Merry almost-Christmas!! It definitely does not feel quite so much like the Christmas season in this 99.9% Muslim country, but now that it is so close I am getting excited all the same. I got into my regional capital last night and I am heading to Nouakchott this evening. Typically in Mauritania we spend Christmas at the Country Director’s mansion in the capital-I am excited because I have not seen Nouakchott yet.

Time in Kankossa passed quickly between Thanksgiving and now. Gardens are growing, and I am pretty sure that the only sunflower that sprouted in my garden was about to bloom just before I left. Language has been going better-it is at least not a daily struggle anymore. I started a tree nursery at one of my schools-baobab, moringa, Neem, and guava. Also, one of my site-mates and I are going to start adult English lessons after break.

The highlights of the last 3 weeks were Tabaski and a trip I took to Tavra, a village an hour south of here. Tabaski is the biggest holiday of the year for Muslims, and they slaughter a sheep and buy new clothes. If people can afford, they do this two days in a row. They kill the sheep in the morning and then eat a plate of it grilled, and then a plate of it with potatoes, and then a plate with cous-cous. Even for a large family, a full-grown sheep is an absurd amount of food to finish in a day. Similar to the post-Ramadan holiday, I was sick afterwards, but it was worth it just for the fresh grilled meat and the protein boost. I spent the first day of Tabaski with my host family, and the second with a friend and his family. His brother is a diplomat in Senegal, and it was interesting to talk to someone from Mauritania who has traveled extensively (36 countries!) and lives abroad, although it was also kind of depressing because it seems he has given up all hope for Mauritania.

A few days after Tabaski my site-mate Marta and I took a trip down to Tavra to visit another volunteer who lives down there. Tavra is a small Soninke village on the border with Mali. It was cool to see what life is like in a really small, isolated village here-even though Kankossa is very far from a paved road it is still a larger-sized town by Mauritanian standards. It was also interesting to see how culturally different Tavra was, both because of its size and because it is Soninke. Most men and boys would shake our hands, and kids never asked us for money or presents. Not quite like Kankossa! There are lots of huge rock formations around Tavra, and we went for a hike while we were there-check out the pictures!

I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and are enjoying the snow or rain if you have it! I am gone from my site until mid-January, so expect a few more updates before then!