The Nomad

2008-08-20T22:03:00.005-06:00

After many months in Mauritania my service has come to an end. I am now back in Kentucky and not sure about my next few steps. Thank you for all the encouraging emails and wonderfully put together care packages- you all saved many of my days in the sand.

Thanks again and good luck current and future Mauritanian volunteers

2008-07-25T07:29:00.003-06:00

Three countries in three weeks...

2008-07-20T06:43:00.004-06:00

My dearest friend Jane has come and gone (super sad face) and now I find myself back in he... Mauritania. We started our journey in Dakar, Senegal which is my least favorite city in West Africa. Crowded with aggressive, unhappy merchants selling the same over priced crap on every corner. After Dakar we dined with monkeys and played with crocodiles in the Gambia. In Mali we slept in historic villages gracefully placed atop mountain cliffs- I felt like we were always overlooking Pride Rock. We ran into several volunteers from all over West Africa which greatly took some of the pressure off our travel. I advise anyone who is traveling through West Africa to fly or take a car because cheap buses don't necessarily guarantee anything...even destinations. I feel like I lost part of my soul during the trek from Mali back to Dakar. Twenty hours into our 40 hour bus ride back to Dakar in our 130deg mini bus, 100 people over capacity, the woman beside us and the boy in front of us began getting car sick and before we knew it their previous meals slowly cooked on the bus floor. Pretty exciting stuff- but all in all, I will speak on behalf of both of us, we had a wonderful West African adventure. :) Everything seems easier once it’s over, right? Miss you already Jane. All my love.

One year down..one more to go.

2008-06-19T02:44:00.008-06:00

I made it back to Kiffa last night around 10pm after a twelve hour exhausting taxi ride. Not only was it uber humid and unbelievably hot but I was also forced to sit in between two mulafa women (not the smallest people) wearing indigo mulafas. *Indigo mulafa= Deep blue, long piece of fabric covering the entire body. Embedded with a powder like substance that leaves the skin with a pretty gnarly frost bite color until washed off. I guess men here really dig the obese death look- there is also a whitening cream the women put on that gives their faces a white, burnt appearance. Not sure what all the ingredients are but I'm pretty sure bleach is one of them. When I arrived in Kiffa lats night I was lookin' pretty good- sweaty and blue and I still somehow managed to decline three marriage proposals. Beauty is definitely only in the eye of the beholder.
School is over, finally! One school year down and one more to go. One of the teachers wants to work on starting an English club this summer so hopefully I won’t be entirely bored everyday. I'm working on uploading pictures onto Picasa and will hopefully have the link on here soon.
The new volunteers will be here SATURDAY! Hopefully I will have a few site mates this upcoming year because right now things are a bit lonely being the only volunteer here. I had a trainee email me a few weeks ago from Kentucky because she was in Glasgow working with Paula Brooks and mentioned leaving in June with the Peace Corps. South central KY will be strongly represented this year :) what a small world.

Back in business

2008-05-22T13:45:00.009-06:00

After a few unfortunate circumstances in my village I have moved to the second largest city in Mauritania, Kiffa. I joke that now I'm a 'big city girl' not only soaking up the Sahara sun but also amenities- running water and electricity! I seriously couldn't be happier. Although these are both flaky during the hot season, I will survive. Since I had to move at end of the school year I don't have my own classes. I am co-teaching with one of the Mauritanian teachers at the Middle school with one of his classes of 70+ girls. I wont even begin explaining that- not yet at least.

The other day I was walking around my neighborhood greeting a few boutique owners and an elderly woman began flagging me down and I immediately thought that she was mistaking me for someone else since I have been told that all Americans look the same. She asked me if George Bush was my brother because we look exactly alike...hmm, thank you?hah. I was relieved that she didn't want anything else.. not even a religious talk? Surprising.

Everything is going well. I'm anxiously awaiting the arrival of my dear friend Jane in June- my year anniversary in Africa. We will not be visiting Mauritania for obvious reasons but instead traveling through Senegal and The Gambia. Miss you all. I will try to be more consistent with the posts. Love

Teaching?

2008-04-05T09:05:00.016-06:00

You easily find my pictures by clicking on the tab on the right of the screen titled 'Pictures in Africa.' I will continue posting because I love speaking with pictures and Ithey spice up my blog. I recently watched a documentary "Born into Brothels" filmed in the red light district of Calcutta. Children are given cameras to capture their lives, but instead of exploiting their work they are given chance to go to school. The title is duanting but give it a shot and look at the kids on the cover instead of the title.
Anyway, teachers here are on strike next week, April 15-....until who knows when? I have found it more difficult working with the educators than the students. I live with two teachers in my village, Tagia teaches French and Wagea is a Science wiz. They are both miserable because in Mauritania teachers are placed throughout the country according to the needs of the regions not according to where the teacher is from. There is a preference 'region list' each teacher fills out during the summer and they list their top three regions. I would imagine that my village didn't make any of those lists. These two men have found life here unbelievably difficult because they are both far from their friends, families and first language- Yeah, I can relate a little. I'm not aware of the repercussions if a teacher is absent but the one week spring break became a three week tour of Mauritania. If they don't teach to begin with then
my question is, why are they going on strike? (I'm not speaking on behalf of the entire Educational system in Mauritania, only the bushes that I live in)

Electricity problems in Selibaby

2008-03-31T11:45:00.010-06:00

Greetings again. Sorry I haven't posted anything in a while. There have been rolling blackouts the past couple weeks throughout the city and we haven't figured out the pattern, I mean that would be too easy right? Boutique owners are seriously suffering as they are losing all of their cold products. Drinks, ice, Mauritanian popsicles...etc, forget about trying to cool down when it's 130degrees.

Anyway, life is going well, school is almost over (if you could only see me jumping up and down every time I leave class) and the new volunteers are almost here! I have never been more excited to become a veteran, although I feel as if I know exactly the same amount as I did coming in almost a year ago. It's humorous reading their frightened concerns about what to pack and what to expect because the current volunteers remember these thoughts far too well. Maybe I don't know anymore than I did, but our daily challenges such as traveling, how to eat, language, how to use the bathroom and which hole to squat over provide us with our intimidating PC intelligence. (whoa sarcasm)
I will hopefully upload a few pictures from village life soon. Oh yeah and Nana, Im taking my malaria medicine- I really don't have and never did have malaria :)

2008-02-09T05:56:00.001-06:00

This is my cute, little, African mother Magita. She moved to Ould Yenge from Germany three years ago because she simply wanted to change her life. Magita was tired of living in the materialistic world and wanted to teach children...so she moved to Africa. Yes, she is the bravest woman that I have ever met. We get together a couple times a week to laugh, cook, cry, and vent about village life. She teaches preschool age children French, English and Arabic at her home in her backyard. I was nervous once I found out that I would be the only volunteer in my village, but having Magita only a couple huts away is the same as a site mate. I'm not sure if I would have made it this long without her support- she is such an inspiration! She recently built her own house and plans on living in

the village for the rest of her life. That wasn't a typo, she is never leaving. Yeah, she is somewhere in between the lines of amazingly generous and crazy. She is loved, admired and a huge hit with the children.

Since it is veggie season (November-March) the farmers protect their precious veggies on top of their houses when they dont' sell everything in the market. If they attempted to put the veggies anywhere else they would be devoured by animals and maybe myself. The picture above was taken on top o f my roof overlooking my neighbors house. Love this view!
This is my new bedroom- I moved from a mud hut to tile! Let's talk about an upgrade. Life is much better ---I mean, much cleaner :)

Merry Christmas!!

2008-01-09T10:34:00.000-06:00

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to everyone!! I was surrounded by all my close friends and delicious food during the tough holiday season in Nouakchott, so no worries Nana. I think I might have gained 10 lbs after that care package of pure chocolate and peanut butter you sent. Thank you! Thank you to everyone for the Christmas presents- you guys rock! I cannot believe that it's already January... I have been here for almost 7months. I'm having a great volunteer experience in Mauritania, but love being able to say that next July I will be home. I miss you all and civilization dearly.
On Friday I am heading back into the bushes of Ould Yenge (still not sure how to spell it because I have seen at least three different 'correct' spellings) and will be there until February 10th. I have cell phone service if you for some reason have to hear my voice..don't hesitate to call. I might even answer during class because classroom interruptions are pretty regular. You have the occasional cups of tea being offered,fights to break up,teachers asking you questions about politics, students asking for money... and the list goes on. People don't take me seriously at school because no one at school takes it seriously.
This month I am really working hard because I have taken the last month off with Peace Corps sessions in the capital and then New Years in St. Louis, Senegal. Hopefully the ball will start rolling with the girls mentoring center this month before I leave again in February. On February 15th Peace Corps Volunteers will be heading down to Senegal for a softball tournament- WAIST, West African Invitational Softball Tournament. Mauritania has claimed victory for the past 5 years and will hopefully take home the gold again this year. This will be a refreshing vacation before Spring break in March.
I'm finding it harder and harder to write to people and on this blog not because I don't miss you, but I'm adjusting to my new life here. Slowly I'm developing wonderful friendships with other volunteers and even with people in my village. We met a couple Peace Corps volunteers in Senegal, which I cannot even imagine being a volunteer there because they are living the luxurious life, anyway, and he told us that their Country Director and Medical Officer told them that they should 'try to be more like the volunteers in Mauritania because we are working in one of the hardest countries in Peace Corps." We all had these cheesy smiles on our faces and responded with sarcastically surprised "Really?" Sometimes it doesn't feel like I'm working in an extremely difficult place- that should tell you something about my standards right now.
I don't know when I will be able to write again, but know that since distance and technology make communication difficult you all are always in my thoughts and prayers! See you soon.
xoxoxoxoxox
PS- I was at the beach on Christmas Eve and we made that cute little sandman :)

Hello Glasgow!

2007-11-17T05:06:00.000-06:00

Hello to everyone in Glasgow!!Dad informed me the other day that my blog is on the EPB website. I will try to put a little more effort and creativity into this blog. Send me an email with g-town updates, chaunceyboggs@gmail.com. Or if you would like to send me a letter my address is:

Chauncey Boggs, PCV
Corps de la Paix
B.P 222
Nouakchott, Maurtiania
West Africa

I started teaching English at the High School a month ago and it has been a challenge. I only teach nine hours a week, but right now that's enough. I am still adjusting to my new life and enjoying the slow pace for the moment. After Christmas I plan on starting an English club...we shall see. My students are...well, difficult. I have four different classes that meet every week for two hours. Each class has at least 40+ students and a couple wooden benches that are falling apart. That is not the difficult part of teaching but more so the lack of respect from the students. They are always talking, singing, walking out of class, drawing, fighting, offering marriage proposals to the teacher,(I'm serious) playing ridiculous music on their cell phones- you name it...anything except paying attention. The Islamic religion prohibits men and women from touching so the boys sit on one side of class and the girls on the other and the girls are, of course, always chatting. I am the only female teacher at my school which didn't really surprise me because usually by the age of 14 girls are married and expecting children. People in my village find it hard to believe that an "old woman" such as myself isn't married-yes, they call me an old woman at 22. Ha! I just laugh and tell them that work/traveling is more important for some people. What else can I say? They think I'm crazy, but I really don't care. If I inspire one child during my two years- it's worth the daily diarrhea. On that note I would like to say that I am healthy again! I haven't been sick in weeks. :) Don't worry Nana.
Other than school life is getting easier in Ould Yenje- easier meaning I am feeling more and more at home. Thank you for all the wonderfully put together care packages- the food is so appreciated, especially for Thanksgiving :) For Christmas all the volunteers are heading to the capital, Nouakchott and then to Senegal for New Years. I'm more than ready to see everyone!
The pictures above were taken last month. The one with the Mauritanian flag was taken at my school- can you see the bell in the front? You hit the barrel with a rock & that is suppose to be the sound of class beginning, but here it is the bell for tea and then class. The bowl of rice, potatoes and something green is my lunch--well, followed by a couple power bars :)
Miss you all so much and think of you daily. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and Christmas.
The cold season is here..a freezing 70degrees in the morning has me wearing my fleece to school!
oh, and about the kid picking his nose-- it is culturally acceptable to pick your nose in public. Where am I? Seriously.

2007-09-10T12:07:00.000-06:00

I am in Selibaby at the moment- uploading a couple pictures and eating chicken and French fries. Tomorrow I leave for my site and I'm really getting nervous. Finally, I can begin my peace corps service which is overwhelming because for the past couple months we have been told when to eat, drink and breath. Now we are thrown into service and on our own schedules. I'm ready for the freedom, seriously. Maurtiania is divided up into regions, like states in the US, and there are a total of nine people with me in the Guidimakha. The new volunteers have decided to reconnect every couple weeks here in Selibaby. It's comforting and will give me something to look forward to. Tomorrow I have to buy a new phone because I don't have service with my current plan. I will buy a new phone and in two weeks I will send out a massive email. I'm sure I will come back from site with a couple stories..
Did you ever think you would see my lime green walls again? I didn't either until I stumbled upon this fabric in the market. You can probably see me from at least two miles away, on a clear day of course. After a storm our compound was flooded and my little brother thought that it was hilarious that I couldn't get to my room, so I let him take a couple pictures.
I miss you all, you have no idea. I will keep adding items to my Wish List on the previous post. Keep an eye out and start sending me pirate stuff- we have a west African softball tournament coming up and we are the pirates.

I survived 15 days in my village!! I have been living in the market, introducing myself, and learning my way around the village. School should start sometime...no one can give me an exact date, but current volunteers say that things won't "really" begin until November. I'm glad that there is a PC library in Selibaby because I have been doing a little bit of reading. What do the people of Mauritania do during their free time? How do they "pass the day?" Well, the men spend their time working their social game/working outside of the compounds while the women sit around drinking cups of tea (Tea= green tea, mint and an excess of sugar. If someone asks you to come and drink tea with them be aware that will you spend several hours with that person because tea consists of three small cups and takes forever to prepare) and ordering the younger children around. What do I do during my free time? How do I "pass the day?" The pictures above tell all. Rock climbing during the hottest part of the day in Selibaby with Morgan, playing with the children and getting their germs, staying sick, playing in the rain...and sometimes talking on my phone to people in the states. I don't have to get a new phone because my village now has cell phone service with my phone plan, but we don't have running water or a house. Awesome.
Miss you all. I'm going back into the bushes for a couple more weeks and will try to upload more pictures again. I haven't received any mail because our shuttle didn't come through Selibaby this month. Keep your fingers crossed for next month! :) I miss you all. Hope that all is well. Mmuah.

hmmm....goodies.

2007-08-24T06:26:00.001-06:00

After teaching at the high school I started heading back to my house when my supervisor stopped and directed me to the mailroom. I was pumped because I thought that someone had sent me a letter, yay! Instead of the two letters I was also handed four ginormous packages!!! Not that I am complaining at all, but how was I to carry all this in the 120deg weather? I was determined to take everything back with me to my house at once, but failed miserably. A couple of my students saw me struggling and I bribed them with food if they would help me get back to my house. Do you think they turned down that offer? yeah right. There I was with my three students walking down the sandy streets carrying my packages of cliff bars and drink mixes-- on my head. Remember, in africa you always carry whatever you have on your head. I wish I could have taken a picture of us, but instead I have a picture of me holding my locks and other random shots. I would just like to extend a thank you to everyone who helped put those packages together-(Joshy, Karen, Andrea, Dad, Debbie, Gma, Jana, The Browns, Nana&Gramps, Alana&Bubby,Cindy Warr and the Macaluso crew!!) Everyone has been more than generous. Hopefully you guys had fun picking out the goodies too :) I shared some of my food with my family and they had zero appreciation for any of the goods. - I tried to make them eat pizza goldfish just like they try to make me eat their food and they almost gagged. I couldn't contain my laughter!!
Life is grand. In a couple weeks I will be heading to Wul Yenje to live with Taco for the next two years-wow, after I typed that my heart just skipped a couple beats. Im excited. My address will stay the same...keep the mail (packages) coming.
Miss you all.
Package Ideas for those who have been asking:
Any type of Grammar ideas/paper back books
Newspaper articles- What is really going on in the world??
Pictures!! I want to decorate my new room.
If you send me a disposable camera and a padded envelope I will take some pictures and mail that back to you in the envelope. :) Just an idea?
Spices, when I attempt to cook.

Parmesan cheese!! Why is there no cheese in this country?
Hot Sauce/ All food is welcome- esp mixes that only include Water, Oil and eggs.
Christmas hats/decorations/ Tuna
Jolly Ranchers/Mints
Plastic Bags (Large and Small)
A couple new toothbrushes/flossy floss/Lotion/Mouth Wash
Arbonne Face Wash will be a must soon...
Anything and everything is appreciated

I will post more later. Love you all and miss you more.
PS- Lizards are everywhere here. This is the guy that always tries to get into my hut!!!
PPS- Julie Brown, I love all power bars esp the ones with peanut butter. Thanks chica.

2007-08-14T06:36:00.000-06:00

Yeah, I know. It's beautiful. The picture of the little boy is my brother and the quickly approaching sandstorm. Last night we had another sandstorm encounter at 430am-- I almost lost my mosquito net in the wind and rain, but managed to throw everything into my hut. (The hut posted above is where I will be spending my weekends once I am at Wul Yenje. That is my room. How precious!!!) This is one of the small obstacles I face on a daily basis, it's fun. Enjoy your AC and remember that yesterday it was 126deg in Kaedi. Love you.

2007-08-11T02:24:00.000-06:00

Alright. Finally, the pictures that you all have been waiting for!! The picture above is my sweaty self, obviously, and henna that has exploded on my hand. This is what we like to call integration here in Kaedi. This intricate, free handed process took three sweaty hours and lasted on both of my hands for over two weeks. It's typical for woman to get henna before weddings or social gatherings. I didn't go to a wedding or anything, the occasion was simply me being in Africa. A friend of the family came into town and dolled up my hand. The picture on the left is the reason why I have been sick-- I cannot leave the kids alone!! Look at them, they are precious! I think that I harass them more than they do the other volunteers. This picture was taken at Daouda Nasty's house, a future education volunteer. The little boy on the right goes by the name Mama Jelly...and you pronounce it exactly how it sounds!! LOVE IT!! I also rocked out that sweet mohawk for a while, but then quickly shaved it off after 2.5 seconds.
I think that I have everyone's home addresses, but please be sure to write your return address on your letters--you all know how organized I am. I also wanted to explain why I have changed my name, it wasn't by choice, believe me I love my name and will always go by chauncey in the states. My Mauritanian family named me after the sister in the family-- please don't freak out and think that I have gone competly insane. All the volunteers have changed their names, no worries.
I also found out that I have next July, August and Sept off! If anyone would like to start planning a trip to Mauritania, please let me know. Christmas break starts in the middle of December and lasts until the beginning of Jan. I know it is early, but those plane tickets get a little ify. Maybe if you are nice Andrea might hook you up...he has been known to be a nice guy.
I hope to hear from you all soon. Life is great. Miss you. mmuuahh.
ps- I killed a scorpion last night.

My life in Wul Yenje with my sister Taco

2007-08-09T06:22:00.000-06:00

Im not going to be able to blog as often as I had hoped due to no electricity in my site, but my regional capital is about three hours away where I can one day promise to post pictures of my beautiful bald head. I have been out of Kaedi for the past week, touring my new home. I guess from the title you have guessed that I'm heading to the rural village of Wul Yenje with about 4000 people and one fridg. We were at my site for three days and during that time we (my father Samba and a current Peace Corps Volunteer) toured the city which took all of one hour and hung out by the lake. Hopefully during my two year hiatus I will be able to build a raft and not catch any funky water diseases, sigh. On the second day we ventured off into nature toward a Pular village 45min away sipping tea and literally passing the day. The father, Kane, is a friend of my fathers and has inivited me to spend the weekends at their...hut. They have even given me my own room or I should really say hut. It's a sweet deal and it will be nice to change up the scene. Peace Corps will pay for you to have a language tutor in your village- hopefully Kane is going to help me with my French and Hassaniya.
The question everyone is asking "Have you recevied your package(s) yet?"
They are waiting to give us the rest of the them in September- I don't know why, but this is what I have been told. Julie Brown, Im sending a huge thanks your way because the peanuts and powerbars are saving my life right now-There is a small tax on all packages and I think they are waiting until we have our bank accounts set up before they start handing out boxes. It makes no sense to me- but this is the Peace Corps and you just roll with the flow because we have no control.
We had a girl ET (early terminate) yesterday. Right now we are down to 67 people. I think the cockroach that got stuck in her ear was the straw that broke the camels back for her. The PCMO had to dig him out- she said it was more excruciating then being stung by a jellyfish. Can you even imagine- damn. If anyone wants to send earplugs that might be cool.
Overall I am happy. I have my moments..well, several moments when I am frustrated/upset but it quickly passes because there is this beautiful support group surrounding me. Thank you all for your emails and pictures- you have no idea how much they contribute to my sanity. There is also a tailor here in the city that contributes to my sanity as well- I go to the market and buy fabric and then Jibby calls me when my outfits are ready. Just like in the states when you are having a bad day and you need an outfit to lift you up--its exactly the same, well almost. Instead of paying 50 bucks for a shirt you can pay 10 for an entire outfit and a head scarf.
I miss you guys. Come to africa and we will have Jibby make us crazy african clothing.
Love always,
Ami Camera

The Camel Rider

2007-07-19T14:07:00.000-06:00

Sorry I have not written in such a long time, but as you already know the internet is incredibly ridiculous here. I am going to try and add more pictures to Flikr, so keep a look out.
Right now gmail is not working. If you have sent me an email in the past week don't plan on a reply any time soon. Life is great---super hot and sandy but I love it. I am learning Hassaniya, instead of French!!Once I am at my site I will learn how to write too! Wouldn't that be bomb?! Since it is a dialect there is no "true" way of writing the language, therefore our teacher is constantly changing the spelling making it a little difficult.
The food has been terrible- worse than I had imagined. (Care packages would be a plus in my life) I have to make my family wash their hands...seriously, they have no concept of hygiene. I usually skip out on meals at the house and head to the market for a goat hoggie. Just think of it as a mini subway. Yeah, Im not even joking.
I miss everyone dearly, but I really miss leaving sondra 10min phone calls. *you should feel special I included you in the blog. Now you HAVE to come and visit. hehe. mmuuah.

Super glad I brought the following items, for those stalking blog sites who are in the PC process
1* Head Lamp. Couldnt survive without it
2* Crystal Light packages. Seriously, a bottle of flavored H2O makes my day
3* A pillow
4* Bandanas
5* Shimmer lotion and nail polish for my gloomy days
6* Limp Balm
7* Oh yeah, and my pimp Tropic Screen mosquito net/ living quarters

I wish you all could see the stars at night.They are beautiful--but don't worry I will kiss them all for you!!! Call me anytime my number is 0 11 222 755 7158. If you call from Skype it is 30 cents a minute. Love you all!! Big kiss from Kaedi!!!

hottness

2007-06-27T06:02:00.000-06:00

I'M HERE!! I have been in africa for about five hours now..and life is sandy and hott!! I still cannot believe that I am actually here, but I am quickly reminded as a donkey cart full of fruits passes. You guys are going to love the pictures that I am taking. PS- My new camera is wonderfuL! Thanks for the bday present fam.
I haven't slept since Saturdaay night and I have already had six shots- but I cannot stop smiling.
Everyone here is incredibly inteligent and compassionate about life and that it just makes being around them comforting. For once I don't have to explain why I want to join the peace corps or explain anything for that matter because we are all completly insane together! :) We have a great group.
The first night me and Tiffany busted out in song to MOULIN ROUGE!! We are pretty much soulmates!
I miss you guys! Send me emails and snail mail too.
Im buying a phone soon- I will post my number.
Take care! BISOUS BESITOS KISSES

Will I ever stop changing my Blog title? Probably not.

2007-06-19T22:17:00.002-06:00

"We must embrace pain and burn it as fuel for our journey" Kenji Miyazaw. Perhaps this is a favorite of mine because these words hit close to home. I should have inserted a question mark instead of a period after the previous sentence, but then realized that this quote hits close to home for everyone- no question mark needed. Okay so I'm a little sentimental tonight, give me a break. I was hanging out with my close friends and it finally hit me how hard it is moving forward. The support and camaraderie among my friends is so unbelievably uplifting and comforting- it's going to be terribly difficult being away! Although you all think I'm crazy for joining Peace Corps and that I've perhaps floated off to the deep end- there will always remain that same wall of support surrounding me. Thank you. Who knows what's going to happen these next couple years while I'm away, but I will stay in touch as often as I can. Thank you for these last pampered months at home. I miss y'all already!! (In my best Joey Huff accent)

Three weeks to go!!

2007-06-06T00:44:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I booked my staging ticket to Philly from Nashville and I also started packing- yikes! These three weeks are going to be exhausting as I begin packing and finish up my Goodbye Tour in Kentucky. Last weekend my tour began in Mansfield, Ohio and ended with the Strawberry Festival in Troy. Thanks for the dessert gma. Below I have posted my address for my first three months during training. The Peace Corps advises those who send snail mail to number each of the letters and to also write "West Africa,” “Airmail,” and “Par Avion” on the envelopes. Mail takes a minimum of two weeks to arrive and some mail may never arrive. I will do my best to stay in touch- remember that no news is always good news :) Try to remember that dad...love you.

Chauncey Elysse Boggs, PCT
Corps de la Paix
B.P. 222
Nouakchott, Mauritania
West Africa

Here we go..

2007-03-28T23:25:00.001-06:00

I'm not much of a 'blogger' but in fear of my little Nana searching the Sahara for her granddaughter leaves me with no choice. I'm leaving for Mauritania, Africa on June 26th with the Peace Corps and I am ecstatic. I have a little time to munch on tuna and somehow wrap up my life for a couple years. yippee. I'm ready for the Sahara!!!