December update

Hi,

Once again, it is Lauri's dad writing. Lauri is getting into the swing of things with her assignment. Testing of the girls took place in late October. 22 of the 26 girls in the town high school enrolled in the after school program. It is difficult for many of the girls to get to classes. Some of them are already married and have young babies of their own. Lauri is at times disappointed at low attendance rates.

She seems to enjoy life outside of her assignment. Several of her fellow Peace Corps volunteers got together on Thanksgiving and had a great dinner. No turkeys in Mauritania, but they did cook 2 chickens along with several other dishes. Mauritania's Independence Day was a couple of days later and the town of Mbagne celebrated all day long. Lauri watched several of the events and took lots of pictures. While taking the pictures, she was approached by the local gendarme. He told her that the town manager wanted to invite her and her fellow volunteer to dinner that night. Lauri said that it was the Mauritanian equivalent of the red-carpet treatment. There were about 25 guests that night. Lots of good food. She said that she ate about as much meat that night as she had in the previous 3 months.

She is looking forward to the next several weeks. The country's Peace Corps manager has invited all volunteers to his house for Christmas. This will necessitate a trip to Nouakchott, the capital city. This is quite a travel adventure in itself, as is any travel in the country. Of course, she does not have a car so must rely on others for rides. Several times she thought she might be stranded in another town, only to have someone approach and say they are traveling back to Mbagne and ask if she needed a ride. The people are friendly in that way. Imagine that happening around here. Seen many hitchhikers lately? The volunteers are finally free to travel outside their home region in a few days, so several are planning a trip to a market festival in Senegal this weekend. They also have New Year's plans.

Lauri is going to New York in January to visit her boyfriend, Mehdi. (Alas, our visit with her will have to wait until June when we hope to meet her in Morocco.) I am hoping to exchange digital memory sticks with her and finally post some pictures on this website.