Il Hamdoulillah

Sign indicating you're entering Guerou
With Ambassador Boulware and Mark during Swear in Ceremony

Il Hamdoulillah

Starting new life is always a rough test for the human spirit. It takes a great amount of energy, courage and patience to grasp the alien environment that surrounds us and, most of the times, overwhelms us. However, starting a new life and adapting to a totally different country, society, culture, language, and environment; now that’s a heck of a challenge.

During the nine hour drive from Rosso to the region of Assaba, I noticed a huge change in the panorama since my last visit 4 weeks ago during Site Visit. What used to be a dry and sandy landscape turned into beautiful green and vivid scenery that bear a resemblance to the oasis’s so often described throughout the Bible. We also stopped in a different town to eat Mishui -roasted lamb and my favorite Mauritanian meal- where it tasted way better than the one in Aleg. What did not change however, was feeling the same adrenaline running through my entire body when I saw the sign announcing that we just reached Guerou, my home for the next two years Inshallah.

So far, my assignments for the first month is to introduce myself to the community, establish several constructive relationships and let the people know why in the world is an American, called Pablo, doing in Guerrou. My site mate and only PCV in Guerrou, Andrea, (which I will always praise for the great job she has done here) will be leaving on a really well deserved vacation for a couple of weeks, so basically I’m going to be on my own during this time. The daunting part is that the month in which I just arrived concurs with Ramadan, one of the most important festivities for the Muslim Ummah. Ramadan is a month where ask forgiveness for past sins, pray for guidance into the future, ask for help in refraining from everyday evils and try to purify themselves through self-restraint and good deed. Muslims do not eat or drink anything from dawn until sunset. What I’ve heard from other PCVs and also noticed is that during Ramadan people are usually in a devoted religious mood and simultaneously very exhausted due to the lack of food and fluids that they usually intake. Don t get me wrong, this could be an awesome opportunity to experience and learn from the Mauritanian culture and Islam- after all, that’s the Peace Corps premise and one of the main reasons why I decided to come to Mauritania. However, if I was the one fasting in this hot weather -like I did for one day- let say I would not be in a mood to be socializing with people, especially with a nasrani like me.

So having the current situation in mind, I decided to take a walk through the city and try to make some friends. As I was expecting, the first people I met all asked me the same questions over and over again: Are you fasting? Are you Muslim? And although I tried to avoid responding to such inquiries, their persistence made me give them away a “No” for an answer. Most of them just laughed and continued the chatter while two of them immediately lost interest in me and even refused to shake my hand. However, before I started to feel discouraged a vibrant “Salam wualey kum” just caught my attention. A tall, aged black African with a big smile greeted me and kindly invited me to break fast with him. So I spent the next four hours with Mamadouh, the driver for the city’s Hakem, and met his wonderful family, talked about how is life in Mauritania and USA, described our jobs and, of course, practiced my feeble Hassaniya.

My dad usually says that it doesn’t matter how old you are or how much things you have lived, there is always a first time for everything. Well once again, he is right. That was definitely a great evening full of new experiences. I recruited my first two girls for the GMC (or at least that’s what both Mamadouh’s daughters said), I experienced my first big sand storm which blinded me for a moment, and, most importantly, I broke fast during my first Ramadan in an Islamic country. That was a delightful moment; a moment where a Christian and Muslim shared the same bread, tea, Zrig (Mauritanian drink that is a mix of water, milk and sugar), dates, but more significantly, we joyfully shared our ideas, thoughts and dreams. Il Hamdoulillah – The glory be to God. .