May 17, 1993
J.D. ,
Greetings from Mauritania! Or as the national slogan goes “Land of the Proud, Guided by Noblemen” …Hope all’s well in Indiana. I’m writing you from the lovely Nouakchott Int. Airport. My flight to Dakar supposedly departs soon-hopefully. (Fingers crossed) One thing I've learned in the Peace Corps this past year is that flights times can be somewhat elastic.
I’m slowly learning Hassaniya, the local language. It’s sort of like Arabic. A few weeks ago we went far into the Sahara and spent the night in traditional Tuareg (nomadic) camp. It was amazing. We slept in tents, rode camels. At first, they were a bit suspicious of us, but after dinner I brought out my guitar and- voila! They warmed up. I played them PF’s “Wish you were here”. Immediately, this kid (15 or 16 y.o,) comes up wanting to play. I hand him the guitar, and it was like watching a young Hendrix or Jeff Beck. Talk about feeling inadequate. He was incredible. He played for almost two hours, everyone went crazy. I wish I had my tape recorder.
I’ll see if Air Mauritanie has any playing cards. Would love to add to your collection. Looking forward to seeing Dakar. I'll send you another postcard.
Best,
G.D.
From the private collection of G.D.
For Layover Goods