Monday, February 25, 2008

WAIST and other exciting news:

Ok by the tone of my last blog I was pretty much at my wit’s end over the situation at the CFPP. Just as I was about to quit the place forever, the director showed up with 8 computers for us to use!! Hooray! Progress!! Things just tend to progress super slowly around here. Patience certainly pays off. I really am learning to be more patient out here in Nema, I swear! Also, I gave away one of the puppies to the Italian Volunteer Pietro. He lives in a big house at the end of town and his guard wanted a guard dog. So there you go. I got to keep the puppy that I originally rescued and I wont be outnumbered by animals at my house anymore. Pietro was also nice enough to give us a ride from Nema to Nouakchott right before we had to leave for Dakar. Because we are so far from the capital traveling is VERY expensive. So me and my sitemates will do almost anything to get a free ride out of town. While I was in Dakar my friend Moctar offered to feed my dog for me! How nice was that? This was an issue I figured I’d encounter, Mauritanians generally dislike dogs, in all ways. People just cannot understand why you would want one in your house or even near your family! There’s a big cultural gap there. There is one exception to the rule- dogs can guard your home. So, as a single unmarried woman living alone, people don’t seem to be bothered by be owning a dog, they often breathe a small sigh of relief when they find out I’m not totally alone at night. So anyway, Moctar said these words to me “I’d keep the dog with my family but I hate dogs, but if you want I’ll feed her for you while you’re gone” I swear he is the sweestest man in Nema, if not all of Mauritania.
So onto WAIST. WAIST stands for the West African Invitational Softball Tournament. It has been taking place every year for 35 years at the American Club in Dakar. The American club is basically a country club for expats on the outskirts of the city. The Mauritanian Pirates have been winning the tournament every year for at least 6 years and its a big source of pride for our Director. Many other PC teams from other countries have teams as well as embassy staff, marines and locals. Its quite a great mix of people. Basically every aspect of WAIST- from the Tee shirts to the tickets to the homestays to the snack was organized by a team of soccer moms, which was wonderful. I played on the C team, which was the least competitive and had a lot of fun goofing around and getting our buts kicked by 13 year old expat kids who actually knew how to play softball. Also, we held our reputation for the pantless inning. Sorry mom and dad but there are photos of that on the internet! There were also cheap beers, mimosas, hotdogs and Doritos, so I gotta say that kept me happy for 4 days!
A few words on Dakar- the more time I spent there, the more I wanted to live there. I love it! The city is huge and the options for things to do are endless! It is nothing like Nouakchott. And sorry, I don’t mean to trash it but its not cosmopolitan at all. Most of us just go to the only bar in town for a total lack of other things to do. Dakar is huge and happening and the people seem great, it’s a great place for Expats. Bars, nightclubs, movies, everything! It reminded me a lot of NYC, if it had a beach running alongside it instead of the Hudson river. People were selling strawberries and peaches in the streets and I even saw signs for real supermarkets! Also, the CFA goes a lot farther in Dakar than the Ougiya ever does in Nouakchott. So yes, if I am ever offered a job in the vicinity of Daker I am totally taking it! Also, my French is improving and I’d like to live in a francophone city so I don’t totally lose it.

It took me 4 days to get back to site by car. That’s right, a 4 day journey. 2 days in Senegal and 2 days in Mauritania. I was going to travel overland through Mali but then I found out that the visa was going to cost more than my entire trip home through Mauritania, so I changed my mind. Now that I’m back at site everything is kicking back into high gear. The computers are now up and running at the CFPP so I can actually write and use hour long lesson plans! And the students are getting intensive French lessons every morning. And they installed fans in the classroom so the computers don’t overheat! And they made us all cute little work jacket thingies with the CFPP insignia on it! Don’t worry I will get a class picture this week I promise!!
On top of all of that excitement my most of the PC management team is coming out to visit us and do site assessments in our region to place volunteers for next year. I’m also scheduling microfinance meetings with my director. Also, my sitemate Edna is out of town (in the USA lucky girl!) and I am covering her 5th year English classes (the worst of the worst lycĂ©e age) for the next two weeks. And on top of all of that I don’t have water any more and need to find a vessel for my water supply. Its nice to be this busy, I really can’t complain.

The best thing about going to Dakar? I went to the airlines and booked a flight to NY for this summer! YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!! See you August 12-26th in AMERICA !!!
HELL YEAH!!!

Last and least important- the hot season is creeping up on me slowly, can I get a small shipment of powdered drink mixes and maybe some craisins? You guys rock!


-HEATHER