bidhaniye, taqriben

notes from field journal

- I got HENNAED today! That, and I’ve no idea how to spell the verb “to henna” in the past tense. Teitta and Khadijetou sqiire sat me under the khyme at lunch and colored my feet and hands. Though muddled and slow, we eked through a conversation that will remain with me throughout my service.

“Today, you are not American. You are a beautiful Mauritanian.”
I thanked her for the henna, explaining how jealous the trainees would be in Kaedi.
“I want you to stay in Sabualla. I don’t want you to leave. The family really likes you here. Anne nibqi hatte hatte.”
“I really really like you too Teitta.”

I love integration.

- Damned goats ate my cowpeas!!!!! Gassar amarhum! (may God shorten their lives) The melon survived but I expect to find sad nubbins with I return from Kaedi. I guess I’ll see when I get home. Home. I love using that word to describe my khyme in Sabualla. I love knowing my family lives here and is waiting for me to come back. I love – in that awful competitive way – that Teitta is so proud of my linguistic progress, she boasts to my family, her neighbors, the other trainees, random herdsmen… It’s like a proverbial refrigerator: look, mom, what I did in school today!