The Scene

In order to give everyone a better idea of what things are like here, I thought I would set the scene (or at least the scene for the rest of the week before it changes), so close your eyes and picture this: ;)

As previously described, the training center looks like a series of airplane hangers but is actually not too hot when the fans are running (we lose power a couple of times a day (we also loose water)). Speaking of hot it gets hot enough here that you sweat through your shirt when you are just sitting down and not moving. At the peak of the day the best place to be is in the Hima (sp?) that tent like thing in the previous pictures. Also when the wind is blowing, which it does reasonably often, the heat is bearable. We eat all of our meals in the refectoire sitting on the floor. Many of our class sessions are in there too. Technical training began today and the environmental education people meeting in a garden in town. Speaking of town, imagine what you would think a street in Kabul would look like and that's what it looks like: bombed out. The deal is that Mauritanians build when they have money, not when they have enough money to finish the project. So the result is that many of the buildings remain permanently half finished.

The feel of the people is also worth commenting on. The trainers, there are a lot of them, are all very excited to have us here. We are the biggest group they have ever had and this is the first time they have used this training center. So they have been preparing just about as long as we all have. The current PCV volunteers that are helping out are incredibly friendly and useful. The trainees (thats me) are all extremely excited about damn near everything. The food is delicious, nothing weird yet, and you get used to the new toilet routine pretty fast. Really, right now the whole place has the feel of a summer camp. We play soccer at break, there are about 8 guitar players in the group, we sit out side and relax... Quite nice.

BUUUUUUUUUT, this is Mauritania-lite right now. On friday we leave to begin community based training and to stay with host families, where we will spend most of our time for the next 9 weeks. Then after that we go out to our sites and the real work begins. Speaking of work, we are starting to get a normal load now. By normal I mean, normal for me at college. They are going to start loading us down pretty heavily now because there is a lot to learn. The good news is that while we are busy, its all really interesting work. Its one thing to have a french assignment at school and another thing to be told to go out and buy clothes. Its one thing to practice writing syllabi and another to teach with it. Basically, the training here is conducted the way all education should be.

That's it for now, I have so much to share but its late (11:17 eep!) haha. Peace.