So, what exactly do you do here......

I was thinking about recently conversations with family and friends last night as I was laying in my mosquito net at, oh, 8:45pm because we had no power and nothing to do at the good old Kaedi regional house, and I realized that I don't exactly spend a lot of time talking about Mauritania when I talk to people. I think maybe it's partially because honestly, people are only so interested in an Islamic Republic in the desert, and also because I personally avoid talking about it. If I had to describe one thing, like how this woman got mad because I didn't greet her when I saw her, then I'd have to talk about the importance of Pulaar greetings, how they last FOREVER, how age and status are important, etc. It would take an hour to tell one story! So, to avoid this and yet still let people know about Mauritania, I thought I'd do a lame Day in the Life post on the good old blog. Also, our regional house currently has no water, so I'm wasting time to avoid thinking about exactly how bad I need a shower and a drink of water and how that's just not happening right now... LAME.
Ok, so heres life on a typical day in Lexeiba, and by typical I mean right now during Ramadan (things are a little screwy right now). I wake up at about 6:15am to go running. I like waking up that early because then half the town doesn't get confused by the site of a white woman in pants running for no reason, there are no people to greet on the way out of town, and really, after about 8am it's too hot to move, let alone run. So, I run on the road towards Kaedi or Selibaby, and it's relaxing and beautiful. Theres tall green grass in Lexeiba right now and beautiful trees and birds. Then, I come home and take a bucket shower. By bucket shower, I mean I fill up a bucket and dump water on myself with a cup. My shower is outside and has a mud floor. After the shower, I go hang out with Khajat and Souart, my sisters, or my mom. They sew or Khajat works on learning French, and I also try and study some French. Then, I usually meet up with Nouma at my house or I walk over to her house. We walk around town greeting people, and stopping in acquaintences houses to say hi. That is SO important in Pulaar culture. Just popping in for 15 minutes to shoot the breeze goes a long way in becoming part of a community and getting to know people. Plus, it helps with Pulaar and French. Sometimes we walk through the market greeting all the women selling fish and vegetables. We tell them that we're volunteers and that we live in Lexeiba now and answer the standard questions "Where are you from?", "Whats your last time" (Pulaar last name, my name in town in not Tanya, but Salamata Sall), "How's you family?", etc. Then, we go back to either of our houses and sit under a tree or under a tent. We read or listen to BBC or sleep, but try not to do anything too active because it\s about 115 degrees at this point. Eventually we go into our rooms and sneak food and water, because everyone else is fasting and they're not eating or drinking.
Eventually, it's time to break fast. This happens at sundown, usually around 7pm. Mauritanians start out drinking water and either toufam or bissap juice. They then move onto eating breakfast, which is coffee and bread. That's followed by gosi, which is a sugary milk mixture with small rice balls or small pieces of pasta in it, or chockery, which is milk, couscous, and sugar. After that theres a slight break, and finally it's time for dinner. If a family is feeling patronne, they will serve something like Banafe. Banafe is consists of a large chunk of meat (usually goat or sheep), served with potatoes and gravy. It kind of reminds me of pot roast. There are usually about 6-10 people eating with their hands from the same plate, although if it's Banafe, you eat it by dipping bread. If it something like Marro e Liddi (fish and rice) or Niiri or anything rice or pasta- based, you eat with your right hand by balling rice and shoving it into your mouth. You NEVER eat Lefty, since the left hand is the "toilet hand" (there is no toilet paper in Mauritania, only kettles filled with water called a makaresh.... you do the math).
By this time it's about 9pm, and people are exhausted and getting eaten alive by mosquitos. It's the rainy season, and thus the Gorgol is one big puddle of standing water. So, people crawl into their mosquito nets and go to sleep. If they're fasting, they will wake up at 4-5am to eat again before sunup.
So, that\s my life now in a nutshell. Things will change DRAMATICALLY when Ramadan ends and school begins, because then I'll actually be working. The Directeur des Etudes should be back in Lexeiba from vacation this week, so I'll finally know how many classes I will be teaching and at what level. Technically school begins on October 1st, and I have to start reporting to class on that day. However, everyone assures me that not a single student will actually show up until after Ramadan (Otober 15th), so looks like I still have a couple more weeks to go.