Accidental minimization of supplies
Day 14
Sun 31st
All Day: Ayoun el’Atrous, Mauritania
I watched in horror as my only bar of soap fell in the pit latrine when I took a shower. Earlier I had given up my towel, shampoo, deodorant, and shaving cream. You don’t need a towel, since the heat would work well. Shampoo, soap works just as well for a few days. Deodorant, I’m not working anymore and most volunteers upcountry don’t use it anyway. Shaving cream, I can borrow someone elses when I get in a capital area (or just use lather from the soap - which I now don't have). So I just had a bar of soap. Now I have none. They had one bar of laundry soap I used for the next day, which was the last shower I had in four days until I reached Bamako. Dirty!
Maddy, the volunteer, took me to her house for lunch which consisted of eating with the family. Think of a normal U.S. bedroom, that’s the size of their living room with no furniture and 14 people watching TV on the floor. TV! She has satellite TV in her compound, in the middle of Mauritania! In The Gambia we rarely even have electricity, here she lives in a mud hut compound with satellite hook-up! Not only that, but in the same room is a refrigerator with cold drinks and ice. With 14 other family member around us we watched a French-dubbed TV Show, and an Arabic soap-opera.
At the end of the day I did a budget count. Average spending per day (so far), including transportation, lodging, food, bribes, and getting ripped off was $15/day.
Sun 31st
All Day: Ayoun el’Atrous, Mauritania
I watched in horror as my only bar of soap fell in the pit latrine when I took a shower. Earlier I had given up my towel, shampoo, deodorant, and shaving cream. You don’t need a towel, since the heat would work well. Shampoo, soap works just as well for a few days. Deodorant, I’m not working anymore and most volunteers upcountry don’t use it anyway. Shaving cream, I can borrow someone elses when I get in a capital area (or just use lather from the soap - which I now don't have). So I just had a bar of soap. Now I have none. They had one bar of laundry soap I used for the next day, which was the last shower I had in four days until I reached Bamako. Dirty!
Maddy, the volunteer, took me to her house for lunch which consisted of eating with the family. Think of a normal U.S. bedroom, that’s the size of their living room with no furniture and 14 people watching TV on the floor. TV! She has satellite TV in her compound, in the middle of Mauritania! In The Gambia we rarely even have electricity, here she lives in a mud hut compound with satellite hook-up! Not only that, but in the same room is a refrigerator with cold drinks and ice. With 14 other family member around us we watched a French-dubbed TV Show, and an Arabic soap-opera.
At the end of the day I did a budget count. Average spending per day (so far), including transportation, lodging, food, bribes, and getting ripped off was $15/day.
posted by Mike | 11:16 AM
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