New Office

A couple weeks ago I received a wonderful surprise. I was sitting in my compound, just starting some laundry, when I heard a loud, persistant knocking. I went to the door where a man told me that the “mere” (French for “mother”, pronounced like the English word “mare”) was waiting for me. “Who?” The “mere”, over there on the other side of town. Neither of my host mothers lives on the other side of town, but I thought perhaps I had misunderstood, so I asked him to wait for one second while I put on more appropriate clothing. He said, “No problem.” But he walked away. I called after him to wait, but he did not. So I quickly dressed and left. I walked around my section of town thinking perhaps someone was looking for me. But nobody was out. Then, for some reason, I wondered if maybe he meant the “maire” (French for “mayor”, pronounced the same), who was on the other side of the town. I had been trying to meet the mayor since I came to Chinguetti. In Mauritania it is very important to meet with all local officials frequently to show the proper respect and to keep them informed about your projects. It helps ensure they don't feel like we are working behind their backs – a common fear. However, the mayor of Chinguetti was never around. Two months into my stay and I had not yet met they mayor because he was always either in Nouakchott or “attending meetings.” So, that day, I figured I would swing by again. Perhaps the mayor was waiting for me, but if he wasn't it would be a good idea to try to meet him anyway – I hadn't stopped by in a couple weeks.

I arrived at the mayor's office and was greeted by the man who had come to my door. Sure enough, the mayor had been waiting for me, and he quickly informed me he was looking forward to my work in the tourism industry and he said he wanted to show me my office.

My office? “Offices” aren't common for Peace Corps Volunteers, so I wasn't expecting too much. He then led me to the “Tourism Bureau” located within the same compound as the mayor's office, handed me the keys, and said I was to report to work at 8:30, Sunday through Thursday. He handed me all the keys for the office, and I asked if anyone else would need these keys. “No, just you work here.”

The tourism bureau has a television, a DVD player, 24/7 power (Chinguetti only has power three hours per day, if that). None of it has been used since the bureau was built. Besides the fancy equipment, the office was full of random postcards. “You will sell those for 200 um [about $0.90] each,” the mayor said. He also asked if I could teach computer classes or English classes. “Both.” I'll be starting in with those classes, as well as accounting classes, in the next month.

Turns out the television and DVD player were not able to reach the single outlet in the room, so they have likely never been used. Sorting through old papers there, I discovered the tourism bureau (and the entire mayor's compound) had been built by the European Union, which explains why the building has such fancy equipment that is completely unused: nobody knows how to use the equipment. Furthermore, DVDs are not even available in Chinguetti. In any case it will be nice to have a working space so close to the mayor, though I must admit I hope he doesn't expect me to sit and sell postcards all day. If anything this new space will give me a place to organize other projects, and it will provide a place for these classes.