this is the picture of the back door that got us detained. i was trying to copy the mauritanian emblem with my head and arms...i actually wanted to take this picture for my mom because i thought she'd think the door was pretty. oops.
lundi 17 mars 2008
17.03.08
this is the picture of the back door that got us detained. i was trying to copy the mauritanian emblem with my head and arms...i actually wanted to take this picture for my mom because i thought she'd think the door was pretty. oops.
17.03.08
hello.
i know, i've taken forever to write. a lot has happened since the last time i wrote. i guess i will make a list of things i've done...
1. the first weekend in february i went to the capital of mauritania called nouakchott. we had a really hard time getting a visa and sat at the border crossing for quite a few hours before getting a transit visa for 48 hours. we spent saturday walking around the city which included buying junk in an underground artisan market, nearly getting run over by the many female drivers there, visited a mosque (only outside, no women allowed inside), got detained for taking a picture of the banque nationale's back door (we were unaware it was the BN, it was unmarked, it is apparently illegal to take pictures of government buildings but thanks to maren's charm we got out of trouble and the policeman ended up giving me his number...), getting "wrappers" aka malaffa- a big cloth that you wrap around your body and head that moor women wear, ate at a lebanese restaurant where we ordered banana milkshakes and tuna/egg sandwiches (they were good), squished into a sept-place (a station wagon meant to seat 7 people) that actually carried 10 of us back through the desert to the border (tight squeeze, but everyone kept a good attitude about it and we spent a lot of time giggling at one passengers attempt to close the door), got ripped off from the man collecting money for the pirogue on the rosso, senegal side (the other side of the river is called rosso, mauritania but i got in an argument on the senegalese side which was hell on earth), hopped on a "mini-bus" that was twice it's original height because there was so much stuff strapped to the roof and then got stopped twice and completely unloaded to check for illegal substances (funny though, there were two guys who were in the mini-bus with a briefcase freaking out about where the key to lock it was...very suspicious but they didn't get caught, i guess cocaine is a problem), and finally made it back in time to eat some "nice burger" (a saucy burger with a fried egg) and drink a real espresso.
2. still in early february (not entirely sure what date) i went to park-djoudj (a bird park) with natalie and her parents. we saw pelicans, water snakes, crocodiles, a python, warthogs, a varan (that's the french word for it, it is a large lizard) and some other species of birds i don't know the names of. it was interesting but an uncomfortable drive- the road wasn't good and we got dusty.
3. this weekend...well actually wednesday morning at 3am (simon & garfunkel) [*sigh] we started driving and drove...and drove...and drove...
...and finally, after 18 bumpy-dusty-sweaty hours in a bus, made it to the tambacounda region (south-eastern corner of the country) where 19 of us toubab ladies (students from hamline university, Upenn, haverford, wisconsin-madison, and barnard) packed into the back of a 4x4 in a national park called Niokolo Koba looking for lions but only seeing water buck (strange-looking animals, deer-like heads with stumpy, strong legs and bodies), hippos, crocodiles, baboons, monkeys with yellow-tipped tails, cool birds that looked like hunchbacks, antelope, and warthogs...i think that's it. we did a land and a water safari on the fleuve gambie. that was thursday. then friday we drove to kedougou (another 4 or 5 hours) where we stayed for two nights. friday morning we got up at 7am and went to a waterfall in the mountains...it was beautiful, i felt like a mermaid jumping in with little senegalese boys. once back we went to the market and i bought some indigo-dyed fabric. saturday we climbed a mountain and visited an old village where women have tons of rings in their ears and sticks in their noses- kind of like the pictures you see in national geographic. there was an amazing baobab tree up there that was so old. in fact, all the trees were so big i felt like an elf walking around there. we also saw a dead panther that had apparently wandered into the village the night before and they killed it with poisoned meat. that was really neat. there was a "dame du village" who was 118 years old there too. the trip was excellent but i have never, EVER been so dirty in my life...i think my skin was about 5 shades lighter after my shower yesterday! it was an adventure...that is for sure. we got very little sleep but good food and mangoes and there was hardly any drama or trouble. lucky us, only sandra ended up getting diarrhea. one out of 19 is not a bad ratio.
besides those adventures i had exams and papers to write which all went pretty well i think. second semester is starting but spring break is coming up too. tom comes on sunday so i think we'll go visit the rain forest. and maybe walk down the beach to guinea bissau or interview a prostitute or two. it's quite hot here, about 38 degrees celcius which is about 103 degrees farenheight. that is an average, some days are hotter. well i have a wolof class in 8 minutes so good luck. i got 20/20 on my last exam.
i know, i've taken forever to write. a lot has happened since the last time i wrote. i guess i will make a list of things i've done...
1. the first weekend in february i went to the capital of mauritania called nouakchott. we had a really hard time getting a visa and sat at the border crossing for quite a few hours before getting a transit visa for 48 hours. we spent saturday walking around the city which included buying junk in an underground artisan market, nearly getting run over by the many female drivers there, visited a mosque (only outside, no women allowed inside), got detained for taking a picture of the banque nationale's back door (we were unaware it was the BN, it was unmarked, it is apparently illegal to take pictures of government buildings but thanks to maren's charm we got out of trouble and the policeman ended up giving me his number...), getting "wrappers" aka malaffa- a big cloth that you wrap around your body and head that moor women wear, ate at a lebanese restaurant where we ordered banana milkshakes and tuna/egg sandwiches (they were good), squished into a sept-place (a station wagon meant to seat 7 people) that actually carried 10 of us back through the desert to the border (tight squeeze, but everyone kept a good attitude about it and we spent a lot of time giggling at one passengers attempt to close the door), got ripped off from the man collecting money for the pirogue on the rosso, senegal side (the other side of the river is called rosso, mauritania but i got in an argument on the senegalese side which was hell on earth), hopped on a "mini-bus" that was twice it's original height because there was so much stuff strapped to the roof and then got stopped twice and completely unloaded to check for illegal substances (funny though, there were two guys who were in the mini-bus with a briefcase freaking out about where the key to lock it was...very suspicious but they didn't get caught, i guess cocaine is a problem), and finally made it back in time to eat some "nice burger" (a saucy burger with a fried egg) and drink a real espresso.
2. still in early february (not entirely sure what date) i went to park-djoudj (a bird park) with natalie and her parents. we saw pelicans, water snakes, crocodiles, a python, warthogs, a varan (that's the french word for it, it is a large lizard) and some other species of birds i don't know the names of. it was interesting but an uncomfortable drive- the road wasn't good and we got dusty.
3. this weekend...well actually wednesday morning at 3am (simon & garfunkel) [*sigh] we started driving and drove...and drove...and drove...
...and finally, after 18 bumpy-dusty-sweaty hours in a bus, made it to the tambacounda region (south-eastern corner of the country) where 19 of us toubab ladies (students from hamline university, Upenn, haverford, wisconsin-madison, and barnard) packed into the back of a 4x4 in a national park called Niokolo Koba looking for lions but only seeing water buck (strange-looking animals, deer-like heads with stumpy, strong legs and bodies), hippos, crocodiles, baboons, monkeys with yellow-tipped tails, cool birds that looked like hunchbacks, antelope, and warthogs...i think that's it. we did a land and a water safari on the fleuve gambie. that was thursday. then friday we drove to kedougou (another 4 or 5 hours) where we stayed for two nights. friday morning we got up at 7am and went to a waterfall in the mountains...it was beautiful, i felt like a mermaid jumping in with little senegalese boys. once back we went to the market and i bought some indigo-dyed fabric. saturday we climbed a mountain and visited an old village where women have tons of rings in their ears and sticks in their noses- kind of like the pictures you see in national geographic. there was an amazing baobab tree up there that was so old. in fact, all the trees were so big i felt like an elf walking around there. we also saw a dead panther that had apparently wandered into the village the night before and they killed it with poisoned meat. that was really neat. there was a "dame du village" who was 118 years old there too. the trip was excellent but i have never, EVER been so dirty in my life...i think my skin was about 5 shades lighter after my shower yesterday! it was an adventure...that is for sure. we got very little sleep but good food and mangoes and there was hardly any drama or trouble. lucky us, only sandra ended up getting diarrhea. one out of 19 is not a bad ratio.
besides those adventures i had exams and papers to write which all went pretty well i think. second semester is starting but spring break is coming up too. tom comes on sunday so i think we'll go visit the rain forest. and maybe walk down the beach to guinea bissau or interview a prostitute or two. it's quite hot here, about 38 degrees celcius which is about 103 degrees farenheight. that is an average, some days are hotter. well i have a wolof class in 8 minutes so good luck. i got 20/20 on my last exam.
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