Go figure the pilot from the night before in Bissau was the pilot
for my flight to Noakchott, the capital of Mauritania. I was happy to see him,
but from the look of fatigue on his face
I questioned whether he had gotten some sleep since the time I had seen him the
day before.
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| My dad's apartment building |
I arrived in Mauritania at 3 am (sorry Baba). I came packed
with all the culturally appropriate clothing: long skits, scarves, long sleeve
shirts, but when it was time to get ready to go to the airport, I couldn’t bring
myself to change into them. So while I
sat in the airport in jeans and a tee-shirt, I immediately regretted not having
dressed a little more conservatively. I
was getting A LOT of strange looks. I kept checking to make sure I wasn’t
naked! Someone at the airport gave my dad a call and said, “ There
is an American girl here waiting for you.” Ahahaha He told me this after he picked me up.
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| Fishermen at the Port de Peixe |
It was CRAZY to see my dad after almost a year. He looked so
happy, and younger! My Aunty was also in Noakchott, so it made for a nice
reunion.
I spent 6 days in Mauritania, and I spent it unlike I’ve
spent any other vacation. But then again, I knew this wasn’t going to be a
typical vacation.
My dad has a nice apartment just out side the capital. There
was electricity 24/7, I took my first hot shower in almost a year, and ate home
cooked meals (I’ve been eating out since September). I was completely blissing
out on these simple pleasures.
My dad teaches by day and studies by night. stays up until about 7 or 8am to study and
eat breakfast and then sleeps until anywhere between 2 pm- 5pm the following
day.
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| Musa, the go-to fish cleaner at Port de Peixe |
In Bissau I’m up by 6 and in bed by 1030, so it was almost
completely inverse to my schedule. In Mauritania I slept every night at 3 or 4
in the morning. We read a book together every night called Milestones, which is
actually a banned book in most muslim countries. It is written by Seyid Qutb
and is about how Islam has been influenced by modern culture. My Aunt and I
would take turns reading and then stop and discuss what we read with my dad. I also
read about sharia law, purification of the heart, and other spiritually and islamically rich
books.
Aside from late night reading sessions, almost all of my time
was spent talking and discussing and asking questions. I had met and spent time with lots my dad’s
family and I had gone all the way to the village where he was born, and now
I could finally share my experiences with him get his perceptive and input on
stories and histories I was told.
So in all honestly I wouldn’t say I saw too much of Mauritania
because, as I mentioned, I spent most of my time picking my dad’s brain. I only
went to downtown one time. But it was so much like Bissau that one time was
enough. We went to the famous port where they catch and sell fish as well. I went on a couple walks to the big market and
around the town to see what there was to see.
Despite my limited explorations, I learned a lot about
Mauritania via discussion with Mauritanians (In my broken French haha)! Here are
some things I learned:
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| Effect of Rain, many places throughout the city look like these. |
Mauritania is a desert, so there is almost no greenery or
vegetation. Due to climate change, in the past 5 years Mauritania has received
more rain then ever. There is no infrastructure set up to deal with the amount
of rain they are receiving, so after just 2 days of rain, many neigborhoods were
flooded. This means that people become stranded at home, there is limited
transportation ( it is a city highly dependent on Taxi services), it damages
houses and roads, and increases filth and odors due to lack of a public waste system.
Development:
There is electricity but water is bought and sold from
underground pumps that the government put in throughout the city.Health Care seemed
to be the same as Bissau. There is a national hospital, but most people who
have the means, resort to private clinics managed and funded by international
NGO’s. There is a university and a medical school, an Olympic stadium. And evidence of their booming industries are
the many factories you find along the coast.
Culture:
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| Typical streets just outside of Nouakchott |
I don’t think I saw a police officer once. My dad said that
because the country is 99% Muslim country there is a very low crime rate, so
most police. I’m not convinced by this answer. From what I picked up, My aunt
and dad tended to romanticized the conditions of life in Noakchott. Because If
I’ve learned anything in Bissau, its
that just because you are Muslim doesn’t mean you are not human and apt to
commit a crime.
Mauritanian culture was very much like Guinea Bissau in that
women stay home and cook and raise the children. The food is similar and they
also drink warga (strong green tea) . The only major difference was that the
country is 99% Muslim, so the country functions in accordance to Islam. This
means that most women wore head scarves and holidays are taken on fri and sat,
not sat and Sunday, and etc..
There are however, 3 highly controversial social issues that
Mauritania is facing.
The first is SLAVERY! While it was abolished in 1981, it
only became illegal to have slaves in 2007!! An astonishing 10-20% of the population of
Mauritania is considered slaves!!
Due to the persistence of slavery in society, racism is
incredibly high. The division is between
the ‘white’ moors and the black Africans.
“Cotton describes the
class and race structure of society in Mauritania. The ruling class is known as
white Moors, who are descendents of the intermingling of two groups of people:
the indigenous Berbers and the Arabs who moved into the territory centuries
ago. Historically, the Arabs have always had slaves. Owning other people as
property is evidently not a foreign or repulsive concept to them. While this
may not be true for every white Moor, they generally look down on black
Africans.”
Lastly, the force feeding
of young girls, called leblouh, is cultural practice which can be found mostly outside the capital
city. Beauty standards in Mauritania are such that women are found more
attractive and marriageable if they are heavy/fat. So Girls ages 7-12 are
force-fed to make them get fat so that it will be easy for them to find a
husband. The participation of girls in the education system is not prioritized,
so the best hope for a girls success in the future is to find a good husband.
Here are some links to a video series which touches on some of these issues
Every country has its problems, some worse then others. In my
experience, Mauritanians are very kind people. I was disappointed I didn’t get
to explore out side of the capital, where the desert scenery is beautiful from
what I’ve seen in photos. But maybe one day I'll go back.
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| Donkeys like to go to the beach too! |
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| Fish for Daaaaaaaaaaaayzzzzz |
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