school's out for summer..... school's out forever

In about 1 hour, I will be finished with school... completely. Well, in Cape Verde, at any rate. English Unlimited, under it's current ownership, has closed. The school will be moved to a new locale, one which is off the beaten path, but cheaper. We paid the higher price for visibility this year and now that a reputation has been built, the new owners will be able to move to a side street. Things have been absolutely insane this week. We were contracted to translate over 200 pages of .pdf files for a company website, which we promptly translated in a miraculously short amount of time. I assumed that my life would be less hectic after our graduation ceremony two Saturdays ago, but I was WRONG. In fact, I continued to teach a couple of summer classes and translated my brains out. I'm totally fried and have been battling a stomach problem for over a month. I NEED A VACATION. So, luckily today is it. I will be on vacation for my last week in Cape Verde. I'll be flying out on Sunday the 10th and I'll arrive in Mississippi on the morning of the 11th. Jackson, my adorable cat, will be with me. He's been a trooper this year and will be SOOO happy to back to the land of birds, squirrels, and rodents. His hunting instincts will surely need some sharpening.

As time draws near, I am thrilled to have had this experience. Cape Verde has been a blessing and a much needed change. I can't wait to return to the familiarity of America. Life here has been so different from my experiences at home. I'll always appreciate what I've learned and the growth and personal development I've made here. I'll also appreciate the people I've worked with and the things I leave behind as my gifts to this country. Volunteering and teaching both have the bonus of making the person doing the service or the job a better person, which is far more than you actually give or do for others.

Signing off for now... the electric company is here to shut off our lights at the school. I'll teach my one last class without lights, but the sun is shining brightly here at English Unlimited... NO WORRIES.

Graduation

We made through a rather grueling 10 month English course!!! WHEW! Last Saturday, we had a graduation ceremony for our students. They came and received their diplomas, which you can see some of them holding, and we fed them and told them they were great and then everyone went home happy! It was a nice celebration and very SAD at the same time. We'll be leaving, but I am happy to report that a British couple is taking over the school. Our students will continue to learn English! I am sad to leave but happy to be leaving with the knowledge that what we started will continue!

Santo Antao...again

The teaching staff at English Unlimited went for a weekend getaway to Santo Antao back in April. I thought you might like these photos. You can see the group of Americans in one photo. David was taking the photo, so he didn't make it in. But, you can see me, Nadia, Nick, and Josh. Also, the hotel there is a great little place that an Italian friend of ours owns. He's taken to calling me "irish" because my name is Casey Malone!

Carnaval

I realize that Carnaval happened back in February, but I finally got hold of a picture of my costume. My friend Nadia and I were Butterfly type characters. You'll notice a FAKE tattoo! Don't worry Mom or Grandmother, it really is fake.

Santo Antao Trip

The latest meeting of the hiking crew was over in Santo Antao during the 5th of July, Independence Day weekend. As you may recall, Cape Verde gained its independence from Portugal on July 5, 1975. In celebration, we went hiking. This time we went to Lajedos, which is just a few kilometers outside of the port city, so we didn't have to spend much time in cars! We spent Saturday hiking around the city and through the mango groves. We hiked over to the house of Baltasar Lopes. He was a famous Cape Verdean author. He lived in Santo Antao for a period of his life and was inspired by his surroundings. His house sits high on a lonely hill overlooking the valley and ocean below. Its a great view.

On Sunday, we headed down to the "mine." Well, it's really just a tunnel that carries water from its ground source in Ribera das Patas (a few miles north). But, it's a really long tunnel. We walked for about 40 minutes in the tunnel. Along the way, there are large tunnels heading out into the valley. We headed out one of these exits, you can see it in the picture above. It's pretty far up the valley wall, so we had to scale the wall to get out into the valley and then we hiked up the valley to the next town. After that, we had to hike up the mountain and onto the main road and walked back down, picking mangoes along the way! It was a great, very nice, very relaxing trip. We really enjoyed it.

So, enjoy the pictures.

It rained... AND happy 4th of July

Last night it finally rained. We got our first touch of the "rainy season" here in Mindelo. The rest of the country has reported rain, but as always, our island is the last to get rain. It's overcast today and gloomy which is actually really pleasant. I hope it continues! Everyone stays inside and the city is quiet.

ALSO, happy 4th of July. Tomorrow will mark the 3 year anniversary of my move to Cape Verde. Time has flown by and when I look back on what I have done in this country, it's amazing. My 30th birthday is on Tuesday, the 8th and I can't believe that I'm 30 either!

Anyway, as many of you know, I will be returning to the states on August 10th... for good. I have been offered a position at the University of Southern Mississippi's Gulf Coast campus. I will be considered a visiting professor for one year and then a full, nation-wide search will be done, at which point, I will hopefully be hired as a full faculty member. Anyway, I'm turning 30 and I am being offered a "big kid" job! I'm so excited and can't wait to be home. I will miss Cape Verde and the school dearly, but I am thrilled to get to live in Mississippi again.

The Lighthouse

Sunday morning, I went for a hike with about 11 other people. This time, we went out to an old lighthouse. This lighthouse is out by the airport and is no longer in operation. I found out on the hike that people used to take turns working out at the lighthouse. They would spend 15 days to a month out there with their families, taking care of not only the lighthouse, but also bringing in water for the people of Cape Verde. You see, the water level used to reach the lighthouse. As you will notice in the photos, the waterline is now about 500 feet below it's previous level! It's incredible. And, now you can hike below the lighthouse, there are stairs leading down to the underside of a cliff. It's pretty neat. We had our usual breakfast and planned our trip to Santo Antao. We will be headed there next Saturday morning for a hiking trip and to celebrate Cape Verde's Independence Day. Their day of independence is the 5th. We'll get to hike through a mine and head out to the mango groves! Should be fun. I'll keep you updated. Enjoy the photos...

My first graduates

I mentioned on a previous blog that I was attending a dinner for a group of students who recently completed a 9 month course with me! They were my first group. I must admit that although they are nice people, they were terrible students. They really enjoy the "idea" of learning English, but they fail to put any effort AT ALL into the process. At the graduation ceremony, they mentioned that they planned to really make an effort NEXT year! We'll see. Here are a few photos of the event.

Oh, they were really sweet at the dinner. They gave me a glass covering dish for a cake. And, one of my students decided to profess his love for me and gave me an expensive bottle of perfume (unfortunately, it doesn't smell very good).

some new and old photos

You'll see here a goat, some cute little piggies, a few photos of me and my cousin Jill, my mom and my Aunt Pat, and two pictures of Jackson getting himself all wrapped up in my covers! I know they are a random grouping of photos, but they are just things I have been meaning to share! Oh, on the weekend of the 5th of July (Cape Verde's Independence Day), we'll be taking another hiking trip to Santo Antao. This time we are visiting a tunnel and the mango groves! Then on the 8th it'll be my birthday and I am having a big 30th blowout on the 12th! YES! Tonight, my students from the port authority class are having a dinner for me to celebrate the completion of our class! I'll be sure to bring along my camera for good photos!

Waiting for the internet is like waiting for the rain

Wireless internet has come to Mindelo. The unfortunate part is that the company with wireless towers is being held up in litigation by CV telecom. CV telecom is the ONLY phone/ internet company in Mindelo, holding a 100% monopoly on both these services, which also includes cell phones. Oh, I forgot to mention that CV telecom is a government owned entity. When the government owns these major services, they aren't too willing to allow competition to enter the picture, hence the delay on the wireless service. In theory, the wireless company will have an inauguration ceremony on Monday and run a week of testing to ensure the service is running well. The public should be able to use the service by the beginning of July.... IN THEORY! So, we are all waiting. The new service will be cheaper than the other service. Also, currently, the ADSL service only allows each account 1GB of downloading per month, which is not much, so not only is the service somewhat expensive, and requires a router, it also has a ridiculous limit on downloads. I am anxiously awaiting the new company. I have already registered with them and plan to be one of their first paying customers. The service will include unlimited downloading and has no contract, simply a monthly fee.

Hopefully by the beginning of July, I will have internet in my home and will be able to be in more frequent contact with everyone! Keep your fingers crossed!

A few photos from Jill's wedding

During my stay in America, I was fortunate enough to be the maid of honor in my dear friend Jill's wedding. I mentioned this before... I believe. I am finally getting around to posting some photos from the momentous occasion.