The Color Orange

It’s been quite a week! On Sunday I saw Oulata, an ancient settlement that’s archeologically significant, courtesy of Woodside, who let Edna, Heather, Brooke from Aioun and I come with them. The ‘road’ there, especially going north, is terrible so it was nice to be in a good vehicle (can I have a Land Rover for Christmas?). Taff, btw, would NOT let me drive.

While there, we met another American, Will Doherty, who is really cool! He’s writing a novel on prehistoric Africa and has been traveling through Egypt, Sudan, Chad, Mali, Senegal, and now Mauritania--pretty much anywhere that has significant sites. We had a great visit and he said he would try to get in touch when he came back through Nema.

Tuesday morning I got the key to my new home! I have been looking forward to having ma propre maison for some time and it finally happened. It’s actually not too bad, even by American standards, and I have a light in my duush (bathroom)! That is like the coolest thing to me-you can’t imagine the significance if you don’t live here. I now actually look forward to getting up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom! I have a light! Wheeee!

Anyway, Tuesday morning I was in the marsa (market) buying buckets and someone called my name. It was Will! He had just arrived from Oulata and I just happened to be there. The car for Nara, another ancient site, didn’t leave until the next day, so he graciously helped me shop for my house, went to Woodside with Dave, and helped Heather cook dinner. The big treat was after dinner when he read excerpts for us. I was impressed. I’m always sceptical of historical fiction (though I love reading it), but I was carried away by his exquisite use of imagery and visible love for his characters. I feel I also connected better to the depictions of daily life in the story because I’m living it, just a little. It wouldn’t mean the same to me if I were not in Africa.

That was such a fun visit, Will. Thank you and safe travels. You’ll have to come through Nema again for a book signing. We just have to work on getting a Borders out here. Talk about a positive impact!

(Follow the link above to Will’s site)

Allow me to introduce you to Hawa, my host 'sister' (she's actually my host mom's cousin). This is Hawa and her mother (who comes from Cote d'Ivoire) and her little sister Selma one morning in October. Hawa is about 22 and has finished lycee, or high school, and is hoping to sit for the baccalaureat in the spring. She lived in Cote d'Ivoire until about six years ago and speaks Bambara, Hassaniya, French, and a good amount of English. She is studying for the science Bac (in French) and hopes to be a doctor. She dreams of going to school in Belgium or Canada.

Hawa has been a major blessing for me. She really has been like a sister and has gotten me through some ugly days. She shares a birthday with my dad and reminds me of my own sister in many ways. I would have left my homestay long ago if she hadn't decided to take a job at the mayor's office and remain in Nema. She has a wonderful sense of humor, is tres intelligente, borrows my eyeliner, and is empathetic and in many ways more perceptive and understanding than many of the older host nationals I know. There are cultural barriers and misperceptions, to be sure, but Hawa 'gets it.' And we enjoy laughing together. I miss my sister so much sometimes, thank God for Hawa.

I wear the mulafa well because I have stylish women like Hawa to imitate. Just as in any culture, some women wear clothing better, no matter what it is, from mulafas to bikinis. Hawa is super stylish-you can tell she's spent alot of time in Nouakchott. She's also a fantastic cook and I absolutely loathe the weekends she goes to the badiya (countryside) to rest and visit her family. Forgive my French, but everyone else's food sucks. C'est vrai!

I'm moving into my own house soon and Hawa will probably go to Nouakchott. I will miss her but think we'll still see each other and, hey, it's Mauritania. It's really impossible to burn bridges-even if you want to! I call my host family in Initi every few weeks. If I don't, they call me and ask if I'm dead or something. Plus there's the guy I can't remember meeting who thinks he's madly in love with me. Everybody send good thoughts and prayers Hawa's way-she's up against alot here in the RIM and will need all the luck, grace, whatever you can spare.

Traveling mercies, Hawa. A handful of women like you could turn the world on its ear, alhamdulillah!

This was taken about two weeks ago looking east along the market quarter road near the DRAS (or regional medical administratin). I had just been to a sensibilization given by my sitemate, Dave, at the Centre de Sante where mothers bring their babies for vaccinations and growth checks. He talked to them about the best foods for children and mothers to ensure proper health and growth. It's hard for anyone here to achieve a balanced diet. The cuisine is carb heavy (rice, pasta, couscous, bread) with vegetable oil, sometimes low grade meat, beans and root veggies if you're lucky. What's really interesting to us is that most of the mothers (and most people here) don't posess basic knowledge about nutrition and health. I know nothing compared to an American doctor, but here my medical knowledge seems prodigious.

After seeing Dave's talk, I went to the Women's Ministry where I work with the Jardin des Enfants (kindergarden/preschool) every morning. It's exhausting but I hope this new program will give the kids a leg up. Maybe they'll stay in school longer if they're better prepared for primary school.

On Saturdays I team teach English and French with Heather. It's an academic club composed of middle and high school students. The girls and guys do things separately but they share the same space. It's actually really nice-the culture promotes separation of the sexes but forces girls and boys to learrn together in public school. This means the girls gradually allow the boys to dominate, particularly in the upper levels. I'm biased (for it!) about single-sex education, but here it just seems to make sense! Why don't they do it? I envision a plethora of kick ass women and maybe that's the problem. They'd turn the country on its ear! But I hope our two hours a week can help these girls just a little. It's a start.

We're entering the dry (or winter) season here. I'm acclimatised just enough that the drop in temp (it's what, 90 now?) feels really cold! Especially my bucket shower in the morning! Whoo-hoo!

My brithday was the 26th of October and I woke up that morning on the roof of my family’s house (this is normal!) and actually thought about turning 28. I usually don’t think about where I‘ve been in the last year and what this new age means but I did this time. I’m two years away from 30, living in a country where indoor plumbing is highly unusual, teaching English AND French as second languages, turning down marriage proposals a couple times a week, finding friends-good ones-who don’t speak English, learrning to trust the most unlikely people, figuring out I’ve led a very sheltered life in some aspects (which may be why I’m attracted to immature men). I also have alot to learn, but I’m waking up on a rooftop! That is way cool!

How do I want to change or be better in the coming year? I want to love more, be more patient (mainly with myself), bake an awesome cake in a brousse oven, learn French reeeeeally well so I can actually be qualified to teach it, learn to read Arabic, visit Mali, and wear a bikini in San Luis, Senegal! (it’s now or never because I’ll never be thinner in my life-it’s the RIM weight loss program) All this and inshallah.

Above is me with Taff, the security coordinator for the Woodside team here in Nema. He graciously let Heather, Edna, and Lisa and Anna from Aioun, bake me a cake in Woodside's kitchen. It was so good (first cake I had eaten in four months!). It made my day!