Off to site

I am leaving this afternoon to go to my new site. It is a small village called Goumbanko, located outside of Kita in the southwest part of the country. I have never seen it before, but I do know that I have my own compound with two huts and an outhouse with a giant painting of Obama on it (the work of the previous volunteer). I am looking forward to going; I am banking on the assumption that this will be easier the second time around...

Some Mali pictures

My whirlwind training in Mali is almost over-the swear-in is tomorrow and then we all leave for site on Saturday. It has been an interesting past few weeks but I will be happy to be done with this stage. It has been weird being so new to Mali but having a year of Peace Corps experience already finished-it is like I am neither here nor there. Unfortunately there is very little internet in the region I am going to, but I hope to be able to continue updating this at least once a month, so stay tuned! I did about 10 days of homestay-this is a picture of me, the other trainees, and our language teachers.

This is a hike we went on during a field trip to learn about shea butter.

First post from Mali

So now I have been in Mali for about 4 days. I arrived here Thursday morning and started learning Bambara Thursday afternoon, so needless to say it has been overwhelming the past few days. Mali is nice though-it is very green here right now and definitely more liberal than Mauritania. The trainees here are cool too, although comments like "I am going to have to sleep for a whole month on a cot until my bed is ready!" and "They are out of crepes!" makes it hard to respect them 100%. Haha. Overall, however, I think Mali will be a good place to spend a year.

Last post before Mali

Dakar has emptied out; most volunteers from Mauritania have either gone home or to their new countries by now. One of my former sitemates left for Guinea this afternoon. I am leaving early tomorrow morning, which leaves just enough time to watch Dolly Parton: Revealed tonight on CNN (I am the last person left in my hotel).

Please note the clever name change to this blog. The link, however, has not changed.

News

Now I am going to Mali on Thursday. Meanwhile, here is some depressing news from the region:

Al-Qaeda in Africa:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125030117348933737.html

This one is about Peace Corps:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8205532.stm

Episode IV: A New Hope

Just an update-I am transferring to Mali for my second year. I will be living in a small village outside of Kita, which is in the southwestern part of the country. I am leaving Wednesday for Bamako. I will let you know more as I know more!

The end

Two weeks ago all of the volunteers in Mauritania were consolidated to Senegal, and after a long wait we were finally informed yesterday that the program in Mauritania has been suspended. This means that Peace Corps in Mauritania is on hold until further notice-none of us will be allowed to return and we are now waiting in Dakar to go home or receive new assignments.

This may come as a surprise to many of you, but it has been a long time coming. Mauritania has been experiencing random terrorist activity for a couple of years now, and it has intensified in the last year. Earlier this summer, an American teacher in the capital was murdered during a failed kidnapping attempt, and just last week a suicide bomber blew himself up in front of the French embassy. In both cases, al Qaeda claimed responsibility. A security team came in from Washington to do an evaluation, and deemed Mauritania unsafe for service. Thus, we find ourselves here, considering the next step.

The most difficult part of all of this is that in our everyday lives in Mauritania, there was no danger. Waking up to the sound of my host sister snoring, going to the elementary school to have tea with teachers, buying tomatos from the market, there was no sign that the country was changing or that our situation as foreign volunteers was in any way compromised. The danger is a fringe element that targets foreigners. We left Mauritania two weeks ago not knowing whether we would return, and there are so many goodbyes that were left unsaid. The people I knew and loved, who lived their lives with so much sincerity and kindness, are now people I will never see again.

I am not sure about my next step at this point: I am going to try to transfer to another program in West Africa. I will keep you all posted!