Jaime's whereabouts

I just talked to Jaime. She doing her first family stay. She will be there for about 2 months. She will have a weekly visit to Rosso, and she will update her blog when she is there. The little village she is in does not have any electricity and therefore no computers. She has taken a lot of pictures and says it is beautiful. She has not had an opportunity to put them up yet, and she does not know when she will. She said the connections are so slow that her friend took 3 hours to load 20 pictures on his computer. Anyway, she is with a family of 3, mom, dad, and a daughter who is 22. She cannot communicate with them at all. They do not speak either French or English. It is a dialect of Arabic. They live in the middle of the desert a little north of Rosso but not near the ocean. She is doing 7 hours a day of language training. She has her own bedroom. It has 4 walls and a roof but no furniture at all. She has her own bathroom, but it is just 4 walls, no roof, and a hole in the middle of the floor. She played with her family in the sand dunes last night and then needed a shower. They emptied the dish/kitchen water that they had used to cook with during the day into a bucket and gave that to her to wash in. She said it was brown. She does not know what she is eating, but she says it is not bad. This is a very conservative Muslim area. She cannot wear American clothes at all. They made her a "moolafa"(phonetic) which is about 6 yards of fabric. She is supposed to wrap herself in it, but she does not have that much height so she cannot master it and it falls off of her. She met some young boys who live nearby. When they state their age they say the year they were born and then you do the math, they were '93, so they were Anna's age. Jaime was sharing her pictures with them and learning how to say all the different family members. They offered her a camel in exchange for her sister. She did not tell me if she accepted. Two other volunteers are fairly close to where she is.
Anyway, I just thought I would share with everyone! Jaime sounds very happy!! She said she will try to post something Wednesday. By the way, her cell phone did work from where she is!

might be the last one for a while

Ok, so I know I just wrote but seeing as it took me 5 minutes to turn on the computer and another 10 to find the at symbol so that I could log into my gmail, I was a little crunched for time before. The market was so much fun; I bought my first fulaar, a headwrap. It's colorful. I got it for free because as I was holding it a goat came up and started chewing the corner. Then I got my internet for free because it took forever. I like Mauritanians, they are genuinely nice people and not nearly as pushy as the Turkish salesman. In fact, sometimes I felt even a bit ignored until I waved the money in their face. There is a ton of dirt and garbage on the street, and more goats than people. They are working on a drainage system here in Rosso though, so at least the government seems to be helping a bit.
Vegetarians close your eyes for this next paragraph. We had a goat in our Peace Corps compound today that we loved. He was so cute. I say 'was' because around 5 we all started to wonder where he had gone until we smelled the cooking meat and realized he just became dinner. Tomorrow our cross culture study involves something about preparing meat and after dinner they brought in a new goat. I think we might have to watch the whole process, and possibly contribute? I also hear that they eat eyeball here. I kind of feel like I should eat it if the occasion arises, its all part of the experience right? What is the concensus on that? It can't be much worse than taking baths in a bucket or wiping with your hand. Too far? Ok, I will stop for now. I can't wait for my first visitor!!! haha. We had mango today, it was delicious. I don't know if it is because I am in a desert and craving anything fresh and fruity or if the fruit really is just better here.
So tomorrow morning we find out which local dialect we will be learning and that will indicate somewhat which region I will be in. Then Friday morning we move in with our host family for the rest of the 2 month training period. We don't know any of the language yet so that should be, um interesting. I am excited though, they say that the training sites are really cool, like grass roof mud houses, exactly what you picture when you think Africa! I hope I go to one like that. I will try to get pics up eventually but I honestly haven't taken many yet. I am trying this new thing where I act like a local and not a tourist since I have to live here; for some reason everyone can see right through my disguise, even when I wear a burka. But I do want to get to know the area and people before I start taking pics of them, so be patient. Also, i don't know how my internet or communication will be for the next few months, we have been spoiled here at the Peace Corps camp. So it may be a while. Hopefully I will have some real stories for you all next time that don't involve weird food or bathroom rituals. Miss you all.
jaime

its so hot here

hi all! it is so hot in this little internet hole in the ground. i dont knoz if it is me or the guy next to me but the stench is unbareable! i forgot to put an initial warning on this blog but it is going to be raw and real so you are all about to get to know me much better! sorry about the typing too but i only have 5 minutes and it is not enough time to figure out this arabic keyboard. i heard today that peace corps particiants are not allowed to try out for survivor çi dont know about amazing race so i think there is still a chance for that0. and mauritanie is ranked the hardest place that peace corps sends volunteers so i think that makes our group the elite 80 ,ost hard corps people of America! haha; jk! well that just took me 30 min: I am going to go walk around the market now!
jaime

je suis arrivee!

Well, I had a blast in Atlanta for my staging, despite the arm sores I got from them poking me with shots (just kidding Daphne, if you are reading this it is really not that bad.) My flight got in and I was the last one to arrive at the Sheridan. The rest of the Peace Corps crew had me throw down my bags and dragged me right to the karaoke bar (ok, maybe not dragged) and I knew right then and there that we would all get along. We spent the next few days in pre-training and playing the name games, making me feel like a freshman in high school again. Then on my birthday, I moved to Africa (weird actually saying it). It is hot here, my expectations of that were not disappointed! We arrived at the Peace Corps site and there was a procession of 50 people all jumping out of their skin to meet us. Most of the PC workers are locals and they do not really speak English. They are trying to teach us different African dialects, but they are teaching in French, which makes it difficult because I don't speak French or any African dialect for that matter. All I know so far is Asala Malekum. We also got to have a few meals. The lady that is in charge of food is amazing, they call her mama! Apparantly this is the best food we will have so they are easing us into Mauritanian meals. Even baguettes they say is a luxury. Good thing I know how to say "I would like a baguette" in French, right guys? haha. So for meals, we all sit on the ground in groups of 5 (actually, for everything you sit on the ground, I miss couches already) and eat your "pizza slice" section out of one big plate. The base of each meal is either rice or couscous and then the rest is fish or goat. There is a whole technique where you have to ball the rice with your hand and then eat it. It is rude to do anything or touch anyone with your left because that is the hand you wipe with so eating messy food with your right hand only without being able to clean your face with the left is definately an art form. We sleep outside in our mosquito tents because it is so hot, but the stars are a sight to see, remember Egypt Sam and Julie? I get that every night now. And it is cool at night! Well everyone here is really cool, exceding my every expectation so I am in good hands! I will be making my blog secure soon so if you want to be able to read it and it says you have to get accepted that is why. Also, I got a phone so if you want my number let me know. It will work well while I'm in Rosso for the next few months but after that it depends on where I am placed.
I miss you all already.
Jaime

Kevin helping Jaime to the car.

It feels like 27 months worth of stuff!

She really got on the plane!!

The last few days have been a revolving door at our house! Kevin came home and people were stopping in at all hours. All the goodbyes were tearful! It has been exhausting. I think Jaime was organized and ready. We got to the airport and her bags were 5.5 pounds overweight, but they let that slide. Anna and I stayed at the gate and watched Jaime's plane take off tonight. What a difficult goodbye (for now) that was. Jaime is so excited and so sure of this decision that we really have no choice but to support her and be truly happy for her. The experiences she will have she will keep with her through this long life! Jaime will never say I wish I would have....... We will all be enriched by her experiences if we all stay in touch! I know she will watch for emails, letters, and comments on this blog.
Jaime, I hope you have a happy birthday! Go live life to the fullest. I Cannot wait until I hear from you.

10...9...8...7... and the final countdown begins

Ok fine. My mom has been nagging me to start a blog so here goes. I have reached my 10 days and counting mark before I leave for Africa. When I was in Denver a few weeks ago there was a snowstorm, which was kind of odd for May; and now back in Gurnee we have had a week straight of thunderstorm warnings and flood watches. I think the weather gods are trying to give me my last few weeks of precipitation before I head to the unforgiving heat that is the Western Saharan Desert. The coolest it gets there is about 70 degrees, and the average rainfall per year is 0-5 inches! I have been running around like crazy trying to get everything on my bucket list accomplished. In the past few months I have officially graduated from University of Wisconsin-Madison (again, but this time for real), said almost all of my goodbyes, had 3 different graduation/going away parties (I'm really milking it!), watched my little sister Anna graduate from 8th grade, gone skiing, gone to a Roger Waters (Pink Floyd) concert in Texas with my Aunt, gone to a Cubbies game, shopped a lot, and now I have created my blog, yet I have still managed to add more to my list than I have crossed off. I do have some cool new stuff though, like a mosquito net tent, and a solar power battery charger! I can't wait to play with them. I have my official date of departure: June 17th at 4:55 pm I will be going to Atlanta, GA for my staging (paperwork and immunizations, can't wait!) They are putting us up in the Sheraton, it looks really nice! I suppose they want to spoil us before kicking us out into the sand. I think that is all for now! Please keep in touch and send me your addresses and stuff so I know how to get a hold of you!
Here is my first phrase in pulaar (one of the possible local languages I could be speaking in Mauritania): Assalaa Maaleykum! Peace Be Upon You.
Jaime