Softball in Africa

As soon as life started to calm down from Christmas and New Years, it seemed like a month was gone and it was time for WAIST. I spent the couple of weeks before WAIST at site. My APCD (director of SED) came to visit and offered some helping words and some good ideas. Another volunteer, Janna, from Aleg also came to visit and go see the good people of Lekrae with me. I was thankful to have someone who is as knowledgeable in gardening as she was. She had many great ideas of where she could help their cooperatives. They were so thankful to have her there that they gifted us with a ton of fresh vegetables straight from their garden!

The week before WAIST, I wasn’t feeling so great and investigated in my medical handbook what it could be. I won’t describe the symptoms, but nothing too terrible. (You can google it and see for yourself) It seems my symptoms were typical of someone who has Giardia. While I was a little bummed about getting my first “real” sickness in Mauritania, I was glad I discovered it before WAIST so I could take the meds and be done before I left. I went to Aleg a couple of days before we were supposed to be in Rosso to drop off Razza with some region mates who would look after her. We all went to the old training center in Rosso by way of taxi to Nouakchott and bus to Rosso, arranged by the WAIST coordinators. It was a little weird being back at the training center as a volunteer. There was a schedule posted with events through the end of summer, which included Mid-Term Reconnect for all of the first year volunteers, the date of the arrival of the new trainees, the date of site announcement and site visit, and the day of swear in for the new volunteers. The realization started to sink in that I’ll be getting a new GEE site mate to replace Chelsey next year. It will be hard for someone to fill her shoes, but I’m always excited about meeting new people. We had our Safety and Security briefing in Rosso the day before our trip. The PC Mauritania team is known as the “Pirates”, which encompasses all pirate related themes. We received our shirts to indicate which team we were on. The observers, who don’t play on a team, are the “Poopdeck Seamen” and have navy blue shirts. The C-Team, which is my team, is the “Scallywags” and have yellow shirts. The B-Team is the “Buccaneers” and have green shirts. Our A-Team is the Pirates and they have black shirts. The afternoon was passed by practicing our awesome softball moves.

On Friday the 13th, we loaded up two busses early in the morning. It seemed like the longest part of the trip was getting from Rosso-Mauritania to Rosso-Senegal. We had to cross the river on a ferry (a total of about 50 yards. It’s ridiculous, but they refuse to build a bridge) and pass through customs on the Senegal side. The bus ride was rather pleasant. It wasn’t too hot and the seats were comfortable. As the day passed and the hours dragged on, the bus became more lively and rambunctious. We arrived in Dakar in the late afternoon. The busses dropped off people that would be staying in “Home stays” at the American Club, then took the rest of us to the hotel we’d be staying in. The hotel wasn’t five star, but it was comfortable. There were two bathrooms/showers on our hall, and each room had multiple beds in them. As soon as we checked in and took quick showers, I went downstairs with a few other volunteers to the restaurant right next door, called Ali Baba’s. I know it surprises you, but I ordered a pizza. It was so delicious. They use more cheese in Dakar than in Nouakchott. Not long after dinner, it was time for bed, as the next day would be the start of WAIST and sleep would be needed.

A little explanation of WAIST, for those who might be a little confused at this point. WAIST is the West African Invitational Softball Tournament. Mostly ex-pats from all over West Africa attend. While Peace Corps makes up a large percent of the people there, other teams compete as well. For example, there is a team from Nouakchott that consists of the families that own the two American restaurants there, and other Americans that live in Nouakchott. There was a team of high school students whose parents work in Embassy’s in Dakar. It’s meant to be a family-friendly weekend. I heard there were about 65 teams, but I only counted about 30. There are two divisions: the competitive league and the social league. All three teams of Peace Corps RIM are in the social league. A little bit of background about our teams: The Scallywags are traditionally the lowest, most non-competitive, non-talented team for PC RIM. We go to have a good time and ONLY that. Winning is not important. The Buccaneers take it a little more seriously. They want to have a good time, but they also want to win. Then there are the Pirates. The Pirates are our best team that people have to try out to make the team. They take their games very seriously and are in it for the trophy.

Most everyone in the hotel was up with the sun and out the door to get taxis to the American Club bright and early. We were all decked out in our pirate gear and ready to play ball. The American Club was amazing. I hadn’t felt so close to America since I’d left. Lush, green grass. A beautiful, clean pool. Thatch umbrellas covering the lounge chairs. A concession stand with real ballpark hamburgers. A bar. Three baseball fields. It was more than I could have imagined. The Scallywags, my team, were first up to play. We all started the day right with a bloody mary and headed to the field. So, our first game was against Peace Corps Gambia. Last year we tied them for last place. It was a rematch. We all went out on the field, goofed around, and had a blast. I think we won, but we weren’t really keeping track.

With three fields, there was constantly a game to watch. Almost always, one of our teams was playing. I didn’t really follow who was winning or losing. I know our Pirates were doing awesome, and that’s all that mattered. All of the volunteers for Peace Corps Mauritania were always at every game supporting our players. One of our volunteers carried around a boom box on her head and rocked out some tunes, so there was constantly a dance party. In between games, we’d relax by the pool, eating the amazingly-American food, sipping on beers, and getting to know other Peace Corps countries. We tended to bond well with Peace Corps Gambia. Throughout the course of WAIST, we ended up planning a big trip for them to come see us, and for us to go see them. It’s good to know people in other countries. For two days, the games continued and the good times were had. The first night I had a nice pizza dinner with Adam for Valentine’s Day. The second night, there was a party the Peace Corps volunteers at WAIST at this little club right on the ocean.

The third day of WAIST is perhaps the most important. It’s the tournament. The Buccaneers and Scallywags never expect to make it. However, the Pirates not only are expected to make it to the tournament, but are expected to win it. Last year was the first year that we’ve gone to WAIST that we didn’t win it. We lost in the last game to a team of Senegalese people from Dakar. This year, we cheered on every game of the day until the championship game. We were up against the same team we lost to last year. The championship game took place on a field about a five minute walk from the American Club. I liked this field because it looked out over the ocean, but more importantly because there were hot dogs and Lay’s potato chips. We all watched the game, not stopping the cheers for one second. Peace Corps Gambia, Mali, Guinea, and Senegal all had people come support us. We were neck and neck with the other team for a few innings, then ran away with the game. When it was officially over, we all stormed the field and celebrated. The trophy was coming back to Mauritania!

The party got started right after the game with PC RIM taking over the American Club. There was an attempt by the Pirates to do a team jump into the pool, but was quickly averted by the pool cleaners. It was a really clean pool. We enjoyed the success for the rest of the afternoon, then Adam and I left a little early to have our own celebration over another one of Mr. Ali Baba’s pizzas. They were SO GOOD! Eventually people filtered back to their home-stays and the hotel to clean up for the banquet. I won’t say much about the banquet. I haven’t mentioned how cool the weather was in Dakar, but the nights were down right chilly. In long pants and long sleeve shirts, one still needed more covering to keep from shivering. The banquet was outside and started at 7pm. We all sat uncomfortably at what would have been a beautiful setting. We waited for about 2 ½ hours before dinner was served. We scarfed down the food before it got cold. The announcement of the trophy winners was exciting. The Pirates received their enormous trophy. After the ceremonies, the music started and the dancing began. Except we were too cold and hungry (the food got cold fast) to have any fun, so left to go get more pizza.
We left the next morning to visit the beautiful St. Louis, as a resting stop on the way back to Mauritania. The ride to St. Louis was about 5 hours. We stayed two nights to rest before the great journey home. With a taxi to Rosso-Senegal, a boat across the river, a taxi that was off road for 100km between Rosso and Boghe, and a taxi from Boghe to Aleg, we made it to North Brakna in one day from St. Louis. A total of about 12 hours of travelling. We were worn out, but happy to see Razza. The next morning, we headed to Magta Lahjar. I never thought I’d be happy to be here and not travelling for a couple of months. It was unfortunate that on the way from Senegal to Mauritania, I seemed to have come down with a cold, that advanced into pneumonia once I got to Magta Lahjar. The symptoms haven’t been fun, but having the excuse to sit at home and do nothing for a few days has been a nice break.

In the upcoming days, I’ll be getting back out there to hang out with cooperatives and NGO’s in town. Next month, I’ll be in Nouakchott for two days getting Razza spayed and getting her the vaccinations she needs. In April, my big vacation arrives at the end of the month and I’ll be off to South Africa!! With the hot season just now starting, I will definitely be ready for that break. After South Africa, it’s June, which is one year since I arrived. I can hardly believe that it’s been almost a year since I found out my fate of living in Mauritania. It’s even harder to believe that I’ve kept a blog for an entire year! Thanks for keeping up with me and I’ll update if anything interesting happens before South Africa!