ti2ger

After another month, I am over half way done with my service! It is fitting that my birthday is a few days after the day I became a volunteer, because being a volunteer has had such an effect on my me, that marking the completion of my first year of services seems every bit as important as marking the 24th year of my life. The previous month has seemed a bit longer than normal. Even though there were positive things that happened, I felt like they were points of light in a general darkness. The past month I’ve felt like a sailor caught in the doldrums, trapped by forces beyond my control. Soon after my most recent blog, a good friend and colleague chose to leave service early, and went home. That, along with the ... read more

Hello, folks. It’s been some time since my last post, so I wanted to let you all know that I’m still here. I am still giving lessons, still working out computer problems, and still getting out into the community. I am, though, I must admit, a bit winded. As some of you know, my computer was stolen from my house while I was sleeping on my roof. It was stolen around 3 weeks ago. The thieves broke the lock on my door, came in, took only the laptop in its case, and left without waking me up. The machine was nice, and I’m certainly sorry I lost it; especially considering that my parents graciously helped me out when purchasing it. The real loss, however, is data. From pictures to documents to contact information (even birthdays), ... read more

Many of you have heard of the idea of a French alliance. There is probably one in every major city in the US. The idea is that people in other countries can learn the culture of the French, and thus the French culture will spread and stay alive. We have one such center here in Atar, and it is terrific. The center offers all kind of resources, centering on language training. For the equivalent of about $14, anyone in Atar can take a 2 month long course in French, with a heavy emphasis on practical applications. I have been taking one of these classes, and have enjoyed it thoroughly. It allows me to learn language in a classroom environment, and interact with other classmates in French. At the same time, it gives me a window ... read more

A kid named Muhammad Ould Brahim has been hanging around me of late, and against my better judgment, I have let him. In Mauritania, children are raised much differently than in the states. It is not seemly for a child in Mauritania to address an adult, and adults who encourage this by responding to them are encouraging bad behavior. However, Muhammad has a history of seeing me on the street, giving useful advice, and not asking for any money in return, which is a particularly endearing quality to me these days. One day I was hanging out with a friend of mine who sells trinkets to tourists in the market, when Muhammad invited me to have tea with his family that evening. I thought it might be fun, so I agreed. When I came over, ... read more

I am no longer a website owner, and am now a mere blogger. You may recall my excitement over my new website only a month ago, but it is now, tragically, gone. The address was staff.washington.edu/ti2ger92, and it was plenty of free space for me to use. The problem, though, was right there in the address. Indeed, I used to be a very productive staff member at the University of Washington, but I no longer am. As soon as our Computing services saw some activity on the website, they informed me that they were going to shut it down, making me web-homeless again. I did some searching around the internet, found a Moroccan Peace Corps volunteer had decided to post here, at travelblogs.org, and found that I too liked the features. So, I decided to ... read more