So thanks to some wonderful events, I've been able to get on the internet for 3 days in a row now, which is amazing. I seriously don't know what to do with myself on the internet so much, so I thought I'd take the time here to answer some questions that people have been asking like crazy.
Q: I don't understand - where are you now? Where are you going to be?
A: Right now, well, not at the moment, but in general, I'm living with a host family in a small village in the south about a hour outside Kaedi, which is a regional capital city, and what I'm referring to when I say "city." It's where I can get online, go to the market, get clothes made (since you buy fabric and take it to a tailor here), and things like that. My village is really small and I can't really do anything there, so it's nice to come into the city. I'll be living in my village until the end of August, at which point I'll come into Kaedi for swear-in and then I'll go to my permanent site.
Q: Why do you come into the city?
A: It's where the PC training center is, which is really just a school they've taken over for the summer. I come in about once a week to have technical training sessions, which are when we learn how to do our jobs here. I learn about health-related things like malnutrition, malaria, obesity, and things like that. These are all the sectors that are here right now: health, agroforestry, education, small enterprise development, and evironmental education. Each group gets its own training, and then we have some sessions together, like cultural sessions and medical sessions, when we learn how to take care of ourselves should (when, really) we get sick.
Q: Where are you going once you swear in?
A: I'll be heading to a large village/town (pop. about 4,000) about 5 hours north of here. It's in the Brackna region, should you care to look. It's a white moor village, which means that it's fairly conservative. I went to visit it about 2 weeks ago, and the people are really nice. There hasn't been a PCV there for about 15 years, and this year they're getting 2 of us, so they're really exited.
Q: Can I send you letters and/or packages?
A: YES you can, thanks for asking! Letters, not to mention packages, make me endlessly happy, and I WILL write back, I'm a good pen pal.
My addres is
Aubrey Delaney, PCV
Corps de la Paix
BP 222
Nouakchott, Mauritania
West Africa
Letters have been arriving seemingly without any problems, so that's good. Packages are a bit riskier, but I've been told (and seen it work) that putting religios symbols and words on the package will make it safer. My mom has been drawing crosses on things she sends me, and they get to me. She's also been writing the return address as a church located at her address, which if nothing else makes me laugh. I don't know if any of this actually helps, but it's what people tell me, so I think it can't hurt.
The mail is sent into the PC office in the capital, and they bring it down in cars about once a week, but it depends sometimes. Letters seem to take about a month to actually get into my hands, at least for now, and packages a bit longer. Once I get to my permanent site, the mail will be brough to my regional capital, Aleg, once a month (I think) and then I'll be able to get in when I go in once a month, so it'll take longer for me to actually see it. Also, since I'll only be able to send out mail once a month, some of you might get multiple letters at once. Sorry!
Also, if you've noticed that your letters have American stamps on them, and an American return address, don't worry, I'm not fooling you - I am actually in Africa. It's just more reliable to use American stamps and send the letters home with someone who's going to America and can put the letters in a box in the USA. Sometimes they'll use diplomatic pouches, too, so that's pretty cool.
More to come later! I have a short attention span for this thing. And really, in general here.
