In the two months since my last post, more has happened than the previous five months in Mauritania. After Thanksgiving, I returned to Magta Lahjar the same day as my site mate. We were told immediately that the owner of the house, who lives in Nouakchott, was recently married, and therefore wanted to move back into his own house. For one month. We had about 12 hours to find a new place and move out. A friend had heard of our misfortune, and came to show us a house that was available to rent. It was about three houses down from the house we were getting kicked out of, and would only be a small amount more per month. We didn’t even look before we decided to stay. The next morning, we began to move all of our possessions via donkey cart. When we first opened the doors to our new house, we were stunned. The house was huge!! Two bedrooms. A kitchen room. A shower room. A salon (living room). A huge entry way. Then there were the perks of having a concrete (not tin) roof, which keeps the house cooler. The roof is also accessible by some stairs, so the perfect perch to watch the camels walking to the dunes every morning to graze. The yard is huge (for Razza) and the walls are fairly high, so creepers won’t be an issue. There are also huge metal doors and metal lattice on all of the windows. I definitely feel more secure here. We’ve decided to stay here. If someone else is interested in the house, they’ll double our rent. But until then, we have probably one of the best housing deals I’ve heard of in Mauritania!
So, I spent the three weeks leading up to Christmas enjoying my new house, listening to Christmas music with the slew of volunteers passing through Magta Lahjar, and trying to feel all warm and fuzzy. I had heard talk of how amazing Nouakchott would be from second year volunteers. A couple of days before, I went to Aleg to convene with all of the first years that would be taking a car to Nouakchott together. The ride to Nouakchott was quick and painless. Then we had our first Nouakchott taxi experience. The taxi driver told us he knew where both hotels we needed to go to were. After driving around for about an hour and asking every person on the street where the hotels were, we finally got to our hotel. The hotels we stay in are arranged by the Peace Corps. As it would be difficult to fit over 100 people in one hotel (hotels aren’t very large in Nouakchott), we were split between four hotels, and divided by regions we live in. I was in the “Welcome” with my fellow North Braknians. The room I was in one was one of the smallest ones in the hotel, but still exceeded my expectations! There was a queen size bed, a bathroom with a hot shower, a kitchen area, and a breakfast nook. Thus began my list of
“Things I Haven’t Done In Six Months”
• Take a hot shower
• Sleep on a bed
• Use toilet paper
• Use an elevator
• Be completely emerged in water (Bathtub! Ocean!)
• Looked in a mirror larger than a sheet of notebook paper
• Wear pants in public
• Wear shorts and a tank top in public (this didn’t happen until St. Louis)
• Have a beer at a bar
• Been served at a restaurant
• Walk down the street holding hands with a member of the opposite sex (Also St. Louis)
• Wear a bathing suit (St. Louis)
• See my drivers license
• Said the phrase “I recommend the stuffed crab. It’s absolutely delectable!”
• Hold American dollars
• Leave Mauritania
• EAT PIZZA!!!!!
• Wear a seatbelt
After getting showers and changing into American clothes (jeans, tee-shirt, no head wrap), I went to the Chinese restaurant with some other volunteers. After filling our stomachs and enjoying our freedoms, it was time for a little nap. That evening, our Peace Corps Country Director, Obie, was having a special celebration at his house for the volunteers. Before we headed to Obie’s for the Christmas Eve celebration, we went to the only bar in town, Schenker’s, built exclusively for non-Mauritanians. You have to give your ID at the door to prove you’re a foreigner. They do this because it’s illegal for Mauritanian’s to consume alcohol or enjoy the savory taste of pork, both of which are served at Schenker’s. It’s mostly enjoyed by the embassy workers who live in Nouakchott. After meeting up with some other volunteers, we all took off for Obie’s house. A few of the second year volunteers had been chosen to prepare the appetizer-like food. It was incredible how delicious everything was! It was a wonderful evening of seeing all of my friends who I hadn’t seen in four months. Being able to catch up with everyone was really wonderful.
Christmas morning was bittersweet. I was really happy to be in Nouakchott and be surrounded by these people who have grown so close to me in the last six months. But, of course, it was really hard thinking about what would be going on at home. Stockings and breakfast casserole at Mom and Barry’s. Recovering from eating too many homemade enchiladas and chile relleno Christmas Eve, opening stockings with Dad and Donna. Hanging out with my brothers all day. So to forget my sorrows, I decided to stuff myself with Pizza!!!! When that first bite of deliciously melted cheese and warm sauce on a crunchy crust hit my lips, I had to fight back the tears. Six months have I been craving this!! Now, the pizza tasted like what a frozen pizza would taste like. Nothing gourmet, but nonetheless, amazing. I spent the afternoon with Adam and our two dogs, Razza and Miles. That night, we headed back to Obie’s to spend Christmas with everyone.
The next day, we took our time getting packed and ready to leave. We had breakfast at Equinox, one of the two establishments in Nouakchott owned by Americans, and had eggs, coffee, orange juice, croissants, and toast and jam for breakfast. I miss breakfast restaurants! Mid-afternoon, a group of us all got a car and began our return journey to Rosso. Upon arrival, we were pretty far from the volunteers’ house we were staying in, but decided to walk. As we were stomping through piles of trash, I began to remember how disgusting Rosso is. After dropping our luggage at the house, we took off for the camel burger restaurant! While waiting for the food, I was close enough to my host family’s house to stop in and say hello. They were really happy to see me, but almost immediately, my host mom started telling me about how she lost her job, her sister just died, and they don’t have any money. Luckily I had to get back to the restaurant, so didn’t have to be put in the same awkward situation she consistently put me in during stage. The next few days were spent relaxing and counting down the minutes until we were in St. Louis.
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