02.06.05 - 07:32

This is Molly’s web master and her dad.  As she mentioned in her entry “Daddy Visit” (29/05/05), I visited Mauritania for two weeks at the end of April, and I had a great time. 

People have asked me what it was like, and I do not have a simple answer.  One PCV suggested that I answer that it was like having your arm bitten off by a shark — hard to describe.  I do not like that answer since I found lots of interesting things in Mauritania, none of them that horrible. 

However, I also do not want to write a long response because I open myself open to comments such as the following written about me on Father’s Day:

He finds enjoyment in a bus

which is boring to the rest of us!

I learned at Booz Allen writing school that I am not the Hemingway of buses and that I should stick to the facts and write as many bullets as possible.  The following are my bulleted impressions of Mauritania.

·         Mauritania has many beautiful desert landscapes and views.  I was impressed by the many different wind-sculptured sand dunes, and the large sand dune in Kankossa that overlooks the lake.

·         The ever present trash in Mauritanian streets, while distracting, can be useful.  You can find anything that you need in the trash.  Molly broke a strap on her flip-flops and made a quick sidewalk repair using wire found in the road.  When goats go where they should not go, all Mauritanian kids reach into the trash, find discarded flip-flops, and wing them at the goats. 

·         PCVs are well trained in the art (and principle) of negotiation.  There is a Peace Corps way of negotiating with merchants that must be part of the PCV basic training.  No matter what the price, the PCV reacts with the same look of bewilderment and amazement.  How dare you charge me that much — do you think I am stupid? (Usually uttered in at least two languages — generally French and Hassaniya Arabic).  After five minutes of discussion, the PCV says no deal and walks away disgusted.  The merchant grabs the PCV and a deal is struck.  Later, I ask how much was saved by this effort. The average saving was $0.14 (number of PCV transactions observed = 9).  I say, next time I will pay the $0.14.  No, the PCVs say in unison (they always seem to come together at this point) it is the principle that is important, not the money.  Being frugal, I admire the thought, but the Patron in me (rich person in Mauritania) says next time let’s pay the $0.14.

·         Mauritania is proof that not all business concepts, such as market segmentation, are transferable.  All the markets are organized into areas — e.g., cloth merchants in one area, leather people in another area.  You would think that this would make it easy to compare the goods of one merchant against those of another.  It is easy, but pointless, because every merchant sells the same assortment of goods.  How do merchants find their market niche?  They all have different relatives and friends who buy only from them.

·         Mauritanian village life is good.  I enjoyed the village life in Kankossa, and what a simple life has to offer personal relationships. With no television, lights, or anything electric, your neighbors are more important to you, even if they are sometimes annoying.  In four days, I spoke with more of Molly’s neighbors than I do in six months back home.  The villagers also laughed more at my jokes than my neighbors at home, perhaps because they did not understand what I was saying and gave me the benefit of the doubt. Can you have good neighborhood relationships in a poor village?  Yes is the answer in Kankossa.

·         PCVs are well read and probably will be future organizers of book clubs when they return home.  PCVs have significant down time because of the heat and slow pace of life.  They spend it reading almost any book that they can get their hands on.  When they get together, they spend hours discussing the smallest details of the books.  I tried to participate in a discussion of that great American classic, Angels and Demons¸ a quick beach read written by Dan Brown, the guy who wrote The Da Vinci Code.  I bailed out of the discussion after two minutes when the PCVs started quoting page numbers.  I think the other problem is that a type-A guy like me has a short attention span for this kind of discussion. Except for maybe two people, none of the PCVs I met comes even remotely close to being type-A.

·         No Mauritanian has been to driving school.  As a transportation professional (and cited as a transportation expert in Annika’s English class in Kankossa), I was interested in how Mauritanians drive.  They seem to live by the principle that the shortest distance between two points is a straight line.  This is generally a good rule, except when approaching a round-about (traffic circle) and wanting to go left.  The proper action is go three-quarters around the circle (270°).  Mauritanians universally make an immediate diagonal left, before the round-about, across the sidewalk or someone’s yard, since this is a straight line to the road on their left.

Mauritanians also do not have my interest in and knowledge of cars.  What kind of rental car will we get? Japanese (Correct Answer: Toyota).  How large is the engine?  Small enough to fit under the hood (2.8L).   What is the fuel efficiency of the rental car? We fill the car with fuel at the station when it gets close to empty (My estimate 28.6 mpg).  Why are we stopped in the middle of the desert (in 116° heat) with the hoods open on our taxi brousses?  Because we just passed a car that overheated and we thought we should look at our cars.  Why are you pouring water over the radiator?  Because we just passed a car that overheated. 

·         The Peace Corps makes a difference.  I thought that the main value of the Peace Corps was the projects that they conducted such as building wells, improving sanitation, and advancing agriculture.  I found that the projects are harder to implement than you would think. PCVs often need the patience of Job in their work. 

While the projects are important, I think that the main value of the Peace Corps is giving people direct experience with Americans.  Through their experience they learn that: 1) We are not a homogenous people, and come in various shapes and colors; 2) Our intentions are good, but our execution is sometimes flawed; 3) Regardless of who we elect President (witness Bush and Clinton), at least 40 percent of us think the President is mediocre and has bad policies; and 4) All Americans have a great sense of humor.  The PCVs must be well liked in Mauritania because when they found out you are a PCV, they smile and treat you different and nicer than they treat the normal white Patron.

·         Peace Corps Dads don’t get fat.  I ate from a common bowl with my right hand at all Mauritanian meals.  I estimate that about 72% of the food made it into my mouth.   I never did figure out how to mix the right amount of liquid with my rice to make a good food ball.  Either I had too much and the mixture slipped though my fingers, or I had too little and big food chunks would fall into my lap.  I also became comfortable eating with the ever present flies. I figured that the flies probably were eating as much as I was, and that we were all in this together.

In spite of my good intentions, I just wrote a long response.  It needs to be edited.  However, the more I edit, the longer it becomes. I had a good trip.

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