We Built This City On Rock & Sand

Hello everyone. I just returned from my first visit to Kiffa – soon to be my home for the next two years. It was a good trip, and compared to the 20 hour road trip the Atar trainees faced coming back, a relatively easy voyage.

We went from Kaedi this time which takes most of an entire day (as does the Nouakchott -- Kiffa trip), and leads you north-west and then hooks east at Aleg, the home of MEAT in Mauritania. On our way home we practically watched our sheep get slaughtered and barbecued before our eyes! On the way over it was eight or so of us in a Peace Corps 4x4, pretty comfortable, all trainees and two facilitators, one for the Kiffa group and one for the Ayoun group (further east down the Road of Hope). The way back three of us brought facilitators for our planning workshop here in Kaedi, to facilitate our planning for the planning of many facilitations to come. Or something like that.

I should report that I had my first angry tirade against a shopkeeper who tried to sell me milk at 250 ougiyas instead of 200. A little backstory: I buy a box of milk or two everyday and it's always 200 in Kiffa and Kaedi, so before we left Kiffa, we stopped in an epicerie and I chugged my milk down on the spot. As I handed the woman 200, she said no, it costs 250. My travel-mates all had gone back into the car and were waiting for me as I argued with the lady. "EVERY DAY I BUY THIS FOR 200!" I practically yelled, feeling indignant not over the 20 cents but the PRINCIPLE of the matter. She was just trying to rip off a Toubab and thought she could get away with it. I heard a voice from the car, "Hurry UP, Luke!" I yelled back: "If you want to leave then come help me! I'm having a problem with my milk!" Several hours later, Adriana's counterpart was still laughing about that. "He couldn't get proper change for his milk, ha ha ha!!!" Oh, but I got it, and that shop keeper learned a LESSON! You don't mess with Luke's milk!

In Kiffa we stayed with the family of Amicire, my counterpart and instructor at the city’s vocational school. We took a quick tour of the campus – there’s workshops for woodworking, masonry, metalworking, and electricians (what is that field called anyhow?), as well as a computer room where I can teach computers or whatever else I decide. For now, I think I’ll focus on teaching how to build refrigerators using discarded milk cartons, as it seems to have about as much chance of success as me talking about basic accounting skills! I haven’t kept a check book since high school!

=== Hurts So Bad ===
Parody is like chewing gum for me. When I’m bored, nothing to do, don’t want to study, etc, I make fun of things. Which explains my growing list of Mauritanian parody songs… I’ve yet to figure out most of the guitar parts and transitions, but I’m planning a monster medley for the upcoming Town Hall Meeting (talent show) at the training center. Here’s a list of what I’m working with so far followed by the band who did the original:
We Built This City (On Rock & Sand) – Jefferson StarshipIt’s Hip To Be Moor – Huey Lewis & The NewsTin Shack – B-52’sSmooth Camel Racer – SadeDonkey’s Making Love – Bad Company

If you have any good ideas, or preferably BAD ideas, send them along and I’ll give a special PRIZE to any song parody I use in my medley. Prize delivery might take 12-14 weeks, on approved credit only, $12.99 shipping and handling fee.