September 15th

I really like Nouakchott. It is such a developed city for west Africa. And to some degree, because of how spacious the city and its streets are, it almost feels more developed than Dakar. If only it had more plants, trees and parks.

I stayed the whole morning at home, studying Portuguese. The internet connection wasn't so good, so I chose the books over the web.

Towards mid day Cheikh proposed that I tag along. We went to the ministry of finance as he had a meeting with the minister. But we had to wait for a few hours, in a huge fancy meeting room, which is rather used as as waiting room. There I met a friend of Cheikh, Chalana. A very interesting man who asked me to check out the prices of frozen chicken once I get to Brazil as it could be a profitable importing business for Mauritania. Sure, OK! Since he also has a house in Atar, he offered me to stay there for a few nights, even though he doesn't live there, and he connected me with a tour guide friend of his. Just to have a point of contact there. Super nice.

We had lunch quite late as usual, and on the floor of the huge leaving room. I really like this part of the culture. They could eat on crystal tables with fancy silver wear and all, but no, simply sitting on the floor, eating with a spoon and off a common big dish. I love it! The food was fabulous as usual.

The rest of the afternoon, I played with Maggie, their adorable 2 year old who is so irresistibly cute. She is such a tom boy though. This girl will for sure be a trouble maker when she grows up. Lol

Then later on Fatou had asked a Deputy to come by to tell me about the different buses, times, and prices to go to Atar. So he came by just for that. Wow! Very nice guy, very helpful.

I love how the Arabs as well as the Africans overall are so tight together and so helpful for everything. This sort of cultural behavior really is a strength that I wish we had in the "West".

When Cheikh got back home, we all went to the market. I needed to buy a postcard for Milan and Surya, and a big turban for myself to protect me from the sin and dust for my up coming train trip. They refused to let me pay for anything. It made me feel quite uncomfortable. And even more when on top of that Fatou went to buy me a whole traditional beautiful " boubou" outfit. Too kind and generous, really!!!!!!!  Mom, I will wear that outfit for your birthday. :-)

After the market they wanted me to go meet their parents. So first Cheikh's family. 19 brothers and sisters!!!!! His father is such an interesting man. Barely 76 years old, former teacher. He spent a bit of time telling his grandkids around us about my trip to try to get them interested and educated about the importance and benefits of traveling.

Then we went to meet the General. The biggest leaving room I had ever seen. A couch 10m by 10 m by 10m. The conversation quickly turned to politics and the development of sports in the capital. The now retired General is now the president of the basketball federation. It was a very entertaining and interesting conversation.

Fatou's sister, Astou was there as well. She is really cool. To bad I am not staying in town over a weekend as she could have sowed me the other side of the city where the younger crowd hangs out as well as maybe the surroundings of the city. Funny is that she also happens to be friend with Zeinabou, Sonia (Dakar Astou's sister)'s friend who works here for UNICEF and who I was supposed to meet but ran out of time. Small world.

Cheikh is really passionate about his job with the urban city counsel. Every time we are driving around he shows me different parts of the city and makes sure to explain to me about each building. I must !mention again that the French embassy here is probably by far the biggest French governmental building even compared to the ones in France. Unbelievable! And the US is building a brand new embassy which will compete with the French one very closely. Mauritania is definitely a very important and strategic country for western nations.

We got back home at 11pm...just on time for dinner: a Mauritanian couscous. Uffff!!!!! Delicious! Probably better than the Moroccan couscous. I will have to double check when I get back home. Chalana's elder brother was there as well. He used to work on conflict prevention missions for the government, but is now involved in another minister. Anyhow, we had very interesting and enriching talks about the current geopolitical situation and Mauritania's neighbors. The world is a fascinating place to live in.

I can't believe that the weird Canadian guy I had met back in Mopti had told me that Mauritania was of absolutely no interest whatsoever. This only confirms my impression of the guy when I met him. No comment. Lol

Buenas noches. Tomorrow, leaving Nouakchott for Atar. A bit sad, as I would happily have stayed much longer with Fatou and Cheikh, but I am so looking forward to reaching Marrakech at last and also seeing other parts of Mauritania.