Community Fair

Saturday night we had a FESTA! All of the host moms made different Cape Verdan dishes and we each made something that we typically eat in America. The idea of this is great EXCEPT now our families probably think that we only eat pasta and pizza in America (because that’s what lots of people made). I ended up making a huge salad, ratatouille, and butternut squash, sweet potatoes, and carrots (baked with nutmeg and cumin). These all seemed to be a big hit with everyone! There was sooo much food at this event and there were probably 75-100 people there.

Side note: The Peace Corps gave us each 1000$00 escudos (about $10) to buy our food, so we got to go to the markets and try to make “American” food with Cape Verdan ingredients. It took Jessica and me about 3 hours to actually get everything we needed for our food. We had to go to 4 different mini-mercados (small grocery stores) and to the open air market just to get what we needed. It was quite an experience. They say that Cape Verdan time is like island time. Everything is slow and everyone is late! So true. I think that people in the US would be annoyed if they had to spend 3 hours trying to buy 2 bags of groceries. I thought it was great. I got to walk around town, talk to lots of locals, and check out the kinds of foods we had to work with. Nothing ever happens quickly here, and I love it.

Let me pause here to say that as I am typing this, my grandmother has come into my room to give me snacks twice!!! You’d think that I’d have gained about 100 pounds by now, but I actually have lost a good bit of weight with all of the walking and running I do around here. Also, the food is all natural and great, so even though the diet of the people is heavily based in carbs, the meals are very balanced and healthy in general.

Okay, back to the festa! Everyone dressed up and headed to the school to eat. After all of the food was eaten and we were thoroughly stuffed, some famous local musicians jammed the Batuque. The Batuque is an Afro-Brazilian dance and the oldest form of music known in Cape Verde. Here is a brief description of the ritual of the Batuque that I found:

“the people sit around in a circle and the dancers enter the center dressed in the country’s national dress though without the shawl on her shoulders rather it is cinched tightly at the waist.”

“the main part of the Batuque involves keeping time by clapping and beating a rolled-up cloth, which is placed between the legs to form and acoustic box. It is a simulated drumbeat as the slaves who arrived on the islands were unable perhaps to find the right materials there for making their traditional instruments.”

The actual dancing of the Batuque involves A LOT of hip shaking. We each had to enter the circle at the festa and dance the Batuque (or at least give it the old college try). When you enter the circle of musicians, women tie the traditional shawl around your waist (well, actually right on your butt to accentuate the movement of your hips while you are dancing). It was awesome and soo much fun. Unfortunately, as I was dancing, some sort of bug got in my skirt and started to sting me repeatedly. I didn’t want to be rude and stop dancing or freak out about a little bug, so I just shook by hips harder. This apparently was a good thing because everyone said I was a really good Batuque dancer! I took lots of pictures and had my friend take pictures of me dancing too. I’ll try my hardest to get them posted!

All in all the festa was a great cultural event. I have seen people dance the Batuque several times around town, but this was a chance to learn and have a good time. All of our teachers were there and our families danced with us and laughed at us when we tried to dance!

Again, I’m outta here. Txau, ti logu.