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Over the last 2 years, this site and all the public social media accounts related to MeetTheWards have been inactive. You might have been wondering where we’ve been. Maybe you haven’t even noticed, haha. Whether you noticed or not, it’s been a rough few years (for everyone) and things have been inactive because we got divorced at the end of 2020 and are no longer in contact. 🤷🏾‍♀️ Shit happens and you move on. This is me moving on and doing what I’ve been wanting to do. 

Either way last August (2021) I departed from Egypt very quietly. I told maybe 10 people on this planet exactly where I was going and left. I didn’t want anyone from my past to attempt to find me so from now on I won’t be sharing information about myself in real-time and it’s quite possible the information that reaches this site could be upwards of a year old but I’ll still make sure it’s accurate at the time of publishing. Now that I’m no longer there I feel it only right to tell my people where I’ve been at all this time. 

This is the 4th country I’ve lived in within the last 6 years and my 9th city overall. I have previously lived in Cairo, Egypt, Khaitan, Kuwait, Bangkok, Thailand, Washington, DC, Florida, and New York. 

So without further ado…

The last place I called home was 

Nouakchott, Mauritania 🇲🇷 Frequently Asked Questions about Mauritania

How do you pronounce Mauritania and Nouakchott?

I’m sure you struggled over the words so let’s just start here. LOL Both Nouakchott and Mauritania are fairly easy to say once you have heard them a few times. Listen to these pronunciations of the words if you are unsure how they are pronounced. I didn’t care for the youtube versions of Nouakchott but listen here to the way Google pronounces it. 

Nouakchott

Where is Mauritania? 

Mauritania is a large (about 6 times the size of Florida) country located in West Africa. It is actually the 11th largest country in Africa. It’s neighboring countries include Morocco’s Western Sahara to the North, Senegal to the South, Mali to the South and East, Algeria to the North East, and the Atlantic Ocean to the West. Almost everyone I have come in contact with hasn’t heard of Mauritania, myself included. Lol stupid American education 🙃. The capital and largest city is Nouakchott, which is where I lived. 

What languages are spoken in Mauritania?

There are a few languages that can be heard daily in Mauritania. The official language of the country is Arabic. The dialect of Arabic that is spoken is called Ḥassāniyyah, which contains many Berber words and significantly differs from Modern Standard Arabic. Luckily for me, I picked up a lot of Egyptian Arabic, in Egypt, which was helpful in difficult situations because although most people don’t speak it just about everyone understands it because many of the TV programs in the Arabic-speaking world are from Egypt. The other nationally recognized languages are Fula (Puular), Wolof, and Soninke. French is also widely spoken since it was previously a French colony and many people attended school in French. I did start to pick up French while living there but haven’t used the language since I left so I’m not really sure how much I’ll actually retain in the long run. 

What type of people live in Mauritania? 

Mauritanians live in Mauritania. As of 2021, the entire population of the whole country of Mauritania was approximately 4.3 million people. For comparison, in 2022, the population of New York City alone was 8.9 million people. A couple of different ethnic groups call Mauritania home: The Haratin or Black Moors, are a Black African-Arab-Berber group that makes up about 40% of the population; The Bidhan or White Moors, are an Arab-Berber group that makes up about 30% of the population; and other Black West Africans, mostly Wolof, Tukulor, Soninke, and Fulani makes up the final 30% of the population.

How do locals dress? Did you have to dress the same? 

One of the things I enjoyed the most was that both men and women alike still chose to wear their traditional clothing most of the time. Yes, western clothes could be seen, especially in Nouakchott, but I would say the majority of people wore traditional clothing. One of the more popular traditional dresses is called a “Melahfa,” which is basically one large piece of fabric that comes in many different colors and patterns and also covers the head. The men’s traditional outfit is called a “Daraa” or a “Boubou,” which is a two-piece extra-long top with shorts underneath and generally comes in different shades of blue, white, or black, with gold adornments. Many men also wear turbans on their heads. It truly is a colorful place. 

Although I wore Western clothes 99% of the time, I did wear some traditional outfits for special occasions such as weddings and Mauritania Day. 

What’s the weather and terrain like in Mauritania? 

Mauritania is mostly located within the Sahara desert so think extremely sandy. Orange and yellow dunes are the size of mountains and it has very little vegetation. When I was landing in Mauritania, for the first time, I was shockkked to see absolutely nothinggggg but sand for probably the last 30 minutes of the flight. Since Nouakchott, is basically on the ocean there is a more humid feel compared to other desert locations that are extremely dry. Mauritania isn’t super far away from the equator so I think most people would find it very hot. Considering that I arrived directly after spending the summer in Egypt 🥵. I had chill bumps on the drive from the airport to my apartment in the 86-degree mid-afternoon weather. The climate is hot during the summer, July – October, and mild November-June. The rainy season ranges from July – October but I think it rained maybe twice the entire time I was there. 

When did you move to Mauritania?

– Leaving Egypt with 6 suitcases to go to Mauritania

I landed in Nouakchott on August 17, 2021. 

How do you just pick up and move from place to place? 

That’s easy I have my trusty Moving Abroad Checklist. 

Why did you move?

I want to be clear that I did not simply pick Mauritania. After spending the last 3 years in Egypt I really thought I had found my home. Unfortunately, due to things that were out of my control, my work contract wasn’t renewed and they waited until after the hiring season was finished in December 2020 to inform me of that. I applied for teaching positions worldwide for 5 months with only 1 interview, before the school I worked at in Nouakchott contacted me. 

In April 2021, I was excited to finallllly get an interview for a place that was actually hiring. I did my due diligence to do research on the school and forwent looking for information on the country because I was certain I knew where it was. In the interview, the director mentioned something about West Africa. I was immediately confused and asked her what she meant by West Africa. The country I KNEW I was moving to was a beautiful island located off the Eastern Coast of Africa. She just shook her head, laughed, and said “Ohhh you thought this was a job in Mauritius. No Hunny this isn’t that.” Quickly on my keyboard, I searched up the real location, Mauritania. In that initial search I didn’t find a lot of good but what choice did I have? Stay in the toxic situation I was in, in Egypt and risk not finding a job orrr take a leap of faith and see what happens? I was offered the job and chose the latter. 

What job did you end up getting?

I was a Pre-K teacher to 8 children. 

How long did you plan to stay?

– Leaving Mauritania to go to America with 2 suitcases

My work contract was for 1 year with the option to extend. I fully intended to complete my year but when my mother was hospitalized with COVID in January 2022, I made the decision to leave and visit her in America. I had hoped it would be a short trip, a month max, which is why I packed so lightly. Unfortunately, she died in February 2022. I did mention it’s been a rough few years right? 😅  I then, made the hard decision to remain in America with my dad. My school & director were really great and really understanding. They even shipped my entire house to America for me. Since I departed early that cut my time in Mauritania to only 6 months. 

Is Mauritania safe?

This is a hard eye roll for me. I’m not really sure why people always ask this??? But yes I would consider Mauritania pretty safe. Think about how safe your home country is, then think again. Just like there are unsafe areas in your country (think violence, crime, riots, protests, civil unrest, etc), there are unsafe areas in any country. Using common sense will take you a long way in every aspect of your life. 

Did you like living there? 

If I am being completely honest I do not like to judge places on whether I like them or not when I have spent six months or less living there. Looking back I think I did not get to really know Mauritania in a deep way and was still judging it on a surface level. I think if I had completed my entire contract I would have had a better chance to explore it more and get a better understanding of the place I was calling home. What I will say that I really appreciated about Mauritania was my ability to save money and not have to compromise the lifestyle I have already been accustomed to by living abroad. If I’ve ever felt like this is the top it was there. I was able to afford a chef that cooked 5 days a week, a driver, and my house came with a maid who cleaned 5 days a week. My work-life balance was great and I really had a lot of time for myself. I made some good friends and overall had a good time.

Mauritania will always hold a special place in my heart because it’s the very first place I’ve ever lived alone and it’s also the last place I saw my mom alive. Will Mauritania see me again? Only time will tell. 

If you want more information about Mauritania

I will probably post a few more times on the topic so stay tuned orrrr …

You can watch these videos

Thanks for stopping by… Hope to see you again soon 👋🏾

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