29 April 2006 - 17:43
As if two sand- and sun-filled years in Mauritania weren’t enough…I’ve signed up for a third.
About a year ago, when I finally broke out of the hell-hole I was posted to and moved to Tidjikja, I realized Mauritania wasn’t all that bad. Sure, it’s not that great, but it (other than Lehweitat) isn’t horrible either. Kind of like Oklahoma, but without the catchy song that goes with it. My last year has been relatively productive, and also relatively painless – I’ve found that the longer I stay here, the easier living here becomes. All of a sudden, the trash, harsh weather, sand, flies, unsanitary conditions, mosquitoes, electric and water problems, hand-washing clothes, annoying kids, rude people, boredom, lack of entertainment, bad transportation, lack of a car, etc., don’t seem all that bothersome. In fact, most of that stuff doesn’t bother me at all anymore – so little so that I had to ask another volunteer for a list of stuff that sucked here because I couldn’t think of much.
And at some point a few months ago, I realized that I was really happy with my life right now. Helping people is cool (note: helping ungrateful people is decidedly less cool, but still not a bad gig) and very fulfilling work, but the biggest draw for me is the Peace Corps way of life. Sure, I only make a couple hundred bucks a month, but I also only spend about that much, and usually less. I have plenty of free time, a very flexible work schedule, a ticket to special treatment (being an American), steady and sufficient income, plenty of travel opportunities, quite a few vacation days, and few, if any, job pressures. I’m also living much healthier here than I was in the States, and I have a lot less stress than I ever had in college. All in all, it’s a pretty good life.
So when I realized this, I started considering extending for a third year here. I set up a few conditions that would have to be met for me to do so:
- Living in Nouakchott;
- Working as the Small Projects Assistance Funds coordinator in the Peace Corps office;
- I wanted to make sure I was going to have friends, both Mauritanians and Americans in Nouakchott; and
- I wanted to be able to take my month-long homeleave whenever I wanted, whether at Christmas or next summer.
A couple weeks ago, I found out that all of those conditions would be met. In fact, more of my PC friends than I had expected had decided to extend their services as well. I was offered the job I wanted, living arrangements worked out, and I found out that I could actually go home both at Christmas and next summer (in time to catch Aaron’s wedding and do little river float trip and a couple days at the lake with my family). So last week, after I talked to my parents, I called my Country Director and made it official. I’m in.
As of June 1, I’ll officially be living in Nouakchott, but I’ll be working in Kaedi for most of the summer. I have a nice apartment lined up already (not far from my favorite African restaurant in Nouakchott), I’ll be 15 minutes from the beach, I get my own office in the new PC office (in the tallest building in Mauritania, two floors above al-Jazeera), and I’ll have access to tennis courts and a gym. A lot of my Mauritanian friends have moved to Nouakchott in the last year, so I’ll have that network already in place. The four other volunteers from my training group that are staying for a third year are some of my best friends, I really enjoy working with the PC office staff, there are a lot of cool ex-pats that I am friends with in Nouakchott as well, there are plenty of paved roads for me to ride my bike on, the weather is much nicer on the coast, and I’ll be able to improve my French, since I’ll actually be speaking it on a regular basis there. Plus, I’ll not only get to go to WAIST one more time, but I’ll get to experience exciting developments in Mauritania first-hand when they hold elections in November and March of next year.
It’s going to be a good year. I still love you all, and now you have more time to plan my giant homecoming party…
