When life throws surprises at you

If you had asked me two months ago where I would be in 3 months I would have told you I knew where I was going to be, what I was going to do, and what the future had in store for me. To have that taken away from me has been nothing but difficult. In this roller coaster ride of trying to figure out what tomorrow is going to be for me every time I start going in one direction something happens and I'm thrown another way. Is life really supposed to be this difficult and complicated? Previous life experiences and the Peace Corps have definitely proven to me that I can survive and come out on top. The ride to get there though will be nothing but a lonely challenge.
Until the next step. Peace.

The end and a new beginning

Peace Corps has officially suspended it's program in Mauritania. I have decided to COS and look into re-instating or re-enrolling depending on the options. What does that mean.... I'm going to be a tourist for a while and then I'll probably be back in the States. I'm not really sure yet what I'm doing so.... just be patient and wait. When I figure it out I'll let you know. This officially ends my blog as a PCV in RIM. I will probably continue stuff, but it'll just be me, Jacque, nothing to do with PC.

Shakespeare's Language

Before I head off to Senegal, just wanted to remind you that the website for the radio program is www.englishfm.tk

With the links on the left, you can see more about the program, but also the page that says "listen to the show," well, go there (and then 4shared), create an account, and then download the files. You'll be able to listen to the program! We haven't been able to do a live stream, but we can put the audio files up. Episodes 3-5 are each one file. Episode 3 & 5 can be played with anything that plays mp3 files. The rest of the episodes (1, 2, & 4) can only be played with VLC. I have a link on the bottom of the radio website where you can go to download the program. I hope you all listen to the program!

I was able to help my mom do it, so if you have questions, give her a call and she can help you! ;)
Peace out!

Off to Senegal!

Well, I shouldn't have expected anything less. It's summertime, we just had the presidential elections, and we are in need of a "reconnect." So PC is sending me to Senegal. Yeah!!!!! I'm off on Monday and will be back???? Once I'm back I will get the pictures up along with some amazing senegalese stories. Corbin is going to have to stay in NDB. She's going to be lonely but she'll love me to death when I come back.

So off to the hot, mosquito-infested town in Senegal I go. Can't wait! Updates when I return.

I'm finally getting settled in.

That's right, settled in, I finally moved and thus have created for myself many more problems. Maylen decided to leave, so I moved into her apartment. It's in the same neighborhood so I only had a five minute walk to move everything. Not bad. So I packed almost everything up. Lrb and his friends were going to move me which I was really excited about. In asking when they were going to come so I could plan and be ready for it, they showed up and in the course of 30 minutes everything was transferred from one place to the other. Now I wasn't planning to move everything at that point but ended up moving it all so there was some typical Mauritanian chaos. Everything got moved and I am very grateful for their help. During this time I also had a French couch surfer (from Maylen) staying with me. So Laure, Corbin, and I moved all our stuff into the new place and spent the first night hoping Corbin would kill any cockroaches that hadn't been killed off yet. Luckily during the night nothing went into my ears.

Next step, get a screen door for Corbin. You see this door is right by the living area and Corbin can easily access it. Before, the door was at the bottom of stairs and I never let her go down them so she was always away from the door. Well, I got her a screen door and figured I might as well get her some climbing/scratching posts along with some ledges to perch on. I'm pretty proud of what was made. I of course had it made but used my carpentry skills to cover it in carpet. It's sweet and Corbin absolutely loves it! She climbs, scratches and plays in her "area" all the time. The carpenter was like; you're seriously doing this for you cat? I was like, yep! It was funny. I'm realizing more and more lately that she is spoiled.

After getting Corbin settled into the quieter, calmer place, I got myself settled in. I'm still working on decorating, but for the most part everything is set. I'm working on getting the Internet. It's well, taken thus far 2.5 weeks and by the end of this week I hope to have it installed. We'll see though.

Otherwise, a few things going on this past month...

- Mike organized an English camp for the students of NDB. It was pretty cool. We had about 500 students and 10 or 11 teachers participating. It was a good experience because next year we hope to do it again just bigger! So this way we figured out what works/doesn't and will be able to improve it for next year.

- I turned 25!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yep that's right. I'm a quarter century old. Man time is flying by. I always thought I'd be married and having kids at this point. I don't think I'm quite ready for that yet.

- The RIM government had elections yesterday. I'm still waiting to hear the results because they're not completely counted yet. They're going to be coming out sometime today and instead of researching it myself, I'm just going to wait for Lrb to tell me. That I know of, everything was peaceful and calm. We had no problems here in NDB but in NKTT Friday night they caught the people that killed the American a few weeks ago. So, that's good that they got them. One was killed, one was injured, and one escaped.

- I've tried to go down to NKTT three times now in the past three months to get Corbin spayed but every time something has prevented me from going. However, in August I have some training in NKTT for the PC. So, assuming that doesn't get canceled, I'll get it done then.

Once I get internet in my place I'll put more pictures up. Here are some of my new place just to entice you.

Corbin's hangout spot and climbing post.

My living room

My bed room with Corbin's catsle

My office

Much overdue updates

So a few things (other than mom) have been going on here.

First off, I started a radio program to learn English. It's awesome! We found a way to put the sound files online so in addition to visiting our website you can listen to the program online. I will get you the link once we get it up.

The elections that were supposed to be held on June 6th got postponed. This is technically a good thing because it means that they will have an internationally accepted election. It is good for the country to be legitimized. It has posed some problems however, in getting visas (for Americans). Americans haven't been able to get visas to RIM since about February and this has affected the new trainees who were supposed to be coming over next week.

Yep, stage (what I did last summer) is postponed for the trainees because of visa issues. It will hopefully get worked out with the elections which are now July 18th and a second round if needed (and very likely) August 1st. This means I will no longer be going down to Rosso to help the new stagiaires. Depending on if they can get their visas before the next school year begins, I may be going down to Rosso yet. We'll see.

Because of all the problems I have been having with my place, I have decided that by June 30th I will move. It's done. I just need to find a place. I have one in town that I will take if I can't find one in my current neighborhood. I'm happy and satisfied with this, even though I'm going to be giving up a gorgeous house. The hastle that comes with beauty is no longer worth it. Especially when I need to work, shower, cook, and .... live.

I think that's about it on the "business" end. Until next time...

A sad day for both of us

Yesterday, was a sad day. It was a sad day because mom left. She got on a plane towards civilization. We knew it was going to happen, but it came up so quickly. We had a great time together and didn't get into to too many arguments so that's good. :)

Some of our adventures were great fun, some were a challenge for mom. First we went to eat at a Mauritanians house. This was an experience. We sat on the floor, in a circle around the bowl, and thus began the "your mom doesn't eat. why isn't she eating? does she not like it?" questions. So she said she liked it, but I secretly think it she didn't really care for it. After a few more houses we ate at, a few more floors sitting on, and a many more questions why mom isn't eating (very typical here in RIM), we cut back on the number of visits and had people over to my house (so I could cook). I had the PCVs over, all the English teacher's over, some of my Mauritanian friends, and a birthday party for mom. It was a lot of cooking and I probably won't be having a dinner for a while. Overall, she got a bit better at eating on the floor, but even the day before she left, she didn't eat that much according to RIM standards. For her, she stuffed herself full.

We also did a few "beauty" activities. First and foremost, we went shopping for clothes! Yes we got mom some very nice fabric to make a Pulaar complet, I had gotten her a mulafa prior, and of course I had to get some fabric too. I got a new mulafa (which I love!) that is pink and orange. I got two more kinds of fabric to make more outfits. It was great! I didn't get any shoes because while we were in Las Palmas, I got 3 pairs! Next beauty step was the hammam. It's a bathhouse where you go and get scrubbed down/exfoliated. It was amazing. I couldn't believe the dirt that came off of me. I was gross. So, needless to say, I will be doing that every once in a while. Finally we got henna done. That's the ink that is put on your hands and feet. We started at 2pm and didn't get done until 1am. Next time we'll either get someone who knows what they're doing more and can go faster, or start in the morning. It looked really pretty but by now a lot of it is gone.

We of course, had exciting days. I did have to work still, but we were able to go to the beach. We went swimming and collected shells. The water was surprisingly warm. We went to the port and walked around there. We saw sting rays, little sharks, huge fish (probably tuna), and a hammerhead shark! It was pretty cool. Granted we were constantly stared at because we were white women in a "man's job," but it was still awesome. We went to a soccer game in support of a local NGO that Katie works with "Stop Sida Stop Tabac." I was even chosen to present an award to a contest winner because I am an "important" person. It was cool. There were some end of the school year events. A concert for Maylen's Girl's Mentoring Center, one for the elementary schools of NDB where Elarby created a song/skit for his students, and a closing ceremony for Maylen's GMC. When you add my new radio program plus the wrap-up work I had to do, we were busy every single day!

I think that pretty much sums up what we did. You'll have to talk to mom to get her viewpoint. I know she enjoyed it, but it was a different experience than traveling to Europe. :) I'm very happy and very proud that she came over to visit me. It made what I'm doing much easier for me because someone besides me experienced what I'm experiencing. I am going to get pictures up! I've been having major problems with electricity. My line was connected with someone who never pays their bill thus I've been getting cut every other week, every three weeks. When the pics are up I will let you know. Hopefully in the next few days I will be able to get to it.

Shakespeare's Language

Shakespeare's Language. A special program that airs every Wednesday on the FM Nouadhibou radio with your hostesses Maylen and Jacque.

Yep that's right!!! I'm hosting an English Radio program on the radio here in NDB. How sweet pimp is that! We start tomorrow, and inshallah, everything will go as planned. I hope to get electronic copies of the program and then post them on here, or something. Not really sure yet. But I would like to be able to share it with you all.

What I can at least share, is our website: English FM NDB At this site, you'll find the transcripts, information about your hostesses, and additional exercises to do. Check it out!

So.... wish me luck!

PS: having a good time with mom.

From my mother's mouth

Visiting Jacque in Noudibou has been an eye opening experience. From the donkeys and goats walking all over the place to the garbage everywhere. Just like in any country there are the nice people and not so nice. I like the nice people better. Monday going to the bathhouse was a great experience, if only we would have brought along some towels. Never going to one before, we didn’t know what to expect. First you take off everything except your underwear and go into a VERY HOT room were you rub gel all over yourself, (it reminded me of a sauna experience up in Ashland, with the Brevaks), and you sit there and let it soak in for awhile. Then you rinse it off and you go into cooler room were a lady scrubs you down. When you are done in that room, you go back to the VERY HOT room where you relax for a while, wash off with soap and rinse yourself with cool water. It felt GREAT!!! I never knew my skin could feel so soft. And because we didn’t have any towels along, we had to dry ourselves off with our headscarves. Then that afternoon we had henna done. One thing I learned about getting it done: IT TAKES A LONG TIME!! Jacque and I both had our hands and feet done. Afterwards you have to sit around with toilet paper wrapped around it and then a plastic bag on for several hours to let the ink set. Since Jacque had hers done first, she could take the toilet paper and bag off first, just in time for supper that LRB made, well, actually bought, but that’s ok. And since my hands were still wrapped up, Jacque got to feed me!! I wish I had a picture of that!! The henna still looks nice after sleeping on it, and my skin still feels soft this morning.

LAS PALMAS!!!

I'm am off to Las Palmas this Thursday! We're still waiting to get the visa for my mom, but INSHALLAH she will be coming to Nouadhibou to meet my Corbin and see me life here! I don't know how long we'll be in Las Palmas, but updates from both me and my mom are soon to come!

... cheese ...
... wine ...
.... it's all going to be such a shock ...