Well it has been a long time since I wrote anything on this blog, but I figured an update is always nice no matter how late it may be.
I'll start off with a quick summary of what I have been up to since my last update. I left Burkina Faso at the end of April to return to Canada and finish my degree at the University of Waterloo. I was home for about a month then went off to Camp Ouareau in the Laurentian mountains north of Montreal. I worked there over the summer then came back home to Guelph for a few weeks again before returning to Africa. I am now in Mauritania doing an internship with World Vision.
In many ways the country of Mauritania is very different from Burkina Faso or Senegal. It has a similar climate to Burkina (hot and dry) and even dryer in most parts, but the people and the lifestyle is very different.
I'll start off with a quick summary of what I have been up to since my last update. I left Burkina Faso at the end of April to return to Canada and finish my degree at the University of Waterloo. I was home for about a month then went off to Camp Ouareau in the Laurentian mountains north of Montreal. I worked there over the summer then came back home to Guelph for a few weeks again before returning to Africa. I am now in Mauritania doing an internship with World Vision.
In many ways the country of Mauritania is very different from Burkina Faso or Senegal. It has a similar climate to Burkina (hot and dry) and even dryer in most parts, but the people and the lifestyle is very different.
- To start with, Mauritania is an Islamic Republic. This means that the population is officially 100% Muslim.
- French used to be the official language in Mauritania, but it is now Arabic. Schools are taught in Arabic and the government officially works in Arabic, but much of the international business is conducted in French (NGOs, International affairs, International Governments). There are also a number of local languages including Wolof, Pulaar, Soninké, and others.
- Mauritania finds itself in the gap between North Africa and West Africa. In the south of the country there are many black African people as it borders on Senegal, but in the north you have mostly Arabic people. Slavery is still very recent history and as a result there is still a fair bit of racism.
- One thing that I appreciate a lot about Nouakchott is that you are able to walk the streets in peace. You don't have to constantly be shielding questions about where you are from and being offered things to buy. People are still very friendly and it is always polite to greet people as you pass, but they will not ask you for candy or your phone number as you get so often in Burkina.
- The tea in Mauritania is the best in West Africa (in my opinion at least). You still are often offered the typical 3 small cups of strong green tea with plenty of sugar and foam on top, but in Mauritania they add mint which is delicious!
- As I was told by a friend, Mauritanians are desert people. They love the desert and at nights you see families eating their dinners on the sand dunes right next to the city. Rain is a necessity for the agriculture in the country, but you don't find many people that are happy about the rain while it is falling.
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