Hi all! I'm here in the cyber between lunch and class, and I thought I'd try to actually give an update on my life here. I guess this is what I can think of that's new:

--I still try to eat as little meat as possible, but now when I walk down the street and see a goat (which is always) I think "I could eat you. I might even eat you tomorrow!" I don't know what it is, but I kind of like the idea that I can eat that guy if I want to. What power! So far I'm not so into the taste, but then again it is goat and camel...most people seem to love the camel thought.



--My family still refuses to speak to me in French. Well, not exactly. After the one day when they literally wouldn't speak to me in anything other than Hassaniya, they've started translating again, but only after the first few times they say something. I just kind of shrug, and then we all laugh and they explain it.



--The new craze at my house is dance parties. When there's something on the TV that's playing music, they get me to get up and dance. They're teaching me some Mauritanian dance moves. It's good times



--One week from today we find out our permanent site. That's so hard to believe! It'll be 1 month down, 26 to go :)



--My family is still great. They got me yet another mulafa, and when I came out wearing it yesterday they kept telling me how nice it looked. Even though it's basically a giant bed sheet, it makes them so happy that I don't even mind that much.



--We have baby chicks at my house now to go along with the goats, sheep and cats (the cats don't live there, but they come in and out). And speaking of animal stories...the other morning I went with my prof and one of the other people in my class to watch the camels and cows being slaughtered. Really, really interesting/horrifying/amazing to see. When we got there (around 6:45 AM) the camels were already dead, but we saw them kill a few cows. Then they skin them and take them apart bit by bit to bring to the market. They didn't scream or make any noise really, which I think is really good--I'd have a Silence of the Lambs moment if I had heard that ("are the camels still screaming, Emily?"). I'm really glad we went because a) it was pretty cool to see, I don't care how morbid that sounds and b) it's interesting to know how the meat actually gets to our big communal bowl.

--The food is...well, tedious. We eat the same thing all the time, and at this point I would kill for a salad and stir fry! Or some real cheese. Or anything that's not oily rice/pasta with goat/fish/camel. The other part of this problem is that my family wants me to get fat. They've told me so many, many times. Big women are hot here because it's a sign of wealth. My family tells me to eat constantly, even when I'm in the middle of a bite, and then makes a getting fat gesture which ends with blown out cheeks, arms up and waddling back and forth. I try to say I don't want to have to waddle, but they're not into that. You just have to be forceful, lick your hand (polite to do after a meal) and wash up as quickly as possible.

--I'm starting to miss things like grass and water to swim in, but also getting very used to my surroundings. Walking over trash and avoiding the donkey pulled carts is second nature now, as is greeting everyone when you walk in a room--I shake hands with all the women, and basically ask how they're doing in many different ways, falling back to "Ca va?" when my limited Hassaniya runs out. It's a nice custom when you think about it.

--Going back to food (which we talk about all the time pretty much), in class today our prof was talking about a place in the north where the basically just eat bread, sugar and meat with rice. I mentioned that they didn't seem to get enough vitamins, and he told me I was totally wrong, that they had meat, bread and milk so what more did they need? I suggested veggies, and he said they sometimes eat unripe watermelon seeds or potatoes...I was floored. The whole concept of "good for you" is totally different here. He finally just said "well they're alive, so it must be fine." I let it go rather than trying to explain malnutrition.

I guess this is enough for now. I'm trying to write about the most interesting things, but know that on a daily basis I'm happy and (mostly...kind of) healthy. Mauritania is such an underrated country. If anyone has the chance to get here, do! More to come soon! Keep in touch--I got my first mail the other day and I can't even say how exciting it was! And emails are wonderful too.

Don't worry, I'm fine!

Well after checking my email and seeing 2 worried emails from my mom, I thought I'd write a quick note saying I'm fine and everything is still going well! French is coming along, although my family seems to have decided to only speak to me in Hassaniya...so that makes things interesting! Still really liking it, although there are moments when you stop and think what am I doing here when I could be eating good food on a nice tropical beach?? But then you drink a fanta (fanta is a big part of our lives here), play with some toddlers (they're now getting the 2 year old at my house to run over and kiss me, and she loves that her hair is braided like mine), and just look around. It is really amzing to be here. My family loves to dress me up in mulafas and braid my hair (which PS hurts like no other!), I'm kind of their child/doll. I've started going running (well, kind of...we jog) with another PCT and when I come out in pants they always ask if i'm going to Faire du sport, and when I say yes they get really happy about it and also confused about why I run up the street and down it again. That's how people seem to feel about us in general--happy, excited and confused.

Sorry this is so jumbled--I'm about to get cut off and my family wants me home anyway. All my love!!!! And keep the comments and emails coming! Feel free to ask questions if you want me to post about something specific!

Wow, there is so much to write and I don't even know where to begin. Last Friday, after a few great days of Mauritania summer camp at the Peace Corps center, we left for our host families. I'm about a 15 minute walk from the center and the market. My family is great--there are tons of kids ranging from about 1 year old to 16, and i think some others who live in other towns. I'm still not sure whose kids are whose...there are several adults in the house, the mom's sister lives with us, but all the kids are just like everyone's kids. They're really nice to me, although they spend a lot of time talking about me in hassaniya (the local language i'll be learning after some more french). I hear blah blah blah Fatima (the name they gave me) hahaha! It's all good.

My best story so far happened the first day. I call it "how i accidentally converted to islam and then unconverted in one day":

About a few hours after I got to my house, I got mulafaed. I mulafa is basically a giant sheet of fabric that gets wrapped around the women. I wasn't surprised because a lot of the families do it to their toubabs (white people). THey had been making me repeat things in hassaniya all morning because they want me to speak it right away, so I just kind of went along with it. Mostly they would say something, I would repeat and then they'd explain: bread, peanut, come here, etc. But after they wrapped me in a mulafa they had me repeat something, and all of a sudden I hear "Allah" and I start thinking hmmm..... Then my mom sits me on a little bench and has me wash my hands. It was almost time for lunch so I was like yeah, OK, but then she told me to do it 3 times and then my face and feet. So I start thinking "oooooh shit" because this is what you do before praying. I told her I didn't understand but she just kept pouring water on me. Then she brought me over and told me to repeat again, and I kept repeating in French that I didn't understand, but my father was like "Fatima! Just repeat!" So I did. By the time I had realized what was going on, it was too late to go back. After praying we ate, and I took a nap. When I got up, Nana (my mom) brought me to the bench to wash my hands again, and I was like "No, I'm not supposed to." She didn't understand, and called over my father (who speaks better French). I explained to him that because we didn't grow up doing all the things that Islamic kids do, we don't know enough to have the right respect and we shouldn't pray. He liked that ("Ce bom Fatima, ce bom") and we moved on. They haven't made me do it since. Word spread fast among my fellow trainees, and I really made everyone's day.

Here's a sum up of the rest of my first week with my family:
-I ate goat. That's right, goat. It's chewy. I try to avoid it and eat around the meat and fish, but it's hard when you eat with your hands out of a communal bowl filled with rice, cous cous or pasta, meat or fish and sometimes veggies. They all push food at me, Fatima mange mange! They want to make me fat so Mauritanian men will like me. For breakfast we have what tastes like warm pancake mix. MMM. There are some good black eyed peas, though, and overall the food is Ok.
-The other thing they try to give me is milk. But we're talking the most intense whole milk ever. Also to make me fat. Yesterday we found a baby kitten on the way to my class and took him to school with us, so we give him my milk now. He's pretty gross and probably dying, but we like him. They let him stay at the school for now.
-We all sweat all the time here. Like all the time. You get used to it. Kind of.
-Kids follow me a lot on the street, and they love to shake your hand or talk to you a little. They ask for money sometimes, and we ignore them or say "what are you going ot give me??" They laugh at the toubabs a lot. It's all good.
-the most important thing here (other than filtering water...haven't been sick yet inshallah) is going with the flow. If you let things get to you, you will go crazy. People talk to/about you in languages you don't understand all the time, you're always covered in sweat and sand, there are bugs everywhere, trash covers all the streets...but if you just take things as they come, you enjoy yourself. You learn to love the little things, like being able to barter in the market, watching insane arab TV all day with your family, buying cold juice or ice cream, running into other PCTs on the street, remembering a few words your family teaches you.

There are so many things I want to say and to write, but my time is almost up. Hopefully I'll get pictures up soon! Also, if anyone wants to send letters or things, I will love you forever. Legit. Especially if it's candy. :) My address is:

Emily Nelson, PCT
Corps de le Paix
BP 222
Nouakchott, Mauritania

Please keep in touch, emails and comments are great. Phone calls are sweet too!

I'll end with I'm happy, healthy, sweaty, overwhelmed and looking forward to going home and taking a bucket bath! Mauritania is amazing.

All my love!!

Here I am!

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!

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!!!

Peace Corps Application Process

I want to preface this by saying that everyone’s application process is different. When I was in the middle of it, I spent a ton of time reading current volunteer’s blogs to find out how long it took them to get their medical clearance, invite, etc. to figure out how much longer I had to wait—this can help put your mind at ease, but it totally depends on your individual application.

I started the whole process in January 2007. I think I finished my on-line application by the end of January or early February, and then I had an interview up at school (I went to Middlebury College in VT). I was nominated on May 7. I didn’t start my medical/dental paperwork until I got home from school, but I sent it in at the end of June (I think they got it on the 25th or 26th). At that point, I didn’t think it would take very much time for me to get medically cleared. I have never had any serious medical problems and am ridiculously healthy. I got my dental papers back about a month later saying that I needed some cavities filled, but since that doesn’t hold up the invitation process I decided to wait until I got back from school (I spent the summer studying Portuguese). I tried to tell myself that it would take time and not run to my mailbox every day, but it was hard to put out of my mind.

The waiting continued through the summer and into the fall. I didn’t want to call the medical office because I didn’t want to come across as pushy, so I just waited. Finally by mid-September I decided that I had to figure out what was going on, and I called. They told me something about having to wait until at least the end of December or beginning of January to receive clearance, and I got off the phone feeling incredibly frustrated. How could it take six or seven months to review my very simple medical file? Well, it turns out that whomever I talked to must have been confused because I received medical clearance about four days later. I have no proof of this, but I think he must have been confused and looking at the date my file would be considered for an invitation based on the program date. I’m also convinced that if I hadn’t called, I would have waited even longer. I would advise anyone in this situation to give it a reasonable amount of time, but then to call and check in. Everyone says you should start your application early, but since I sent it in about a year before I wanted to leave I was at the bottom of the list in terms of priority.

So then the waiting continued, and I spent the majority of my free time scanning the internet, trying to figure out how long it usually took from receiving medical clearance to getting the invite. I then started getting emails from the placement office asking for an updated resume and for a confirmation of my earliest date of availability. Since I was graduating from college that February, I had originally said that I would be available in mid-May to give myself some time. However, after waiting so long I figured I would tell them that I could leave as early as the second week in February to give myself the best chance. I had a long series of back and forth emails about this date, and finally the placement officer just told me that he would add it to my file. Then I continued to wait.

By the end of December I was getting a little panicked, not because I was desperate to know where I was going but because no one could tell me if I was definitely in or not. They said that the majority of people who are medically cleared get invited, but no one could give me a guarantee. The problem was the timing; I was a little more than a month away from graduating, and started to worry that I wouldn’t get in and then would be jobless. Peace Corps was by far my first choice, but I worried about what would happen if I didn’t get in and hadn’t applied for anything else. When I went home for winter break, I decided to email the placement office about my concerns to see if there was anything they could do. That’s when the real craziness started. After several confusing emails, the guy from the office that I had been talking to told me to call him so he could explain everything. He told me that the program I had been nominated for (Community Development, Portuguese-speaking Africa, April 08) had been moved to late June, which was causing the hold-up in my application process. The Peace Corps reviews files by date the applicant is scheduled to leave rather than order in which the application is complete, which I can understand but is still really frustrating for those of us trying to plan ahead and get everything done on time. I felt like I was getting screwed for getting my application in early and that people who waited until the last minute were getting preference. I then found out that the program had again been bumped back, this time until late July. The problem, the P.O. explained, was that they didn’t consider applicants for the July programs until at least early February. At that point, I tried to explain without bursting into tears of frustration that I couldn’t wait until February because I wouldn’t be able to plan my post-grad time (for example, I thought about traveling but wouldn’t be able to make plans because I could receive an invite saying I was leaving in as little as six weeks). He then asked me if I had finished my medical forms, and was totally shocked to hear that I had been medically cleared for three months. He told me to hold on for a minute, then came back and told me that if I would be willing to teach English instead of community development and to learn French, he could move me to a program in a Francophone African country and consider my application immediately. I think my response went something like this:

Emily: “Uhhhhh.....what? How do I learn French?”

Smooth. He told me that it didn’t have to be at Middlebury, that I could take a class anywhere and have the teacher give them an update on my progress. I considered it, and then told him yes. He said to write him an email with written confirmation of my agreement to learn French (since I told him that I didn’t want to sign up for a class until I knew that I would actually need to). It was around the 16th or 17th of December at this point, and when I asked how long it would take to consider my file, he told me that guy who makes the official nomination switch was in that day but that he probably wouldn’t be able to get to it right away so I would have to wait until the end of the month or early January (they were about to leave for the Christmas holiday). I didn’t really know what to think at that point. I had gotten kind of attached to leaving in April and going to a Portuguese speaking country, but I realized that the only reason I felt that way was because that was what they had originally told me. In my application, I said I would go anywhere and I meant it. I started to look at the on-line map and read about the countries I could possible go to, and I got really excited. So I resigned myself to a few more weeks of waiting.

Then, for the first time in the whole application process, I got lucky. The next day, my on-line toolkit reported that my application review was complete and that my invitation had been sent. Unfortunately, I hadn’t updated my address because I didn’t expect it until I got back to school, so it was on its way to Vermont while I was in Massachusetts. I had to wait until after Christmas, but luckily my parents were going up to Vermont on the 27th and agreed to go to the college and check my mail for me. We weren’t sure if they would let her get my mail or not, and I was totally prepared to get hysterical and cry on the phone to the people at the mail center and beg them to give her my mail. But one of the best things about going to a small college in the middle of Vermont is the trust—they gave it to her without any problems. She called me and told me that I was going to Mauritania, and I can honestly say that I have never been so excited.

So that’s the long story. It took about a year from submitting my application to receiving the invitation, but it was worth the wait. For anyone going through this, I would suggest keeping in contact with the Peace Corps whenever you have questions or worry about the status of your application. Don’t be unreasonable about it (it will take time, that’s just a fact), but if you have questions about what’s holding up the process, don’t hesitate to call or email them.

I hope this helps! Feel free to ask any questions!

First Post

So I feel a little weird posting here already because I haven't left the US yet, but I figure it's a good idea to get everything up and running before I leave. I can't wait! At some point soon I'll write a post about my application experience and everything--reading other people's blogs was really helpful when I went through it.

As for right now, there's nothing too exciting to say. I'm trying to learn French, which is going...well, it's going OK I guess. My class is a lot slower paced than I'm used to (anyone from Midd, regular midd or language school, knows what I'm talking about!). I'm hoping to spend a week in Montreal doing an immersion program at the end of this month, so we'll see. I feel like if I could get just a little more under my belt I could just use the Rosetta Stone and find a conversation partner here in Boston. It gets so frustrating because I can read a lot and my brain feels like I should be able to speak it, but that's not quite the case. Everyone keeps asking me why the Peace Corps didn't send me somewhere Spanish or Portuguese speaking, but I'm really looking forward to picking up new languages. I just hope I'm not totally incompetent when I get there!

Alrighty, that's all for now. More to come soon!