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Here is most of our group just before departing Philadelphia and heading to JFK.

At JFK we get our first taste of the pace of life in the third world.

After 18+ hours of traveling we are welcomed to the Peace Corps headquarters in Nouakchott (pronounced new-awk-shot, in case you care). There aren't many chairs in this country, so sitting on the ground or a cushion is the norm.

Here Sherif, a current volunteer, demonstrates how to clean our asses after using a 'turkish' toilet. Locally, the teapot looking thing is called a makaresh, but it seems that 'buttpot' is the perferred term among Peace Corps volunteers.

Now we are down in Kaedi where the Peace Corps rents a highschool to use as a training center. We all stay here for a few days to get acclimated. One day we were treated to a cultural fair, which introduced to local music, crafts, food, and customs.

Pictured is our resident théificator, which is the Mauritanian equivalent of a barrista.

Tea is mentioned constantly in our cross-culture classes. It is apparently the focus of much social interaction here. It is served in small glasses and one is expected to drink it all right away. Saying, 'zein,' which means 'good,' is also important as it shows respect for the maker of the tea.

We also learn that Mauritanians are more than happy to have their picture taken. Many of the kids in this photo are part of a dance troupe that performed for us.

Is this a stereotypical Peace Corps moment, or what?

Angus gets his share of the love.

Pictured is a group of Pulaar kids doing a dance typical of the southern part of the country. Pulaar, Soninké, and Wolof are ethnic groups more culturally associated with black Africa, which in these parts would mean Mali or Senegal. The music features a lot drumming and the dancing is quite exuberant -- though you can't tell from this picture.

The two other large ethnic groups in Mauritania are the white Moors and the black Moors. Pictured a black Moor guitarist rockin' out. The Moor music and dancing is more subdued than the other cultures here, and sometimes you'll realize that what sounds like warm up is actually a song.

Mitch takes off what little hair I have left.

Welcome to chez Derdesh. This is my family's compound. You can see a bit of the house on the left edge of the picture, but it's small and not used much. Daily life is generally focused around tent or other shady spots in yard.

There are at least 18 people living in the compound. I'm not sure how everyone is related.

Nana shows off her mulafa -- the traditional wrap women here wear. Being only three, she actually prefers to be naked most of the time.

Nana does a little dance while Cao busts a move of his own. Hasan is the one in the middle looking confused.

Look appetizing? This actually turned into a delicious lunch of mafé, which is meat in peanut sauce on rice.

All the cooking is down outside and over charcoal fires. Some other families use propane tanks with a burner attached, but I don't think anyone has an actual stove.

This was taken in front of the house. The raised bit of ground between me and the house is where the TV goes at night and where I generally sleep.

Aly is my language teacher. He speaks about five languages including English. For the first two weeks we studied Hassaniya, which is a dialect of Arabic, and now we are studying French.

Aly poses with Hawa, a neighbor girl who brings us tea during our classes.

Coincidentally, Jay, Matt and I are all recent San Francisco residents. Matt is fellow geek, and Jay is a long-time teacher who will be working on an English-language curriculum for the schools here.

This is what the streets look like in Kaedi. They are pretty wide and most houses have a sizeable lot.

Here we mill about just before site announcements are made. In non-Peace Corps language, this is when one finds out exactly where they will be located within Mauritania when training is over. I found out that I will be stationed in Nouakchott, which is the capitol and largest city.