Dress

Mauritania is an Islamic Republic. As such, you will notice that the dress code here is very different than our standards. I want to be careful to say more or less conservative, it’s just plain different as you will see. It is very common to see men and women in what you might consider to be “traditional Arab dress” in the Moor communities. In the other cultures however, you will see more of what you might think of as a “traditional African dress”. I believe that there is a difference between the Soniké, Wolof, and Pulaar community’s dress, however I really can’t tell the difference. It is very obvious though how these cultures differ from the Moors. There some common threads among all of the groups that you should be aware of that concern the dress code.

Legs: Both men and women must always cover their legs. There are exceptions for when you are participating in sports for men in all cultures, and women mostly just in the South. For sports, it is acceptable for men to wear what you would consider to be normal athletic shorts – usually for soccer. When I’ve been out running, I’ve seen other Mauritanian runners (only men), but I have never seen anyone in the short running shorts that runners wear. I saw women in Rosso who wore shorts to play basketball (what you would think of regular basketball shorts), but the shortest is just above the knees. Apart from sports, it is unacceptable to see the outline of a woman’s leg generally speaking. That means obviously no pants, but also you must be very careful to make sure that you can’t see the outline of your legs through your dress at all. So, you’ll see women double layering and wearing slips often. For men, it is acceptable to wear a very baggy pant that almost looks like a skirt that goes to just below the knees. It is however then accompanied by a boubou, which is basically a king sized bed sheet draped over you.

Women and heads: Women generally speaking always cover their heads once they reach puberty. In Rosso, there were some women who bent the rules, but I think this was mostly due to the liberal atmosphere and proximity to Senegal. Here in the North, I always cover my head.

The torso: In general, one should cover their sholders (both men and women). However, on very hot days, I’ve seen men walking around with no shirt under their boubou, and some women in the South will wear cover only a little of their shoulders. Around the house (not on the street) both men and women may walk around topless. This is only for when they are working in the house with only family present.

Moor dress: Women will wear what is called the veil in English, in Hassaniya: the Mulafa. It is a 6yd long piece of fabric that is wrapped around the body and then around again to cover the head. Generally women do not cover their faces, unless it is very windy when it is best to cover up to avoid getting sand everywhere. Underneath this women will traditionally wear a full length skirt as well to make sure you can’t see their legs. With the younger generation we’re starting to see young girls wearing jeans and such underneath the mulafa, however that is not mainstream. The traditional dress for men is the kafta and boubou. These are the shorter baggy pants with the big sheet. They will usually wear a t-shirt (with sleeves) underneath. It is becoming very acceptable for men to wear “western style” clothing as well, especially in cities.
Other cultures: Unlike the Moor population, these cultures will use a tailor to make their clothes. Women will wear what is called a “complete” meaning a shirt, skirt, and head piece. All the pieces are made from the same brightly colored fabric, but separate from each other. Men will also wear very brightly colored clothing. They have a boubou that is apparently different from the Moor boubou, but I can’t tell a difference (but I also haven’t seen many non-Moors wearing a boubou). Men will very often wear either western dress (jeans and a t-shirt) or what we like to call the pajama outfit. It’s just pants and a long-sleeved shirt made out of brightly colored fabric. Many times they will have the tailors embroider fancy designs on this outfit to make it very dressy.

This is my host Mom standing outside the front door. She is wearing the traditional Moor outfit.

This is a picture of some other volunteers with their host family. Notice the woman in the veil, and the man in the “western-style clothing”. The regular dress code as described in the text is applicable only to those persons past puberty. For this reason you can see kids in shorts, and no head cover on the girls. This picture was also taken in Rosso, so the female volunteer does not have her head covered.

This is me in what my family called my “Wolof outfit”. All three pieces are from the same fabric, and it is obviously quite bright!

This is my host sister, again in a Mulafa.

Here I am with some other volunteers and a host parent. The Mauritanian man is wearing the “kaftin” – which is usually white. Notice that the male volunteer’s legs are only covered past his knees – this is acceptable for a foreigner, but usually Mauritanians would accompany the shorter trousers with a boubou.

Here you can see a variety of dress on some volunteers. From left to right, you have a male wearing western attire on top, with the “chis” on bottom. The chis are the short, baggy pants men wear usually under a boubou. Next is me, in a Wolof outfit. The guy to the right of me is wearing a boubou, but you really can’t see it. The next female is wearing the Mulafa. Next to her is another non-moor outfit (but made of Mulafa fabric). The next man is wearing the “pajama outfit” as described in the text. This was made of Mulafa fabric as well, but his host mom dyed it because it was too “girly of colors”. The final guy is in a fancy boubou with complete western attire underneath.

I had three more pictures... but I did something to the desktop that I'm going to have to fix... hopefully I'll put these up in a few days. Thanks!

Language

There are four main languages for communicating here depending on one’s ethnicity and geography. In addition to these four, there are two written languages that are used for instruction in school, and to communicate cross-cultures. In the North (where I am located), you see a very heavily concentrated Moor population. These people were traditionally a nomadic group, and further divided into Black Moors and White Moors. These two groups cover the majority of the area of Mauritania, covering the North, and make an appearance into the South. Once you get further South however, along the Senegal River and near the boarder to Mali, you see the other languages mostly. In the South we have the Soniké, Wolof, and Pulaar communities, each with their own language.

Hassaniya: This is the language spoken by all Moors. There is obviously some regional accents like you see in English, however it is fairly consistent throughout Mauritania. A Moor from the South can easily go to the North and have no communication problems. Hassaniya is not technically a language though; it is a dialect of Arabic, and not written. They say that it is the closest of all the Arabic dialects to the mother language, with about 70% of the structure and words being the same. Of our class in Peace Corps, most of the people will learn Hassaniya, as it is very widely spoken.

Pulaar: Like Hassaniya, Pulaar has traditionally been an unwritten language, however I believe that they are in the process of changing that. I think there may even exist a French-Pulaar dictionary, and some books. Pulaar is spoken mostly in the South along the Senegal River, however we do have a small Pulaar population here in the North (this is probably due to the mines we have here that draw people from all over Mauritania to work, and may not be entirely reflective of a more traditional Northern city). This is the second most learned language in the Peace Corps as it is very prevalent in the South.

Soniké: In our class we had 3 of 77 who learned Soniké. You will find small villages in the South that will speak Soniké just dotted along near the boarder. In Rosso, where our training site was, it was very rare to find Soniké speakers due to the proximity to Senegal (where I believe they speak Wolof and Pulaar). Once again, the language is not written.

Wolof: We only had one person from our class who learnt Wolof, but it is a language that used not only in Mauritania, but also in Senegal. As with the other languages, it is also not written.

Arabic: This is technically the “official language” of Mauritania. Everywhere you go, there are a ton of signs in Arabic. All of the coke cans have both the roman lettering and Arabic. Many people watch news programs broadcasted in Arabic, and one of the most popular TV program here is Latin American soap operas dubbed into Arabic. It is obviously much easier for the Moor community to understand the Arabic due to the proximity of the language, however only well-educated people (usually men) can read Arabic. Most everyone can read, write, and speak some things in Arabic, because it is the language of the Koran, but there are many people who have very little literacy in Arabic.

French: Brought to Mauritania by the colonizing French, the French language is more or less the common denominator among all of the communities. Many people know at least a little bit of French, especially in the South because Senegal has a great deal of French influence as well. Like Arabic, it is one of the languages of instruction for school, so many of the school children can speak a little bit once they are of school age. Walking down the streets though, many of the kids will only know how to say, “hello, how are you?”. There are a few news broadcasts and channels in French, but not to the same extent as Arabic – this is probably due to the satellite dishes here pick up many programs from UAE and Saudi Arabia. The French programs that are picked up for reception are usually from Senegal, a little bit from France, and there is one Mauritanian news case in French.

It is very common to see people who speak many of these languages, especially in the South. In the North, for the most part the people I’ve come across will first speak Hassaniya, a little bit of Arabic and French if they are well-educated. Otherwise they will generally speak just Hassaniya. In Rosso (the South), where there are more cultures present, it is very common for people to speak many of these languages. There was one lady I met who was completely illiterate (did not even know the letters for either French or Arabic), but she spoke impeccable French, Arabic, Hassaniya, Wolof and Pulaar.

Hospitality in the RIM

One of the cornerstones to Mauritanian culture is hospitality. Mauritania is of course an Islamic Republic, as such they are required in the Muslim faith to be hospitable.

When someone walks into your house (they very rarely knock), the person entering says, Is-salaam alle-kum (may peace be upon you), the owner of the home is then required to at least say, Walle-kum is-salaam (and peace on you). It is polite for them to follow up with Bismillah (In the name of God), meaning: please come in, you are welcome. They will then serve either tea or zurig, but most commonly tea.

Tea: Mauritanians drink tea all the time, morning, lunch, dinner, night, and anytime they have a visitor (which is often!). The tea is a mint/green tea, and served in a small glass 1oz sized glass. Drinking tea though is not as easy or straightforward as you might think. The whole process can take literally hours as there are three rounds of tea. People will serve tea at home, in the office, along the road… it does not matter. Once you accept to take tea (as they almost always do), you are expected to stay for at least the first round, but some say that is bad luck. The first cup is usually quite bitter, which symbolizes death. The second cup is very sweet and symbolizes love. The final cup is a combination of the previous two, which is life. A Mauritanian would never not offer to make you tea, however you can tell how welcome you really are based on how much foam is in the glass. To make the foam they will pour the tea from one glass to another multiple times. It is really an art form where they don’t just pour the tea from one glass to another but you must lift up the one glass so that it falls a long distance into the other glass. The more you do this, the more foam you get. If you are very welcome, your host will have about 50% of the cup as foam. The reasoning behind this is that it takes more time to make more foam, and so they are showing you that they enjoy the pleasure of your company. Conversely, if your host gives you hardly any foam, you know that they’re only serving you tea as a hospitable moral obligation.

Zurig: A nice alternative to tea, and it doesn’t take much time. It is a good substitute when you’re looking for a cool drink at the end of the day. It is not as common as tea, but still quite common. It is a sugar-milk combination that is served cold and actually quite tasty.

Help: When someone asks for help, it is a religious and moral obligation to do your best to comply with their request. Some of my facilitators explained that even if someone does not ask for help, you just jump right in and help anyway. Even if you yourself are busy, or running late, many people will stop to help someone – especially if asked to. It is polite to decline help if someone does offer it. I ran into this when I was trying to do my laundry at my host family’s home. My little sister would just walk right up to me and start doing my laundry with me.
Staying at one’s home: This is really quite common. A friend can come into town unannounced and stay at their friend’s house pretty much indefinitely. My French facilitator explained that they could stay even a month or two, no problem! You’re just plain required to be hospitable to everyone!

This is a picture of my host parents in Rosso. Mom is making tea here, you may need to zoom in a bit, but the tea part is on the silver tray. There is a small tea pot along with various tea glasses.

Here is another volunteer making Zurig. Rather than mixing the drink with a spoon, you mix by pouring from one glass to another like this. The same technique is used for making the foam in the tea, remember that the more distance the drink falls from one glass to another, the better!