RIM beats 'ROC

Since I now have internet in my house, I can blog whenever I want: as soon as I wake up, on my way to the bathroom at 2am (from drinking too much tea in the evening), while cooking dinner...the possibilities are endless.

I am blogging now because the friend I was supposed to meet has been snowed in at site and can't leave. So, instead of having a FABULOUS WEEKEND GETAWAY IN MARAKESH TOGETHER, I am taking advantage of my UNLIMITED NEW HOME INTERNET CONNECTION. It got me thinking. There are some parts about being a PCV in Mauritania that definitely beat life here. Such as:

1. Snow never kept you away from your travel/vacation plans.
2. I never wore my American winter jacket indoors over 4 tops, jeans, and two pairs of socks AND still felt cold.
3. There were no yummy pastry shops in town to spend your money at and get fat.
4. Kids listened to Shakira and Akon on their cell phones, not Bryan Adams and Toni Braxton.
5. Bathrooms had makareshs (teapots to assist with pouring water to clean yourself), not large buckets.
6. Never saw a mouse swim in a toilet in Mauritania.
7. People knew less English, so you could talk about them without them knowing.
8. Hand-washed clothes dried faster.
9. Houses had yards. I had a huge yard that kept more street noise away.
10. PC chose hotels for volunteers that had hot water, ac, and television included in the rooms.
11. There were more wedding celebrations than funerals (perhaps other towns are luckier than mine).
12. Never had to wait for hours for the internet installation guys, the painters, and cement roofers to come to my house.
13. Shelves were concrete blocks and wooden planks. No hastles with bargaining and carrying plastic dressers back home.
14. We used checkbooks, not atm cards, to get our money. And there was a bank at my site. No atm fees.
15. Less tourists meant less people trying to rip you off in the big cities. And more genuine hospitality.
16. Never got dropped off on the side of a freeway at night on my way to visit host family friends.
17. Rubbish went over the neighbor's wall or was burnt in the yard. Didn't have to cart it down the street to the bins.
18. Businesses didn't post hours of operation signs that they didn't follow. You never expected a place to be open, so you never got annoyed when it wasn't.
19. Sitemates were AMAZING.
20. Got to share care package treats, instead of overindulging and feeling sick.
21. I lived better than my neighbors. Here, my neighbors offer to let me wear their clothes, use their washing machines, eat their food, give me work projects, clean my house...

I miss the good old days in the Posh Corps. I guess I have to face the harsh realities of the tough life here. They take away from my dedication to goal one, but...I'm trying to face and accept daily life here. Thank you for your support!!