Well I haven't posted since before Christmas. Here is a recap of the festivities. I traveled down to Nouakchott from Akjoujt, about a two and half to three hour ride, on the 23rd. I greeted all of the other Peace Corps Volunteers I had not seen since September. I proceeded to chat it up and then a game of "Pens" went down. This was a game created during the occasional immense boredom of stage. It involved yelling, trying to throw a pen into a cup or upturned lampshade, and then some pelvic thrusting towards your opponents. Justin(the bearded guy sitting next to me and a volunteer in Tintane) and I won the game and two beers at the bar in Nouakchott. Later I ate pizza.

Christmas Eve, I purchased cheese (went for the Rocquefort), kiwis, and deli meat at the supermarket in Nouakchott and then commenced the two week foodfest. That evening, I went to the Country Director's house for the annual Christmas Eve Party he throws. The food was crazy, as is his house. I had nachos with bean dip and hummus. I had been participating in a Fantasy Football League with a number of other first year volunteers in Mauritania. I and a volunteer in Rosso, Mike, ended up in the Super Bowl. We had lamented not being able to actually watch the football games that made up our Super Bowl. Then we realized...it was monday night...Obie(the Country Director) has a sweet television set up...all we have to do is stay up til three in the morning and we can watch the deciding game. That night ended at five am...I lost.

Christmas Day was fairly typical. I returned to Obie's house after getting like four hours of sleep. Obie had donuts and I ate a lot of his donuts. After sufficiently feeding myself, I went to the beach. The beach in Nouakchott is surprisingly clean and nice. I went bodysurfing with some buddies and returned just in time for Christmas dinner. We had turkey, quiche, mac and cheese, bbqed sheep, pie, lasagna, and lots of other stuff. I literally made myself sick. I also met the U.S. Ambassador to Mauritania.

Boxing Day I had to go to the Peace Corps Bureau for a meeting about the murder of four French tourists in the interior of the country outside of Aleg. Then I went to the beach. Then I went to the bar. Somewhere in there I probably ate lebanese or chinese food too. I essentially kept the same program of eating and hanging out until virtually the entire Peace Corps in Mauritania relocated to St. Louis, Senegal.

St. Louis is pretty sweet. The part I stayed on is an island. This part of the city reminded me of the French Quarter in New Orleans. Not as racy, Senegal is still a predominantly Muslim country, but the buildings share the same French colonial architecture. In Senegal the big boutiques sell ham and cheese. I partook of these sandwiches. Then, I went to the beach. After lounging at the beach for five or six hours, I returned to my hotel. Then I went to the clubs. Quite a few Mauritanian volunteers and Senegalese volunteers frequented the Iguana during this trip, which produced a dance club filled with a ton of Americans. More Americans than I had seen in a long time. After the club I would eat a sandwich about four am and then wake up at ten to hit up the beach. This was my program during the stay in St. Louis. I puppy on top came and sat on my lap. We named him Flag after the local beer. New Years was fun, I remember singing with some African Band. We had told them it was one of the volunteers birthdays. Below is me, Levin, and Justin on New Years Eve.


I ate a pizza in St. Louis with an egg on top. I also ate a hamburger in Nouakchott with an egg on top. Both things are delicious. The egg on the pizza fused with the cheese to create a substance better than its sum. The beef and egg on the hamburgers provided the protein I needed to be at my finest.

We returned to Nouakchott, we had to cross the Senegal river this time on a canoe, for training. Training was work, but it was work in Nouakchott. I relaxed, went to the beach, and ate some more good food. For our final meal in Nouakchott Justin and I went with some girls to a Tunisian restaurant. The food was good, but it was not an eggburger. As soon as we finished we went to eat another meal, its a long trip to Akjoujt and I would need the strength.

After jamming ten people in a station wagon bound for Akjoujt, I arrived home. I discovered my house had been broken into. A pack of cards, a can of peppers, and some hand sanitizer was missing. The didn't take a hundred dollar bill or the ipod charger they failed to steal in October. My house was broken into again this week and again nothing was taken. As a result, I am searching for a new house. The real pain is how heavy my air conditioner is and how I had to carry it from my house to Hayley's (my sitemate) for storage and repair the hole in the house it made.

School is going well. I have started an English class for the other professors at the Lycee. We are also starting English classes for the community. I am also growing a monster beard for the West African Invitational Softball Tournament. It will probably turn into a monster mustache, but nothing is set in stone.