Lexeiba

Soooo since I haven't posted anything in a month, sorry for the randomness of this post. I actually passed my Pulaar language test (apparently I speak Pulaar at an intermediate-high level!) and swore in officially as a Peace Corps Volunteer on September 6th. After that we had an incredibly awesome swear- in party, and all of the volunteers left for their new sites two days later. There are now 110 volunteer scattered all over Mauritania.
As I said, my site is called Lexeiba, located in the Gorgol region in the South. People who have actually heard of Mauritania say that it is a cross between Arabissant Africa to the North and East and West Africa to the South. I think that's absolutely true. The entire country, minus 3-4 regions in the South, are culturally Moorish and speak Hassaniya. Oh, and let's not forget that Mauritania is an Islamic Republic. I remember everyday when there is no red wine and I want to cry myself to sleep. However, the Southern regions of Trarza, South Bracna, Gorgol, and the Guidimakka, are almost entirely inhabited by Pulaars, Wolofs, and Soninkes. In the villages in the South, people speak languages that originated in Africa (Hassiniya is an Arabic dialect), wear different clothes, and just behave differently. In the Gorgol, you REALLY feel like you are in Africa.
What's cool about Lexeiba is that it's the epitome of this cross between Arabissant Africa and West Africa. It's in the Gorgol, but to the North and East, so it's really close to North Bracna, a heavily Moor area. Becca and I both speak very comfortable French and we're learning Pulaar, which is good because a solid 2/3 of the town speaks Pulaar, and most educated people speak some French. However, in Jedida, a HUGE quarter of Lexeiba, there's an almost entirely Hassaniya community of White and Black Moors. The shops in Lexeiba are mostly owned by Moors, and for this reason I get angry on a daily basis when it takes me 45 minutes to buy batteries because, although I speak Pulaar AND French, it's not enough. I need Hassaniya. The road to Selibaby goes straight through town, and the other day when I was walking to Becca's house, I saw greeted about 200 Pulaars, decked out in boubous, completes, and herding their cows and goats down main street. I also looked up and saw a huge White more guy riding two carpet covered Camels down main street. It was wild. My point? I know EXACTLY where Arabissant Africa meets West Africa: my village, Lexeiba.
Some other fun (and by that I mean boring) facts about Lexeiba: It is currently darn close to under water, as is the road into Kaedi, and as are most of the Southern regions of Mauritania. I was listening to BBC yesterday, which says that there is record flooding all over Africa, and it looks like a Mauritania is no exception. I asked some kid yesterday where the soccer fields are. He pointed to Lake Lexeiba, a large, mosquito- infested standing body of water that was not there a month ago. Thank you El Nino or La Nina or Global Warming or whatever. My entire body is covered in mosquito bites courtesy of this year's rainy season. Also, my new host family in Lexeiba is sort of incredible. I think that if I can live with them for the next 2 years as Salamata SALL, no longer Gangue, then I'll be happy.
Oh, it's Ramadan. It's 120 degrees outside, and no one eats or drinks water all day. As a result, most of Mauritania has totally shut down. It sucks, but breaking fast at night is awesome. There's bissap juice, toufam (think sweet milk), dates, and all kinds of delicious stuff. Still, life stops between the hours of 6am to 7pm, and that's rough. The highlights of my week have included reading 4 books, salminding yimbe fof (hows that for Pulaar!), and tweezing my leg hair because I had PLENTY of time to do so. Riiiight....
School starts October 1st, although apparently classes will really start when Ramadan ends, on October 15th. I can't wait to be teaching/ have something productive to do during the day, minus greeting every person I see in Lexeiba. Although, since each Pulaar greeting lasts about 5 minutes, I guess for now that in itself is a job.

Oh, my blog's name changed, inspired by Dave and his fantastic text messaging abilities. I provided a link to Becca, aka Nouma Chom's blog. She's my sitemate and we already spend way too much time together.