Mauritania Peace Corps Volunteer Laura writes: My First (African) Thanksgiving



By Friday evening I still hadn..t heard from any family or friends so I decided Saturday morning I would travel for the first time by myself to Kaedi (about two hours away) to use the Internet and see if anyone had written or messaged me. my mother finally called me from the States. She said they got my message and were sorry that no one called but she explained, ..We thought you..re in Africa and wouldn..t even know it..s Thanksgiving... Forget the fact of whether or not I knew it was Thanksgiving, wouldn..t you be thinking of your daughter in Africa on Thanksgiving and miss her and want to tell her that you wish she could be there with you!! Instead of calling her two days later and only because she called you!

Mauritania Peace Corps Volunteer Laura writes: My First (African) Thanksgiving

Wednesday, December 06, 2006


My First (African) Thanksgiving

My First (African) Thanksgiving..

Thanksgiving is a time for people to choose which half of their extended family they..re going to have a meal with and then gossip about one another with the other person always in the next room. However, this Thanksgiving I was unable to partake in this American tradition, as it seems Allah had willed something else for me.

My week began with the normal frustrations of language and cultural differences: having to endure people always laughing at you (not with you), not being able to communicate basic needs and therefore losing all sense of dignity to act them out, people yelling things at you as you walk to work, and of course people talking about you as you are standing right in front of them but they think you don..t understand so it shouldn..t matter. These are the basic frustrations that I deal with every week. The problem is not the things that frustrate me, but that I can..t get mad or express any anger towards the problem because they are cultural or language differences that I need to either accept or learn.

My frustration began to build a little early in the week as people were being particularly harsh for some reason. Then, one day when I was walking down the street a little kid started throwing rocks at me. I was wearing a skirt that fully covered my calves and ankles, my head was covered, and I didn..t give him any cause to throw rocks at me besides the fact that I..m white. Keep in mind that this was a kid about 7-9years of age and so it wasn..t like he was chunking baseball sized rocks at me with super speed, and he could have just done it because he was a little shit, either way it still doesn..t perk up your week.

In addition, this month malnutrition finally caught up with me. My hair has been thinning over the past few months due to the Mefloquine (anti-Malarial medication) and malnutrition. It has thinned out so much that before I could put my hair in a bun and only get the band around it twice, but now I have to wrap the band around four times. I also didn..t get my period this month. Don..t worry; this is quite normal for American girls here when malnutrition sets in. There are some female volunteers that haven..t gotten their period in a year!

When Thursday (Thanksgiving Day) rolled around I couldn..t wait to hear from my family and friends to help relieve all my frustrations. I waited all day with anticipation and tried to distract myself with work. That evening Rob (my site mate), Yero (our Mauritanian tailor/friend), and myself went to the one restaurant in town to treat ourselves to a special meal for the holiday. Keep in mind that when I say restaurant you..re lucky if they have two items on the ..menu.. to choose from. There was one chicken thigh left that we all three split and then we each had a coke, meat (or meaty parts) sandwich, and thiakri for dessert (a rice and soured milk combo). It was absolutely delicious and I was full and happy.

The evening passed and by 1:30am (African time) I was too tired to stay awake and had given up on any family or friends calling me. I tried to call my parents but got their voicemail so I left message wishing a happy Thanksgiving. I thought the next day might be a little better because I didn..t have to work and a Peace Corps mail shuttle was supposed to be coming through and dropping some things off for us. All the other volunteers had left Boghé and the surrounding areas by Friday afternoon for other cities to celebrate Thanksgiving. I stayed behind for the shuttle and to do some planning for work. When the shuttle finally came I was once again disappointed as the only mail I received was my voter..s absentee ballot from Burnet County, Texas about three weeks too late. By Friday evening I still hadn..t heard from any family or friends so I decided Saturday morning I would travel for the first time by myself to Kaedi (about two hours away) to use the Internet and see if anyone had written or messaged me.

They hadn..t. I gave up and went to visit my host family in Kaedi that I stayed with during training. As I was spending my Saturday afternoon with people that I could actually communicate with, my mother finally called me from the States. She said they got my message and were sorry that no one called but she explained, ..We thought you..re in Africa and wouldn..t even know it..s Thanksgiving... Forget the fact of whether or not I knew it was Thanksgiving, wouldn..t you be thinking of your daughter in Africa on Thanksgiving and miss her and want to tell her that you wish she could be there with you!! Instead of calling her two days later and only because she called you!

Listen people..oil was discovered this last year in the northern region of Mauritania and there is now a Chinese and an Australian company doing some work here. The GDP of Mauritania has doubled in one year..s time. This money is filtering into areas like development and communication so much that this last week our office actually got Internet! All I..m saying is that if you would like to email me or send me a message/comment on MySpace saying happy holidays I would not be opposed.

This was my first African Thanksgiving.

Links to Related Topics (Tags):

Headlines: December, 2006; Peace Corps Mauritania; Directory of Mauritania RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Mauritania RPCVs; Blogs - Mauritania; Holidays; Thanksgiving

When this story was posted in February 2007, this was on the front page of PCOL:




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February 23, 2007: This Month's Top Stories Hill announces Draft Accord in North Korea Nuclear Talks 12 Feb Dodd builds connections in New Hampshire 19 Feb PCVs accused of counterinsurgency activities 19 Feb Harris Wofford declares support for Obama 18 Feb Tschetter becomes the first Director to visit Malawi 16 Feb New Fellows Program at Yale University 15 Feb Sidney Slover helps start donut production in Honduras 16 Feb Kevin O'Donnell's Daughter and Granddaughter are PCVs 14 Feb Joe Krueger helps restore Liberia's timber industry 14 Feb Peace Corps Hippies 13 Feb Maryland RPCVs to screen "American Idealist" on March 3 9 Feb Aaron Kase writes: Moon over Africa 8 Feb Margaret Krome writes: 'Rogue nations' aren't only threat 8 Feb Shays says he would Support McCain 8 Feb A Mistrial for Lieut. Watada 8 Feb Chris Matthews drops the F-bomb 8 Feb RPCVs - Believe it or not 07 Feb White House requests $334 Million for Peace Corps 5 Feb Carol Bellamy writes: We need an Earth Corps 3 Feb First Group of PCVs arrive in Cambodia 2 Feb Mae Jemison wears red for charity 2 Feb Dear Miss Lonelyhearts 30 Jan

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February 2, 2007: This Month's Top Stories Peace Corps Volunteers in Guinea Are Safe in Mali 28 Jan Lee Wilbur writes: Muslim media images are shocking 31 Jan Gregory Acker plays African drums for 3rd Goal 31 Jan "Jimi Sir" now available for free internet viewing 30 Jan Is Civilian Reserve just another Bush throwaway line? 30 Jan Tony Hall writes: What North Korea really wants 30 Jan Paul Tsongas remembered on 10th anniversary 28 Jan Ben Bell attends Washington march against Iraq war 27 Jan First Peace Corps Volunteers to Serve in Cambodia 26 Jan Phil Hardberger sees 'golden years' ahead for San Antonio 26 Jan Doyle wants smoking ban in Wisconsin 24 Jan Mark Udall to run for Colorado Senate Seat 17 Jan Meredith Walsh works with Burmese refugees 16 Jan Tschetter spends MLK Day with Habitat for Humanity 15 Jan Robert Buckley founds Himalayan Healers 14 Jan James Rupert writes: An aging king in Thailand 14 Jan Michael O'Hanlon writes: A Skeptic's Case For the Surge 14 Jan Senator Dodd opposes Iraq surge 11 Jan Pat Waak celebrates 2008 Democratic Convention 11 Jan Al Kamen writes: The six rules for Congressional Junkets 10 Jan Bill Moyers slams Bush on global warming 10 Jan Psychological biases favor conflict rather than concession 1 Jan

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Chris Dodd's Vision for the Peace Corps Senator Chris Dodd (RPCV Dominican Republic) spoke at the ceremony for this year's Shriver Award and elaborated on issues he raised at Ron Tschetter's hearings. Dodd plans to introduce legislation that may include: setting aside a portion of Peace Corps' budget as seed money for demonstration projects and third goal activities (after adjusting the annual budget upward to accommodate the added expense), more volunteer input into Peace Corps operations, removing medical, healthcare and tax impediments that discourage older volunteers, providing more transparency in the medical screening and appeals process, a more comprehensive health safety net for recently-returned volunteers, and authorizing volunteers to accept, under certain circumstances, private donations to support their development projects. He plans to circulate draft legislation for review to members of the Peace Corps community and welcomes RPCV comments.

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He served with honor One year ago, Staff Sgt. Robert J. Paul (RPCV Kenya) carried on an ongoing dialog on this website on the military and the peace corps and his role as a member of a Civil Affairs Team in Iraq and Afghanistan. We have just received a report that Sargeant Paul has been killed by a car bomb in Kabul. Words cannot express our feeling of loss for this tremendous injury to the entire RPCV community. Most of us didn't know him personally but we knew him from his words. Our thoughts go out to his family and friends. He was one of ours and he served with honor.

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Meet Ron Tschetter - Our Next Director Read our story about Ron Tschetter's confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that was carried on C-Span. It was very different from the Vasquez hearings in 2001, very cut and dried with low attendance by the public. Among the highlights, Tschetter intends to make recruitment of baby boomers a priority, there are 20 countries under consideration for future programs, Senator Dodd intends to re-introduce his third goal Peace Corps legislation this session, Tschetter is a great admirer of Senator Coleman's quest for accountability, Dodd thinks management at PC may not put volunteers first, Dodd wants Tschetter to look into problems in medical selection, and Tschetter is not a blogger and knows little about the internet or guidelines for volunteer blogs. Read our recap of the hearings as well as Senator Coleman's statement and Tschetter's statement.

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Peace Corps' Screening and Medical Clearance The purpose of Peace Corps' screening and medical clearance process is to ensure safe accommodation for applicants and minimize undue risk exposure for volunteers to allow PCVS to complete their service without compromising their entry health status. To further these goals, PCOL has obtained a copy of the Peace Corps Screening Guidelines Manual through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and has posted it in the "Peace Corps Library." Applicants and Medical Professionals (especially those who have already served as volunteers) are urged to review the guidelines and leave their comments and suggestions. Then read the story of one RPCV's journey through medical screening and his suggestions for changes to the process.

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The Peace Corps is "fashionable" again The LA Times says that "the Peace Corps is booming again and "It's hard to know exactly what's behind the resurgence." PCOL Comment: Since the founding of the Peace Corps 45 years ago, Americans have answered Kennedy's call: "Ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country. My fellow citizens of the world: ask not what America will do for you, but what together we can do for the freedom of man." Over 182,000 have served. Another 200,000 have applied and been unable to serve because of lack of Congressional funding. The Peace Corps has never gone out of fashion. It's Congress that hasn't been keeping pace.

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PCOL readership increases 100% Monthly readership on "Peace Corps Online" has increased in the past twelve months to 350,000 visitors - over eleven thousand every day - a 100% increase since this time last year. Thanks again, RPCVs and Friends of the Peace Corps, for making PCOL your source of information for the Peace Corps community. And thanks for supporting the Peace Corps Library and History of the Peace Corps. Stay tuned, the best is yet to come.

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History of the Peace Corps PCOL is proud to announce that Phase One of the "History of the Peace Corps" is now available online. This installment includes over 5,000 pages of primary source documents from the archives of the Peace Corps including every issue of "Peace Corps News," "Peace Corps Times," "Peace Corps Volunteer," "Action Update," and every annual report of the Peace Corps to Congress since 1961. "Ask Not" is an ongoing project. Read how you can help.

Read the stories and leave your comments.

By Joanne Marie Roll (joey) (acbfeb64.ipt.aol.com - 172.191.235.100) on Friday, March 02, 2007 - 11:09 am: Edit Post

Dear Laura, Hang in there! I served in the early 60s and I think some families feel as if joining the peace corps means you have deserted them. When Kennedy was killed, my mother wrote a long letter about how hard it was for them in the States...no questions about how I was doing. Hello.
On a more serious note, I hope that you can get some medical help around your nutrition needs. You can't work in a difficult environment if you are malnourished or experiencing side effects from malaria medication. Tolerating that stuff should not be part of a job description. I hope I don't sound "pollyannish." I know it is tough to get proper medical attention and I wish you well. I also know that those of us who went before you did not do enough to make this part of the job easier for you all. Take care. I also hope that you visit this site and see this message.