Site Announement and Mermaids!

I know it’s been a while since I was in contact, and I’m sorry. I’m currently back at the Peace Corps center, and we will all be taking a week to go visit our permanent sites, which they’ll tell us about on Monday. I’m super pumped to see everyone again.

Things with my host family is going great. We get along really well, and my host sisters and I have become really good friends. It will be sad to leave them in a month, but I’m ready to settle in at my permanent site and stop bouncing around so much.

Other than that, things are going great. I’m having tons of fun, learning a lot, and can’t wait to start working.

I promise, pictures are coming soon, but the internet moves so slowly, I have to wait until I develop the patience to do it. Here is a little story to tide you over until I write more! I miss and love you all!

Mermaids…

I showed my sisters some card tricks, and then when they asked how I did them, I told them that it was, of course, magic. The 19 year old told me that she did in fact believe in magic. She then asked me if I believed in vampires. I told her I did not, and she agreed. Vampires are not real.

Next, she asked me if I believed in mermaids, or more specifically, a water creature that is half woman, half fish. I could tell by her voice that she most definitely believed in mermaids, so I decided to not flat out say that I didn’t. Instead, I just asked her many questions about their existence.

Where do they live? Mauritania mermaids live in oceans, rivers, and lakes. How do they breathe underwater? With gills of course.

I then told her that we had a movie about mermaids, and she said she had a seen it. I said that you can’t always believe everything you see on TV. She said she knows, because she sometimes sees American TV shows where unmarried couples live together, and she knows that can’t be true.

Moral of the story….

Vampires-myth

Mermaids- real

Unmarried couples living together- unthinkable

My First Post from the RIM

Oh man, I know it’s been a while, so I’ll give you all a quick update. Everything here in Mauritania is going great. It’s really hot, but other than that, I love it. The other Peace Corps trainees are really nice, and I love my host family. Here is my basic routine: everyday I have about 6 hours of language class trying to learn Hassaniya, which is a dialect of Arabic. In between that, I’m usually with my host mom and sisters speaking French/Hassaniya, eating with my hands, and taking bucket baths.

So far the best part has been my host family. I have a 19 and 13 year old sister who are helping me learn Hassaniya while I help them learn English. We play a lot of UNO and have a dance party at least once a day. They’ve also taught me how to wear a mulafa, which a big sheet that you use as a dress/head covering (pictures to come). Basically, they’re awesome.

A few other notes, just for amusement…

Every day when I walk down the street I am greeting by various children yelling “Bonjour toubab”, which means hello white person.

My sister really wants me to find her a toubab husband, and if I do, she is going to name her first child Becky.

We have three goats and two sheep that sleep next to the room. Since there is no trash disposal system here, the animals pretty much eat any garbage left on the property.

We had a pretty bad storm the other night. My family all sits in a room together in the dark (they made me turn off my flashlight) and they chant for the whole storm. This was probably one of the weirdest experiences I’ve had here.

Ok…that’s all for now. I promise to write more soon and post pictures! I miss and love you all, and hope to hear from you soon!

Less Than a Week!

Hi everyone! First, I'd like to thank everyone who came out to my house this weekend to say goodbye. I had a great time and I hope you did as well. I've posted an album of pictures. They're aren't that exciting but I just wanted to make sure I knew how to do it, and I've been promising some of these pictures to you all for a while now.

So yeah...the basics are that I leave on Tuesday, and until then I'll be with my family and finally trying to pack. Thanks again for all your support, and I can’t wait to hear from you all!

My First Post!

I would like to start by saying that this is my first blog. Having never been on Facebook or Myspace, this a little strange for my, but since deciding to join the Peace Corps, I’ve had many requests for life updates, so I figured it was about time I moved into the 21^st century. I’m not sure how often I will have internet access once in Mauritania, but I will do my best to keep everyone up to date, and just let you know that I’m still alive and well. I expect that in return you will keep me posted on your lives.

Now, for some Frequently Asked Questions! (Feel free to e-mail if you have any others that I did not answer)

I’ve never heard of Mauritania. Is it in Eastern Europe?

No, Mauritania is not in Eastern Europe. I did not know much about Mauritania before receiving my assignment, so here are some basics I have learned since then, although, at this point I’m probably not much more useful than Wikipedia. The official name of the country is le Republique Islamique de Mauritanie, (aka the RIM). It is in the northwest corner of Africa, surrounded by Morocco and Algeria to the north, Mali to the east, and Senegal to the south. Mauritania is large, and I won’t know what region I will be living in until I’ve been in country for a few weeks. The majority of the country is desert (Saharan Desert to be exact), with slightly more fertile land on the west coast, as well as running along the Senegal River in the south. As you may have guessed, the weather there gets pretty warm.

Mauritania is a predominately Muslim country. Business and other formal interactions may be conducted in French (so finally I can use those six years of class I’ve racked up), but the majority of people speak one of four languages: Hassaniya (a dialect of Arabic), Pulaar, Wolof, and Soninke. My first two and half months in the RIM will be spent in training, with a heavy focus on learning the language.

What will you be doing?

The program I am a part of is called Girls Education and Empowerment. Most of the job revolves around the Girls Mentoring Centers. Some of these are already created, in which case I would be working in creating programs for young women, which include tutoring and other extra curricular activities. I could also be helping to start one of these centers. I’ll know more after I’ve been in country for a bit, and promise to post more details then.

And now for the most frequently asked question….HOW ARE YOUR PARENTS DEALING WITH ALL OF THIS?

The answer is, better than expected. They have been incredibly supportive, despite the fact that they are worried. So for those of you reading this who are my friends, if you’re in the Chicago area, either because you live here or are passing through, give them a call and come eat dinner with them (my mom is an excellent cook). I am the youngest child, and they are now officially empty nesters, and may need some company. For those of who are friends of my parents, make sure to call and check in regularly, and make sure to take them out and distract them every so often.

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That’s all for now. I’ll probably try to post at least one more time before I leave. I’ll be heading to Atlanta on June 17^th for two days of training, and then my whole training class to head to Mauritania together. I’m looking forward to seeing and/or speaking to most of you before my departure date. Thanks so much for all the support you’ve all given me. I really appreciate it.