I'm here!

I'm pleased to say I arrived in Mauritania nearly 24 hours ago. The other 76 Peace Corps Mauritania Trainees and I (we're technically "Trainees" until we swear in as full-fledged "Volunteers" on August 28) have braved one night out on the sand -- though we were still within the walls of our compound so the verb 'brave' might be a bit strong -- we enjoyed three rather tasty meals, and we spent most of our time hiding from the ubiquitous sun. At first I had hoped to be placed in a region further south because I was under the impression that the north was desert and, as a fair-skinned individual, I figured it would be a good idea to avoid that if possible. A Volunteer who has been here a year corrected me shortly after I arrived: "It's all desert here, friend." He's right. We're in Rosso, which is on the southern border with Senegal, but it's certainly desert here. I guess I'm glad I have so much SPF 80 sunscreen!

This morning we learned greetings in four local languages: Hassaniya, Pulaar, Wolof, and Soninke. Hassaniya is the local dialect of Arabic, spoken mostly by the more historically nomadic, conservative Moors who reside primarily in the northern part of the country. It is the national language, too. The other three are tribal languages. Pulaar is a variation of Fula, which is spoken all throughout West Africa, while Wolof and Soninke are primarily spoken in Mauritania, Senegal, and The Gambia. I'm not sure which language I'll be assigned to yet (after improving my French a bit), but I'll certainly keep you posted -- unless I end up in a rural region without much access to internet, which is of course a possibility.

Perhaps one unfortunate bit of news is that our subscriptions to Rosetta Stone French were discontinued when we arrived. Good thing I put in the hours when I did, I suppose; honestly I really enjoyed the program and anticipated using it as a study tool whenever I had free time and internet access. A friend of mine has the program for Arabic, so I may tap into that resource if I end up learning Hassaniya. I still haven't figured out how similar Arabic and Hassaniya are. The alphabets are the same, the greetings are identical, and they are certainly related languages, but it sounds like there might be some significant differences, too.

If you have any questions about anything, feel free to shoot me an e-mail. I should have semi-consistent internet access through at least Thursday. We'll see where I end up at that point.

One Week Left!

There's about one week left until I take off. The past week afforded me several opportunities to visit friends and family, which was wonderful. I even made it down to Luther over the weekend. My bags are now packed. I have a few final errands to run and a bit of paperwork to accomplish, but all in all I'd say I'm nearly ready to go.

Feel free to shoot me an e-mail to update me about your life whenever you get the chance. I should acquire a cell phone and a mailing address once on-site, so hopefully staying in contact will not be as daunting an obstacle as it once was for Peace Corps Volunteers (that's my passive way of reiterating that you should keep in touch). Thanks again for all your thoughts, prayers and support. Wish me luck with French, Arabic, and whichever local languages I get to learn. I tried to learn a few basic phrases in Arabic this week. It's hard! For now I should probably focus on French anyway since the State Department subscribed us to the fantastic Rosetta Stone program and I haven't studied French much before now. Let's hope the learning curve is steep.

Bonne chance a tous mes amis qui cherchent au travail ou qui commencent de nouveaux emplois! (Good luck to all my friends who are looking for work or who are starting new jobs!)