It’s been a little over a month since the family and I departed Mauritania, and minus a bit of training I had to do away from home, it has been and interesting experience. I covered home leave rules and logistics a bit a couple of weeks back, but the reality of actually being back in
This blog is in its last year of being a toddler. It seems crazy I started out on this writing adventure 3 years ago. In that time span I have written over 150 posts, churning them out on a nearly weekly basis, with over 35,000 views in the time frame. Not earth shattering numbers, but
With my tour in Mauritania over, I have had some time to digest my experiences, and figured this would be a good opportunity to write about my thoughts and impressions of the country while it is still fresh. I want to be clear, as with every post on this blog, the thoughts here are my
One aspect of my time in Mauritania that was so foreign to me when I first arrived but now a happy fixture of my day is the call to prayer. In Islam, the call to prayer (Adhan) is recited from mosques 5 times a day. The first prayer is early morning before sunrise and called
One of the things that I have noticed with every departing member of the embassy, is they seem to discover a store, restaurant, or activity they didn’t know existed in the community just before they are about to leave. This inevitably leads to a comment along the lines of “I wish I would have known
Like other parts of the Sahel, Mauritania is a society where larger women are considered more beautiful. Part of this is rooted in the belief that it is a status symbol of wealth to have a spouse that is larger as it means you can afford to feed them well. A man with multiple wives
My phone recently reminded me of a glorious photo taken one year ago at the embassy Halloween event, and from there it took me through a path down memory lane of all my favorite photos taken here in Mauritania. I haven’t shared the photo in question on this blog, but figured now would be a
In previous posts I have gushed about how much I am enjoying the job so far, and that there aren’t many negatives to the job. However, as we are in the heart of American Football Season, NBA and NHL is starting soon, Baseball is in the heat of the playoffs, as is Major League Soccer,
This week is a short and sweet one: Mauritania is home to one of the longest trains in the world. Stretching to over 3 kilometers long, the “Train du Desert” runs daily to and from the port city of Nouâdhibou in Northern Mauritania to the iron ore mines of Zouérat, deep in the Sahara 704km
One thing you quickly discover when joining the Foreign Service, is you are surrounded by a team of nerds. Being a nerd myself, I quickly acclimated during orientation when I was invited for board game and trivia nights, and it has carried over into Mauritania. Since arriving, I have been able to get a few
