(Originally sent July 29, 2008)
Hey Folks,
So this week was site visit, and I wish I could describe it all to you in this email but so much of it was indescribable you'll have to be satisfied with only the highlights. My permanent placement site (ie where I'll be living for the next 2 years) is a regional capital known as Selibaby in the deeeeeep south of Mauritania. My region is called the Guidimaka and it is the southern-most region in the whole country, 45 km from the Senegal River. So here is some background on the site, for those of you that don't know there is a saying in the rest of the Peace Corps along the lines of "at least we're not in Mauritania." This would be because it is hot here (duh!), very conservative (long skirts and sleeves and covered head in 110 degrees, not my idea of a good time), and (horror of horrors!) alcohol is illegal.
That said I'll add to it this, I am in one of the most difficult countries in the whole Peace Corps and I have been placed in the most secluded region. To get to my regional capital, where I am placed, there is no road. There are a few ways to go about this, 6 hours of off-roading from Kiffa (what we did on the way in, 9 of us in a land rover going 80 km/hr over puddles and pot holes and rivers and valleys and fields = actually a lot of fun) or a "road" from Kaedi known as the Garfa (not sure how that's spelled) on which there is a bridge that is generally impassable during most of the rainy season. The Garfa is a bridge with no sides over a river that frequently floods over the bridge, when the bridge is submerged I'm told its as good as invisible and cars and people have to guess where it is and wade over at their own risk, I am told that at least once during my service I will likely be washed off of it and have to swim (or be carried by the current) to the bank and let the locals pull me out…woo! But wait! Don't panic yet, theres one more way to get there…across the Senegal River and up the 45 km via bush taxi. This is the method my region mate, Morgan opted for most recently and shared with me this story, she got a taxi that was first caught in a sand storm and had to stop, then caught in a downpour and had to stop, then broke down, got fixed, started again and then got stuck, got out, and then broke down for real in some random Pulaar village. From the village they caught a truck that promised to take them to Selibaby but just outside of this village they hit a rainy season seasonal lake that the truck refused to take them across. The truck headed out and drove through it, forcing all the passengers to wade through the lake on their own. Morgan said she got going and felt like she had been walking for a while when she asked the guy next to her how much longer they had to go, to which he replied "oh about a kilometer." A kilometer later with her bag on her head Morgan emerged to find the truck waiting for them on the other side. The truck drivers informed the soggy crowd that they had wanted to make sure everyone made it but they don't want to take any passengers anymore so with that they left. Now Morgan's car-full and all the passengers from the truck were without a ride but it seems the eventually scored a truck back to town. Sounds like fun doesn't it?! Yes, it does! Can't wait to make some stories of my own to scare the crap out of you folks back home!
Oh wait, I sorta already have one! On our way to my site visit we wanted to get as much of the off-roading part out of the way on the first night so our driver wouldn't have to do it all at once on the second morning, so much to the unhappiness of all the trainees, we cruised right through Kiffa (where we would have had dinner and stayed the night with other volunteers) and bounced our way down the lack of road until dark at which point we opted to stay the night at some random family's compound in the middle of nowhere. We roll up to this compound, bust in and climb up on their bamboo sitting platform (that's the technical name, its like a bamboo dock in the sand, I think its supposed to keep the bugs off or something…) and us 5 (I have 4 region-mates in my training group and 4 already there starting up their second year) toubobs (Wolof word for white person and all of our permanent nicknames here) sit around and start talking in English with each other while our Peace Corps escorts make small talk and the families children huddle behind us and gawk and whisper in French and Hassiniya (standard response). Its pitch black (no electricity this far out) and we're staring at the amazing night sky that has more starts in it than I have ever seen before not to mention the brightest rendition of the milky way I have ever laid eyes on and all is quiet; so you can imagine my surprise when the kid behind me whispers "oh shit." I told the other trainees what I had heard and they all convinced me I was crazy and hearing things and there was no way these kids would say that, I must have misheard and, believing myself to be crazy, I dropped it. A few minutes later I swear I heard one of the kids whisper "1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7!" But AGAIN no one else hears it, so just to mollify me Emily asks the kids in French if they speak any English and they say no, that they speak French and Hassiniya only. Pretty convinced I'm losing my mind I drop it and continue my conversation with the other trainees; moments later one of the kids whispers "San Franciso!" and FINALLY someone else hears it and confirms that I am not actually crazy. A few more gems from the children ("Washington DC" and "I love you baby") confirms that the children have at some point in their life come into contact with a television and are simply regurgitating phrases they have heard with no idea of their meanings for a hilarious evening of teaching the children fun phrases like "bumble bee tuna", "what up!?!", and "Scranton, PA." In the meantime our Peace Corps escort informs us that the family has offered to make us dinner and would we prefer macaroni or rice. We choose macaroni and moments later they inform us that they actually don't have macaroni, so we graciously accept rice, or rather their offer of rice which they then retract saying they don't know how we like our rise and they will bring us what we need to cook it for ourselves. At this point it is close to 11 and we decide to politely decline (while they serve us the traditional 3 cups of tea) and set up our bug nets outside for bed.
By 12 we are all set-up and sleeping sweetly under the stars, by 3 we are all awake again and get our nets down and under the family's Hyma (sort of like a permanent circus style tent many families have in lieu of houses) with only minutes to spare before we are hit by a monster sand storm following by pounding rain. Sweet!
Long long longggg story short we all made it, hit the road bright and early, and were in Selibaby by 11 am. We had a delicious dinner of chicken fajitas, prepared by the current volunteers at our site and a few smuggled Senegalese beers (tisk tisk I know!) with some French volunteers and Portuguese road workers. My site is amazing, aside from the mass quantities of bugs, it is gorgeous and green and there are hills and clay (exciting because it's not sand) and rock piles to climb. It is also pretty much as south as you can get and still be in Mauritania which is exactly what I wanted because it is far less conservative which means a totally different style of dress that doesn't even require me to cover my hair at all times! It is also more black African and less white moor (more Arab population) which I like because I am a woman and white moors tend to be very very conservative so if I were in the north they wouldn't greet me or look me in the eyes and I would have to be totally wrapped in fabric all the time. Pictures will be up on facebook as soon as I can so check the last link again because that's where I'll be putting them. Love and miss you all more than you know (I'm struggling through my first bits of homesickness right now because site visit made this commitment all too real but don't worry I'm not too sad, I just miss your smiling faces and encouraging voices so please please please feel free to call me whenever you want!)
Shelby
Mom and Dad: I got my glasses yesterday, I learned a little more about the mail system here, that address is where my mail will be going for the next 2 years and at least once a month a car will bring my mail to me here in Rosso, while I'm here, and then to Selibaby when I'm there. Please send mail whenever you want, I get so totally jealous when other people get mail!
Here is my package wish list for when you folks are feeling generous (I do not by any means need all of this, just a list of things that are un-gettable here):
CHEESE! Powdered cheese products or spreads or crackers or anything that will make the trip, I've also heard that real cheeses in wax will make the trip, though they will be a little worse for the wear when they get here
Solid color T-shirts, any fit or size to wear with crazy local skirts
Peanut butter (the sugar packed kind, like Jif, the PB here is bitter from the Senegalese peanuts)
Single serving powdered drink mixes like the kool-aid ones I got at the dollar store (I'm supposed to drink a minimum of 3 liters of water a day and its tough to choke down that much warm water every day) Lemonade would be great too!
M&M's – any flavor or variety, they are the only kind of chocolate that will make the trip
Dried fruit/nut mixes, protein bars, granola bars, any packaged food would be good to have since Ramadan starts right as I get to site and all the locals will be fasting so food will be hard to come by during daylight hours (not impossible, I'm told people will still make it for me/sell it to me I just would rather not ask them too…)
Letters/pictures/updates/post cards/love notes from all of you!!!!!!
My Address again is:
Shelby Perry, PCT
Corps de la Paix
BP 222
Nouakchott, Mauritanie Africa Par Avion
and my phone # is: 011-222-420-3986 (i'm pretty sure thats right...) service is spotty and calls don't always go through so feel free to call and call and call until you get me!
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