25 July 2006 - 13:58
I know…it’s been awhile. I could say that I’ve been busy, which would be true, but not so busy that I couldn’t write up a quick post or a few emails. Also, I’ve been without email for almost a month and a half except on a rare occasion, but that’s also not a good excuse. What really happened is that I just got behind on emails and posting, and I kept putting it off until now. And even now, I don’t have all that much to write about.
I’m back in Kaedi, the city in southern Mauritania where I did my training two years ago. Kaedi is much more tolerable this time around. I already have Mauritanian friends here, and I’ve been visiting my old host family on a regular basis – my host sister just had her first baby a few weeks ago, and I’m having my host mom dye some cloth for me to make shirts out of. I also have two fans, my own room in a house with other PCVs, my own computer, an air conditioned office, a solid command of French and Hassaniye, a familiarity with Mauritanian culture, DSL internet, a cell phone, access to several movies, and a job that keeps me busy – all improvements over my first stint in this town which make living here much easier.
All in all, I’m enjoying my job, managing the 250 thousand dollars that PC Mauritania uses for its training program. It is very structured, which I appreciate. I also see very concrete results on a regular basis, which is also nice. I’m not exactly happy living with seven other people in one house (there’s always that one person who has to be inconsiderate and make a mess), especially when we all have to work together as well, but I’m surviving by getting out and running, biking, and spending time with Mauritanians at their homes. I can’t complain too much.
My location and living arrangement (I spent 18 years living in a house with eight people) aren’t the only things that have been giving me a sense of déjà vu lately… I’m back to doing the same type of work that I did in my first job as an accountant’s assistant when I was 15 – tracking budgets, crunching numbers, filing, and processing paperwork. Just like my first job, I’m good at it, and even though I don’t love it, I don’t hate it either, and the benefits aren’t bad. At least this time, I’m not responsible for taking care of 32 cats like I was in Phoenix…
I feel like working with PC trainees is a lot like when I was working for TU’s freshman orientation program – dealing with a lot of lost, confused, scared twenty-somethings is even funnier when you put them in a foreign country where they don’t speak the language and every minute detail of life is bizarre and complicated. The new group is a pretty fun bunch, and I’m looking forward to getting to know them during my third year here.
Speaking of which, I’m going apartment-hunting tomorrow in Nouakchott. I talked to a realtor last week and gave him my qualifications (two bedrooms, one bathroom, large kitchen, salon, roof access, nice neighborhood, garden area, close to my office, and under $200 a month), and he thinks he’s found something worth looking at, so we’ll see.
Oh yeah, I passed the Foreign Service Written Examination that I took in April. Thanks to my dad’s generosity with his frequent flier miles, I’ll hopefully be taking the Oral Examination in December in Washington D.C. while I’m in the States.
OK, that’s all. For all of you who I owe emails to…I’ll try to get to them soon. I promise.
