2005-08-18 - 10:32 a.m.

Never underestimate Mauritanians when they say that there is no way to get to an unpronounceable town in the middle of nowhere because of the previous days' rains!!!!!

Yeah... you guessed it, we did and had to come back after five hours in which only 40 km were driven (round-trip)... lost, with no compass, no people in the car who had a clue about where we were going, and no people in the sporadic tents we found that had a clue about where, not only we were planning on going... but even how to get back to where we had come from!!! Not fun... especially given the muddy, bumpy , slushy terrain... and the midday sun that was hitting directly on us as we were digging, bare-handed, the mud from underneath our car!!!! WE WERE STUCK! But at least we had 12 bottles of water with us... and a carton of cigarettes (for the trainees' language facilitator)! :-)

Now I'm laughing about it! I guess I was yesterday too... as it was happening and as I was realizing how I had never ever imagined I'd be in that situation and how much this Peace Corps service has inhanced my sense of self-humor and light-heartedness: Al-hamdullillah! :-)

We got back to Aleg and finally ate "lunch" after 4PM, starving and exhausted... slept like babies last night and we are now ready to try it again today... Inshallah! (It didn't rain last night and we are hoping the water will have dried out a bit... Peace Corps is sending us another car as our driver had to continue on its journey up to the Tagant region with the Tidjikja trainees...

Wish us luck!!! :-)

Love to all,

Jordy

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