I just finished up three weeks of traveling in Mauritania and Senegal, including 12 hours in a taxi brousse today. Some highlights of the vacation:
Nouakchott: The city itself isn’t that nice, but we got to stay in hotels with both hot water and television. I have become used to bucket baths during the last few months in my village and had started to convince myself that I might even continue them when I got back to the U.S. One drop of hot shower water, however, was enough to make me realize my foolishness. I showered every day! I also got really into a Turkish soap opera dubbed in Arabic: there is a rich girl who plays the piano and the janitor at her high school is secretly in love with her. He also plays the piano. If anyone knows what this show is called, please tell me, because another post-Peace Corps plan is to order it on DVD, preferably dubbed in English.
Saint-Louis: This city is beautiful! Being there made me want to spend the rest of my life in West Africa. It was strange being somewhere that geographically was so close to Mauritania and yet so different in so many respects. Even though Senegal is about 90% Muslim (compared with ~100% in Mauritania) it is much more liberal; many women wear pants and don’t cover their heads, pork and alcohol are available, and the music is actually danceable. To be fair, I was in a larger and more touristy (by West African standards) area. Still, it felt like a true vacation. I saw the Atlantic Ocean for the first time, made sangria for breakfast, and stayed up to watch the sunrise on New Years Day.
Food: My stomach did not always like it, but this entire vacation was basically an excuse to eat ten meals a day. (Sub)highlights: Chinese food, Vietnamese food, grapefruit Fanta, egg sandwiches, popcorn, beer, margaritas, pizza, chicken, avocados, cheese, chocolate, ham, Ben & Jerry’s (so expensive!), candy, coffee, jujubes, and oranges.
