within 6 weeks of living in africa, i have experienced a coup d'etat. it actually wasnt as thrilling and exciting as it sounds (which is good) and so far everything is very calm. Its kind of cool and kind of scary at the same time... The state radio and tv stations were turned off before the president and P.M. were arrested and so the people really dont know what is going on... thank god for shortwave crank radios and bbc world news (thanks val!) Ive heard that Nouakchott is realitivly calm and that the military is patroling the streets but that is about all the information i have. out en brousse (rural sites), you never could have guessed that a coup even happened and everyone just went about their everyday business not at all nervous about the political situation. there was hope in this president because he was the first democratically elected in mauritania (last year) but the food crisis and rising prices hurt his popularity. here is an article from CNN and BBC (http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/africa/08/06/mauritania.coup.ap/index.html) (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/7544834.stm) (about 8am wed.)
there have been coups in the past, although none have been serious enough to bring about PC evacuation from Mauritania. PC evacuated during the six day war in Israel in 1967, the gulf war in 1991, and had a voluntary evacuation following the events of september 11th and the invasion of Iraq (all because of a possible threat on american lives due to the status of Mauritania as a muslim state, not because of the unstable situation of Mauritania). the other PCVs and members of the staff dont seem to nervous about all this and hopefully it will bring about changes for the best.
i finally just my first round of packages which was amazing and luckily nothing was tampered with or missing. Turns out the packages get to the capital fine then sit in the PC bureau for a few weeks, which would explain the delay of all of our packages and letters. my new mailing address is supposed to bypass the bureau so hopefully things will get here a little quicker. either way i was really happy to see that nothing was messed with and everything got here safely. thank you meredith for your bday gift! im finally got it in my first package (it arrived at my house the day after i left for the PC) and im wearing it right now. thanks to lindsey too for the cherry koolaid! (you did well teaching your brother how to share). you all cannot even understand how happy your letters, pictures from home, and packages make me! thanks!
there have been coups in the past, although none have been serious enough to bring about PC evacuation from Mauritania. PC evacuated during the six day war in Israel in 1967, the gulf war in 1991, and had a voluntary evacuation following the events of september 11th and the invasion of Iraq (all because of a possible threat on american lives due to the status of Mauritania as a muslim state, not because of the unstable situation of Mauritania). the other PCVs and members of the staff dont seem to nervous about all this and hopefully it will bring about changes for the best.
i finally just my first round of packages which was amazing and luckily nothing was tampered with or missing. Turns out the packages get to the capital fine then sit in the PC bureau for a few weeks, which would explain the delay of all of our packages and letters. my new mailing address is supposed to bypass the bureau so hopefully things will get here a little quicker. either way i was really happy to see that nothing was messed with and everything got here safely. thank you meredith for your bday gift! im finally got it in my first package (it arrived at my house the day after i left for the PC) and im wearing it right now. thanks to lindsey too for the cherry koolaid! (you did well teaching your brother how to share). you all cannot even understand how happy your letters, pictures from home, and packages make me! thanks!
look close! the picture is of me at man-loin, a little sand dune/canyon that me and my sitemates found about a 15 min walk from PK7
1 comment:
Teresa -- Thank you for such a timely post regarding the coup! I've made sure to forward it to all the anxious parents back here in the US!! Spoke to Ryan briefly this morning and was told basically the same information as your blog.
Glad you are finally receiving packages and I am hopeful Ryan will be getting his, soon, as well.
Take care, and keep those posts going!!
Vicki McAllister
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