Last Phase of PST

After what seems like forever (and in reality has only been a little over two weeks), we are finally back at the training center. We are getting ready for the fourth and final phase of pre-service training after which we will be sworn in as offical Peace Corps Volunteers...Inshallah!

Despite continued political upheaval in RIM, Peace Corps is operating pretty much as usual from what we've been told. There has been one public rally in support of the coup here in Rosso. During that time we stayed safely at home with our host family. We will be sure to post more in the coming weeks or if anything develops. However, rest assured that Mauritanians are very passive even during times of political unrest, and we have never felt threatened in any way.

On August 30th we will be moving to our new location of Nouadhibou and should have much more regular access to Internet as well as time to post. This year September is the month that the Islamic holiday of Ramadan will occur. That's where Muslims fast during the daytime (including no water), and not a whole lot gets accomplished for about 30 days.

We promise to post more soon and respond to emails too. We have received several care packages...thank you very much to everyone for sending them. We are aware that the international postage can be very expensive and we really appreciate it. From what the other volunteers have been telling me, the cheapest option is to purchase a flat-rate box or envelope and then you can stuff it with as much as it will hold (making sure that it won't burst open of course).

Today is Debbie's wedding!
I miss you guys!

Coup!

So...we haven't posted in a while because we've been pretty busy. Last weekend we went to Nouakchott for the married couples retreat and had a wonderful time. We got to stay at our country director's mansion, cook our own food (pizza, Mexican & artichoke dip), and sleep in air conditioned rooms with beds. It was AMAZING!

Now we are back in Rosso and back to our language classes/technical training sessions. Mike has started teaching at "Model School" which is basically a classroom of volunteer students who pay to come in during the summer and get taught English by the Americans (yeah, they are pretty well behaved compared to a normal classroom). Mike has taught two lessons so far, and although he was nervous, he thinks they went over pretty well. He's gotten good feedback from the other volunteers and trainers about his teaching.

I was planning to do my next blog on the trash situation in Mauritania...especially here in Rosso it is VERY bad. However, with the coup d'etat that many of you have been seeing in the news, I think most of you are more interested in hearing about our safety. We are fine. The coup has been very peaceful so far...and we are very isolated from everything too. I think the worst thing that's happened has been a couple stink bombs being released in Nouakchott (the capital city), but that's just heresay and not confirmed. We're pretty uninformed here, but we're safe with our host families, so don't worry. We also have an incredible safety and security officer here in Mauritania and he and his staff is constantly monitoring the situation for any changes.

I also want to post our new address for Nouadhibou. You can send any letters and packages here from now on because by the time they arrive (3-4 weeks) we will be there! (All the Nouadhibou PCVs share a P.O. box so that's why you have to put c/o and another person's name)

Mike & Katie Yunghans
c/o Maylen Rafuls
B.P. 1341
Nouadhibou, Mauritania
West Africa
Par Avion

As far as we know everything has arrived safely without anything missing. We've loved getting all the letters, pictures and packages. Thank you all so much! We miss you tons. Our swear-in ceremony will take place on August 28th and we should be departing for Nouadhibou on August 30th. After we move we should have a lot more access to Internet, because hopefully we'll be getting 24-hour access at our apartment...yeah! (24-hour access may be a little bit of a stretch since I've heard the service goes out frequently...but I'm sure it will be an improvement from what we have now).

We're thinking a lot about Susan and Debbie this month as they prepare for their weddings...so sorry we can't be there with you! We also hope you will keep us updated with Olympic coverage since we probably won't be able to watch it very much. (There are no Mauritanian Olympians to my knowledge and our family seems more interested in the Brazilian soap operas than sporting events.)

So...stay tuned for my next blog post on TRASH...I'll have pictures too!

NouadhiBOO-YAH!

So...first and foremost, my title totally blows Katie's out of the water. I guess I can just convey so much more in my typing. For instance, now everyone knows how the last syllable of our permanent site is pronounced. YES! No-awd-ee-boo is great. They have good food, a cool climate, few mosquitos, internet access, BEACHES! I can't believe it. We will still have our challenges though. My school is pretty big and the students will probably be more intimidating, and it may take longer to become a part of the community. But we are up for the challenge. We both are anxious to start our language training again. One more month of training, and then 2 years in Nouadhibou. I'll try and post more often, especially since we will most likely have internet access. Hope all is well. Take care everyone. Bye

Mike

Nouadhibou

So...we found our our site placements on July 21 and have been visiting our site since then. We are very excited that our site is Nouadhibou!! It is the second largest city in Mauritania, is on a bay of the Atlantic, and has a very mild climate (so much so that I might need you all to send me warmer clothing and blankets...yeah!). I don't want to brag too much, but Nouadhibou is also know for having the widest variety of foods available in Mauritania. I've already had cheese pizza and spaghetti here...yum.

There are others who need to check their email and get online, so I need to go now. But we are doing very well and are really happy with our site :) Hope you all are doing great! I'm thinking of you all frequently.

Togetherness

It feels like forever since I was last at the training center, but in reality it has only been about 12 days. I have tech sessions again today and tomorrow for health, which means Mike and I get to spend the night at the training center this evening. We are really lucky to have a great host family, but at the same time it will be nice to get away for a bit.

Mauritanian culture is all about togetherness. They all eat together off the same plate, they spend most of the day together in the same room, and most of the time they all sleep in the same area as well. It is considered very odd by Mauritanians for someone to want or need some time to be alone. They see this type of behavior as being aloof or even rude. So...Mike and I pretty much spend every waking moment that we aren't in class or in the bathroom with our families.

A very common activity in our family is watching a Turkish (I think) soap opera on television that's replayed at least twice a day. It's dubbed over in Hassiniya and I'm starting to understand some words here and there. We've also figured out some basic plot points in the story line. Usually Mike and I will study our French or read a book while the others lie around watching TV and our little sisters try to read what we are reading even though they have no idea what they are looking at because the text is in English.

Another aspect of the "togetherness" in Mauritanian culture is group ownership of property. There really isn't such a thing as "my" toy or "my" outfit. Clothes are shared between mother, daughter, grandmother, etc. Also, it is not out of the norm for someone to ask you bluntly to give them something you own. For example, I have been asked by my 22-year-old host sister for my glasses, for medicine, and for one of my skirts. At the same time, they have been extremely generous with me and have given me a traditional Hassiniya mulafa outfit and a Pulaar outfit as well.

Here is a picture of me getting henna done on my hands (and feet as well). The henna lasts for about a month and dyes your fingernails orange until they grow out, but the design is really pretty and it was a lot of fun to watch.

The food has started to become a bit monotonous and we have been served pretty much every different part of a goat I can imagine. One night there was a big goat head in the middle of our plate. I've also seen what could only be skin or intestine mixed in with our rice or couscous at least a couple times. So far we have been a little sick but nothing major. Mike's had diarrhea at least once and I've been pretty nauseous at times, but it really hasn't been as bad as I expected.

For our second anniversary on Monday, Mike was sick, but we were able to go to the ice cream shop the next day and buy a sundae to share between us. We didn't really buy gifts or anything, but it was still fun.

We are really looking forward to Monday. That is the day we will find out our site placements for the rest of our service. Then on Tuesday we will depart for a week long site visit where we will meet our local counterparts in the town we will be working in along with the experienced Peace Corps Volunteers that have already been working in the area. We are pretty sure we're going to be in a regional capital, but there are no guarantees.

We were very happy yesterday because we got our first MAIL!!! And we got like six or seven letters at once. It was super! We've (well...I've) started sending some responses but I wrote the letters before we received the ones from yesterday so they may not answer the questions you asked. But please keep the letters coming...and include pictures, news stories, anything you think would be interesting to us from home. We're a little starved for news from home so please keep the letters coming!

Signing off for now, but I'm sure I'll be putting more posts up soon because we have more center days coming up this weekend. We love and miss everyone back home and hope things are going well!

Host Family

Hey everyone! I just finished checking my email and the inbox was jam-packed so please excuse me for not replying to everyone (or sending really short replies).

Mike and I are doing well. We moved in with our host family on Friday and they were really great. However, some personal issues within the family caused us to have to move in with a different family yesterday. No worries! Everything is still going well for us.

Our families gave us new names to help us become more acculturated and accepted in the family and community. They have named me Hadija (Hah-'deez-yuh) and Mike is Brahim (Bra-'heem). We are super happy that our family has electricity and a fan that we can use in the bedroom at night. The rainy season is starting and it is SUPER humid (up to 70-80% at times) and very hot at night since we have to sleep indoors.

We are going to French classes for about 6 hours a day, and will soon be learning Hassaniya (a form of Arabic) as well. My French is improving by leaps and bounds, but it is still very difficult to comprehend what everyone is saying in my class. We spend a lot of time just sitting around conversing in French and I look up a lot of the words or expressions I don't understand.

Today I'm at the PC Training Center for some health training sessions.

Lori asked what the coolest thing is that I've learned so far, and basically I feel that the coolest learning is just the process of adjusting to life in a third world country. Learning to use a squat toilet, taking a bucket shower, feeling dirty and hot all the time. I guess just learning to appreciate that there are still things to be happy about when you don't have all the material possessions we Americans are used to. I also like learning to eat with my hands...although it's still difficult for me.

Okay, I have to go eat now! We're doing well so don't worry and we will post again when we get a chance. Don't forget to actually visit the blog and check out the picture link in the right margin. We've posted some pictures from our Pre-Service Training.

Wild Dogs DO Cry Out in the Night

Bonjour! C'est Mike. Yeah, my French is still horrible. But I did carry on a few cool conversations with some Host Country Nationals and I even bought some items from a local boutique in Rosso. Although it was kind of confusing for all involved. But at least I'm trying a local tongue. Katie and I will receive our placement tomorrow for the next 2-3 months of training; and as Katie said, we will be very busy (8 hrs. a day) learning a new language. I'm hoping for Hassaniya (African dialect of Arabic) because it is widely used. So I wanted to blog while I can and just say things are great. The food is incredible, it is hot, but we take lots of breaks. Brendan, curiously enough, wild dogs literally cry out in the night. They kept us awake once for an hour - we sleep outside. Hope everyone is doing well at home and keep the comments coming. I'm gonna let Katie check her email now.

Mike