Decir Adios

Hay cosas a las cuales nunca me he acostumbrado a hacer, incluso si me encuentro haciéndolas constantemente. Una de esas es el de decir adiós. Siempre que me encuentro en un aeropuerto, estación de camiones o incluso parada de taxis; me gusta ver las diferentes formas en que la gente expresa sus sentimientos al decir adiós o al recibir a un ser querido. A pesar de que cada quien tiene su a manera peculiar de comportarse durante esta situación, la gente que mas capta mi atención son aquellas que tienen una gran facilidad para dejar ir a personas importantes en su vida. Para ellos el decir “adiós” es algo tan normal en la vida, y claro que lo es; pero en mi caso, el despedirse de esa manera es algo que me costaría mucho hacer.

Mi vida ha sido la de vivir en un constante cambio. El mudarme continuamente desde que era pequeño, el decir “adiós”, lidiar con entornos nuevos y empezar una nueva vida debería ser algo al que debería estar totalmente acostumbrado. Al recordar la vez que me despedí de mi familia en Alaska o de mis seres queridos en México, produce en mí todavía un sentimiento de tristeza. Sé que este todo este constante cambio trae consigo cosas de las cuales podemos beneficiarnos como el madurar como persona, el aprender a adaptarse a diferentes entornos, conocer nuevas personas, lugares y culturas y, en mi caso, tratar de fortalecer mi relación con Dios. Pero la realidad es que el estar en constante cambio es duro; necesario pero duro.

La razón por la que estoy hablando sobre este tema es porque este domingo me toco despedirme de mi familia y amigos en Mbalal. Para ser sincero, nunca creí que iba a desarrollar una gran relación con varias personas de Mauritania durante los primeros dos meses de mi servicio. Al ver el gran grupo de personas que nos despidió con regalos y abrazos, me hizo sentir una vez más el sentimiento del que he estado escribiendo. Mi estancia en Mbalal fue toda una gran experiencia para mí. Es increíble lo que aprendí en un pueblo donde no hay electricidad o agua potable. Aprendes a valorar y respetar la cosa más importante que tenemos en la tierra: tu prójimo.- sea americano o de Mauritania; cristiano o musulmán, blanco .

Ahora me encuentro en el centro preparándome para “jurar” como un Official Peace Corps Volunteer el jueves ante el embajador de USA en Mauritania y otros oficiales. Sin embargo de la misma manera, me encuentro una vez más preparándome para decir adiós a mis compañeros de Peace Corps y empezar una nueva aventura en Guerrou que durara poco menos de dos años. Una vez más, es hora de prepararse para el cambio y nuevas experiencias. Que me espera alla? No lo sé completamente. Lo que si se es que con la ayuda de Dios, el apoyo de mis seres queridos y mis experiencias pasadas; creo que estoy listo para este nuevo reto. Inshallah

Pictures of my last week in Mbalal

GEE Volunteers and the Girls in Rosso
Look at the Shirt lol
My Sister Mineya helping me with laundry
My brothers Mineya and Habib

The Girls that Elise and I worked with during our GMC model

This post is to let you guys know that despite the recent Coup d'etat in Mauritania and the Report that Al Qaeda's North Africa wing has called for Jihad in Mauritania to establish Islamic rule after a military junta ousted the country's elected president; I'm doing fine. Things have been going on normally in my site, so don't worry (for those of you who where worried lol). Of course if something bigger comes up, then the PC will chose any required action plan. So well I go to go Ill have more details for you next week

A day with Moctar Ould Da

Two Mauritanian facilitators and Friends
My room back at Mbalal. My matela, mosquito net, suitcase and water filter

GEE Group at Mbalal. The person laying down is Rajel my facilitator
This is how you eat at Mauritania

So far, all the things that I’ve posted on my blog have been random thoughts about my experience as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Mauritania. The Mauritanian culture, my goals, the GEE program, language lessons and site visit have been themes that have dominated most of my blog. I have not, however, written about how does a normal day in my life look like. What is my schedule? What do I do? Where do I live? At what time and what do I eat? Do I do some sports?. So therefore, the purpose of this post is to answer these simple and basic questions. Hope you like it.

Like all you know, I’m in the first phase of the Peace Corps process called Stage. The purpose of this phase is to introduce the local culture and language to the trainees so they can prepare themselves for the next two years of their service. So right now, I find myself in a small, but beautiful town called Mbalal, where there is no electricity or running water. I’m with three other PC trainees (Amanda Dillon, Amanda Butcher and Eric Bell) and my language facilitator called Rajel, who also teaches philosophy in a High School in a city called Kaedi. I live with a big and awesome family where Im having a great time. I have 6 brothers and 7 sisters. So Im pretty busy all day.

So after giving you this petit intro, I will describe a normal day in the life of Pablo Solorio or in my Mauritanian name Moktar Ould Da at Mbalal.

I wake up at 7:00 am everyday and take my breakfast which is usually peanuts, bread and porridge (ATOLE). After that, I leave to my school or Madrassa where my language class starts at 8:00am and ends at 12:30pm. During class we discuss Mauritanian culture, of course learn language and joke a lot. After that I usually go back to my family’s Khaima (like tent) and practice my super Hassaniya skills with them. At 2:00 pm I usually eat Marrow wu Il Hutt, or Rice and Fish from a communal bowl where everyone eats at the same time with their right hand (using your left is a offense because usually that’s the hand you use to wipe your you know what with lol). After that I rest a little and read some books and wait to back to language classes at 4:00pm.

After class is over at 7:00pm, the other trainees and I usually go for a walk to the date garden and the soccer field where we see the locals play soccer. Once we head back to our houses, I take my usual bucket bath and take dinner with my family, which usually it is spaghetti with meat. After that I go back to my room and get my well deserved naptime. OH I FORGOT. Tea is the national drink in Mauritania, Drinking tea with a family shows that you respect their culture and is a sign of friendship. I brought this up because Im easily drinkinf 10 cups of tea daily. Sounds crazy but its true.

Any questions on my blog, please feel free to ask. Masselem

First Review

Its been a month and a half since I arrived to Mauritania. Its been a month and a half of experimenting new feelings, sensations; getting to know new places, people, cultures and languages. The result of all this melange of things has made me establish new goals in my life and, of course, new fears.

My language lessons are going pretty awesome, family is good, Mauritania is super hot and well Today we just received news thats there has been a Coup d'etat in Mauritania. So far nothing big to worry about, regarding my security.

I'm a person that likes to evaluate constantly the things going on in my life. Why do I like do this? Well I think I learned this from my parents. I know that this approach makes life seem like if its a race, where the only outcome is to win or loose, to succeed or to fail ; and certainly life is not like this. But in the future, when I look back at my life and think about what did I accomplish during my life, I would like to say what the apostle Paul said in 2 Timothy 4:7-8 "I have fought the good fight. I have completed the race. I have kept the faith.The victor's crown of righteousness is now waiting for me, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on the day that he comes, and not only to me but also to all who eagerly wait for his appearing. And so far, this month and a half has been a great blessing.
PD; I KNOW THIS BLOG DOES NOT MAKE A LOT OF SENSE, BUT IM RUNNING AOUT OF TIME HERE AT ROSSO.