The Color Orange

Above is my regionmate, Kristi, during the opening remarks at a karate exhibition in Kaedi at the lycee (where my class had our training way back in the beginning). You shouldn't have any trouble picking her out. ;) The martial arts are pretty popular here. Kung-fu films are always on in video shops and MBC2 (Moroccan Broadcasting Channel) runs nothing but American action films. People ask if I know Jack Bauer personally.

Otherwise, work is going well in M'Bagne. I'm trying to be patient about GRE scores and hearing from schools so being busy helps. Am also applying to jobs, just for the kicks. Having a crush on another volunteer occupies some of my waking moments. Query: people are always saying "Sarah, I don't know you that well, but you seem nice." Am I bland? Boring? Just nice? Ack. To misquote Jessica Rabbit, "I'm not really good, I'm just drawn that way." What do I have to do, get a perm, wear black spandex and start chain-smoking? (ten points if you get THAT reference)

Enough of that. I yam what I yam, sigh. And according to Cosmo Horoscopes, things don't get really interesting for Scorpio until the fall, anyway!

Good news! My regionmate, Justin’s, fencing project has been fully funded! A friend of his is a journalist and wrote an article. In a single day, the project received as much money as it had in three months. That is so cool and makes me really happy. Fencing is such a simple idea, but very important here where animals and the elements destroy structures with great frequency. Plus, many communities lack the technical skill to build effective fencing. The fact that Justin can make an impact on a basic need level renews my own sense of initiative. Girls’ Education is a much more complex issue, but if I can break it down a bit, maybe I can actually accomplish something. Though, in the end it’s not about me!

The picture above is from one of our sport days with the GMC girls in Aioun. They’re doing yoga, or trying! There is a girl’s basketball team sponsored by the community in M’Bagne, but only Pulaar girls play and they don’t have alot of resources (their court is packed earth with wooden hoop posts). There are several Moor girls in the center and they are not allowed to participate in organized sports, especially if men are around. The sport days in Aioun worked because it was just the girls and female volunteers in a walled compound. I want to start doing indoor sports at the center. We have some jump ropes and can play music for dancing but I want to get a large table and solicit someone from home (hint, hint) to send table tennis paddles and balls. That would be a perfect sport for the girls, easy to do in a veil, indoors. It’s competitive and requires coordination. We are also going to start crotchet, soon, inshallah. I have seen many women (and men) in M’Bagne doing crotchet. Makes me think I should learn! It looks so easy and quick!

Anyway, I’m ready to buckle down for the next two months until International Women’s Day March 8th. Hopefully we’ll have a big, awareness-raising party in M’Bagne. After that I’ll go to Nouakchott to get my cat fixed, go north to Atar for the marathon, then back to Nouakchott for our Close of Service (COS) conference. I can’t focus beyond that. Oh, and filling out the FAFSA! Yeay! So much fun!

It's alot harder, this time. Hot showers, real streets, electricity, a culture I can understand easily-now that the end of PC is drawing near, I'm chomping at the bit, just a little. At least we'll always have Las Palmas. The picture was taken near Roque Nublo in the interior of the island.