2004-06-29 - 8:21 p.m.

I have made it to Nouakchott after many hours of flying. I will try to recount the past few days as best I can with the limited amount of time I have:

Leaving home: Jenny and I took the same flight out of KC. It was definitely helpful having her there. My mom was really upset, and it would have been really hard to take the flight alone directly after. Although I think her nephew was more upset than either of our mothers. He was screaming at the top his lungs while we were boarding.

Staging in Phili: There are just over 40 of us in the training class. I’ve met so many people I do not even know where to start. It’s odd how similar we all are, lot’s of quirky guys that like making jokes in class. I ran to New Jersey twice over the weekend. The bridge that connects was just next to our hotel. It was a great run, only 3 miles total, but the view was great. I got my malarial medicine, yellow fever and polio shot on Monday before the flight.

The flight: Check in was a real hassle. Originally the people there tried to run us alphabetical, but then it broke apart all helter skelter. We waited 5 hours in JFK (ny,NY) for our flight to board. I sat next to Luke on both the Paris flight and the Nouakchott flight. He is really funny guy from Berkeley, that will be doing Small Enterprise and Development. In Paris one Girl, Alicia, almost didn’t get a ticket. She was in tears when I found her, and it broke my heart. In the end it worked out for the best and we all boarded on time. On the flight top Nouakchott I sat next to a Maurtanian woman. I helped her load her carry on when we boarded, and from then on she was my best friend. She was fluent in French, and was just returning from a trip to Canada to see her son. She was so genuinely nice. I was trying to sleep and she took her pillow and tucked it behind my head. When I couldn’t get my computer to work she helped me get it going. I told her what I was doing and she thought it was the most wonderful thing. She insisted I call ger once I get a phone, b/c she has friends in Kaedi (where we leave for tomorrow to train for the next 3 months). She said I was her new son, and I had to visit the next time I was in the capital. I’m so glad this was the first experience I had w/ Mauritanian people b/c the Nouakchott airport was a different story.

The Airport: I tried to prepare myself for the incredible poverty, but words cannot describe it. We were warned to not allow anyone to handle our bags when we got in b/c they would try to charge us for their help. Little did I know that said people would be wearing airport badges. Two gentlemen approached us and demanded our tickets. We tried to explain the guy in charge of our group had all the stuff, but they wouldn’t let us take the stuff over there. Long story short, one guy in our group handed over a dollar and I got away with the carts while the two guys argued for more money. On the way out at least 8 other guys tried to take the cart out of my hand, but a firm NO was enough to send them running.

Well I have to go eat, so I promise the next entry will be about all the great stuff that has happened here.

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