Okay, I know it's been a little while

But here I am writing a new entry to catch you all up. I'm posted to a town of about 21000 in the Gorgol region, it's called Mbout and it's the halfway point between two regional capitals, Kaedi and Selibaby. It's actually the same size or bigger than some of the other regional capitals, for example Kaedi is only supposed to be about 30,000. Kaedi is the regional capital of Gorgol and that's where my region mates will get together, one of the PCVs there has a house big enough to accomodate us when we come in every couple of weeks for a break from our sites. And the house has a puppy named Kelbi (which means "my dog" in Hassaniya) who's very well behaved and very good at hunting lizards. I'm posted to Mbout with Cortney Donnelly, another GEE volunteer and we're the first PCVs in the town for maybe three years. Three years ago there was a PCV there who ETed early, the year before that there was the same thing, and the year before that again. So basically Mbout has a reputation of chewing up and spitting out PCVs, but I'm not concerned. There's running water, electricity, and we're gonna be the first PCVs posted there with site mates. We're supposed to start a GMC (girl's mentoring center) which means we have to get the community to donate a space and pay for the electricity for it. After that maybe we can get a grant and bring in some computers, start applications for picking which girls can attend, and convince members of the community to take ownership and mentor girls there. Everyone I tell about it calls it a tough posting, and my APCD (Assistant Peace Corps Director, the director of the GEE program inMauritania who picked Mbout for us, her name is Seeham) keeps refering to Mbout when she talks about difficult sites. It's gonna be a challenge, that much is obvious, but I can't imagine a better placement or a better country. At the end of my service I'll (hopefully) be able to point to a GMC with classes and mentors and sustainability and say "I did that" which is going to be gratifying and fantastic.
Further notes on Mbout. The road between Kaedi and Selibaby is really rough. It's terrible. Every car that goes between these two cities passes the night in Mbout and having Cortney and I placed there changes the dynamics of PCV travel in both regions Gorgol and Guidimaka. Basically they can crash overnight with us rather than having to worry about being stranded somewhere. The road is also improving by the day. There is a Portuguese company working from the edges in, they're working from Kaedi to Mbout and Selibaby to Mbout to build a new road. Furthermore there are permanant bases for the Portuguese in all three towns and the PCVs in these regions have made friends with some of the Portuguese who speak excellent English. All of this amounts to the fact that when I met Pedro, a geological surveyor or something, in Kaedi he told me he goes out to Mbout three times a week at least and he'll give me a ride whenever. Riding shotgun in a land rover beats being perched on top of a rice sack in the bed of a pickup any day, plus he makes the trip in half the time. There's also a rumor that the Portuguese base in Mbout has a pool.
On language, the Gorgol is a largely Pulaar speaking region but Mbout is about 60/40 Hassaniya and Pulaar. This means I'll be doing a lot of my work in French, and I'll probably have Hassaniya and Pulaar tutors once I get to site. I'm back in Rosso now with my CBT host family, and I promise I'll try to post some pictures soon (though I warn you I only broke out my camera today for the first time). In three and a half weeks we go back to the center for a couple nights and then swear-in is the 28th after which I'm off and away. I couldn't imagine a better country to be in, Mauritania is beautiful, harsh, hot, and friendly. Mbout is one of the hardest cities in this, one of the hardest countries. I couldn't ask for anything more.
A note on insects, a new second place for most irritating. Blister beetles. They're bugs ranging from a couple centimeters to over an inch long and they pee on your skin and cause a big painful blister to sprout, and if you're not careful when you pop the blister the run off causes a whole string of more blisters. But you also can't squish these little jerks, because that basically just makes them pee all over you, instead there is a cup and throw method to get rid of them. They beat out fire ants, but still can't hold a candle to flies.
Oh, and Alicia, yes the bike ride from Cape Town to Cairo is still on the to-do list. :)
Okay, so now let's see, what else? Anyone have questions? I got really sick during my site visit, fever around 102-104 for a couple days and nasty stomach problems, but now I'm mostly recovered. The sad part about losing weight here is that it's gonna take so much effort to put it back on. I'm down 21 pounds from the 172 I started out at, which is far from atypical among the male PCTs. The good side is that weight loss is kindof plateauing and I can start to work on reaquisition now and especially once I settle into a house at site. I personally think I'll live alone, and Cortney will probably live with a family based on our personal preferences. The town is big enough to accomodate both preferences. Oh, and I have a new address. Mail will get to the Kaedi post office faster than if you send it to Nouakchott and then the Peace Corps trucks it down to us. So for now:
John Tyler, PCV
B.P. 66 Kaedi
Mauritania, West Africa

And if you're going to send something make sure you write "Par Avion" and "Air Mail" on it a few times so it doesn't get stuck on a boat and end up taking a year to get here. Alright everyone, happy August. Talk to you soon.