standards. We have electricity, and one spigot with running water and a TV. We have a shower head and toilet, but without running water inside the house, these things are just for show. My host family is kind in their attempts to teach the "tobab" (white person) how to live African style. Bria, my host mother, has 5 kids, and 3 live at home: Sidi, Umu, and Mame (a boy and 2 girls). There's also 2 oldersons who come to visit on the weekends from Nouakchott. The older boys speak French the best, but everyone speaks a little bit, so we are able to communicate. I'm learning Hassaniya (an Araic dialect), so we actually speak a mixture of the two. Every day (we have one day off each week), I have class with four ther trainees; our teacher, Sy Samba, is awesome. He dances around when we're reciting conjugation charts, and today he made tea for us during our mid-morning break. I'm leaning how to say things like, "I like tea without an ubsurb amount of sugar."
I'm starting to be able to explore the city on my own. I can greet inHassaniya (extremely important here) and canget by with Frenchfor most basic transactions. I'm glad to havethat skill, since about halfthe trainees have little or no French experience.
At this time, I think I can only complain about the heat. Today was a lot hotter than it has been (93, not considering the humidity), and it's difficult to find a cool place. And when you want to cool down, you have to remember not to show your knees or lie flat on your back! They say that the rain should come any day now, and it usually gets really hot before a storm. It should be cooler after the rain, but the streets flood and the mosquitos multiply. I'll let you know which I prefer.
On a more positive note, I've sarted running in the mornings with another trainee. We have to get upbefor 6, but the sun rise in the countrysde outside of tow is beautiful, and the mental relaxation is well worth it.
Finally, sorry about the typing. Thekeyboard has Arabic characters, and then a weird key order, so I'memploying the hunt_and_peck method. I'll try to post again next week, maybe in Arabic!
(Oh yeah, in true Cortney fashion, I have adopted a new Mauritanian name: Salma. My host family gave it to me the day I arrived at their house. It's the name of the first grandchild -- cute!)

Still in Rosso...but not for long!

2008-06-25T18:20:00.003-04:00

Bonsoir tout le monde! Since we are now only allowed to use the internet early in the morning and late at night, I'm writing this post right before bedtime, which around here is about 11PM. We have one more full day at the Rosso training center before we leave for our host families, which may mean a change of village. It's weird to think that I've been in this country since Saturday, and yet, I have only walked down a handful of streets and socialized with a handful of native Mauritanians. Like I said before, it feels so sheltered here, but I'd rather be itching to get out than scrambling to get back in!

I'm sure that I'll have lots more to write once I move in with my host family. We'll be living with a host family during stage or training and working with a facilitator for language study for about 8 hours each day. We find out tomorrow morning whether we'll be learning French, Hassaniya, Pulaar, Soninke, or Wolof. This will help determine where we'll finally be placed for the next two years, but in keeping with typical Peace Corps policy, we won't find out that information for another month. I've heard that site announcement day is really exciting.

I took a few pictures the other day, but I have yet to upload them onto my computer, so once again, you're just going to have to imagine what things look like here: white walls around the compound, sand in the yard, shoes strewn outside every doorway, a large room with mats and mattresses on the floor for "class," and (my favorite) a huge open-sided tent called a khyma. This tent is always about 10 degrees cooler than anywhere else, which is why we spend most of our time from noon until 4 just hanging out underneath.

For now, I'm dreading repacking my stuff -- making a smaller bag for stage and putting some things into storage here at the training center. Pray that I get it all done before Friday when I'm finally off into the "real" Mauritania!

I made it!

2008-06-22T12:23:00.003-04:00

Bonjour tout le monde! Salaam aleykum! This is my first post from Mauritania -- Rosso to be exact. The Peace Corps training center has wireless internet, so I'm sitting in the boys' dorm, in my Crazy Creek, on my laptop, and feeling very spoiled at the moment!

We arrived at the training center yesterday after almost 24 hours of travel -- bus to the airport, waiting for five hours for our flight, nine-hour flight to Dakar, then a seven-hour bus ride north to Rosso. Luckily, the training center is right over the border because the border crossing (Senegal to Mauritania) was extremely slow, and we were all ready to get out of the bus. They threw us right into the mix of things with a tour of the training center, introductions, lunch (eating with our hands), more shots, and depositing our valuables into the safe. Needless to say, I was very ready for bed last night -- outside in my mosquito net!

Today, we've had more lessons and interviews with the medical officers and our program directors. No problems on either front.

Two things I'd like to comment on, in particular for those of you who watched the online training video from last year:

1. Eating with your hands is pretty easy to learn. Make sure you wash your hands before and after you eat, and only use your right hand! What I think is the weirdest part so far is the fact that you don't have to wait for everyone at your plate to finish eating before you leave. Just finish, get up, wash your hands, and wait for tea. Seems rude, but completely acceptable here!

2. Absence of toilet paper: pretty steep learning curve on this one too. Imagine a bidet-type feeling. Very refreshing, to say the least!

I've tried to put my address and cell phone number -- yes, cell phone number! -- on this blog and on Facebook, but let me know if it doesn't work. It's free for me to receive calls -- I'm not sure how much it is on Skype -- and for now, coverage is good. I haven't purchased minutes yet, but I have a few start-up minutes for now.

For now, I'm loving the Peace Corps. No digestion issues to speak of, food is tasty, the other volunteers and trainers are so friendly and welcoming and interesting, and our training center is quite comfortable. It's a bit warm -- I'm constantly sweating, especially now during the middle of the day, and I have yet to leave the "compound," so I'm not quite sure what's outside these walls. BUT, I'm thinking of crossing that bridge this evening before dinner with a walk around town, so I'll let you know how that goes.

Finally, I now know that I need to take pictures, since I don't have any to post yet. Time to sign off so I can get going on that! A bientot!

Stopover at Isle of Palms, South Carolina

2008-06-17T14:30:00.003-04:00

Since I couldn't leave the States without seeing my extended family, I left last Saturday for South Carolina and the Donnalley family reunion. I'm so grateful that I had the opportunity to go this year (since I've missed the last two) and to see my cousins, who are surprisingly much bigger than I remember! The weather was beautiful, and the water was unusually warm. I went running every morning, hung out on the beach all day, and hung out with 21 of my family members all weekend long.

I'm back in Atlanta now with only a few hours until I have to pack up the car again and leave for Peace Corps staging downtown. I feel confident that I can handle the international travel, but a little nervous about not having my three South American sidekicks...

Wish me luck!

Last (full) day at home

2008-06-13T08:42:00.002-04:00

Today is my last day at home before I begin my long, and rather circuitous, journey to Peace Corps staging. Tomorrow morning, I'm leaving for Isle of Palm, SC for a long weekend and family reunion at the beach. Although I'm totally psyched about seeing all of my cousins, aunts, and uncles, this means that I need to have everything ready to go for when I return on Tuesday -- a little stressed right now, but it should be worth it in the end.

In true Peace Corps fashion, I have very little information about next week. I do know that we're leaving our downtown hotel at 9:15am for a 3:45pm flight to Dakar! If I don't already know the Atlanta airport well enough, now's my chance! We'll arrive in Dakar (insha'allah) at 4:40am on Saturday, June 21 and then bus 6 hours to the training center in Rosso. I've been told that we should be there by lunch time (again -- insha'allah).

But for now, I'm trying to focus my attention on spending time with Kelsey, Mom, and Dad and fitting 80-lbs worth of gear into my suitcase. For those of you who have travelled for long periods of time, you know benefit of having what you need and the joy of packing light. It's more of a mental challenge than anything, but it's given me something to think about for the past six months!

Hopefully, I'll be able to chat with many of you before I leave the States, and hopefully, you'll be able to read about my experiences on this blog very soon!