Washington D.C., here I come

Thanks to my wonderful country director and our PC doctor, I am being given an opportunity NOT to be kicked out of the PC. This is excellent news. I spoke with my country director earlier this week about the decision for me to leave PC. He agreed with me that I didn't have enough information to make an informed decision on the matter and that PC wasn't giving me any options. So, my country director was able to make some calls on my behalf to the folks in DC and on February 11th, I'll be flying there to speak with an orthopedic specialist about my foot. This means I can have all of the different options presented to me before I decide what to do.
Everything seems to be falling into place. I will be "medically evacuated" rather than separated so that I will not be removed from the PC, rather I will just be on medical leave. I won't have to quit my job or close my bank accounts just yet! This does not guarantee anything, but it gives me a little time to make up my mind (I have 45 days medical leave time). I am soooo thankful that people here at PC, Cape Verde have gone to bat for me to the folks in Washington. I think sometimes administrative decisions are made without thinking about the person who is affected by them. I have been assured by everyone at PC here that they will do everything in their power to get me back here! Life is good.

question of the day

In an effort to not think about my broken foot and leaving the Peace Corps, I have decided to try something new, inspired by my wonderful friend Bekah. In her most recent email, Bekah decided to send me a question to answer about my experiences in Cape Verde. I have decided to post her question and my response for everyone to read. I think this might be entertaining and at the very least informative. Here is her question:

"I think I will institute a new practice with my emails to you. One random question about your experience per email. Is that annoying? Well feel free not to answer if so. Here is today's question? What are a few of your favorite regional foods? Or, what are some things that you eat very frequently, either because they are available or because they are good, or both? "

Excellent question, Bekah! I love to talk about food. My favorite Cape Verdean foods are:

1. Cachupa, the most famous Cape Verdean dish. This is a "stew" of sorts. It contains beans, corn, onions, potatoes, sweet potatoes, cabbage, and sometimes pork (all parts of the pork, mainly intestines). I tend to pick around the pork parts as I am not a fan of organ meat! This dish is served with rice. It is my absolute favorite dish in Cape Verde!!! My host mom makes the BEST cachupa in the country (of course, everyone says that their mom's cachupa is best, but my mom's really is).

2. Churrasque, grilled chicken. This dish is just basically grilled chicken that is basted with olive oil and spices while being grilled. It truly is the best grilled chicken I've ever had. Traditionally, you are served a half of a chicken and a plate of french fries and some veggies (tomato and cucumber and lettuce). At any given restaurant this dish is very inexpensive, about 400 escudo ($4).

3. Pastels. A pastel is fried dough with a bit of spicy tuna fish in the center. The women make these on the street here. They usually pound out the dough, put the tuna in the middle, and fry them while you wait! They are an excellent snack.

4. Any of the fish! Cape Verde, as you might imagine, has wonderful fish. On any given day you can buy fresh fish in the market. My favorites are grouper, tuna, and serra. These are all amazing and easy to find.

5. Kouve. This is basically collard greens. As a true Southerner I can't help but love Kouve. Kouve is a little different than collards, but equally as yummy. I cook these about once a week! YUMMY!

6. Bekah asked about things I eat frequently. I have to say that I eat Lima Beans as often as possible as well as red beans and rice. These are readily available and SO GOOD. The food in Cape Verde definitely is wonderful. I never tire of beans and rice, which you can find everywhere. It's great!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay, so that's my LONG answer to Bekah's question. Please feel free to ask questions. I'll happily post your questions as well and my answers. Txau, ti logo.

ch, ch, ch, changes

Recently (about 3 days ago) two volunteers left Cape Verde! This married couple, Nick and Kimberly, lived in Praia and left behind a great home. Since Dianne and I were slated to move due to security issues, this presented a perfect new house for us! We are in the process of moving to a nearby neighborhood in an area that I like very much. Our new home in Achada, is on the first floor of a building, but it is not on a main road like our current place. I think we will be much happier and feel much safer in our new place. Right now we are in the process of having someone clean the house so that we can move in really soon.

Another major change in my life concerns my foot! As many of you know, I have been waiting on word from Washington, D.C., about the possibility of surgery on my foot. I found out that I definitely must have surgery! Wow, that means I will have the bottom of my foot cut open and a bone will be removed! Sounds scary, huh? As if it isn't bad enough that I'm to have surgery, I also am faced with something far more difficult. The people in D.C. said that I have two options: have surgery in Dakar or be medically separated from the Peace Corps. After speaking with doctors here it seems as if surgery in Dakar is not even an option. Effectively the powers that be have given me no choice but to leave the Peace Corps. This is extremely difficult news to deal with. I am NOT ready to leave. I love my life here, absolutely and completely. Aside from the broken foot, I have had one of the greatest experiences of my entire life. I love Cape Verde. I love my students. I love what I'm teaching. I love the people. I love my friends and colleagues. I love it all. I don't want to put this part of my life behind me and move home. I'm just not ready. I will be medically separated (kicked out) in a few weeks (when I get things squared away here). I will go to Mississippi, have surgery, and then asked to be "reinstated" into PC when I am healed. The healing process should take no longer than 12 weeks. The first 6 weeks will consist of my being on crutches and in a walking cast. Then I can start wearing real shoes and within another 6 weeks be back to normal activities.

Okay, so this means I'm headed stateside. I'm leaving the life that I love to return to a Mississippi different than I left it. I am nervous about return to a place devestated by a hurricane. Life there is different and I will be confronted with that for the first time. I am also nervous about heading to the states because things are so different here. We throw our used toilet paper in the trash can because the sewage system can't handle the trash. We bleach our fruits and veggies. We boil and filter our water. We take cold showers. We never ride in cars. Not to mention the fact that we don't have Wal Marts or Target stores. The overabundance of things in America is said to be one of the most overwhelming parts about returning. I have heard stories of volunteers going to the grocery store and leaving because they were too overwhelmed to make a decision. I also know that I am really getting good with my language abilities. I am getting better all the time with my Creole. I am really bummed that I will have to take a break from speaking with my friends in this new language. Basically, I am bummed about the entire thing. I wish that things were different. I really just want the PC to keep me as a volunteer, send me to the states for the surgery and bring me right back. But, unfortunately, beauracracies don't exactly function as they could or should. It's sad that I am caught in the middle of a decision that has nothing to do with what I want. It is also a shame that I have to leave my job that I have been sent here to do. Wish me the best of luck during my last couple of weeks here. I am sad, very, very, very, very, very sad to be leaving. I wish things were different.

Students can make your day sometimes

Today a student, Joana, came up to me after class to speak with me. She asked me if I would be willing to spend time with her on the weekends so that she could work on improving her English speaking skills (her writing is quite good). I, of course, said YES (It's not all that often that students want to be even better and improve outside of class). The best part of the story is that she thanked me for agreeing to help her. Just before she left the room, she turned around and said, "oh teacher! One more thing, I love you, teacher". It was soooo sweet. She just made my day! I can't believe how kind and generous and caring my students are. They constantly tell me that I can't leave them, even in two years! They want me to stay until they complete their program at ISE.... Teaching can be so wonderful.

surgery...or not

So, I have to have surgery. I am in Dakar and have met with the podiatrist, the orthepedic surgeon, and had a series of Xrays. This all led to the conclusion that surgery is inevitable. My fracture has gotten worse not better. At this point the PC doc wants me to have the surgery here with the French orthopedic surgeon I met with today. I am a little nervous about this prospect. I have some time to think it over. I'll need to have the surgery during my school break in February. Keep me in your thoughts and prayers! I'll write more later. Now I have to go try to get a flight back to Cape Verde! Txau.

Addendum: Apparently there have been a few "red flags" in Washington. I am now waiting for my Xrays to be sent to DC for evaluation. It seems as if there are some questions about the diagnosis given by the doctor in Dakar and about how long the bone has been broken. I'll just trying to remain calm while the powers that be fight it out. Hope for the best...whatever that is...

New House??

I don't know if I'll have time to write before I head to Dakar, so I thought I'd write a little this morning (it's Saturday at 8am). Yesterday the medical officer for the PC came to our home to do a "site visit." During this visit we walked through our home and around the outside of our home. The medical officer asked us about the multiple break-ins that have occurred and asked us to descibe them to her. We talked a lot about safety and our neighborhood because recently a man was shot just behind our home (it was related to theft). Anyway, both my direct supervisor and the medical officer agreed that we will need to move. Our house, though it is comfortable and pretty, is located in an increasingly dangerous part of town. In Praia, neighborhoods can change rapidly and that is what has happened where we live. In fact, our next door neighbor his having a wall built around her home!!!! Housing is not easy to find in Praia, especially in safe neighborhoods, so it may take some time to relocate us. It seems that the excitement never stops here in Praia... I hope all is safer in the states.

We've lost a good man!

Okay, noone died, but my friend Sarin has decided to terminate his service early. Sarin is a great guy, and I'm going to miss his frat boy ways (Sarin went to UNH as an undergrad so Kathleen and Bri know what kinda crazy kid he is)!

Sarin came in as part of my group and will be the fifth member to leave us early! Sarin has been living on this island (Santiago) in a town called Calheta. He was living with another volunteer, Adam and working for the youth center there. It really, really sucks when people from this island leave because that's one less friend around for hanging out and going to parties. I completely understand all of his reasons for leaving. He plans to try to get to Cambodia to visit his extended family and try to do some volunteer work there if possible. I know he'll do good things! This is definitely a memorable 6 month mark. Today it has ben exactly 6 months since I left Mississippi! I sure hope noone else decides to leave, it's harder on those of us who stay in some ways! The people who leave return to normalcy and convenience. Those of us who stay just miss those who left (and are a little jealous too). Well, school begins tomorrow and then I'm headed back to Dakar on Monday! I hope all is well as you all try to keep up those new years resolutions! I'll write more soon. Txau.

battle of the broken foot

It looks like my foot problems will not be over soon. The last attempt at "fixing" my broken foot did not exactly work out as planned. I will be returning to Dakar, Senegal next week to have my case reevaluated. This basically means that I will have the orthotic insert reformed for my foot. The doctor in Dakar believes this is just a matter of the insert not properly fitting me, so the podiatrist will refit it. I really, really hope this works. I was extremely disappointed when I realized that the last attempt at correcting the problem had failed. It is very difficult to deal with constant pain and with not being able to run. I hope everyone will keep me in their thoughts as I continue to deal (both physically and mentally) with this broken foot.

It's the small things...

Just about every day I am amazed by some small thing in Cape Verde. Some days I see a beautiful child sitting on the bus or a pack of dogs up to no good. Well, on the eve of Christmas eve, I spent my day in the market. December 30th was an election day here in Cape Verde (which is a strange day to have an election). I was in the market and people were playing drums and all of the women were clapping and dancing. It was amazing. The spirit of the election was everywhere. In the evening after the election, cars were driving through the city, honking horns and waving flags of the winning party. Then there was a concert in the streets. It was sweet (but I didn't get to go to the concert because volunteers can't participate in political events).

It was a wonderful day. I decided to shop for some cheap clothes in the streets where I saw tons of people out and about preparing for the New Year's festivities (which last 3 days in Cape Verde). I was fortunate enough to buy some cute new things for about $10.00 (clothes are really cheap). I also bought some freshly hulled lima beans on the street, which turned out to be magnificent. I also saw a young boy walking with 2 live chickens in his hands. The chickens were calmly hanging upside down and the boy was broadly smiling at me while I watched him. It was awesome, in a weird sort of way. Things are just sooo different here, and I love it.

It's hard to express my daily life. Every single day I smile because I've seen something amazingly different; I mean, there is a goat living on a roof near my home, on the ROOF. It's all amazing. Next week I will have been here 6 months! I can't believe how time flies. A half of a year and I wouldn't change this experience for the world. Things are great. Life is great. Cape Verde is great. BUT, I miss my friend and family! Txau...ti logo