Blogs from Mauritania, Africa - page 7

Apparently the average person in the UK uses 200 litres of water a day, for drinking, cooking, cleaning, toilets etc. For the past week we have been surviving on 6 to 8 litres a day...the result is not a pleasant sight or smell! Well we have made it through the big sand pit as far as the capital of Mauritania, mostly in one piece. The truck is suffering slightly with a leaking fuel tank, not what you want to find out half way across the sahara! What can I say about the Sahara? It is BIG! There is a lot of SAND! It is hot and windy. Sand can cover every inch of your body in about 20 seconds out here. Flies will home in on your head in 10 seconds out here. There are rarely ... read more

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

Hello, folks. It’s been a long time since I posted a blog, and I’m sorry about that. As I mentioned in my first blog, I intend to post every two weeks, but our internet access has been interrupted, so I wasn’t able to post in the last cycle. Thanks to all of you for being patient, and thanks to all of you who reminded me to put up a blog by email, but unfortunately I haven’t been able to read email, either. When I post blogs, I usually try to write about important events because I think they are more exciting, but at the end of the day I think that my most important work with the Peace Corps happens when things are calm, and I’m running my routine. I’ve been asked several times what ... read more

I don't like to quote the lonely planet, but this very much is the landscape of MADMAX. Car wrecks, flocks of camels and nomads dressed in layers of light, pale-indigo coloured cloth blowing in the wind; with six metre long pieces of cloth wrapped around their heads covering all but the sand blistered eyes. Crossing the border into Mauritania is a glimpse of African bureocracy to come. The actual crossing took us about four hours. We had to stop and show our passports at six places to answer irrelevant questions and to wait for the police/gendarme/military/visa-issuer and so on, to decide for how long time to hold us. Realizing that it would have paid of to attend french-class instead of German back in high-school. In Nouadhibou we found our self a dormitory to share with some ... read more