Lost/Gained in Mauritania--8/9/06

lost/gained in mauritania

my sanity/sand
ability to use slang/23 words for "the"
electricity and a bed/three goats and a donkey
money/$2 a day
squirrels/push up lizards
grass/mosques
paved roads, trash cans/my window as a wastebasket
toilet, toilet paper, bathroom/ the runs
beer, wine, etc./tea. lotsa tea
the name laura/the name koro (pronounced koo-row, which all the kids
know and yell at me as i walk by)
women's empowerment/ men in dresses (ok, they call them robes but whatever)
a sense of privacy, control and street smarts/ ability to laugh at
just about anything