Just to start out, this is the weirdest keyboard ever so please hang in there with my typing!
Im sitting here in computer place in Rosso. What can I even say to start... we have been here for a few days now, and it is amazing. Mauritanians are so nice and friendly, and the people i am with are great. it is super crazy hot and sandy, but at night when we sleep outside in out little mosquito net tent city it gets windy and cool and beautiful. we eat out of communal bowls with our right hands and so far at the center they have been ,aking veggie food for a group of us. it is so good! the bathroom thing you get used to... they use water in a little tea pot instead of TP and you squat over a little hole. the first time is daunting but after that it starts to seem normal. we have showers here but often no water in them, so i have been taking bucket baths. not bad at all really.
i wish i could put Mauritania into words. Rosso is considered a city rather than small town, but it is full of small, often crumbling buildings. there is no trash system so there is trash all over the street, and usually a few goats eating it. cars go along side donkey pulled carts. people wear beautiful clothes and greet each other for several minutes each time. nothing you would picture fro, this can capture ,y new home. i will put up picts asap. i love it here. i wouldnt wznt to be anywhere else§
ok this took about 20 min to type so i have to go. i have a cell now 011 222 459 68 91. all my love!
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Staging
Hi all (or maybe just my moms who may be the only ones reading!)
This will have to be a quick post, but I just wanted to write a little bit about staging. I got to Atlanta on Tuesday evening, and have just spent 2 days with an amazing group of people. Many of us met in the airport and took a shuttle to the hotel. It was really funny to see how a lot of us found each other--basically you would see someone with a huge backpack, make awkward eye contact, look away, look back...finally one of you would say "Peace Corps?" or "Mauritania?" to the other, and then start the introductions for the millionth time. It was pretty amusing.
But really, I feel so lucky to be with this group. Although the past few days have been really, really long, we're all having a blast for the most part. Some training sessions can be long, but the other Mauritania trainees are better than I could have hoped. And not just because some of you might read this (hopefully it will be Donny Strong!).
Tomorrow we head to the airport at 10, and then wait for our 3:45 flight. It's hard to believe that tonight is our last night in the US (and in a real bed!!). My roommate and I have been taking full advantage of our big comfy beds, the hot shower and FOOD most of all.
I hope all is well with everyone at home. Don't know when I'll be able to get on the internet again--we fly into Dakar and then take a 5-6 hour bus ride to Rosso, where we start training and live in dorms for 5 days before meeting our host families. Hopefully after 5 days I'll have enough of the language to at least communicate a little!
That's all for now! Lots of love!!!
This will have to be a quick post, but I just wanted to write a little bit about staging. I got to Atlanta on Tuesday evening, and have just spent 2 days with an amazing group of people. Many of us met in the airport and took a shuttle to the hotel. It was really funny to see how a lot of us found each other--basically you would see someone with a huge backpack, make awkward eye contact, look away, look back...finally one of you would say "Peace Corps?" or "Mauritania?" to the other, and then start the introductions for the millionth time. It was pretty amusing.
But really, I feel so lucky to be with this group. Although the past few days have been really, really long, we're all having a blast for the most part. Some training sessions can be long, but the other Mauritania trainees are better than I could have hoped. And not just because some of you might read this (hopefully it will be Donny Strong!).
Tomorrow we head to the airport at 10, and then wait for our 3:45 flight. It's hard to believe that tonight is our last night in the US (and in a real bed!!). My roommate and I have been taking full advantage of our big comfy beds, the hot shower and FOOD most of all.
I hope all is well with everyone at home. Don't know when I'll be able to get on the internet again--we fly into Dakar and then take a 5-6 hour bus ride to Rosso, where we start training and live in dorms for 5 days before meeting our host families. Hopefully after 5 days I'll have enough of the language to at least communicate a little!
That's all for now! Lots of love!!!
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