Happy birthday, dad

Punctuality isn't really my thing. Happy birthday, nonetheless. I got you an African child, which seems to be the gift of the year. He's been shipped, but I may have forgotten to punch air holes in the box. Details aren't really my thing either.

Praise be to ye

Medical made a recent trip to our fair city, covering administrative bases and generally making sure that we were "still alive." Perhaps the most substantial portion of the visit was the arrival, at which point we were doused in Christmas letters and packages that failed to make it during my time in NKT. Thank you to the following.

• Grammy Jane and Grandpa Bob, who sent 36 delicious oatmeal cookies, a Hershey's bar, and some packages of beef jerky. This box has been the most molested to date en route, arriving with multiple holes and the general appearance of a worn accordion. The powderized oatmeal cookies were tasty (I poured them directly from bag to mouth - cuts down on the whole "masticating" thing), and I attempted to ration the beef jerky, extending its life to a whole 40 hours. Still, overall grandparent feelgoodness arrived fully intact. Thank you very much.

• Isaac gets a superstar award for a sweet hardcover version of "What Is The What," wherein we will see if Dave Eggers can redeem his former glory after the disappointing sophomore effort of "You Shall Know Our Velocity," (or whatever he subsequently renamed it). This thing now officially ranks among the nicest possessions I own here, and I will vigorously guard it from the light fingers of other book-starved volunteers. Isaac, thank you from the bottom of my dry, dusty heart.

• Letters from Lizzie, Caroline, Meg, and Katie. Correspondence is still worth its weight in platinum ("ice," if you will). I'd be disturbed that more of my male friends don't write me, but the one-sidedness makes me feel cool. All cards are prominently displayed in my apartment, where my one visitor a month can bask in their Yuletide glory.

• Marc, I am at this very moment trying to restrain myself from punching a hole through the monitor as I listen to Cyantific's "Cover Story," and, ahem, rock the fuck out. I just finished downloading all the music you posted, and now cry nightly that I don't have my turntables over here. DT8 Project's "Narama," Photek's "Age of Empires," DJ Marky & XRS, and good ol' Laurent Garnier bounce me into a hyperactive trance at least 14 times a day, and for this, I am thankful.
  

Such is the never-ending Christmas here in Africa.

On a more bizarre note, a spider roughly the size of a small flatbed has taken up residence in my room, Omar has disappeared, and almost every morning I find empty cockroach husks strung up in my shower. I don't know whether to be disturbed or consider him a useful new pet, but the guy is seriously large and I have no doubt that in a fight against Omar he could pull the gecko limb from limb while killing three roaches simultaneously and doing a crossword. I guess I'll decide when I wake up to find an egg sac forcefully injected into the side of my face.

Answers to questions that I have received

1. There are still reports of locust infestations in the northwest, which is where you are.
Do people talk about them?
Do you see them?
Are they recognizably different than big grasshoppers, or only in their aggregate behavior?

I have not seen a single locust/grasshopper since my arrival in NDB. There was a series of photos on the BBC News website yesterday highlighting how people in Nigeria are eating them, if that's of any interest. They actually looked kind of tasty.

2. The news sources have nothing but praise for the elections.
Is that the local feeling also?
Did it seem a big deal?
Was there any discussion of the exclusion of Islamist parties?

So far, the only elections to occur have been the mayoral and, I believe, legislative representative elections. They certainly did seem to go rather smoothly for this being a first go at a "truly" democratic race. I have discussed the hiccups in the NDB race, which finally ended with a runoff win by the favored old mayor's opponent. Apparently in Kaedi the race was also too close to call, and required a group of men to decide who won. Since one of the members of the ultimate deciding panel, who coincidentally would have cast the decisive vote, failed to show up, they concluded that the elder of the two should be mayor. People are reportedly not particularly bothered by the utter flaunting of the democratic system, but I don't really need to underline that this is a much different place.

Regarding the exclusion of Islamist parties, I did not gather much dissent about the decision, however, as I've stated before, NDB is "cosmopolitan." Many of the Islamist candidates aligned with other parties, so the election was definitely not free of them. Mark (old volunteer) predicted increased anti-Israel rhetoric (Mauritania is one of the few Islamic countries to acknowledge the existence of Israel, and there is an embassy in Nouakchott), in an effort to galvanize votes on an easy, hot-button topic, and we'll see if that is the case with the larger, upcoming elections. The few people with whom I have discussed the matter, or more specifically, those who have abruptly shared their opinions with me, have told me that they think it is a good thing that the Islamist parties have been excluded. Citing Hezbollah and Hamas, they declared that solely Islamic parties are more trouble than they're worth. The few times it happened it seemed like an instance in which, though they may have truly believed what they were saying, they were attempting to appeal to my "American" side.

Anyway, it would be ignorant to declare Mauritania free of those for whom Islam is the only correct way of life. Again, Nouadhibou is not where one would have felt the ire over their exclusion from the race. There are several locales in-country that are notoriously anti-West, and I suspect those would be the places to go to really observe the effects of said exclusion. For the most part, they don't request volunteers and my organization doesn't send volunteers to them, but I will ask around to see if there are any other opinions or experiences. Emotions will definitely become clearer and more pronounced with the approach of the presidential race.

3. Refugee migration is increasing again, especially along the coast. Apparently there is a detention center near Nouadhibou.
Do you hear about this?
What are the local feelings about them?

Shanty towns are expanding throughout the city, though how many of them consist of refugees and how many consist of those partaking in the great rural exodus is unclear to me. It is general knowledge that the immigrant community is growing in NDB, and the only really visible effect I have paid any attention to has been an increase in the number of restaurants and barber shops and languages I hear on the street.

I have heard recently that there has been a crackdown on the illegal attempts to boat to the Canaries. Subsequently, the refugees have reportedly been moving north of the city, up into Western Sahara. I don't know how true any of this is, but it appears to be the local gossip. As for their sentiments about the new arrivals, I really haven't heard very strong opinions on it. For what it's worth, there is very little crime, and all vagrancy I run into is purely homegrown.

There is apparently more than one detention center in NDB. I have visited one of them, not very far north of where I live and work. It is run by Mauritania, with support from the Red Cross/Red Crescent, and it exists basically as a collection point for those they find stranded in the ocean, where they are provided food and shelter, and then are eventually shipped back to their respective countries. The facilities were pretty basic, but considering no more than 100 meters away people were living in houses made of old washing machines and refrigerators, they were definitely sufficient. I went with a local friend, Ousmane, and we talked shortly with a gendarme who was guarding the compound. In a complete reversal of the norm, he was far more talkative than the Spanish man planted in the Red Cross/Red Crescent office, who acted more suspicious of us than anything.

4. There are economic reports about impending oil revenue.
Do people talk about this?
Is it influencing anything that you can see?
Have you noticed any effects on the PC operation?

Life is pretty unaffected by reports of impending oil revenue. Teachers nationwide recently received a very significant raise, which could perhaps be attributed to the expected profits, but I have no proof for that. It has had no effect on PC operation. The US, as far as I can tell, has little direct interest in the Mauritanian oil exploration, as the main companies with stakes in the project are Woodside (Australian), Hardman Resources (Australian), Premier Group (UK), Roc Oil (Australian, though it may be under Mauritanian administration locally), and BG Group (UK, trades on the London Stock Exchange and NYSE).

For the month of December they had hauled an oil platform into the bay for reasons unknown to myself, and at night, if you looked to the left out of my front door you would see a glowing Eiffel Tower rising out of the water.

The score(s)

First trimester exams are in, and the scores basically tell you exactly what 5 minutes in any of my classes will tell you: the Math kids are the best students. Additionally, the average score for each class acts as a perfect ranking system for the order in which I enjoy them. NB, however, that my male/female lists for each class aren't perfect. The next time around I will have more detailed stats on gender, race, and absence/participation in class. For now, enjoy the chewy goodness. Also, any suggestions on data collection or analysis would be appreciated.

4CA (4th year, Math track, Arabic)

My one and only Arab class. It also happens to be my largest, and by extension, most unruly class. I see them once a week for two hours. The language barrier definitely doesn't help the learning process, seeing as I know all of 30 words in Arabic, none of which can be strung together to make a coherent sentence. Very occasionally I can directly translate a word they don't understand, but that's the extent of it. Attendance is pretty good; I'd estimate at least 45 of 57 students come on a regular basis. This was also the class that had a series of scheduling problems at the beginning of the year, causing us to lose at least a month's worth of work. I compensated, however, by spending the first trimester going over material that they should have seen at least a few times before (10/20 is the passing cut-off, by the way). Ahh well.


Totals
26/57 Passed
29/57 Failed
2/57 Did not take the test
Average score: 9.07/20

Female
9/22 Passed
13/22 Failed
Highest Score: 15/20
Average Score: 8.05/20

Male
17/33 Passed
16/33 Failed
Highest Score: 19/20
Average Score: 9.76/20

4CB (4th yeah, Math track, French)

Funny enough, this has been the class that has managed to make me the angriest. They are bright, but there are a few kids that really know how to push my buttons. Aside from that, however, I have them learning the exact same things as my 5AB class, and they generally pick things up much faster than their year-older counterparts. I see them for one two-hour session each week. It's a pretty equal mixture of kids of Arab and black descent, which isn't the case with my other classes. Attendance is pretty good, though there are a few kids that almost never show up. I've just begun to actually penalize them for it, since the administration appears to do nothing.

Totals
14/29 Passed
13/29 Failed
2/29 Did not take the test
Average score: 10.67/20

Female
2/6 Passed
4/6 Failed
Highest Score: 19/20
Average Score: 10.67/20

Male
12/21 Passed
9/21 Failed
Highest Score: 17/20
Average Score: 10.67/20

5AB (5th year, Language track, French)

My only non-math students, this class is kind of a low point. Attendance is terrible; I'd estimate around 15 of 44 students show up with any regularity. Three of them are male, the rest are female. They scoff at the same assignments I give my 4th year classes, claiming that they are "impossible." When I showed them the results from their tests, a number of them laughed when they found out they had failed. Sadly, I kind of enjoyed informing them that this was their trimester final, which they hadn't realized. It wiped a few smiles off a few faces. It is, save for one Arab student, entirely of black descent. I don't really have any disciplinary issues with them, perhaps because the students that would cause problems just don't show up. I see them twice a week, for one hour on Tuesdays and two hours on Thursdays. Two of my favorite students are in this class, though they have no idea who they are.


Totals
15/44 Passed
26/44 Failed
3/44 Did not take the test
Average Score: 7.78/20

Female
9/25 Passed
16/25 Failed
Highest Score: 17/20
Average Score: 7.36/20

Male
6/16 Passed
10/16 Failed
Highest Score: 19/20
Average Score: 8.44/20

5CB (5th year, Math track, French)

These guys are the superstars. I enjoy this class, because I don't have to waste so much time with discipline, and can actually let them get away with a lot more than the other classes without the whole thing spiraling into mass confusion. Of the 24 students, I'd estimate about 7 of them are black, and the rest are Arab. I don't have the numbers to prove this, but I believe the black male students did markedly worse than the rest of the class. They were the ones begging me to redo the test when they saw their scores. On the other hand, the two black female students held the highest scores for the girls. Like the other fifth year class, I see these guys for three hours a week, divided into two sessions.

Totals
17/24 Passed
7/24 Failed
Average Score: 12.38/20

Female
5/5 Passed
Highest Score: 18/20
Average Score: 14.6/20

Male
12/19 Passed
7/19 Failed
Highest Score: 19/20
Average Score: 11.79/20

Happy birthday, mom

Yeah, I'm a day late. Let's blame it on the fact that I'm in Africa, instead of my perennial inability to recognize the date of the day in which I currently exist. Once again you set the standards for gracefully aging 29-year-olds everywhere (please disregard the fact that my mother is 4 1/2 years older than me - it caused enough problems during elementary school PTA meetings). Keep on keepin' on, mom.

The holidays

As I stated in yesterday's brief and inadequate note, I spent the holiday season in a state of transience. I figure a bit of explanation is due, but I'm going to keep it short.

The week following my last posting in December saw the administration of "compositions," the official end-of-trimester exams in which I discover how little I've taught my students. I wrote the tests myself, and created 4 different versions for each class in an effort to cut down on the rampant cheating that seems, to the very vocal chagrin of teachers who then appear to do nothing to combat it, to be ingrained as culturally acceptable. It took a very long time to first write the exams, and then make sure that they were all equally difficult, but in the end it was worth it. There's nothing quite so satisfying as being able to tag a fat "0 - Good Job!" at the top of a test in which the student has copied directly from his/her neighbor, answering questions that didn't even exist on his/her own page. Makes my job a lot easier (and no, I didn't actually write "Good Job!"). Anyway, I've got the scores and a few other stats compiled by hand, and within the next few days I'm going to toss them onto Excel, make some snazzy graphs, and let you soak in the numbers.

On December 22nd, I left NDB for the first time since my arrival, and it was wonderful. I stayed in NKT for about a week, during which Christmas came and went, and I basically just ate and drank and participated in an explosion of debauchery that has been building for quite some time. I spent one or two of those days walking around and discovering my country's capital, and had the pleasure of experiencing my first example of undisguised anti-West sentiment. There is an enormous Saudi mosque across the street from our new bureau. It's beautiful, and while Neda and I were admiring it from across the street we were bitched out for even looking at it by some asshole mid-departure. It was shitty and racist, and I didn't so much as frown because I was already reflecting on the bizarre mixture of helplessness and anger and understanding that immediately arose within me. Neda tried to tell him that the mosque was pretty, but he didn't give a shit.

Somewhere around the 27th I made the impromptu decision to huff it to St. Louis, Senegal with several other volunteers for a New Year's celebration. I took a few photos, but it's not much.

The street. Breathtaking.

Rob and Nick, in that order.

St. Louis' very own rollerblade gang. I too was at a loss for words.

A brief aside: you haven't seen a lot of photos because I'm hesitant to pull out the camera for a few reasons. In Senegal specifically, there is no shortage of theft. Safety is about the only advantage Mauritania has over its neighbor to the south. Someone with whom I was traveling was pickpocketed as soon as we got onto the ferry to cross the border. Thus, if being white doesn't make me a target already, revealing a very nice digital camera ought to do the trick. Secondly, there is a general aversion to white people with cameras, because, as it was explained to me, the photos have a tendency to end up in magazines and on the internet (ha). Part of it is a pride issue, part of it is a cultural issue, and part of it is a little excessive, but whether I like it or not, if I accidentally capture another adult in the frame of a shot I'm taking, there's a 50% chance that I'm going to have to deal with an uncomfortable situation.

I was in Senegal for four days and three nights. I slept in a tent on a beach on the Atlantic ocean, and I'd easily qualify New Year's 2007 as the best I've ever had. Well worth the hours upon hours of unnecessary border hassles and the bribing of officials. I also happened to be in town for Tabaski, a Muslim holiday that, among other things, requires everyone to slaughter a sheep/goat. Nick and I happened to be walking around the less touristy neighborhoods at the exact moment when the sacrifice took place, and were witnesses to the deaths of 30+ animals. The streets literally flowed red with blood while hundreds of goats gargled one final, collective death knell. Way more interesting than post-Christmas sales. And, of course, before I'd even realized where I was, it was time to go home.

Returning to Mauritania, I spent a final five days in NKT, attending an in-service training with the rest of the first-year volunteers. We took the opportunity to share experiences and teaching strategies and lament the fact that during this vacation we ripped through more money than Ted Stevens on a pork binge. All said and done, it was probably the most necessary vacation I've ever taken. In about one month I will be returning to Senegal, this time to Dakar, for W.A.I.S.T. (that's West African International Softball Tournament), where I will connect with Pete "The Frenchman" from Mali and do everything to uphold the PC Mauritania reputation as being borderline insane. Until then, of course, I will do my best to mold fragile young minds into fragile young minds that can speak English and don't hate white people.

Other notes:

• Ye masses have spoken, and the gecko's name is Omar. I really thought Spaghetti had a chance, and I'm not-so-secretly disappointed Yasmine Bleeth didn't give a better showing. Hopefully his newly acquired name will not inspire him with enough confidence to set forth in this cruel world and abandon his domestic duties chez moi eating the army of cockroaches that moved in in my absence. I need you Omar. I need you.

• Big-ups to mom and dad for the package, including about 11 books that direly need to be read. You have given me about two months more of entertainment, and for that I am eternally grateful.

• Further big-ups on the package from Kristin Ann and company. That includes, from what I could tell, Lizzie, Chris, Cuban Mike, Ian, and others (tell me who I'm forgetting, because I couldn't figure out exactly who was involved). Many of the things you sent came immediately in handy. Also, yo-yos are fun.

• And final big-ups to Pat and Kyle, who both called me on Christmas. It was unspeakably nice to hear from you personally. More people should take the cue.

That about sums it all up. A heartfelt "thank you" to everyone.

Back online

Happy 2007. I've been in Nouakchott and St. Louis, Senegal, blowing off enough steam to fuel a year-long cross-country trek. Now I'm back in NDB, and reality is quickly descending all around me. Check back. There should be something of relative significance posted within a day or two.