I realized that most of you are probably wondering what is going on here. You know I'm a Peace Corps Volunteer, but what do I actually do?
Peace Corps Goals:
1.Helping the people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women.
2.Helping promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served.
3.Helping promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans.
Sectors: Agroforestry, Girls Empowerment and Education, Small Enterprise Development, Health, Education, and Environmental Education.
Me specific:
Country: Mauritania
Region: Gorgol
Village: Tokomadji
Sector: Agro/Forestry
Ag/fo goals:
1.Fight Malnutrition.
2.Protect the land and environment.
3.Give training to create sustainability.
As PCVs (Peace Corps Volunteers) we are largely ambassadors from the United States to the everyday people of the world, sharing who and what we are. You'd be SHOCKED to know how many people in the world dream of going to the United States to make money, support their families, and build a better life in the Land of Opportunities. So, in response to the large demand, there are countless English classes given by PCVs in all sectors.
In Tokomadji I work in the fields with my host mother Penda, give pedagogical support to the village's first-ever kindergarten, help cement the local English teachers' English, teach English to high schoolers, and promote gardening, composting, and fruit tree management.
Right now I'm working on getting funding for a building for the kindergarten's 50 students, 3 (volunteer!) teachers, and director and sharing all of my knowledge with every person possible to help them with their quest for a better future.
Any ideas? Questions? Comments? Let me know!
Sunday, November 30, 2008
Thursday, November 27, 2008
What's THAT?! A grub!
Every day I have to face one of the most humiliating, humbling, most challenging tasks that --here--even babies do better than me: eat. Again, one of those things that sound sooo simple and you totally take it for granted, but in actuality, not everyone in the world EATS the same way as you do. And I had to learn this, the hard way: by trying as an adult.
First things first: the teenagers have finished cooking, they've placed the food in the big, communal bowl, they've laid down the cloth for eating at and they've called everyone to come and eat.
As a girl--I'm not really considered a woman/adult because I'm not married, nor do I have children-- its culturally appropriate for me to sit next to other children or women. That's it. Sometimes if I'm with really good friends, it won't matter if I'm next to a man or not, but usually as we're all walking and/or scooting over to the cloth mat I'm already consciously thinking of how to make my way over so that as we sit down I'll be next to the right people. 
Ok, once we're all there I usually try to be the first or the last to sit down so that the others can really make it culturally appropriate by moving around me, or moving me to the right place. Once that place is found there's the next problem: how to sit down without flashing everyone who's already sitting, sit correctly so that as we're eating I don't flash the people across or next to me, and how to keep my butt from hitting others as I try to squeeze in next to them!
My advice for a wrap skirt is: stand with the right foot closest to the bowl, bunch up your skirt in front of you so that the back is pulled tight around your knees, bend over from he waist, so that your legs are straight and your torso is down, bend the knees, bringing the butt down to your ankles and sit. As you shift your weight to the butt, let your ankles cross in front of you, allow the skirt to give as you achieve your cross-legged position. If all goes well you should be facing the person to your left, and your right knee should be pointing towards the bowl, thus making the right hand reach to the food quick, easy, and short. Sitting sideways is most polite so that more people can fit around the bowl. You could also sit with both feet behind you and your knees facing the bowl as you lean over your legs, but its harder to do if you're a bigger person (like me--well, at least comparatively speaking).
Ok, so I'm sitting next to the nice lady of the house and a young teen is on my other side. One person, usually the eldest child, is in charge of making sure everyone washes their hands. There is a plastic bowl like thing called a ___________ with a (usually) matching satela. The child will place the ___________ in front of you, you put your hands over it, grab the soap from on top, and s/he'll pour water from the satela over your hands. When you're finished you say "yuni" (you-knee), s/he'll stop pouring, and move to the next person. Now its very important to remember NOT TO TOUCH ANYTHING with your right hand now that its clean and ready to eat. If you do, it'll be dirty again and you'll have to re-wash. Usually we rest the wrist on the knee while we wait for everyone to finish.
If that wasn't complicated enough, now comes the really hard part: digging in! Once everyone--anywhere from 6 to 13+ people have all washed, the plate is brought in the circle, and everyone scoots in as close as possible--usually with knees, elbows, or legs all up in each others space-- the host will say "Bismillah" (bis-mill-ah) meaning, "Welcome God" and we all reach in to the pie-shaped space in front of us. The first bite is always just rice, so go ahead and gently scrape off the top layer in front of you, bringing it closer to your piece of the bowl's edge. Be careful! If you dig too much the rice will be really really hot and burn your fingers!
Phew! Rice is accumulated in front of you; next is getting it outof the bowl and just in your hand. Gently cup your fingers and scoop the rice up the slope of the bowl towards you. Most people like to swipe side to side to make sure that all crumbs are collected off of the bowl's side, then use the momentum and pressure to just lift your hand up and away from the bowl! Voila! Rice in the hand! But don't rejoice yet, you're still hungry and haven't even eaten anything yet!
With your right hand only squeeze your hand into a fist, encompassing all of the rice with your hand and fingers. You know you're an EXPERT baller if you can squeeze it and make a juicy, squelching squeak and make some oil drip out!
ATTENTION: THE FOLLOWING IS ONLY TO BE READ BY THOSE OF STOUT HEART AND MIND. THE CONTENTS ARE DIFFICULT FOR THOSE OF SQUEAMISH DISPOSITION TO HANDLE.
The best way to actually get the food into your mouth is to collect that ball of food at the pads of your fingers, start with your tongue at the base of the palm, and lick all the way up, sometimes wrapping your upper lip over the top of your fingers to keep rice from falling off. The first few days of doing this will be slow goings, and rice will fall all over your lap, the floor, the cloth mat, and maybe back into the bowl. But no worries! Everybody's doing it!
A good host will pick off the choicest pieces of meat and veggies from the center of the bowl and throw them right in front of your eating place to show that you are honored and they want you to eat well. If not, it shows you're just one of the family and you've got to get your hand in the pile of food quickly, pulling out your bites of fish/meat or veggies as you go.
Possible challenges: the bones in the fish (you have to squish the meat in your palm with your thumb, looking for the bones, then pull them out with your left hand, depositing them on the cloth mat in front of you), small pebbles that weren't properly sorted before cooking the rice (these can really hurt your teeth if you bite down on one!), pulling the meat off of the bones or getting the fat off of the meat (ask someone to hold the other end for you, and pull off the piece of meat that you want to eat), being given intestines (either smile and swallow quickly or gently push it back into the center of the plate), or even bugs landing in the food (scoop him and the rice he touched out of the bowl and onto the cloth mat). Bon Apetit!
Of course when you've finally gotten enough food into your mouth and spilled the equivalent on the floor, your skirt, or your neighbor, you're full and ready to go, but your host will insist that you keep eating, increasing what you've eaten so far, and eating until you're full. They won't have you leaving (even slightly) hungry! If you're insistent enough, just get up, go over to the __________ and wash your hands so that they're clean. Ahhhh..... now lay down on the foam mattress, wait for tea, and relax! You did it!
First things first: the teenagers have finished cooking, they've placed the food in the big, communal bowl, they've laid down the cloth for eating at and they've called everyone to come and eat.
As a girl--I'm not really considered a woman/adult because I'm not married, nor do I have children-- its culturally appropriate for me to sit next to other children or women. That's it. Sometimes if I'm with really good friends, it won't matter if I'm next to a man or not, but usually as we're all walking and/or scooting over to the cloth mat I'm already consciously thinking of how to make my way over so that as we sit down I'll be next to the right people. 
Ok, once we're all there I usually try to be the first or the last to sit down so that the others can really make it culturally appropriate by moving around me, or moving me to the right place. Once that place is found there's the next problem: how to sit down without flashing everyone who's already sitting, sit correctly so that as we're eating I don't flash the people across or next to me, and how to keep my butt from hitting others as I try to squeeze in next to them!My advice for a wrap skirt is: stand with the right foot closest to the bowl, bunch up your skirt in front of you so that the back is pulled tight around your knees, bend over from he waist, so that your legs are straight and your torso is down, bend the knees, bringing the butt down to your ankles and sit. As you shift your weight to the butt, let your ankles cross in front of you, allow the skirt to give as you achieve your cross-legged position. If all goes well you should be facing the person to your left, and your right knee should be pointing towards the bowl, thus making the right hand reach to the food quick, easy, and short. Sitting sideways is most polite so that more people can fit around the bowl. You could also sit with both feet behind you and your knees facing the bowl as you lean over your legs, but its harder to do if you're a bigger person (like me--well, at least comparatively speaking).
Ok, so I'm sitting next to the nice lady of the house and a young teen is on my other side. One person, usually the eldest child, is in charge of making sure everyone washes their hands. There is a plastic bowl like thing called a ___________ with a (usually) matching satela. The child will place the ___________ in front of you, you put your hands over it, grab the soap from on top, and s/he'll pour water from the satela over your hands. When you're finished you say "yuni" (you-knee), s/he'll stop pouring, and move to the next person. Now its very important to remember NOT TO TOUCH ANYTHING with your right hand now that its clean and ready to eat. If you do, it'll be dirty again and you'll have to re-wash. Usually we rest the wrist on the knee while we wait for everyone to finish.
If that wasn't complicated enough, now comes the really hard part: digging in! Once everyone--anywhere from 6 to 13+ people have all washed, the plate is brought in the circle, and everyone scoots in as close as possible--usually with knees, elbows, or legs all up in each others space-- the host will say "Bismillah" (bis-mill-ah) meaning, "Welcome God" and we all reach in to the pie-shaped space in front of us. The first bite is always just rice, so go ahead and gently scrape off the top layer in front of you, bringing it closer to your piece of the bowl's edge. Be careful! If you dig too much the rice will be really really hot and burn your fingers!
Phew! Rice is accumulated in front of you; next is getting it outof the bowl and just in your hand. Gently cup your fingers and scoop the rice up the slope of the bowl towards you. Most people like to swipe side to side to make sure that all crumbs are collected off of the bowl's side, then use the momentum and pressure to just lift your hand up and away from the bowl! Voila! Rice in the hand! But don't rejoice yet, you're still hungry and haven't even eaten anything yet!
With your right hand only squeeze your hand into a fist, encompassing all of the rice with your hand and fingers. You know you're an EXPERT baller if you can squeeze it and make a juicy, squelching squeak and make some oil drip out!
ATTENTION: THE FOLLOWING IS ONLY TO BE READ BY THOSE OF STOUT HEART AND MIND. THE CONTENTS ARE DIFFICULT FOR THOSE OF SQUEAMISH DISPOSITION TO HANDLE.
The best way to actually get the food into your mouth is to collect that ball of food at the pads of your fingers, start with your tongue at the base of the palm, and lick all the way up, sometimes wrapping your upper lip over the top of your fingers to keep rice from falling off. The first few days of doing this will be slow goings, and rice will fall all over your lap, the floor, the cloth mat, and maybe back into the bowl. But no worries! Everybody's doing it!
A good host will pick off the choicest pieces of meat and veggies from the center of the bowl and throw them right in front of your eating place to show that you are honored and they want you to eat well. If not, it shows you're just one of the family and you've got to get your hand in the pile of food quickly, pulling out your bites of fish/meat or veggies as you go.
Possible challenges: the bones in the fish (you have to squish the meat in your palm with your thumb, looking for the bones, then pull them out with your left hand, depositing them on the cloth mat in front of you), small pebbles that weren't properly sorted before cooking the rice (these can really hurt your teeth if you bite down on one!), pulling the meat off of the bones or getting the fat off of the meat (ask someone to hold the other end for you, and pull off the piece of meat that you want to eat), being given intestines (either smile and swallow quickly or gently push it back into the center of the plate), or even bugs landing in the food (scoop him and the rice he touched out of the bowl and onto the cloth mat). Bon Apetit!
Of course when you've finally gotten enough food into your mouth and spilled the equivalent on the floor, your skirt, or your neighbor, you're full and ready to go, but your host will insist that you keep eating, increasing what you've eaten so far, and eating until you're full. They won't have you leaving (even slightly) hungry! If you're insistent enough, just get up, go over to the __________ and wash your hands so that they're clean. Ahhhh..... now lay down on the foam mattress, wait for tea, and relax! You did it!
Sunday, November 16, 2008
You play ball like a GIRL!!
"Get up!" It's dawn and the sun is rising as your mom is yelling at you: "You have to go to school!". If you're a typical 13 year-old girl--or just a teenage girl--in a Pulaar village then you'd look around and see that not only is your mom yelling at you to get up, but she's also yelling at your sisters laying on the mat next to you, your cousin on the next mat over, and the friend from the next village over where they don't have a school. That's right, you don't have to share a room with anyone, you share the porch! First thing's first: pray. As an Islamic nation as soon as you're of marrying age (a teenager) you have to pray 5 times each day!
Next you have to do your chores: Pick up your mat and blanket, put them away, and then there are 3 main daily chores that rotate depending on how many teenage girls actually live in the household. 1)Getting water--aka balance 20 liters of water on your head without a lid and not spill or you'll have wet clothes AND you'll have to go back to the well!
2)sweeping the house: oh, pain! Bending over to use the little hand-held broom to sweep the never-ending dust from the house and the leaves from the yard 3)Cooking lunch and dinner; all on a two-day rotating basis. Last night you cooked the family dinner so now you have to pile the dishes on your head and get down to the river to wash them --and yourself--before walking to school. 
After you're cleaned up you came back home and go to the one room you share with all your siblings to go through your suitcase that has your clothes in it. But really you share your clothes with your sister, your cousin, and even your friend from the village over... because they share their clothes too!
It's getting warmer... so you know school is about to start! Grab your notebooks, pen and bucket (so you can stop at the well on your way back from school) you're about to learn math, science, history, religion...all in Arabic or French, your second and third languages!
Gurgle...gurgle.... your stomach is letting you know its break time! After two hours of class--which is naturally separated with boys sitting on one side and girls sitting on the other side of the classroom--and taking notes, man its time for some grub! At the market you find about 15 women sitting on the ground selling veggies and one has meat balls! Yes! Oh, but wait, it's your turn to cook lunch so pull out the money mom gave you before leaving for school, find the right veggies, get that special balance on your head, and drop them off at home. Then more class...but you don't get to sit next to that cute Abu you've got a crush on...
Sun-over-head means time to go home for lunch! If you're the lucky one that doesn't cook today, just go home and relax...if not...prepare the fish, veggies, rice (This is waaay harder than it sounds! I can't cook here!) don't forget the FIREWOOD, matches, and bowls.
Enjoy! Eating is of course a family affair: everyone all around one nice big bowl, digging in with the right hand, helping each other tear meat off the bones, sometimes elbowing your annoying little brother in the ribs to scoot over if he's too close...I mean, he does kind of smell...
Tea time is so important the family never misses it! So your big brother busts out the coals from lunch, tea leaves, fresh mint, tons of sugar, the little tea pot, and the special tea glasses. Ahhh.... enjoy the 3 cups of tea as we all lay around on the porch where you slept last night.
Ok, its getting cooler time to go back to school for more learning and trying to show yourself off to either catch Abu's eye or that of any other eligible bachelor with lots of goats and cows (they show the family's wealth, of course! Think My Big Fat Greek Wedding)
Now it's really getting cold out! Grab your bucket from under the desk and get to the well. If you get home quick enough there will be enough sunlight left to hang out with your friends! You do each others hair, play with makeup ideas, tease your sister, and maybe flirt with some of the guys in the neighborhood; since mom and dad are at the fields working there's a bit of a sense of freedom in the house...
The sun is setting so its time to buckle down: parents are getting back from work, and you have to cook dinner. Its off to the fire! As you cook your sister gets out the lantern or a candle so the 5 or 6 of you can do homework. Yup, all on the porch! (At least you always know where everyone is)
Wow, you're really tired now! Time for bed! Pull out the mat. Grab that fuzzy blanket you share with your sister. No pajamas, just what you were wearing earlier. Brush your teeth if you feel like it. Good night.
*Side note: there aren't any actual HOURS since no one here really uses them...it's all pretty much by the sun or by feel.
Next you have to do your chores: Pick up your mat and blanket, put them away, and then there are 3 main daily chores that rotate depending on how many teenage girls actually live in the household. 1)Getting water--aka balance 20 liters of water on your head without a lid and not spill or you'll have wet clothes AND you'll have to go back to the well!
2)sweeping the house: oh, pain! Bending over to use the little hand-held broom to sweep the never-ending dust from the house and the leaves from the yard 3)Cooking lunch and dinner; all on a two-day rotating basis. Last night you cooked the family dinner so now you have to pile the dishes on your head and get down to the river to wash them --and yourself--before walking to school. 
After you're cleaned up you came back home and go to the one room you share with all your siblings to go through your suitcase that has your clothes in it. But really you share your clothes with your sister, your cousin, and even your friend from the village over... because they share their clothes too!
It's getting warmer... so you know school is about to start! Grab your notebooks, pen and bucket (so you can stop at the well on your way back from school) you're about to learn math, science, history, religion...all in Arabic or French, your second and third languages!
Gurgle...gurgle.... your stomach is letting you know its break time! After two hours of class--which is naturally separated with boys sitting on one side and girls sitting on the other side of the classroom--and taking notes, man its time for some grub! At the market you find about 15 women sitting on the ground selling veggies and one has meat balls! Yes! Oh, but wait, it's your turn to cook lunch so pull out the money mom gave you before leaving for school, find the right veggies, get that special balance on your head, and drop them off at home. Then more class...but you don't get to sit next to that cute Abu you've got a crush on...
Sun-over-head means time to go home for lunch! If you're the lucky one that doesn't cook today, just go home and relax...if not...prepare the fish, veggies, rice (This is waaay harder than it sounds! I can't cook here!) don't forget the FIREWOOD, matches, and bowls.
Enjoy! Eating is of course a family affair: everyone all around one nice big bowl, digging in with the right hand, helping each other tear meat off the bones, sometimes elbowing your annoying little brother in the ribs to scoot over if he's too close...I mean, he does kind of smell...Tea time is so important the family never misses it! So your big brother busts out the coals from lunch, tea leaves, fresh mint, tons of sugar, the little tea pot, and the special tea glasses. Ahhh.... enjoy the 3 cups of tea as we all lay around on the porch where you slept last night.
Ok, its getting cooler time to go back to school for more learning and trying to show yourself off to either catch Abu's eye or that of any other eligible bachelor with lots of goats and cows (they show the family's wealth, of course! Think My Big Fat Greek Wedding)
Now it's really getting cold out! Grab your bucket from under the desk and get to the well. If you get home quick enough there will be enough sunlight left to hang out with your friends! You do each others hair, play with makeup ideas, tease your sister, and maybe flirt with some of the guys in the neighborhood; since mom and dad are at the fields working there's a bit of a sense of freedom in the house...
The sun is setting so its time to buckle down: parents are getting back from work, and you have to cook dinner. Its off to the fire! As you cook your sister gets out the lantern or a candle so the 5 or 6 of you can do homework. Yup, all on the porch! (At least you always know where everyone is)
Wow, you're really tired now! Time for bed! Pull out the mat. Grab that fuzzy blanket you share with your sister. No pajamas, just what you were wearing earlier. Brush your teeth if you feel like it. Good night.
*Side note: there aren't any actual HOURS since no one here really uses them...it's all pretty much by the sun or by feel.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Going My Way? How to Travel to Modernity
I remember in junior high being shocked when I learned that in the Middle Ages the average person didn't travel more than 12 miles away from their birth place. Ever. In their whole lives. And now I'm living in such a place.
This is our front yard.
Just to get here-- to Kaedi, internet, electricity, American cooking, and you-- I have to travel an arduous, tiring, haggard, and nearly impossible whopping 65 kilometers! Thats all of about 40 miles, less than the commute for most Californians on their way to work.
To begin with I'm really not bitter about any of this at all, it is part of "learning patience." That being said, whenever I feel the remarkable mother-child powers calling me to a beloved package that has arrived at the Post Office or sense your need to know more about life in Mauritania, I have to plan on spending the day in transit:
Usually around 6:00am I will get up so that I have enough time to pick up my bed, get dressed (no bathing since it's still dark and thus not safe to go bathe, or its too cold now), walk to the neighbor's house to buy fresh bread, walk back home, eat it, grab my bag (only one outfit needed for 3 days, everyone does this), and walk out to the "road." The "road" is about 5 minutes walking from our house and is actually tire tracks embedded in the sand that drivers don't actually need to find Kaedi. No pavement, no trail, and no guidelines whatsoever. (During the rainy season most of it is flooded, so to pave would be pointless for a quarter of the year).
You can see the camels "following" the "road" on an early morning walk.
Ok, so I'm chilling on the side of the road, maybe sitting on my bag, maybe alone, maybe with some other traveling Tokomadjians, and I'm waiting. From about 7:00am or so, just waiting for the next passing truck. Once I had to wait only 5 minutes, but another time I waited 2 hours. As soon as one comes down the "road" going in the right direction, they see me, I stick my hand out to show that I DO want to get on the truck, and the driver and I will negotiate a price for my passage. Even though we all know it's 1,000 UM (ouguiya, say it: uuuu-GEE-ya) (about $4.00 USD)to go from Tokomadji to Kaedi, we all know we have to barter. Drivers may say it's up to 5,000UM, but as long as I just insist that I'm going to pay ONLY 1,000UM then after about 2 minutes of repeating myself, they agree that yeah, it really is just 1,000UM. Done. Unless I have really big bags, then that's extra.
Of course the simple 3 seater Toyota with no cab or bed extensions is already full inside the cab, and all kinds of 50 Kilo sacks of rice, sugar, luggage, and people have filled the bed, but this is not meant to discourage travelers! I just hike up my wrap skirt (I'm sure to wear underwear on travel days!) so no one sees above my knees but I can still hike up the wheel of the truck and climb onto the bed of goods in the back, wedging myself between a stinky shepherd, a student, an imam, and a nursing mother. Quickly I try to twist my fingers around anything semi-stable while not invading anyone's privacy and keeping in mind my own safety, anchor my butt (the bulk of my weight, I mean, the center of my gravity), and wedge my feet under luggage or dangle them over the edge. Sometimes everything is covered with netting like fishing nets, so theres an automatic handle right where you're sitting!
You can see the nets by my feet! I was lucky in this photo, no one to squish against!
Ok, my fellow travelers: the shepherd spends most of his days alone with his camels, cows, goats or sheep in the countryside away from any sort of civilization. He likes to wear a ridiculously long (like 3 yards) scarf on his head and mouth to protect it from the sun and dust. He usually has some billowy pants that are a cross between gaucho pants and sweat pants (super light, big, airy, and tight on the cuffs), and a poncho-shirt that looks like Great-Aunt Mabel's old curtains (big, colorful flowers, etc). He's nice, sometimes talkative.
The Student is the embodiment of the West meets Africa or Africa abducts America: jeans (that say really funny things on the leg in English like "Use only non-chlorine bleach. Tumble dry low. Warm iron if needed"), sunglasses (cost about 300UM, or $2 USD), back pack (jansport knock off), and shirt that must pay tribute to Bob Marley, 2Pac, or any national soccer team (usually Brazil, go figure!). These are the boys that you can just see walking down a street in LA and totally blending in...sort of.
The Imam, or other professional religious person is almost always very interesting in what I believe, willing to share what Muslims believe, and usually very friendly. I like him!
This is what we see sometimes: a random canoe (the only river-traversing method).
The nursing mother always worries me. We're on this ridiculous, non-existent, ravine-ridden road, and she has this 8-month old balanced in her arms, suckling as she's trying to keep him from sloshing around too much as we bounce down the say. Somehow I am always next to her so I always try to let her lean against me since both of her arms are on her baby, not holding either of them to the car. She's usually pretty quiet as she tends to the nursing child while trying to semi-hide her exposed body part.
As we go along we pass several waiting people, sometimes stopping to pick them up, sometimes not even slowing down, and sometimes letting people off. This ALL could potentially happen in a village--like my case-- or in the middle of nowhere, which I'm still piecing together. There is of course a strategy to getting the best seat: the closer to the cab the less bumpy the ride; the more in the center you are the more you can lean on others knowing you're not going to fall out (but really its not cool to touch the others, so no leaning on them). If you're on the side you really have the potential to be jostled out of the truck! Oh, and we've squished about 20+ people in the back of the truck, on top of the goods.
This is exciting, right?! Good! This trip lasts about 2.5 hours on a good day. Yup, just to go about 40 miles. And its all worth it: about 11 or 12 noon we make it to Kaedi! We're all dropped off at the market, I go to the Post office, get that package that was calling me, and head off balancing my bag or box on my head for the 15-20 minute walk to our "Regional House" and little slice of America.
Our front yard as you walk in the door. Sam on the doorstep, Kelby the dog on the mat on the floor.
Sara Cate lounging in the lounge. We have tons of books, a fan, table, foam mattresses for sleeping/sitting/playing/lounging on, a table, and dvd's!
This is our front yard.
Just to get here-- to Kaedi, internet, electricity, American cooking, and you-- I have to travel an arduous, tiring, haggard, and nearly impossible whopping 65 kilometers! Thats all of about 40 miles, less than the commute for most Californians on their way to work.
To begin with I'm really not bitter about any of this at all, it is part of "learning patience." That being said, whenever I feel the remarkable mother-child powers calling me to a beloved package that has arrived at the Post Office or sense your need to know more about life in Mauritania, I have to plan on spending the day in transit:
Usually around 6:00am I will get up so that I have enough time to pick up my bed, get dressed (no bathing since it's still dark and thus not safe to go bathe, or its too cold now), walk to the neighbor's house to buy fresh bread, walk back home, eat it, grab my bag (only one outfit needed for 3 days, everyone does this), and walk out to the "road." The "road" is about 5 minutes walking from our house and is actually tire tracks embedded in the sand that drivers don't actually need to find Kaedi. No pavement, no trail, and no guidelines whatsoever. (During the rainy season most of it is flooded, so to pave would be pointless for a quarter of the year).
You can see the camels "following" the "road" on an early morning walk.
Ok, so I'm chilling on the side of the road, maybe sitting on my bag, maybe alone, maybe with some other traveling Tokomadjians, and I'm waiting. From about 7:00am or so, just waiting for the next passing truck. Once I had to wait only 5 minutes, but another time I waited 2 hours. As soon as one comes down the "road" going in the right direction, they see me, I stick my hand out to show that I DO want to get on the truck, and the driver and I will negotiate a price for my passage. Even though we all know it's 1,000 UM (ouguiya, say it: uuuu-GEE-ya) (about $4.00 USD)to go from Tokomadji to Kaedi, we all know we have to barter. Drivers may say it's up to 5,000UM, but as long as I just insist that I'm going to pay ONLY 1,000UM then after about 2 minutes of repeating myself, they agree that yeah, it really is just 1,000UM. Done. Unless I have really big bags, then that's extra.
Of course the simple 3 seater Toyota with no cab or bed extensions is already full inside the cab, and all kinds of 50 Kilo sacks of rice, sugar, luggage, and people have filled the bed, but this is not meant to discourage travelers! I just hike up my wrap skirt (I'm sure to wear underwear on travel days!) so no one sees above my knees but I can still hike up the wheel of the truck and climb onto the bed of goods in the back, wedging myself between a stinky shepherd, a student, an imam, and a nursing mother. Quickly I try to twist my fingers around anything semi-stable while not invading anyone's privacy and keeping in mind my own safety, anchor my butt (the bulk of my weight, I mean, the center of my gravity), and wedge my feet under luggage or dangle them over the edge. Sometimes everything is covered with netting like fishing nets, so theres an automatic handle right where you're sitting!
You can see the nets by my feet! I was lucky in this photo, no one to squish against!
Ok, my fellow travelers: the shepherd spends most of his days alone with his camels, cows, goats or sheep in the countryside away from any sort of civilization. He likes to wear a ridiculously long (like 3 yards) scarf on his head and mouth to protect it from the sun and dust. He usually has some billowy pants that are a cross between gaucho pants and sweat pants (super light, big, airy, and tight on the cuffs), and a poncho-shirt that looks like Great-Aunt Mabel's old curtains (big, colorful flowers, etc). He's nice, sometimes talkative.
The Student is the embodiment of the West meets Africa or Africa abducts America: jeans (that say really funny things on the leg in English like "Use only non-chlorine bleach. Tumble dry low. Warm iron if needed"), sunglasses (cost about 300UM, or $2 USD), back pack (jansport knock off), and shirt that must pay tribute to Bob Marley, 2Pac, or any national soccer team (usually Brazil, go figure!). These are the boys that you can just see walking down a street in LA and totally blending in...sort of.
The Imam, or other professional religious person is almost always very interesting in what I believe, willing to share what Muslims believe, and usually very friendly. I like him!
This is what we see sometimes: a random canoe (the only river-traversing method).
The nursing mother always worries me. We're on this ridiculous, non-existent, ravine-ridden road, and she has this 8-month old balanced in her arms, suckling as she's trying to keep him from sloshing around too much as we bounce down the say. Somehow I am always next to her so I always try to let her lean against me since both of her arms are on her baby, not holding either of them to the car. She's usually pretty quiet as she tends to the nursing child while trying to semi-hide her exposed body part.
As we go along we pass several waiting people, sometimes stopping to pick them up, sometimes not even slowing down, and sometimes letting people off. This ALL could potentially happen in a village--like my case-- or in the middle of nowhere, which I'm still piecing together. There is of course a strategy to getting the best seat: the closer to the cab the less bumpy the ride; the more in the center you are the more you can lean on others knowing you're not going to fall out (but really its not cool to touch the others, so no leaning on them). If you're on the side you really have the potential to be jostled out of the truck! Oh, and we've squished about 20+ people in the back of the truck, on top of the goods.
This is exciting, right?! Good! This trip lasts about 2.5 hours on a good day. Yup, just to go about 40 miles. And its all worth it: about 11 or 12 noon we make it to Kaedi! We're all dropped off at the market, I go to the Post office, get that package that was calling me, and head off balancing my bag or box on my head for the 15-20 minute walk to our "Regional House" and little slice of America.
Our front yard as you walk in the door. Sam on the doorstep, Kelby the dog on the mat on the floor.
Sara Cate lounging in the lounge. We have tons of books, a fan, table, foam mattresses for sleeping/sitting/playing/lounging on, a table, and dvd's!
Friday, October 31, 2008
Taking a whiz
Yes, peeing. Pretty simple, right? you walk in, flip on the light switch, have a seat, do your business, wipe it clean, flush, wash and go. Easy.
Oh, but wait! Not in Mauritania!
First you have to find the makaresh, or satela, which could be sitting anywhere in the yard: by the cooking fire, under the sleeping platform, behind the door, next to the garden, on the corner of the porch, under the tree, or leaning against the water cannery, but never near the actual bathroom it self. Once found it is usually guaranteed to be empty. So its back to the water cannery.
At the water cannery there are 2 to choose from: one with river water and one with well water. The well water is strictly for drinking, and river water is literally for everything else, so don't dip into the wrong one. So you grab this plastic, 1-liter, handled "pot" and dip it into the river water cannery. Oh, but only use your right hand to hold the pot because the left is dirty (more on that to come ;). Pour the water from the pot into the teapot-shaped satela. I've been yelled at several times for doing this wrong:
you have to have to have to pour the water away from the cannery's opening. Not over it. The satela is after all dirty from going into the douche/bathroom, and if water drips from it into the cannery then the cannery is dirty too.
Ok, so you have your water. Make sure you have shoes on! Walk over to the bathroom, be careful because the door doesn't actually close all the way: I've been walked in on a few times... Try to close the door as securely as possible, walk over to the hole. Time to go, right? Nope, not yet! Since the door doesn't really close, and people have accidentally come in, its best to consider which way to face: if you face the door, everyone will see your junk. If you face the wall, they'll just see your back and knees poking out. But the hole is best reached if you face the door. So if it's #1 (peeing) face the wall! But if you have some real business to attend to, you'll have to really close the door as tightly as possible!!
Once you're in position, aim well! And remember that anything that doesn't make it in the hole, you're responsible for. Once you're relieved, use that pot of water! Right hand in back, pouring (but don't get your clothes wet), left hand in front for the balance (remember you're squatting over a hole, you don't want to fall over). When all is clean, stand up, still wet (we don't really wear underwear, that would be a natural nursery for diseases), and hopefully there's still some water left after your escapades, because I still like to use soap to wash my hand.
Usually there's this little scrap of soap up on the wall of the roofless toilet room, but it is a little taller than me, so I have to reach up, feel around, and try to find the little bugger. Then wash my left hand with just my left hand, so that my right hand can pour out the water. I usually do this over the hole so that any thing that may still need to go down the hole goes down. Put the soap back up on the wall, open the door, you and your wet behind are finished!
Deposit satela wherever you think the next seeker will most likely not find it, and go some place where either 1) your butt will dry while you sit down, 2) you can stand if the fabric of your skirt/pants/etc. doesn't show wetness, or 3)go for a walk
Hopefully you're not sick and you don't have to face the people that heard your explosive diarrhea and/or gas as it erupted into the echoing hole.
I realized that I have had to learn a lot of patience with my self as I learn how to do everything over again: talk, walk, greet, stand, sit, lay down, sleep, eat, drink, bathe, address people, cook, clean, sweep, read, write, do my hair, wear my clothes, sew, buy clothes, go to the market, shake hands, answer the phone, count, pay rent, fend off marriage proposals, joke, laugh, visit friends, make friends, know people, and yes, even pee.
Oh, but wait! Not in Mauritania!
First you have to find the makaresh, or satela, which could be sitting anywhere in the yard: by the cooking fire, under the sleeping platform, behind the door, next to the garden, on the corner of the porch, under the tree, or leaning against the water cannery, but never near the actual bathroom it self. Once found it is usually guaranteed to be empty. So its back to the water cannery.
At the water cannery there are 2 to choose from: one with river water and one with well water. The well water is strictly for drinking, and river water is literally for everything else, so don't dip into the wrong one. So you grab this plastic, 1-liter, handled "pot" and dip it into the river water cannery. Oh, but only use your right hand to hold the pot because the left is dirty (more on that to come ;). Pour the water from the pot into the teapot-shaped satela. I've been yelled at several times for doing this wrong:
you have to have to have to pour the water away from the cannery's opening. Not over it. The satela is after all dirty from going into the douche/bathroom, and if water drips from it into the cannery then the cannery is dirty too.
Ok, so you have your water. Make sure you have shoes on! Walk over to the bathroom, be careful because the door doesn't actually close all the way: I've been walked in on a few times... Try to close the door as securely as possible, walk over to the hole. Time to go, right? Nope, not yet! Since the door doesn't really close, and people have accidentally come in, its best to consider which way to face: if you face the door, everyone will see your junk. If you face the wall, they'll just see your back and knees poking out. But the hole is best reached if you face the door. So if it's #1 (peeing) face the wall! But if you have some real business to attend to, you'll have to really close the door as tightly as possible!!
Once you're in position, aim well! And remember that anything that doesn't make it in the hole, you're responsible for. Once you're relieved, use that pot of water! Right hand in back, pouring (but don't get your clothes wet), left hand in front for the balance (remember you're squatting over a hole, you don't want to fall over). When all is clean, stand up, still wet (we don't really wear underwear, that would be a natural nursery for diseases), and hopefully there's still some water left after your escapades, because I still like to use soap to wash my hand.
Usually there's this little scrap of soap up on the wall of the roofless toilet room, but it is a little taller than me, so I have to reach up, feel around, and try to find the little bugger. Then wash my left hand with just my left hand, so that my right hand can pour out the water. I usually do this over the hole so that any thing that may still need to go down the hole goes down. Put the soap back up on the wall, open the door, you and your wet behind are finished!
Deposit satela wherever you think the next seeker will most likely not find it, and go some place where either 1) your butt will dry while you sit down, 2) you can stand if the fabric of your skirt/pants/etc. doesn't show wetness, or 3)go for a walk
Hopefully you're not sick and you don't have to face the people that heard your explosive diarrhea and/or gas as it erupted into the echoing hole.
I realized that I have had to learn a lot of patience with my self as I learn how to do everything over again: talk, walk, greet, stand, sit, lay down, sleep, eat, drink, bathe, address people, cook, clean, sweep, read, write, do my hair, wear my clothes, sew, buy clothes, go to the market, shake hands, answer the phone, count, pay rent, fend off marriage proposals, joke, laugh, visit friends, make friends, know people, and yes, even pee.
Friday, October 17, 2008
These are a few of my favorite things....
Yesterday we had some visitors from the European Commission to see our health volunteers at work. Among the 6 visitors were a few Frenchmen, a couple Italians, and a Spaniard! They didn't stay very long, but we did have great conversation, exchange phone numbers, and speak English (a rare treat these days). Then the Italian invited me, along with all of the other local PC volunteers to his house for a get-together/ party (can we call this a party?) So this morning I got up at 5:30ish to pack and get ready for the 2-3 hour trip into Kaedi. After going around the market, greeting, talking to nice random people, bargaining for cooking oil, eating for the first time in a Mauritanian restaurant (on the floor, just like at a friend's house, we just had to pay afterwards), and buying oranges (we don't have any fruit in my village), I made it to our "PC house", found 3 packages waiting for me from my mom, AND was promised spaghetti for lunch! I was so happy!
My mom sent me Oreos and as we sat around eating them, we couldn't stop laughing, giggling, smiling, ohhing and aahhhing, and marvelling at the deliciousness that is the Oreo!
Some other weird new things that make Mauritania very enjoyable:
the smell of burnt tea
fresh bread in the mornings
watching people pray
bathing 2 or 3 times each day
talking to everyone I meet in my village
everybody knows my name! it's better than the TV show Cheers !
drinking Tufam! (soured milk mixed with water and sugar...amazing.)
Friendship bracelets
sleeping outside
eating outside
sitting on our raised bamboo platform called a donkey, talking to my host family
the joy people have when I take their picture
hearing my family try to speak English
understanding Pulaar!
sharing American candies with my family--they love it!
Africa is definitely NOT as savage as many Western people think it is. Yes, its dirty with trash in the streets, we do everything outside, and kids are always running around half--or completely-- naked, but people are still loving, educated, striving for improvement, and doing the best possible with what they have. This is definitely a place that more people should come to see and understand.
You always have a place to stay if you come to visit me!!
My mom sent me Oreos and as we sat around eating them, we couldn't stop laughing, giggling, smiling, ohhing and aahhhing, and marvelling at the deliciousness that is the Oreo!
Some other weird new things that make Mauritania very enjoyable:
the smell of burnt tea
fresh bread in the mornings
watching people pray
bathing 2 or 3 times each day
talking to everyone I meet in my village
everybody knows my name! it's better than the TV show Cheers !
drinking Tufam! (soured milk mixed with water and sugar...amazing.)
Friendship bracelets
sleeping outside
eating outside
sitting on our raised bamboo platform called a donkey, talking to my host family
the joy people have when I take their picture
hearing my family try to speak English
understanding Pulaar!
sharing American candies with my family--they love it!
Africa is definitely NOT as savage as many Western people think it is. Yes, its dirty with trash in the streets, we do everything outside, and kids are always running around half--or completely-- naked, but people are still loving, educated, striving for improvement, and doing the best possible with what they have. This is definitely a place that more people should come to see and understand.
You always have a place to stay if you come to visit me!!
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Day 106 in RIM--and I'm still here!
But of course I’m still having a great time in Africa. Haha, I totally get these reality checks sometimes and realize I’m IN Africa. Just the other day we were sitting in our “Peace Corps” house (a house for us to stay in when we come into the state’s capital) and saying, “You’d be surprised what you get used to.” And its so true!
I’ve been in Tokomadji for one month now, exactly the month of Ramadan. So I never knew what this entails, and it is sooo intense: from the night the moon disappears through the new moon—30 nights—all adult Muslims are required to Fast, meaning no food or water during daylight hours. Even in the crazy African heat, NO WATER!! I found out there’s a science to Fasting correctly: at 5:30ish everyone wakes up to the call in from the local Mosque, makes some breakfast, usually a porridge called ruy (pronounce it like you would in French, but with a rolled “r” or say it: ru-ee) and/or bread and coffee/tea. Once the second call is out from the Mosque announcing the official rising of the sun, NO MORE EATING OR DRINKIG ANYTHING, say your prayers, back to bed, then get up later to go to the fields to work.
Another interesting thing: field work. Going with my family to “weed” the fields made me so thankful that I was an athlete for all of my life, and that water was my sport. There is no other way that I could have kept close behind my fasting family. It’s bending over with a hand-held hoe from about 8:00am-noon. Of course they all are so much better at it than I am, even when they’re fasting, but I was at least able to semi-keep up. The whole time I would think of college water polo practices, and Rond saying that we’re swimming our yards when we’re tired to be ready for that fourth quarter of water polo play. And I would keep going in the field. I would totally be laughing, thinking of where I came from and where I am now, but I would keep going, relishing of the excellent cross training I was getting.
So after being shown up by my fasting host sister we’d go home, “shower” (you’ve seen the makaresh, right?) rest, then work around the house in the evening once it cooled down. Around 7:00pm, the Mosque would announce the official sun setting, and we’d break fast! Dates, water, and bissap to whet the whistle, then coffee or tea with bread (kind of like a regular breakfast). About half an hour later we’d have a dish of potatoes with meat or fish (kind of like a normal lunch), and around 10 or 11pm, once the food has digested a bit, we’d have rice and fish (kind of like dinner). I always saw breakfast as getting in the full day’s meals, all in the same order, just after dark.
Its required by the Muslim faith to fast, and I was told they do this for two reasons: 1. To cleanse the body of any impurities and 2. To feel the pain and suffering of the poor that have to live through this for their entire lives. The really old, the really young, the sick, and pregnant/nursing mothers aren’t required to fast, so I still got lunch with the kids in the family!
Basically during Ramadan any work that doesn’t need to be done isn’t. So many, many people spent their days sleeping, resting, and trying not to sweat out their water reserves.
Other things I’m –still—getting used to:
People always like to ask me about the United States, everyone wants to go there, and daily I’m asked for a Visa to the US.
Even my forearms sweat. It is so gross.
Getting marriage proposals, from random strangers
Being told why I’m going to Hell (not by all people or even every day, but when it does happen I’m still a little weirded out by it)
Not understanding everything that people say to me.
Being patient with myself as I learn something new.
Recognizing the cold wind that comes 2 minutes before heavy rain fall, and trying to pick up my bedding, etc before the rain gets here!
Strategizing my eating plan so that I get enough meat and veggies before they’re all eaten up by everyone else at the plate.
Keeping a good hold while in the bed of a very bouncy, very fast pick up truck so I don't fall out
Well, life continues and I honestly and absolutely love the support I get from you! Hearing from you in any form is the highlight--and main reason--of leaving the relative paradise that is Tokomadji to come into the city!
Twin! I miss you so much!
I’ve been in Tokomadji for one month now, exactly the month of Ramadan. So I never knew what this entails, and it is sooo intense: from the night the moon disappears through the new moon—30 nights—all adult Muslims are required to Fast, meaning no food or water during daylight hours. Even in the crazy African heat, NO WATER!! I found out there’s a science to Fasting correctly: at 5:30ish everyone wakes up to the call in from the local Mosque, makes some breakfast, usually a porridge called ruy (pronounce it like you would in French, but with a rolled “r” or say it: ru-ee) and/or bread and coffee/tea. Once the second call is out from the Mosque announcing the official rising of the sun, NO MORE EATING OR DRINKIG ANYTHING, say your prayers, back to bed, then get up later to go to the fields to work.
Another interesting thing: field work. Going with my family to “weed” the fields made me so thankful that I was an athlete for all of my life, and that water was my sport. There is no other way that I could have kept close behind my fasting family. It’s bending over with a hand-held hoe from about 8:00am-noon. Of course they all are so much better at it than I am, even when they’re fasting, but I was at least able to semi-keep up. The whole time I would think of college water polo practices, and Rond saying that we’re swimming our yards when we’re tired to be ready for that fourth quarter of water polo play. And I would keep going in the field. I would totally be laughing, thinking of where I came from and where I am now, but I would keep going, relishing of the excellent cross training I was getting.
So after being shown up by my fasting host sister we’d go home, “shower” (you’ve seen the makaresh, right?) rest, then work around the house in the evening once it cooled down. Around 7:00pm, the Mosque would announce the official sun setting, and we’d break fast! Dates, water, and bissap to whet the whistle, then coffee or tea with bread (kind of like a regular breakfast). About half an hour later we’d have a dish of potatoes with meat or fish (kind of like a normal lunch), and around 10 or 11pm, once the food has digested a bit, we’d have rice and fish (kind of like dinner). I always saw breakfast as getting in the full day’s meals, all in the same order, just after dark.
Its required by the Muslim faith to fast, and I was told they do this for two reasons: 1. To cleanse the body of any impurities and 2. To feel the pain and suffering of the poor that have to live through this for their entire lives. The really old, the really young, the sick, and pregnant/nursing mothers aren’t required to fast, so I still got lunch with the kids in the family!
Basically during Ramadan any work that doesn’t need to be done isn’t. So many, many people spent their days sleeping, resting, and trying not to sweat out their water reserves.
Other things I’m –still—getting used to:
People always like to ask me about the United States, everyone wants to go there, and daily I’m asked for a Visa to the US.
Even my forearms sweat. It is so gross.
Getting marriage proposals, from random strangers
Being told why I’m going to Hell (not by all people or even every day, but when it does happen I’m still a little weirded out by it)
Not understanding everything that people say to me.
Being patient with myself as I learn something new.
Recognizing the cold wind that comes 2 minutes before heavy rain fall, and trying to pick up my bedding, etc before the rain gets here!
Strategizing my eating plan so that I get enough meat and veggies before they’re all eaten up by everyone else at the plate.
Keeping a good hold while in the bed of a very bouncy, very fast pick up truck so I don't fall out
Well, life continues and I honestly and absolutely love the support I get from you! Hearing from you in any form is the highlight--and main reason--of leaving the relative paradise that is Tokomadji to come into the city!
Twin! I miss you so much!
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