Midwives abroad
16 years ago
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Ahhhh so many languages!!
Yes, I know....I haven't been exactly keeping up with my blog on a regular basis. I am going to do my best to try and post more smaller entries, just to sort of keep the flow of things going here.... But i figured on this entry I would give you some insight into the culture of language here, because it is immensely different.
Okay, so first some background on the languages. In Mauritania, there are 5 major spoken languages: Hassaniya, Wolof, Pulaar, Sonike', and French. Mauritania used to be a French colony, so a lot of people have some sort of French background. Hassaniya is sort of a slang version of Arabic. The other three languages are more traditional African languages.... Also, except for French, none of the languages are actually written languages. So that adds a whole new twist to learning.
I am currently learning Wolof with the Peace Corps. I am actually the only person from my 78 person training class who is actually learning this language. So it sort of makes me a lone ranger here. I feel kind of privileged actually. However, not really having any other volunteers to study with is kind of tough. My teacher Amadou Mbooj is really an amazing guy though. He is an excellent teacher and has a great sense of humor, but he doesn't speak any English. So he teaches me in French, which in turn is drastically helping my French lol. Also, my family is really wonderful about helping me with both Wolof and French.
As for the Mauritanians themselves, it seems like everyone here speaks at least 2 languages. Its just something that is ingrained in them. Which is such a major difference from the US. Just to sort of give you an example; a couple of nights ago, myself, Justin, Meredith, and Lily were coming home from a little get together everyone had at the ice cream joint in town (yeah can you believe it!! lol). and we stumbled across my host brother Sharif and some of his friends hanging out. There were about 6 of them in total. So we sat down for a while and just started BSing. So here is how it went.... We all spoke English to one another, then we would speak French to the my brother and his friends. Also, I was practicing my Wolof with them. 2 of his friends were Sonike and were trying to teach us some of that language. Finally, there was a Moor guy there who was sitting next to me speaking Hassaniya. So literally we were throwing around like 5 languages during a single conversation, which actually seems to be the case in Mauritania quite often, even between the actual Mauritanians themselves. Language is just a completely relative concept here lol....
Random Act of Kindness: So my host family has a freezer here, so my mom makes and sells ice bags for people in the city. She fills up little plastic bags with water and freezes them. She usually fills up like 30 and carries them to the freezer. I know they're heavy, so now whenever I see her I make it a point to stick around to help her carry the water around our house. She is always very grateful for the help. :-)
Okay, so first some background on the languages. In Mauritania, there are 5 major spoken languages: Hassaniya, Wolof, Pulaar, Sonike', and French. Mauritania used to be a French colony, so a lot of people have some sort of French background. Hassaniya is sort of a slang version of Arabic. The other three languages are more traditional African languages.... Also, except for French, none of the languages are actually written languages. So that adds a whole new twist to learning.
I am currently learning Wolof with the Peace Corps. I am actually the only person from my 78 person training class who is actually learning this language. So it sort of makes me a lone ranger here. I feel kind of privileged actually. However, not really having any other volunteers to study with is kind of tough. My teacher Amadou Mbooj is really an amazing guy though. He is an excellent teacher and has a great sense of humor, but he doesn't speak any English. So he teaches me in French, which in turn is drastically helping my French lol. Also, my family is really wonderful about helping me with both Wolof and French.
As for the Mauritanians themselves, it seems like everyone here speaks at least 2 languages. Its just something that is ingrained in them. Which is such a major difference from the US. Just to sort of give you an example; a couple of nights ago, myself, Justin, Meredith, and Lily were coming home from a little get together everyone had at the ice cream joint in town (yeah can you believe it!! lol). and we stumbled across my host brother Sharif and some of his friends hanging out. There were about 6 of them in total. So we sat down for a while and just started BSing. So here is how it went.... We all spoke English to one another, then we would speak French to the my brother and his friends. Also, I was practicing my Wolof with them. 2 of his friends were Sonike and were trying to teach us some of that language. Finally, there was a Moor guy there who was sitting next to me speaking Hassaniya. So literally we were throwing around like 5 languages during a single conversation, which actually seems to be the case in Mauritania quite often, even between the actual Mauritanians themselves. Language is just a completely relative concept here lol....
Random Act of Kindness: So my host family has a freezer here, so my mom makes and sells ice bags for people in the city. She fills up little plastic bags with water and freezes them. She usually fills up like 30 and carries them to the freezer. I know they're heavy, so now whenever I see her I make it a point to stick around to help her carry the water around our house. She is always very grateful for the help. :-)
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Ambient Noises and Mangos
Wow, what a crazy transition it has been coming to Mauritania. I have never really been a poetic person, so I will do my best to describe things here....
Perhaps one of my favorite adjustments has been the ambient noises that accompany the day and night. All over Rosso and Africa, farm animals pretty much roam the streets. People let their goats, horses, donkeys, roosters, and the occasional camel go everywhere. They're pretty much silent during the day, just going about their business, which mostly consists of eating trash and pooping. Not really a pretty sight honestly.
For some reason though, when the sun goes down, these animals go no nuts!! lol The donekys all sounnd like their being beaten or something (maybe they are?) The goats attack one another, along with the stray cats and dogs. The roosters wake up at 5am to cock a doodle doo. The horses are cool... lol
Other ambeint noises at night would be the loud rap music that can be heard through out the night, which is cool, reminds me of home... :-) Also, the crying of our neighbor's children. (I think she might have like 20!) My family doesn't really care for them lol.. Then when people do have TVs, they keep them loud. African cities at night are way louder than I ever anticipated.
During the day, the sound of children playing is what you here whenever your off the main streets. On the main streets, the sounds of the market is what rules the air. People all shouting over one another trying to get your attention or arguing over a price. Its basically controlled chaos and I use the term controlled lightly lol.
Other than the noises, it is truly wonderful to be around such kind people. The Mauritanians in general are so incredibly kind. Makes me happy that "random acts of kindness" can be found anywhere.
African Random Act of Kindness: Purchased 2 kilos of mangos for my family after we had lunch. :-) They were absolutly delicious.....
**Still working on the photo thing. Should be able to post them soon, once i get back to the center for a bit
Perhaps one of my favorite adjustments has been the ambient noises that accompany the day and night. All over Rosso and Africa, farm animals pretty much roam the streets. People let their goats, horses, donkeys, roosters, and the occasional camel go everywhere. They're pretty much silent during the day, just going about their business, which mostly consists of eating trash and pooping. Not really a pretty sight honestly.
For some reason though, when the sun goes down, these animals go no nuts!! lol The donekys all sounnd like their being beaten or something (maybe they are?) The goats attack one another, along with the stray cats and dogs. The roosters wake up at 5am to cock a doodle doo. The horses are cool... lol
Other ambeint noises at night would be the loud rap music that can be heard through out the night, which is cool, reminds me of home... :-) Also, the crying of our neighbor's children. (I think she might have like 20!) My family doesn't really care for them lol.. Then when people do have TVs, they keep them loud. African cities at night are way louder than I ever anticipated.
During the day, the sound of children playing is what you here whenever your off the main streets. On the main streets, the sounds of the market is what rules the air. People all shouting over one another trying to get your attention or arguing over a price. Its basically controlled chaos and I use the term controlled lightly lol.
Other than the noises, it is truly wonderful to be around such kind people. The Mauritanians in general are so incredibly kind. Makes me happy that "random acts of kindness" can be found anywhere.
African Random Act of Kindness: Purchased 2 kilos of mangos for my family after we had lunch. :-) They were absolutly delicious.....
**Still working on the photo thing. Should be able to post them soon, once i get back to the center for a bit
Saturday, June 21, 2008
We have arrived!!
So we made it!! We have finally landed in Africa and what a day it has been....
I break it down for you.
1. Land in Dakar Senegal at 4:30am
2. Takes 2 hours to load the buses and start our trip to Mauritania
3. 5.5 hour bus ride through Senegalese countryside and cities
4. Wait 2 hours at Senegal and Mauritania to take our buses across the Senegal River on a ferry.... (the ferry broke for a while)
5. Arrive in Rosso Mauritania and get greeting by at least 30 Peace Corps workers and Host Country Nationals (lots on handshakes and French and Hassiniya )
6. Have lunch (fish and rice with a tomato sauce)
7. Free time (get african phone number!! 0112224596587 <---that's the whole thing if you wanna call me, I have unlimited minutes if you give me a call. We are only 4 hours ahead...
8. First walk around Rosso with guide. Talk about culture shock! It really is an amazing place though. Today I was happy when a little kid came up and shook my hand and greeted me while I was walking down the street.
9. Talking with some Host Country Nationals (worked on my french)
10. Set up our mosquito nets outside to sleep under the stars.
11. Had dinner (cous cous and goat)
12. Found out we have wireless internet and wrote this blog....
I break it down for you.
1. Land in Dakar Senegal at 4:30am
2. Takes 2 hours to load the buses and start our trip to Mauritania
3. 5.5 hour bus ride through Senegalese countryside and cities
4. Wait 2 hours at Senegal and Mauritania to take our buses across the Senegal River on a ferry.... (the ferry broke for a while)
5. Arrive in Rosso Mauritania and get greeting by at least 30 Peace Corps workers and Host Country Nationals (lots on handshakes and French and Hassiniya )
6. Have lunch (fish and rice with a tomato sauce)
7. Free time (get african phone number!! 0112224596587 <---that's the whole thing if you wanna call me, I have unlimited minutes if you give me a call. We are only 4 hours ahead...
8. First walk around Rosso with guide. Talk about culture shock! It really is an amazing place though. Today I was happy when a little kid came up and shook my hand and greeted me while I was walking down the street.
9. Talking with some Host Country Nationals (worked on my french)
10. Set up our mosquito nets outside to sleep under the stars.
11. Had dinner (cous cous and goat)
12. Found out we have wireless internet and wrote this blog....
Friday, June 20, 2008
On a plane to Africa!!
Well I only have a few mintutes before we board the bus and head to Africa. So I figured I would use my 15 minutes of free internet and blog real quick....
These past few days have been amazing. We have been in Hot-lanta for the Peace Corps staging. Its basically a two day event to help "prepare" us for Africa. It really has been a awesome experience thus far. My fellow volunteers are great people, everyone is just so outgoing and well educated and gifted in their various fields. Its a pretty eclectic bunch of people lol... Plus, the government was more than generous with their per diem! So it has really allowed us to live it up during our last days state side.
Because of staging though I am amazingly exicted to head to Africa. We're boarding the plane in a few hours and we'll get their just in time to see the sun rise in Senegal for our bus ride to Mauritania! Good bye North America and hello Africa!!
Au revoir mes amis!!
These past few days have been amazing. We have been in Hot-lanta for the Peace Corps staging. Its basically a two day event to help "prepare" us for Africa. It really has been a awesome experience thus far. My fellow volunteers are great people, everyone is just so outgoing and well educated and gifted in their various fields. Its a pretty eclectic bunch of people lol... Plus, the government was more than generous with their per diem! So it has really allowed us to live it up during our last days state side.
Because of staging though I am amazingly exicted to head to Africa. We're boarding the plane in a few hours and we'll get their just in time to see the sun rise in Senegal for our bus ride to Mauritania! Good bye North America and hello Africa!!
Au revoir mes amis!!
Monday, June 16, 2008
T-Minus 1 Day: My Address
In case you would like to write me a letter or send a care package:
“Eric Barnett” PCT
Corps de la Paix
B.P. 222
Nouakchott, Mauritania
West Africa
Well packing is practically complete. I only have a few things left! I am exactly at 80 pounds.....lol no more no less. I only have room now in my carry-on luggage.
Random Mauritanian Fact:
Ethnic Groups: 40% mixed Arab/Black, 30% Arab, 30% Black
“Eric Barnett” PCT
Corps de la Paix
B.P. 222
Nouakchott, Mauritania
West Africa
Well packing is practically complete. I only have a few things left! I am exactly at 80 pounds.....lol no more no less. I only have room now in my carry-on luggage.
Random Mauritanian Fact:
Ethnic Groups: 40% mixed Arab/Black, 30% Arab, 30% Black
Monday, June 2, 2008
T-Minus 15 days: Its coming fast
Well I figured I would just write a quick note about what's going on.
TIME IS FLYING!!! The 100 days of Eric are rapidly running out lol. But I really couldn't be more excited. I have started getting emails from my trainers and managers in Mauritania. In my basement, I now have a table that is filling up with all the things I'll be taking there.
Next week I'll put up the list of things I am packing for Mauritania!!
Random Mauritania Face:
The Population is 3,069,000
TIME IS FLYING!!! The 100 days of Eric are rapidly running out lol. But I really couldn't be more excited. I have started getting emails from my trainers and managers in Mauritania. In my basement, I now have a table that is filling up with all the things I'll be taking there.
Next week I'll put up the list of things I am packing for Mauritania!!
Random Mauritania Face:
The Population is 3,069,000
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