2004-07-13 - 3:40 p.m.

The day following a rainstorm seems to be the usual day one would imagine when thinking about the desert: bright blue sky, very few bright white clouds and a scorching hot sun... the ground is already dry and cracking, just about to pulverize into sand. I had the bright idea to skip my daily siesta and head to the Senegal River for a picnic with my language group... I can feel my cheeks burning now!!!!! We then started walking around the market (we have a research assignment due in two weeks which entails us getting down and dirty in the market).

The market in Kaedi gets to you straight through your nose and grabs you by the heart: along the dirt road piles of rice and cous cous, discolored rows of vegetables, stacked bags of spices, women laying under canopies made of rugs and scraps, men sitting on the ground in boutiques, flies laying on every single inch of space available... the smell comes from the meat stands with no refrigeration, the garbage on the ground,the feces and urine of children and adults alike, the animal carcasses... but there is music coming from the boutiques, and friendly smiles for the toubabs (white ppl or anyone who is not Mauritanian), playful bargaining matches between vendors and customers, and amusement coming from the Toubabs trying to speak their language. I have never seen anything like this before.

Two friends of mine, Nina and Jess, and I spent the day at my sister's boutique the other day. She sells melaffas (the arab tie-dye veils) just like all the neighboring boutiques (in the better part of the market). We had mint tea and a henna party where all the neighboring women joined in to help her decorate our hands with henna... friends were stopping by, chit- chatting, having fun... by the end of the day my sister had sold seventeen veils, one of which was mine!

I now have two melaffas, henna on both hands and feet, I mastered the whole siesta deal, the laying on my side on the ground while enjoying someone's company, I found a local hangout spot ( the airport outdoor waiting area),I sometimes actually crave the famous mint tea, and am really good at making all the Mauritanian friends laugh at me while practicing my Hassiniya... I survived three "malaria mondays" (I take anti-malaria meds every monday) and feel like I am still going strong! :-)

Thank you all for your emails, phone calls and guestbook messages! I know there are some packages and snail mail letters on their way... I will let you know when they make it here!!

Love,

Jordy (a.k.a. Aziza)

P.S. my phone number is 222 6880097

previous - next