Pics from March

Thought ya'll might enjoy some photos. The first four are from a spontaneous trip to the Sand Dunes with my friend Medhi. We were going to go to the art museum but it was closed, so we felt the only logical option was to go to the Sand Dunes (a five hour drive, well worth it!) We were suprised to find Alamosa covered in snow when we arrived, but after a couple hours most of it had melted. We went to Zapata Falls first which is 5-10 miles from the actual dunes. The falls were quite frozen, but you could hear the water melting, beneath 3-4 feet of ice while standing on top of it. Then we hiked up a Sand Dune, which was amazing. For all of you who know about my fear of climbing mountains, this was very comforting. There is nothing scary about being on top of dune.
We got home the next day around eleven and I left for Mexico the next morning with the family. The last photo is us before leaving. Not much exciting happened while in Cabo, we just lied by the pool and read for seven days straight! Quite the relaxing way to spend your time....

Me on top of a sand dune! (And no my feet were not cold at all!)

Medhi!

No, this is not Mauritania. This is the Great Sand Dunes in Colorado! It snowed the night before, and a good portion of the dunes were still snowy, but it was rather warm out!

Zapata Falls!

The Family in Cabo San Lucas!

You've been invited.....

It's official! Today I accepted my invitation to serve as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Mauritania. For those of you wondering exactly where Mauritania is, it is Northwest Africa, below Morocco. Yes that's correct I'm giving up all my American luxuries to go live in the Sahara for two years and three months!!! What else can I tell you about Mauritania?
-It is a 99% Islamic Country, but like most West African countries it is a moderate Islamic Country. What does this mean for me? I don't have to wear a Burkha, but I will have to cover a good majority of my skin, (skirts to ankles, no shoulders, nothing even remotely tight...)
-It is very hot! This should be interesting, being as how I haven't seen temperatures above 85 degrees for the last 2 summers!
-The official language is Arabic, but French is also widely spoken and before I'm sworn in I have to test a intermediate level of French, so all my studying has not been in vain! I just picked up my first Arabic Cd's and book and it is very overwhelming, but also a strangely beautiful language!
-The average yearly income is 2,400. While this may not seem like much, and it isn't, Mauritania is a very poor Country, it's also not too terrible for the region.
-Mauritania is famed as one of the safest countries in Africa and also one of the friendliest (which I'm not really sure how they measure!!!)
-And my favorite fact so far: They have Shwaerma there!!!! For those of you who missed the Shwaerma phase of my life, I ate it almost everyday and sometimes several times a day while in Russia. It is similar to a Gyro, but 20 times better! I can do anything as long as I can eat Shwearma, it kind of makes me invincible.
-And my least favorite fact so far: No alcohol at all, it's a completely dry country!
Stay tuned for more info about the country in the future. Research has been interesting, it's a 10 page blurb in lonely planet, so I've mainly relied on the PCs fact book, and volunteer blogs for my info...I found more information using French Google, but it takes me a really long time to translate and I'm still not sure I understand everything...
And as for what I'm going to be doing in the country:
And this is what I'm by far the most excited about!
As I mentioned at Christmas I would be working with a new project that focuses on "Girl Empowerment." I was honestly taking stabs at what I'd actually be doing since that's a rather large issue. But here is the general gist of it:
The illiteracy rate in Mauritania for women is very high, and many girls never get beyond the sixth grade level. Based on the idea that a country can't thrive if it's functioning without half of it's population, Mauritania has asked for a program that helps this problem. The solution to it is multifaceted, but mainly they have set up several "Girls Mentoring Centers," which sound comparable to our Boys and Girls Clubs of America, where girls can go after school and on the weekends. There they can get help with school work, learn new life skills, and participate in activities that they might not be able to elsewhere. I will be acting as a manager for one of these Centers: working with educators and other women mentors to ensure that these centers will attain and maintain self-sufficiency, organize special events, like camps, bring your daughter to work day type things, and work with the community to raise awareness of the importance of girls education.
Absolutely Amazing!

So in short I'm very excited, a little bit nervous and extremely busy! I will be leaving June 25, 2007 and returning in 27 months. I get vacation time but am going to try my hardest to say in Africa the entire time and if necessary run to Europe for a small vacation.