Fun (and not so fun) in Kiffa

Well, I have had some fun since getting back to Kiffa. My batch of bissap wine turned out pretty well--almost like a dry red. We have been swilling some of that to pass the time. We have also been cooking up some good meals--almost all the cheese that I brought back from Nouakchott nearly 2 weeks ago is gone (except for the mozzarella in the freezer and the camel cheese which is slowly aging in the fridge).

This morning we (Adriana, Xavier, Adriana's little host brother Alassane, and I) went out to a pretty spot about a half-hour drive from Kiffa. None of us had ever been there before. It is a spot west of Kiffa and just north of the Road of Hope that I had seen from the road before and wanted to go to but never had a chance. It is a ridge of really high and steep sand dunes that face a rocky plateau. We climbed the dune ridge (exhausting--probably about 100m high) and then we ran back down, but only once. It is very tiring but fun.

Tomorrow morning the President of Mauritania (who is temporary and seized power in a coup last fall) is coming to visit Kiffa, so everyone has been getting ready for that. Last week I also finally sent in my application for the SPA that I want to do at the health center here in Kiffa.

The not so fun times here in Kiffa are generally related to the heat (I measured 107 F on my porch today) and the electricity being turned off in my neighborhood and the internet not working for a lot of this last week--apparently the national phone company fired all of their technicians at once so the phones and internet have been worse than normal. Additionally, sadly enough, Xavier is leaving tomorrow morning for France and is not coming back. After a year in Kiffa he decided that it was enough and so is terminating his contract a year early. He was one of three French volunteers stationed here and will be replaced probably around the time that I am packing up to leave.

One more thing... for anyone who cares... my former sitemate Luke is back in Chad (after evacuating to Cameroon for about 10 days following hostile rebel activity in Chad).