One Year and Counting...

I am in the regional capital of Kaedi. I arrived in this very city one year ago and had never heard a Muslim prayer call, eaten goat meat, seen a scorpion, been to a tailor, bargained for the price of oranges, made a free phone call to the USA over the internet, told someone that Toubab was not my name, and countless, millions, gazillions of other things that now feel normal.

It was with the arrival of the Newbies (the 80 something new Peace Corps Trainees) yesterday that I was able to see more clearly where I came from and where I am now. These bright eyed souls can not speak a word of a local language, Kaedi's bustling market is a source of terror and confusion, and the slooooow pace of life and work has not made itself known to these motivated and ambitious youngsters.

And I mean youngsters. In the health sector there is one person over the age of 23. I have a theory that Mauritania gets the most hard core and inexperienced applicants to Peace Corps. Physically, us twenty-somethings can handle the rough car rides, intense heat and amoeba-laden drinking water. Yet we lack any technical experience that would make us useful in a more developed country.

So, how do I feel about hitting the one year mark? Relieved, for the most part. It's all downhill from here, as they say. And as the people in Pulaar land say, "a year, if healthy, goes by quickly."

Inchallah, life will remain as sweet for the following 12 months as it has been for the previous.