In America no one was ever impressed that I lived in America but everyday here in Mauritania I impress everyone I meet by the large Made in America tag sewn somewhere on my body. Maybe I'd pull the thing off if I could find it, maybe not. The fact is, the attention is kind of nice and usually good for a free meal.
For awhile I thought all this attention had more to do with the color of my skin, but that's not it. On regular basis, I'll walk into a room full of strangers and be pretty much ignored, until someone realizes I'm not French or Spanish, but American.[1] Then I become the life of the party for as long as my French holds out.
In the first day of a language class I was taking here in Nouakchott, everyone in the room had to introduce themselves. There were about ten Mauritanian's, two lily white Spaniards, and myself. By the end of class, and every class thereafter, I was the most popular kid in school; everyone wanted my number, wanted to speak English, ask questions, learn all about me, have me over for lunch, for dinner, play with their kids, and visit them at work. The poor Spaniards were totally forgotten and after two weeks they quit coming, probably because they were jealous of me.
Yes, American's are rare in Mauritania, the French are French, and the Spanish dress funny but the real reason I'm so popular is much simpler: Prisonbreak, 24, and Desperate Housewives. Hollywood makes some damn good entertainment, even dubbed over in French, and this has done more than all our military might, industrial superiority, and technological marvels to insure our place in the hearts and minds of the world.
[1]This never takes long. I know my French accent is terrible because all I have to say is Bonjour and everyone immediately asks if I'm American.
Map of Mauritania
Mauritania straddles the Sahara Desert, bordering Morocco and Algeria in the north, and Senegal and Mali to the south. It covers 397,950 square miles, an area greater than Texas and New Mexico combined.