Sal at Easter

The pictures are: David and me, Nick and me, and Nick and David

Ever year on Good Friday, I head up to Purvis, MS, to spend the weekend with my family and friends. This year, I missed my favorite celebration, which I was pretty sad about. Well, I was sad until Thursday night when my friends Nick and David convinced me to fly to Sal (another island) for Easter. Even though it was last minute, I said "what the heck" and hopped on a plane Good Friday to enjoy a weekend with two of my favorite people.

David and Nick are the kind of guys who make you laugh even when you don't want to. They are the kind of friends who let you know they care about you all the time. They're just great guys. I got to spend my weekend relaxing. On Friday, we had some beers and dinner then got to hang out at Nick's just goofing off. Saturday we made our way to Santa Maria. The beaches there were amazingly beautiful. The water was perfect too. It was a little too cold to get in for me, but Nick decided to try it out! I wish I had some pictures of the beach, but I was afraid that my camera would get stolen, so I left it at home. I have some other pictures of the boys that I'll put up soon.

On Saturday night, I cooked my famous enchiladas. This was quite a process because I had to hand make the tortillas first, which takes some time. But, David and Nick helped with everything, so it wasn't so bad. HOWEVER, a couple of hurdles occurred as we were cooking. First, I was cooking some brownies. This isn't a problem, except the glass window in the front of the oven fell out of place, letting out all of the heat. So, I decide to try to cover it with cardboard. Then, I decide that this would work fine, except the brownie wasn't cooking at all. As I'm trying to figure out what to do, the gas stops. GREAT! Gas tank is empty. Nick and David have to carry the tank to get a new one. Then they have to bring the newer, heavier one back. Okay, mission accomplished and while they were gone, the oven cools down enough to repair the fallen glass. When David returns, he and I use pliers, knives, and teamwork to pull the glass back into place. After about 30 minutes, we were back on track. At any rate, we finally got to eat dinner at about 9:30. I'm pretty sure that my enchiladas were a hit. The boys ate several at dinner, more after we returned from our night out clubbing, and then the rest for lunch the following day! I'd call that a satisfying meal.

So, by Sunday, we were pretty worn out from the events of the previous day. This led to a rather uneventful Sunday, which was nice. We finally made it out of the house for a spaghetti dinner at about 8 at night on Easter. Monday morning came too fast. David had to leave before 8, which was super sad. I had a few more hours with my boy Nick, and then I too headed to the airport with a few other volunteers who were visiting the island and Robert (Nick's roommate).

It was a perfect weekend with two great people. I'll try to post a few photos from the weekend soon. Txau, ti logo.

Poverty

Sometimes in my daily life here in Cape Verde, I'm able to forget that I live in a very poor country. I mean, people go to school. Some people have cars and nice houses. People dress nicely even if they don't have money. In my daily walking to and from places, I tend to see the beauty of the people and the land. However, today, I was caught off guard. I saw something that made me uncomfortable and reminded me of where I am. I saw a little boy standing next to a dumpster. As I approached him, another younger boy was inside the dumpster. This little boy was handing his friend a half full bottle of water that he had found in the dumpster. And it wasn't enough that the children were resorting to this kind of scavenging, but they were doing it right in front of one of the ambassador's homes. This sharp contrast between wealthy and poor saddened me as I walked along the road. I watched the children as they continued to retrieve things from the filthiness of the dumpster, and I wanted to cry. These children need help. The kind of help that other countries should be giving. Unfortunately, the only help these children were getting today was the trash from an ambassador. I am reminded, just as I forget, that there is a reason I am in this country.

Ulisses

A student, a wonderful, sweet, smart, kind, interested student lost his father yesterday. Ulisses' father died of a sudden heart attack yesterday morning. I am overwhelmed by this information. Ulisses came to class today and told me what happened. I asked him if he would like to go home, but he said he'd rather be at school today. He was in shock and barely able to hold it together. It is so hard to comfort and console someone when such a major loss has occurred for them. Capeverdeans want to be with people when someone dies. They like to have large crowds of people around them, making them feel comforted. This society cares about community and togetherness. Ulisses is so special to me that I hate to see him in pain. I hate to think of him as he suffers. I plan to visit his home today with the other second year students. Although I have reservations about showing up at his home, it is the Capeverdean thing to do. And as I learn how to live as a Capeverdean, I do things that remove me from my comfort zone in order to make others feel more comfortable.

Theater

When you think about 3rd world countries, you probably don't think about great theater. That's fair enough, I don't really equate Cape Verde with excellent theater either. However, this past weekend I went to an excellent play at the national auditorium. It was about the history of Creole in Cape Verde.

First, the play began during the times of Slavery. The "Master" spoke in Portuguese and the slaves in Creole. It was pretty cool. As history progressed, Creole advanced. There was a part of the play where a local performance group danced and sang on stage. It was amazing. To watch the history of the country on stage was incredible. I was so impressed by the creativity of people who have so little. They are able to do an unbelievable amount with what they have.

Oh! I was sitting just behind the President of the country, Pedro Pires. He just walked in and sat right in front of me and talked to everyone. This is just slightly different than G.W. walking into a place! People were just saying hello and little kids were playing around him. It is soooo different here than in the states!!!!!!!!!!!!!! txau.

Cape Verde, again for the first time

Being back in Cape Verde after 6 weeks away has been different than I ever could have imagined. I got off the plane after 24 hours of traveling only to smell the ocean breeze, again for the first time. I returned to my home only to find dust everywhere, as usual. I walked through my neighborhood and all of the old feelings of familiarity were different. When I left, after 7 months here, I felt as if I blended in with my surroundings (even if others still noticed me). Now, I feel like people are again staring at the American girl. I feel conspicuous in a way that I forgot about. Also, Cape Verdeans have no problem telling you that you have gained a little weight. I was sitting on a couch for a month, so I gained maybe 5 pounds and everyone is pointing it out! Thanks folks. But here, it's a compliment, not a critique. When you are heavier, you are healthier. I understand that in theory, but hearing it stinks. I also have lost my swiftness with the language. I mean, I still understand and can communicate, but I forget words that I know I knew before I left! It's a little frustrating, but I'll be back in tip top shape before you know it.

The best part of being back so far was going to class this morning at 7:30. My wonderful students threw me a surprise party today. They made cake, pastels, and quiche. It was excellent. They made me big signs that said "We missed you, casey" and "We love you, Casey." It was soooo wonderful. They gave me presents and lots of hugs. I have a student, Alice, who made me 3 peices of "renda." Renda is very intricate knitting. The Cape Verdean women sell these for quite a bit of money because they are elaborate. These renda are similar to lace and they are to be placed on coffee tables and dining tables, as lace is in the states. A long time ago, Alice wrote in an essay that she makes renda. I told her that I wanted to buy some of her renda to remember CV. Today, she gave me it as a gift. I was so moved. The three peices she made are georgeous. They are elaborately made with flower shapes and they are yellow! I love them!

This has been a special return made wonderful by my friends, colleagues, and students. I am so blessed.

Going back

I want to post quickly to let everyone know that I will be returning to CV on Monday morning at 11:30. I'm out of here a little sooner than I had anticipated, but I'm happy to be returning to my friends and work in CV! Sorry, I don't have a lot of time. I'm off to Morgan's wedding this weekend!

Cape Verde... I'm headed home

I have just been cleared to return to my wonderful life in Cape Verde. I met with the surgeon yesterday, and he has given me the thumbs up to go back. I cannot express just how happy I am to know for certain that I will be returning. I am also with a heavy heart to again have to leave my home in Mississippi. I love the South, my family, and friends, and after seeing what remains after Katrina, it is that much harder to leave. I only hope that the hurricanes steer clear of this area in the upcoming season so that everyone has time to rebuild and recover in peace.

For Garber!

This is a short post for my good friend Josh Garber! He will be married soon... in the Virgin Islands. I'm not sure how Sheila, his fiance, is able to put up with him, but it seems to be working out well for them! Josh, I hope you're happy that I gave you a shout out on my blog! Stay in touch.... buddy.

This is the only picture of Josh I have on my computer! He only dresses like this when he goes to his Sig Ep fraternity meetings!

Recovery

Two weeks post surgery, I'm getting around really well. Last Tuesday I had an appointment with my surgeon. He told me that I had a cyst in front of the broken bone. The cyst was benign and the bone was "dying." But, that's all been removed, so I guess this means that I'll be up and running in no time! Now that I'm getting up and moving around, things are looking up. I'll get my stitches out tomorrow, which will help with my walking.

On a different note, the day before yesterday, I took a ride down the beach, past my old house. The house is going to be knocked down this week. It was surreal to go there. I saw my old home completely destroyed. The windows were all broken, the house had big holes in it where the water crashed through. Most of the other houses on the beach are gone, which is impossibly difficult to see. Our bridge is tattered and unusable. I have yet to make it to Biloxi to see the beach there, which I hear is even worse. But really only worse because all of the historic buildings are gone. Visiting friends and family who are living after the storm has been strange. People who used to live in wonderful homes are now living in FEMA trailers. People are living in their old homes without kitchens, alongside racoons and birds who have taken over the house. People are so amazingly resilient. They have survived the actual storm and are now dealing with the storm that remains. It's just so insane being here now. In so many ways, I wish I could have been here when this all happened. Though I've loved my life in Cape Verde, I feel as if I could have helped more here than there.

hand dryers versus paper towels

Based on a recent comment on my blog, I did a little research. It seems that there are varying opinions on which is more environmentally friendly, paper towels or electric hand dryers. While paper towels kill trees, the electric hand dryer uses energy. It seems to me that killing trees is a bigger problem than using energy. First, electricity if it currently is not, will eventually be from renewable resources. A paper towel's source (a tree) is non-renewable. Secondly, people generally use more than the needed amount of paper towels to dry their hands. Thirdly, someone must ensure that the paper towels are constantly available.

So, in my opinion, paper towels are wasteful. There is no clear consensus on this issue, so it is not true that paper towels are more "friendly" than hand dryers. I would just like to make this clear for the record that I choose to use the hand dryers because I believe that technology is both more effective now and will be even more so in the future when our energy sources are renewable. ALSO, people should get used to using hand dryers and limit their use of paper products. :)

someone is a jerk

someone is consistantly posting mean/rude/unnecessary things on my blog. The following are comments that I consider such:

Tuesday, February 14th 2006 - FYI: hand dryers use more energy/ resources than paper towels.

Monday, January 23rd 2006 - life is hard sometimes - you'll deal.

Tuesday, September 27th 2005 - fortunately, your person wasn't *devastated.*

I sure wish that whoever is posting these comments would at least sign his/her name. It would be nice to know who would write such things to me. I was telling a friend of mine about these and he said I was being overly sensitive. That may be so, but I still wish the person would leave a signature!

AMERICA

Geez! I'm in America. Let me tell you that I am in culture shock. First, I got onto my flight in Cape Verde at 4 a.m. I was the only person to board the plane that had come from South Africa. After they got my one peice of luggage on the plane and I was seated, we headed for Atlanta. I rarely see television, so when I got on the plane and had my own TV, I was interested in watching new movies. So, I started a movie and fell asleep in about 1.2 seconds. I slept until we were about 2 hours away from Atlanta. I woke up, started to watch another movie, then the plane landed with about 2 minutes left in the film, so I missed the final scene! GREAT!

Real culture shock set in when I got to the Atlanta airport. First, everyone was speaking English. Second, everyone is FAT in America. Third, there are more restaraunts than necessary in the A terminal of the Atlanta airport, thus the overabundance of overweight people. Fourth, I could flush the toilet paper down the toilet. Fifth, there were actually paper towels in the bath rooms to dry your hands and more than that, there was actually running water. I, of course, used the hand dryers because I don't believe in wasting paper, but I digress. Let's see, next I sat in the DC airport and listened to the news about the winter storm on CNN and about Cheney shooting his hunting partner in the face! What an idiot.

Sidenote about Dick Cheney: You mean to tell me that this man is responsible for running our country? Now I know I want to get back to Cape Verde - and fast! I mean, I even took hunter's saftey in junior high and know enough to always know where your hunting partner is at all times. Sounds like a conspiracy to me. I can hear it now, "Hey Bill, let's go hunting together." "Sounds good Dick, see you in the morning." "Oh, Bill why don't you head over there and stir up some quail for me to shoot." "If you say so Dick, you're the Vice President after all, so I trust you." Next thing you know, Dick shot the poor guy in the face and he didn't even die, which I'm sure wasn't calculated into the plan.

Returning to my story of culture shock. I got into a cab after landing safely in DC an hour late. I got to my hotel room! I got to watch some television last night. Thank goodness there were great programs like the Bachelor: Paris on! I went to the grocery store and just stared at everything. I had an almost impossible time deciding what to buy. I finally got a pre-made ceasar's salad and some grapes and called it quits. In Cape Verde, if you want bread, you just get the one loaf that's there. If you want cheese, there's only one kind (if they have it at all). In America, they have 500 of each thing. It's ridiculous. So, after my mildly successful trip to the grocery store and after spending an hour just walking around and looking at everything, I got back to my room.

I finally got to shower. A nice warm shower was wonderful. Even better than that were the washers and dryers in our hotel. Even though I had to pay about a million dollars to use them, my clothes are SUPER CLEAN. Hand washing sucks and it doesn't get your clothes all that clean (espcially the way I do it, I am too lazy to scrub). The dryer was heavenly! My clothes all shrank back to their proper sizes! It was awesome. My jeans actually fit again, mostly! It was excellent!

Now I'm at the Peace Corps office where I can make free phone calls to anyone in the US. SO, send me an email with your number if you want me to call you. You can also call me at the Virginian Suites hotel. The number there is (703)522-9600. Just ask for me at the front desk. I meet with the specialist today at 1:00 to decide my Peace Corps fate! Once I know more about that, I'll post again! Txau!

A poem from a student

I have a student, Jose Luis, who turned in a writing assignment the other day. This assignment was meant to be a reflection of a Maya Angelou poem. Instead of writing about the poem, Jose Luis wrote a poem about me. I decided to post it here so that you could see what great, amazing students I have.

Everyday in my life I wonder
Who you are,
Who passed next to my door
And instead of knocking on it,
Just broke in.
You came slowly and mighty;
You talked, you sang, you taught;
You went and your words,
Remained, untouchable and unfinishable
But things you did, songs you sangs and sounds
you produced were soft, careless, and pleasant
I enjoyed finding out things through you;
I entrinsically motivated myself;
I found out wyself,
How important I am;
Receiving your patience and your dedication.
Everything you did was creating
Conditions and a sense of tolerance.
I want to take your blessing
And if it is possible
Give it to me while it is in time
Because your example is a good way
to be followed and also it si one of your treasures.
Takind serious the admiration you cause
Gives me the courage to say that
Someone created you and have lost the shape forever.
You are one of a kind!

Jose Luis followed this kind poem with these words:

Instead of writing a short essay about the poem you gave us, I made you a poem. For your dedication, the admiration I have for you as a teacher, as a woman, as a friend, as a human being.

Thoughts on going home after 7 months away

Before I type my "actual" post, let me note that as I type this email in our library at school, a cow is outside of my window staring at me. This cow has somehow found its way into the school yard and is just checking out what is happening inside!

Okay, now the real post...

I mentioned in an earlier post that I am both excited and nervous about going home after 7 months. This anxiety about going home is compounded by my feelings about what is left of my hometown and the surrounding areas. Yesterday my father, who for those of you who do not know him or know of him, is a Methodist minister in Vancleave, Mississippi, sent out a short piece that he wrote for a journal. His reflections on what happened days after the storm were amazing. Not having been there when Katrina hit or in the aftermath of the storm, I don't quite have a sense of how much has changed. Reading my father's words made me cry. It made me reflect on the reality of his world. It also prepared me for what is to come as I return after 7 months in Africa. It won't be the differences between Cape Verde and the US that will be shocking, it will be the "new" Mississippi that will be the hardest to see.

Here is a copy of my father's reflections for you to read:

In the days after Katrina I found myself wandering around the church property assessing what needed to be done to protect the buildings and to make life as livable as possible. The vent turbines had blown off the parsonage and I immediately used some shingles that had been stored in the shed to patch the holes. I was aware that many of the shingles were missing over the Sunday school classrooms and began to ponder the best plan to protect the classrooms. As I began formulating a plan, I passed my time raking the yard around the parsonage, pulling large limbs away from the house in an effort to reclaim part of the yard.
In the first days of the storm the phones did not work, even the cell phones were of no use in communicating with the outside world. I felt isolated and afraid. I say ‘afraid’ but it was more of an uneasy feeling that I needed to do something. I could not voice what needed to be done it was just a haunting feeling that persisted as I tried to do what I could to make a difference in my life. While working I would take a break occasionally and return to the house. Each time I was always aware that my sister-in-law, who was staying with us, would be glued to her battery powered portable television. I’d glance over her shoulder and hear snippets of the reporters saying that New Orleans was flooded and Pass Christian, Bay Saint Louis and other towns of the Gulf Coast no longer existed. My mind would not let me comprehend what I was hearing. I would feel the tears welling inside of me. I quickly went back to work thinking that I could do nothing to change the pain and suffering of friends and family that lived in the towns apparently now destroyed. I thought if I stayed busy everything would work out.
It rained on the Wednesday after the storm and the roof over the Sunday school classrooms had not been attended to and there was leaking. Thursday morning I was determined to “dry in” the roof. I needed to protect the space that we use to teach our children about Jesus. I had called one of my sons to help me. I intended to cover the roof with visqueen and son, Nathan, agreed to come and help. As I climbed on the roof I realized the damage to the roof was so widespread that the visqueen would not be an effective way to repair the roof. I knew from past experience that the plastic would leak, the wind would tear it and we would continually fight to keep the roof from leaking. It was at that moment that I decided to patch the roof with shingles. It would be harder and take longer, but would last. I went to town with Nathan, we purchased the materials, and over the next couple of days we patched the church roof. My brother-in-law spent a day helping us and after a few days we had finished.
The whole time I worked on the roof, I thought about the storm and the people affected. My wife, Celeste, continued to ask, “Larry, what can we do to help the people?” Celeste was sure we needed to do something and soon! On the last day of the roof repair, as I climbed down the ladder, it came to me. I knew what I had to do to help the people of the Coast. I met Celeste on the sidewalk that connects our house with the church and said to her, “We are going to house mission teams!” How did I discern the direction of my help? God’s Spirit gave me a vision, one that I could not deny, nor ignore. I was called to house those who would come to help. Making it possible for them to help restore the broken lives of our neighbors. I have never had a clearer vision or call than the one I received that day. If I had looked at all the things I did not have and needed to house people I would have given up on that day. We did not have what we needed to be successful. There were no showers, beds, linens, or pillows. We didn’t have the food we would need to feed them or the staff to run such an operation. We began anyway, with a handful of church members who responded with positive affirmations when we shared the vision with them. Each time a need was lifted to God in prayer, God answered.
We have been in ministry for five months now and as I watch the mission teams come I see that God’s will is to be in relationship with all of God’s people helping neighbors and sharing God’s love. This ministry of housing and caring for volunteer work teams has been a challenge, but a challenge that God has met time and again. We have learned much from the over 1,000 people we have housed here in Vancleave. Each of them came as a response to God’s call. Each came offering his or her self as a living sacrifice to God. The ministry has not been about rebuilding houses, but one of offering hope to people who hurt, people who need to know that God still exists in the hearts of others. The people of Vancleave, Mississippi are doing just that as we partner with the world. Thanks be to God.

My new house...again

I've moved...again. House #2 is great, except for the lack of hot water. The showering with cold water leaves much to be desired. I have to heat a bucket of water just like I used to do when I lived in Sao Domingos! I can't wait to get to DC to take a long hot shower (but I probably won't enjoy it because I'll feel guilty for leaving on the water and using up all the energy).

Other perks in house #2... It is much, much, much quieter than the former house. We have much better lighting than in the former house. My room is WAY bigger than in the former house. I have a new desk. We don't have ants invading our kitchen at the new house. Our friends that lived in the house before us left all of their kitchen supplies, so we have great utensils, bowls, pots and pans! This new house seems to be much safer than house #1, which is the whole reason we moved in the first place.

Things seem to be working out for the best. I've already found a great market near our house and we have several really good restaraunts in our neighborhood. I can't complain, except about the mosquitos, which kept me up last night as they were feasting on my arms while I slept.... Oh well. I can deal with a few pesky bugs. Things are working out well....even if I am leaving for a while.

Vistors

Over the New Year break, two volunteers from Senegal came to Cape Verde. Jenn and Dave flew into Praia and got to visit our little island. This past week, two other Senegalese Volunteers, Courtney and Karly, visited us as well. These visits were a great opportunity for me to hang out with people from an entirely different Peace Corps experience than my own. They live in mud huts in the hottest parts of Africa and work on farms. It's pretty different than living in an apartment in a capital city. The best part about their visit was that it made me realize how much I absolutely love what I am doing. Telling others about your life and introducing visitors to my world here was wonderful. I was able to have each pair of visitors have Sunday lunch with me at my homestay family's home. It was great for them to see how Cape Verdeans live and eat the food that is indigineous to this part of Africa.

Having visitors come see where you live makes you realize how much you love (or hate in some cases) where you are stationed. As you all know from previous blog entries, I love where I live. I love my life here and am so happy to be in Cape Verde. I will be flying out of here on February 12th, and I will miss this place terribly while I am away.

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

Pictures of my family in Sao Domingos

Ami Soldadi Abo

Today is Christmas, so I would like to take up a little web space filling you in on the holidays in Cape Verde. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, the Christmas spirit is decidedly different in Cape Verde. The commercialism is not present, the Christmas carols aren’t really very popular, and it’s about 85 degrees outside today! At any rate, things are actually quite good aside from the fact that I miss my family and friends TERRIBLY. It’s really, really hard to be far away during the holidays… it’s just not the same.

Basically, this holiday season has been filled with familiar faces, which has been nice. I was fortunate enough to spend Christmas Eve day in Sao Domingos with my host family. I helped them prepare for Christmas dinner. We made cakes and ice cream and pudding! I really enjoyed just hanging out with my mom, grandmother, sisters, and nephew for the afternoon. After returning from Sao Domingos, I was invited to Christmas Eve dinner at Vanda’s house (that’s my PC friend Jacob’s girlfriend). In CV the Christmas Eve dinner is held at about midnight! The family gathers and eats really decadent foods and desserts. Vanda’s house was lovely and the food was out of this world. I was lucky to spend this time with her family. It touched me deeply to be invited to participate as part of their family. Unfortunately, I had to return to my empty house (my roommate is away), and I woke up Christmas morning alone for the first time in my life. You see, when I was younger my brothers and I would sleep in the same bedroom on Christmas Eve and as I got older, we always woke each other up on Christmas morning to open presents. It is ritual that I miss. I didn’t know how much I’d miss it until this morning when I woke up at my house without anyone to share in the excitement of Christmas. BUT, I did have wrapped presents from my Mom that I saved until this morning. I sat on my bed and had my own Christmas morning! It was a pretty sad sight, but alas, I am sacrificing a lot to be here doing what I’m doing!

After having my own personal Christmas, I headed over to Jessica’s house to make a Christmas lunch, Southern Style! I fixed Jambalaya, collard greens, and mashed sweet potatoes! It was awesome… It was also wonderful to get to cook for other people and share a little bit of time with my fellow Americans and a couple of Cape Verdeans. At about 2 I headed back to Sao Domingos for more eating! I hung out with my host family and some of their extended family in the afternoon/evening. I also went to see a friend, Zuka, who lives in Sao Domingos, but he wasn’t home, so I ended up watching TV with his dad and drinking a beer! Oh well, it was an adventure and added to the weirdness of this Christmas season…

Well, that’s about it. The title of this post means that I miss y’all. It’s been really tough to be away this year. I hope all is well. Boas Festas, feliz natal, feliz novo ano.

more pictures

My fam in Sao Domingos! I just found out that my host mom is PREGNANT! WOW. She's 45, not married, barely has a boyfriend, and is 2 months along. But, she's really happy and despite my reservations, it's really nice to see her sooooo cheerful.

Jessica's 30th Birthday

This past Saturday was Jessica's 30th birthday. I did not get any photos of Jessica, but I did get a few others, so here they are. The two with me in them are: Sarin and Jonah, Adi and Jay, a Cape Verdean friend Odayer, Jacob and his girlfriend Vanda, Jay and Christie (Christie is from Harvard here on fellowship studying Cape Verde), Jacob and me, my student Esmael and me.

Two cameras were stolen at the party, so these may be some of the few photos that remain!

Speaking of stealing things... our house was "broken" into the other night. Our screen was cut and through the bars on our windows, our nice curtains were stolen. The thief was kind enough to leave the wooden curtain rod, however..... Will the stealing ever end??? Hopefully the desperation of Christmas will be over soon and people will go back to not stealing things!

Creole Poetry

A little while back a guy came to ISE looking for a job. His name is Imez, he's Cape Verdean, he's 27, and he studied in the states. I have spent a little bit of time with Imez since our first meeting and he's a wonderful person. After spending a little time with this man, he told me he was a poet and that he had published several volumes of poetry. His most recent work is entirely in Criola! This is amazing because there is very little work existent in Creole. There are many reasons for this, not the least of which is that the language is not "formal" meaning there are no agreed upon spellings or ways to write things. SO, Imez moved from the US back to Cape Verde just a little over a month ago, and night before last he presented his new book at ISE. He read some poetry, his cousin (and my neighbor from Sao Domingos) played the guitar and sang some of his work. He also invited a professor from ISE to speak about the importance of the Creole language. I bought his book and am impressed by this poetry (even though my Creole is not perfect, I get the gist). I am soooo happy to have met someone who is giving back to his country. This is the kind of thing that I hope happens more and more. Cape Verdeans need to return to their country after studying elsewhere and work at places like ISE. We don't currently have a job for Imez, but I really, really hope that next year we can hire him. We need to see Peace Corps people replaced by well educated Cape Verdeans. I am so excited to see this kind of shift happening. I am also thankful that Creole is being recognized as a beautiful, wonderful, unique lanugage that needs to be made more formal and readable. I just thought I'd share my recent excellent experience! I hope all is well.... it's almost Christmas time! Feliz Natal.

New Computers, Bad Feet, Christmas presents, and stolen Sunglasses

First things first... Today I received a package with a computer in it from my wonderful mother. As you know, I killed the old computer that my father graciously gave to me just before coming to Cape Verde. My mother has given me her laptop to use for the remainder of the time I'm here. So, what a wonderful thing! It will be so nice to again have a computer at my home.

Second, my foot is not better. It has been exactly a month since my return from Dakar and my foot has been hurting consistently for about 3 weeks. I spoke with the doctor here today and she is in contact with the doctor in Dakar and with the doctors in DC to see what the next step is. It looks like they want me to return to Dakar to have my orthotic refitted. It may be a simple matter of the orthotic being out of place and causing pain in my foot. I sure hope that's what it is! At this point, I am getting a little nervous about the whole situation. This has been going on for a long time, and I just want it to get better. It is difficult to live here in CV and not be able to get around easily.

Third, I recently received wonderful boxes of Chirstmas presents from friends and family! It was sooooo nice to have things to open and some of the presents were even wrapped giving me things to open on Christmas day. I am planning on spending Christmas Eve and Christmas day in Sao Domingos with my family there. OH! Another Christmas surprise.... my host mom is pregnant. She is two months along (45, unmarried, and caring for 3 children already)! She is very, very excited about the whole thing.

Finally, I've decided to alternate good news and bad news in this post, as you may have noticed. Last week I received several packages at one time and had to go to the post office to get them. I carried them onto the bus, which was a pain and while fussing with all of the packages, someone unzipped my bag and stole my sunglasses!!!!!!!!!! How annoying. My sunglasses were really nice and I purchased them especially for my life in CV! I am sooooo sick of people stealing stuff. In fact, this past Saturday was Jessica's 30th b'day party at her home and someone stole her digital camera as well as another persons digital camera! Absolutely disgusting! This time of year is particularly awful....

Well, that's all for now. I want to end on a positive note, so I'll just say that my brother and Holly will be married on March 25th in Destin, FL. It should be a small, intimate ceremony and sounds like it will be tons of fun.... Txau, ti logo!

Christmas Spectacular!

On Saturday night the English Language Institute in Praia had a Christmas show (The Annual Christmas SPECTACULAR). ELI is a place where Cape Verdeans go to learn English. Children beginning at about age 3 begin learning English there and adults take classes at night to work on their English. Well, my friend Adi, a former Peace Corps volunteer, works at ELI, teaching the teenagers (who by this time in their lives are very proficient at English). I was invited to attend this wonderful event where the Christmas spirit was in the air. It definitely helped make things feel a little more "Christmassy" around here. The show only lasted about 20 minutes, but the children performed all of the Christmas classics. Then at the end of the show the adult students from ELI sang with the kids, "We wish you a Merry Christmas" which was a great way to end the show! It was just lovely!!! Merry Christmas Everyone. Feliz Natal!

random pictures!

Our group

I meant to publish this picture some time ago! It is a shot of our entire group of trainees (minus Sarah, who came two weeks later).

We have since lost 4 people: Elliott (behind me in the picture to your left), Kay (right of me, green shirt), Todd (second guy from the right), and Rebecca (kneeling beneath me in a yellow shirt)

Amanda and Joey!

I also wanted to post a quick message about my other best friend from high school, Amanda. This past Saturday, she and Joey, were married! I just wish I could have been there for the wedding. I truly am so sorry I missed it and will be home soon (March 25th) to celebrate with them. Okay, just wanted to make public my most recent good pieces of news!

It's a GIRL!

Kathryn, one of my best friends from high school, and her husband, Patrick, recently had their first child. On October 26th, Aislyn Lee Leary was born! I am including a picture of here! She's adorable and I'm soooo happy for Kathryn and Patrick. They will soon be moving from the Coast to Jackson, MS, which is good for them, but sad too! Congrats Kathryn and Patrick!

I rule...

Every year I get this HILARIOUS email from some random friend. Since I was feeling really down about having my wallet stolen (see previous email for the complete story) I decided to try to track down this website for a good laugh. Please check it out if you want a good laugh. I always am in tear when I read this thing. Check it out: http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=irule

When you get to the bottom of the page, you'll see Crappy Art #2. Click there for more fun!!!

I thought bad things came in threes....

If it's true that bad things come in threes, then I should be in the clear after the broken foot, the broken computer, and the broken IPOD. BUT NO! Last night, while dining at a local restraunt, my wallet was stolen!!!!! I was sitting at table with my friend Adi. We had just sat down and I set my wallet on the table (BIG MISTAKE, I KNOW, I KNOW). We were seated outside and a man approached the railing of the restraunt, leaned over, grabbed the wallet and ran off into an alley. It's Christmas time so crime is high in Cape Verde, especially in big cities like Praia. I am just sooo upset because I've never had anything like this happen to me. I've never had anything stolen from me. I lost my ID card, my bank card, and about 25 dollars (which may not seem like much to you people in America, but trust me, it's a lot to a volunteer).

Needless to say, I'll be much more careful in the future. I couldn't sleep at all last night because I kept dreaming about the incident. I also have been scaring myself often, every little noise or strange look gets me nervous. I hate feeling this way. I am just thankful that I wasn't harmed physically in the process.

I went to the bank and stood in line for about an hour and a half in an effort to get a new bank card and some money. I wish he would have taken the money and left all of the other things so that I wouldn't have to go through all of this!!! Well, this is turning out to be a terrible Christmas away from home. I miss you all soooooo much. I'm off to fill out an incident report to let the people in charge know what happened!

Txau, ti logo.

My students

kittens!!!!

the kittens!

So it's been a couple of weeks since I took four kittens into my home. At this point I am ready for them to find a new home. They are super cute, but they are becoming increasingly active! They recently decided to destroy my room and wake me up in the middle of the night with their playing, so I kicked them out of my room. Now they have taken residence in our spare bedroom. We, of course, had to move everything out of that room because they were tearing things up. My roommate is being extremely patient with this whole process, but I think her patience and mine are wearing thin. I think they will have a home very soon in Principal with Claudia, one of my fellow volunteers. Keep your fingers crossed that they find a good home really soon! I really want to post the pictures I have but for some reason every time I try to put them up, the darn thing freezes! AHHHH.... computers.

And just as soon as I get rid of the cats, I'll be petsitting for a couple of friends who will be spending Christmas in South Africa. They have a very cute little dog, Chloe, who will be staying with me for a couple of weeks over the break. It will be nice to have a house trained animal around!!!! Well, I seem to be innundated with pets, none of which I am keeping... thank goodness.

Okay that's all for now. Txau, ti logo.

Congratulations are in order!

I want to publicly congratualte my little brother, Morgan, on his recent engagement to Holly, his wonderful girlfriend (now fiance)! I am soooo excited for them both because they are great people. I am super thankful that I am getting a really cool, sweet sister-in-law too!

A note to Morgan and Holly: please, please try to give the dates of the wedding soon! I am definitely coming home but have school and a mandatory Peace Corps conference that I must attend in March.

awwww....

This link http://ontheway.blogproject.org/images/hi-casey will take you to an amazing photo album created by my friends at Penn State. The national communication association conference was recently held in Boston. I was very sad that I couldn't be there to see all of my friends, colleagues, former professors, etc. BUT, you'll see that my friends didn't forget me!!!! I was completely taken aback by this kind gesture.

Thank you (Jessica and others) for the wonderful surprise. It made me smile, cry, laugh, and miss everyone.

A little festa

Click on the image and it gets bigger.... it's even better when it's full size!

Yesterday I invited my class to my house for a little party. We didn't have school because it was "ISE day". I thought it would be fun to visit with my students outside of class. Also, they have been so wonderful to me throughout the semester and I thought it would be nice to entertain them at my house. About 16 of my 25 students were able to make it. Some of them live far away and some of them have to work, but the turn-out was great!

For the occasion I made pizzas, banana bread, cookies, and brownies. My students each brought something to eat as well. We had tons of food! I had students bring bean dishes, couscous, cakes, rice, and much more. I was great.

My students showed up at 11am. Cape Verdeans have specific things that they do at parties, so I just sat back and enjoyed the events as they took over. First we played several games including charades. Then after about 2 hours of game playing and waiting for everyone to show up, it was time to eat. Everyone ate and drank lots. After eating everyone sat in a big circle and they took turns telling jokes and funny antecdotes. This was great because they were telling stories in Crioulu which helped me learn more words. After about an hour of story telling they began to clean up. Now this was an impressive production. First, they put on some really good dance music, then the boys grabbed brooms and dustpans and started sweeping and dancing all at the same time. The girls took to doing the dishes and divying up the food. Within about 20 minutes everything was sparkling clean and before everyone left, they had to DANCE. The boys and girls all danced for a bit and even got me in on the fun. It was a blast. I love hanging out with my students and getting to know them. It was great to speak to them in Creole rather than English for a change.

Well, in two weeks, they are throwing a "jamaica" party/dinner, and I am invited! I'm extremely excited about this! It should be a blast! I'll be sure to let you know how this all goes!

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, so I hope you are all spending Turkey day with those you love. I wish I were in America now to see everyone. It's hard to be soooo far away on the holidays. Miss you.... txau, ti logo.

I just couldn't help it!

I've recently inhereted 4 cats! That's right, four cats (1 momma and 3 babies). I wrote not too long ago about the cat, "happy cow" who lives at the Peace Corps transit house. I wrote about her having her babies while I was sitting next to her. Well, the Peace Corps found out about the babies and decided they had to go! Well, their brilliant solution was to kill the cats. I found out the day after I returned from Dakar and decided to save them from their impending doom. Can you believe someone would kill 3 babies?? I have no real desire to keep these kittens nor their mother, so I am just keeping them until the babies can be separated from the mom. I am in the process of finding good homes for them. I hope some fellow volunteers decide to take them in because I can't keep 4 cats; my roommate is already getting a little wigged out about them. She has taken to keeping her door shut at all times to keep the momma out!!!!

As for their adoption, I have taken individual photographs of each kitten in his/her most favorable light. I am planning on sending these images out to the volunteers to garner sympathy and find good homes for the cats. I sure hope this works!! YIKES. My roommate is patiently handling my compassion for pets, but she is really just humoring me for a while.

Okay, so wish me luck with the pet adoption! Oh, I forgot to mention that the kittens are primarily black, which my students tell me is very bad in Cape Verde. They say that people believe black cats are "brusha," witches. Children will try to kill black cats if they catch them!!! I don't have a lot working in my favor with these little guys.....

I'm Back...

HI Everyone! I'm back in Cape Verde after a grueling trip. After feeling as if my foot problems where not being resolved, my flight back home was delayed about 3 hours. We were scheduled to leave at 11p.m., but ended up leaving at about 2:30 a.m. That put me back in Cape Verde at 4 a.m. and I had to teach at 9. Needless to say, I'm exhausted. To top it all off, I had to share a room in Dakar with a woman who had the flu, so, of course, I am sick! GREAT! To say that my trip was pointless would be an understatement.

At any rate, I am happy to be home. I missed my students terribly. When I walked into my classroom on Friday morning, my students gave me a round of applause, and I got lots of hugs. They told me that they really, really missed me! It was nice to feel welcomed back.

So now that I'm here, I have been noticing all of the things I am missing. I began to compile a list so that family and friends could send me Christmas packages full of things I need. Here goes (this is particularly for Morgan and Holly who asked me to be specific):

- Spices (any and all spices, particularly tumeric and chili powder)
- Binder clips (you know the bigger clippy things)
- Index cards (lots of them for studying new languages)
- A day planner
- A wall calendar
- A good can opener
- A good garlic press
- A pepper mill (the only black pepper you can get in this country is in the form of peppercorns)
- NEW MUSIC - CD's of any kind that are out in the states now
- Hair clips
- Hair bands (ponytail holders)
- For JA - more Goldwell conditioner, shampoo, hair gel
- A new ipod (just kidding, but mine is done and I'm sending it West to have it repaired ... hopefully)
- Fruit Leathers (you know the 100% fruit snacks you can get in health food stores)
- trail mix
- Pecans, Almonds, pumpkin seeds, soy nuts, etc.
- visits from any friends or family members that would like to come.
- As always, money for traveling (can be deposited in my account at home or sent here, just let me know)
- Crossword puzzle books
- books, magazines, any reading material

I'll be updating this list as I think of things. I'm just soooo happy to be back here after time away. I'll try to post pictures from my Dakar trip soon. Txau... ti logo.

Dakar photos

Though I didn't get to spend a lot of time exploring Dakar, I did get to see some of the statues and mosques. This is the millenium monument on the beach near downtown Dakar.
As always, if you click on the photo, it gets bigger.

water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink

The other night, while eating dinner in the medical "hut" alone, I was putting together a puzzle that was left by another kind volunteer. All of the sudden, as if out of nowhere, water began spraying across the room. At frist I couldn't figure out where it was coming from. It was spraying like a firehose, really, really hard. I thought it was coming in through a hole in the wall from outside. Or maybe it was being sprayed in through a window. All I knew was that I was getting soaked and the floor was filling up quickly. I finally looked around and noticed a that had hose broken loose from the hot water heater and was causing the problem. Of course, I jumped into action. I grabbed the hose, only to have it spray in my face, and then I tried to redirect the water into the nearby sink. Just imagine it... me, drenched, holding an out of control water main in my hand, feeling pretty helpless. What to do? I finally rig a way for the hose to stay pointed at the sink and run out to the guard (oh, did I mention it was late and NO ONE else was around except two non-english speaking guards). The guards speak French, so I just yelled, "come with me" and made some wild hand motion as I pointed to my wet clothes. The guard, rather than immediately hopping to, just laughed at me for a minute, then followed when I stormed off (I didn't think this was nearly as funny as he apparently did). He came in, assessed the situation, went back outside, turned off the water main and the water finally STOPPED.

There I was, looking like a drowned rat, sopping up water from the lake that had become my kitchen. The guard left, got the other guard, and then they both returned to laugh at me some more. At this point I was on hands and knees with towels, working on getting the water up and out! Needless to say, it was a crazy night. I was worn out and headed for bed immediately after that incident! What a week. It's not bad enough that I broke my foot, had to leave Cape Verde, but now I have to deal with faulty water hoses! GEEZ. What's next?

Catching Up

I've decided, since I'm in Dakar and bored to tears, that I will try to spend some time "catching up" on some of the things that I have been meaning to write about.

1.) The boy in the yellow shirt:
I have a student named Esmael. He is a nice kid, about 20 years old. His English is pretty good and his writing is even better (which tends to be true for non-native English learners). I had my students write an essay introducing themselves. This was their first official assignment so that I could get a sense of where they were as writers and where I needed to begin the class. Esmael's essay was amazing. He told of his childhood and the extreme poverty into which he was born. He told of walking 3 hours each way to school every day, of not eating breakfast or lunch because his parents couldn't affort it, and of the struggle he went through to pay for his high school education (in Cape Verde, only primary school is free). What's funny, is that after I read his essay, I noticed that he wears the exact same yellow shirt every single day. The shirt is apparently from some basketball camp in the States that he must have inhereted from a relative or friend. I would have never noticed that my student wears the same t-shirt everyday if not for his essay about his impoverished life. It's amazing how much you can learn from reading about people's lives.

2.) Pregnancy:
I have a student named Fatima who wrote the most amazing essay last week. Her essay told the story of her youth. She was young, 15 or so, when she realized she was pregnant. She lived with her Aunt at the time and did not want to tell her secret. She told the story with such amazing detail and candor that I was enthralled. She never once said that she was "pregnant" but the dialogue communicated this "secret" that she was keeping. It was one of the most beautiful stories I have ever read.

Say what?

I'm in Dakar now where everyone speaks a different African tribal language and a little bit of French. This is terribly unfortunate for me seeing as I speak none of these languages. Just as I was getting a hold of Creole, I am sent to a land where no Creole is spoken!

Well, I saw three doctors yesterday. The Peace Corps doctor (who was of no help), a podiatrist, who while cute and French, was not all that interested in talking to me or helping me, and an orthopedic surgeon who did try to speak to me a bit but ended up telling me not to worry about my foot because "it's really not that bad." Now, this last doctor's comment made me cry because he told me this just after telling me that I would need to wear an insert in my shoe for 3 to 6 months and that I wouldn't be able to run for at least 6 months. But, really, it's not that bad. RIGHT! It sucks! The doctors all spoke to each other in French and the PC doctor didn't ever tell me what the specialists were saying to him, even after I asked. What a pretentious ass.

Now I'm waiting to get my shoe insert to turn my running shoes into my special shoes. I will have to wear my tennis shoes all day everyday. This means while I'm teaching, relaxing, everything. I'm sure it will be really, really cute seeing me in a dress, blouse, and asics! Lovely!

Well, aside from my terrible foot pain and impending fashion crisis, things are boring. I can't get out and do much because of the foot thing. I don't speak the language, which is a problem. Apparently it's Veteran's day, so the PC office in Dakar is closed, meaning the people who actually speak my language in this country are not around!

This has all turned out to be a pointless trip. I was sent here to have an MRI and CT scan, but have had and will have NEITHER. The PC is cheap and the doctor doesn't actually care about the long-term effects of all of this, so I'll just be hobbling around for a while longer. I sure hope the shoe insert works. If not, I'm headed to the states. I refuse to live in a place where I am miserable. I have to walk everywhere and with a broken foot, that's not very easy. Sorry to be such a downer, but this is all hitting me very hard. I feel like no one really cares if I get better in the near future or at all for that matter. I just hope something good comes from all of this bad! I'm trying to stay positive... and you know what might help??? Packages from the states filled with fun things to do while sitting on the couch and good things to eat while sitting on the couch! Okay, so send on those packages.

Dakar on crutches

Alo! First, let me say that I am on crutches and have been for about 5 days! Crutches are the pits and if you've never had the joy of supporting your weight on two sticks, then feel blessed. My armpits are sore, my back hurts, and I am now taking pain pills that make me drowsy all of the time. The doctor has put me on "bed rest" at this point. This means I can only go teach and then I must return home to sit on the couch and read books and magazines. I am pretty miserable, so send emails and words of encouragement my way, PLEASE!

I've just learned that tomorrow night I'll be on a plane to Dakar. Last time I was there, I hadn't made it to Cape Verde. And this time, I may not be returning to Cape Verde for quite some time.

I'll be in Dakar for an MRI and CT scan on my foot. Hopefully the doctors there will have some further insight on my foot and what to do about it. I'm not sure if I'll be returning to Cape Verde in a cast or if I'll be headed to DC for surgery. Everything is up in the air at this point, so I have been instructed to take as much as I can with me, as I may be gone for a while.

I will try to keep my blog up to date while I'm away (if I can access the internet) to keep everyone updated. Wish me luck! Txau, ti logo.

Happy Cow!

Well, It must be nearing Christmas time (even though it doesn't feel like it in Cape Verde) because the "peace corps" cat, Happy Cow (named after the cheese brand), just gave birth. Now, she didn't have a virgin birth (or at least I don't think so), but she was only about 8 months old when she had her first litter. She has a special place in my heart because she is a teenage mother and currently no one is residing at the Peace Corps transit house where she lives. I've been checking on her frequently to ensure she is being fed and that her pregnancy was coming along fine. Well, she must have known how much I worried about her because the other night I went to check on her and she came to sit next to me on one of the couches. I looked down and saw that she was beginning to deliver her first of three adorable kittens! That's right, she was lying right next to me, just pushing them out..... a miracle. She is the sweetest cat and her kittens are black. They haven't yet opened their eyes but they are beinging to cry and walk some! I am trying to find them good homes with Peace Corps volunteers, so we'll see how that works out. I don't really want to have a cat here for may reasons, but I may end up at least paying to feed them while they reside at the transit house. Well, the holiday season is upon us, maybe I'll name one of the babies Jesus! :) Txau, ti logo.

Happy Halloween

I know this post is a few days late, but with my foot problems, I've been busy!

I was really bummed that I was missing Halloween in the states. Several of my friends from the US have sent pictures of their Halloween parties and costumes, which made a bit homesick! To remedy this homesickness, I decided to bake my students some cookies and decorate them with orange and black icing. I also baked a brownie cake and decorated it with a big jack o' lantern face. I thought this would be a nice gesture and we had been studying Halloween in my British Culture and Civilization course!

Well, much to my surprise, my students had planned on surprising me on Monday morning. When I got to my classroom, they had decorated everything with ghosts, grave stones, balck cats, bats, pumpkins, etc. They went all out for this! I was so touched and surprised and amazed by this. They had all dressed either in all black with witches hats or all white with ghost faces. It was a beautiful site.

Of course, I didn't have my camera with me, but a student had hers! I hope to get those pictures and post them soon. I just can't believe how much trouble my entire class went to for me. They are absolutely amazing. They are hard working, thoughtful, and beautiful people. They were able to absolutely make my day even though I later found out about my foot and the upcoming trip to Dakar!

I have more things to say about my students here at ISE, so I'll write more about them very soon. Txau, ti logo.

Ami n kebra nha pe (revised)

Well, the title basically says it all ! Oh wait, you can't read Crioulu. The title says "I BROKE MY FOOT."

After several months of having a foot pain, several inconclusive Xrays, and some blood work, I found out today that I broke my foot. The Peace Corps doctor decided to try one more angle on the Xray to see if there was a hidden fracture. SURE ENOUGH, there was. I broke my foot and now I am at the Peace Corps office waiting for the nurse to take me to the hospital to talk to the orthepedic doctor.

I'm back from the doctor! Great news, I get to go to the continent. Apparently the fracture I have is in a small bone underneath the pad of my foot, which means that casting it will not work because I'll break it again. ALSO, this fracture is also apparently OLD, so I've just been continuously hurting it for quite some time. It now hurts really, really bad.

The doctor says that I must have an MRI, which cannot be done in Cape Verde. I will be headed to Dakar next week to have this done. Then from there, the doctor said I'll have to have surgery. He said this bone isn't "needed" and it'll need to be removed. The Peace Corps medical officer assured me this surgery is fast and easy! My fear is that this surgery will have to be done in AFRICA! YIKES. Hopefully they'll send me to Portugal or the States. That would be sweet. Either way, I'm off to Dakar soon.... I'll keep you posted on the status of my foot.

As always (now more than ever), any care packages would be greatly appreciated at this point! I am pretty bummed about my foot and the whole surgery thing! Alright, I expect lots of sympathy from all of my friends and family! Txau! Ti logo.

christmas

I know that everyone is wondering just what to get me for Christmas! It may seem early, but my mom spoke with the post office and they said that in order for a package to get to me for Christmas, it should be sent at the latest, by Thanksgiving. So, send on any Christmas presents you'd like to.

AND, if you are wondering what to get me, then you should know from the previous post that my computer is dead, so a new computer would be great! Okay, maybe that's asking too much, but seriously money for a computer is ideal! I'll leave you all to decide what other things I might want (books, CD's, clothes)....

Now get to sending those wonderful Christmas packages before it gets too late!

Take the good with the bad

Friends, family, faithful readers!

Hello! I am sorry that I have been neglecting my blog in recent weeks, but (and here is where the BAD begins) a few things have happened in the past two weeks that have limited my internet usage. First, my computer is dead. By dead I mean, dead in the way that computers are after you accidently dump water in them. My laptop was on when this happened, it immediately shorted out, and I haven't seen any glimmers of hope from it since (it's been a week and a half). Secondly, I found out last week (my first week of classes) that I would be teaching another class, British Culture and Civilization. Now, I know nearly nothing about the British, their culture, or anything to do with civilization. So, I have been furiously reading, researching, etc. to try to come up with a reasonable syllabus for my students.

Here comes the GOOD.... Other than the dead computer and the new class, things are quite delightful. As I said, my classes began last week. I am teaching Compostion I and the British Culture course to the second year students. At ISE, the students all stay in the same classroom for every class, so I am teaching the same students for a total of 8 hours a week. I begin teaching Monday morning from 7:30 am until 9:30, then I teach Wednesdays 7:30 to 9:30 and again from 11:30 until 1:30, then on Fridays I teach from 9:30 until 11:30. All-in-all, not a bad schedule. I really like teaching early in the mornings here. It's a nice schedule.

Now to the students (the really, really good part). My students are absolutely wonderful. I know, I know, you're thinking that I've only met them for a few classes, how could I possibly know if they are wonderful. Well, I do and they are. These students still are struggling with English a bit because they are only in their second year of the program. Now, the first day of my Composition class, I had the students write a couple of paragraphs about why they wanted to learn English and in particular composition. Afterward, I had them stand in front of the class and read their first writing assignment (they were a little shocked, I think). Those students with poor English skills were very timid and really reluctant to get in front of the class (I can't help it, I'm a public speaking teacher). They did an excellent job and were not to bad. I assigned a short essay for the next class and we were through. Now, on the second day of class, I decided to talk about passion. This is something I like to talk about with students because I want them to begin to realize that passion is essential to expressing oneself. Understanding and developing your passions makes for good writing (or speaking).

I began the class on passion by asking them to define the word. Students volunteered: desire, want, love, interest, etc. One quiet guy in the class half-whispered "SEX." I immediately asked him to repeat himself and he did. I then said, "yes, sex"! My students thought that was hilarious, so we kept on this and came up with some other funny things to say. Then I had them write a short paragraph about why passion is important for writing. When they finished, I asked them to write down a list of things about which they had passion. A few students volunteered to read these aloud and we talked about music, nature, friends, family, language, colleagues, etc. I then asked them to pick one specific thing from their list of passions. I asked them to intimately desribe this person, thing, or idea. Afterward, I asked for volunteers to read what they wrote. Nearly all of my students raised their hands immediately. Everyone wanted to share what they had wrote. I was in awe, taken aback because even my poorest speakers and shyest students had their hands raised to read. These students, every single one of them, read what they wrote. These short essays were beautiful. One student wrote about her mother, another about an unnamed lover, one about his love of reading, one about his passion for writing, one about life, one about her husband, another about traveling, and many, many more.

Today, in my British Culture and Civilization class, they students were equally great. They are soo interested in everything we have to teach them. They know how important their education is and NONE of them have their parents paying for their studies. These students work, come to school, and study hard everyday. I'm really, really happy to be here working with students who appreciate me as a teacher and why I'm here. I couldn't be happier with my life in Cape Verde; it's pretty wonderful.

And you know, it's even starting to get a little cooler here...... it's almost like fall (well, not really, but I can pretend). I'm off to read more about the British! Cheers!

waiting for school to begin

Several people have asked me in personal emails to tell them about school. Well, I would tell you about school if it were to begin. You see, school was scheduled to start on Monday, Oct. 10th, however, about two weeks ago we “heard” from one of the faculty members that school had been “officially” delayed. School is now supposed to begin on the 17th, next Monday. So, we’re a week late and in Cape Verde no one (not even elementary school or high school kids) attends school on the first week, so we won’t actually start school until the 24th or so. This is fine with me, but the problem is that the longer we delay school, the hard it is on the teachers. We MUST hold a certain number of classes regardless of the day school begins and ends and holidays. This means that if we don’t have at least 30 class sessions in a semester for a given class, we are obligated to hold class at another time that works for the students. We are apparently given the task of figuring this out ourselves! We wouldn’t actually have to adhere to this policy except for the fact that we have to turn in a “lesson plan” of each class that the students sign each class period. Then we turn a binder with these sheets, all tests given, and papers written to Academic services and they check up on us (I think). People in the English department seem to do whatever they want, so this may not be as big a deal as it seems like. Because hardly anyone in our department speaks Portuguese, and most of us are Americans, we kind of get away with a lot because the school figures either its too much trouble to get us to understand all of the rules OR they just figure since we speak English and it’s an English department, we must know what we’re doing! Fair enough. Either way, I just hope I do things right considering how little I actually understand.

Picture Albums on Ofoto

Here are the links to 5 photo albums I've created. I'll be updating them regularly and adding more of them to this post, so check back here regularly!

http://www.kodakgallery.com/BrowsePhotos.jsp?&collid=951000068205&page=1&sort_order=0

http://www.kodakgallery.com/BrowsePhotos.jsp?&collid=489799958205&page=1&sort_order=0

http://www.kodakgallery.com/BrowsePhotos.jsp?&collid=834889958205&page=1&sort_order=0

http://www.kodakgallery.com/BrowsePhotos.jsp?&collid=747089958205&page=1&sort_order=0

http://www.kodakgallery.com/BrowsePhotos.jsp?&collid=747089958205&page=1&sort_order=0

http://www.kodakgallery.com/BrowsePhotos.jsp?&collid=764913528205&page=1&sort_order=0

Breast Cancer

I have not heard of many women with breast cancer in this country. In fact, it's pretty rare in countries were over-processed food (like fast food) has not yet spread. There has been some interesting research linking cancer (particularly breast cancer) to the "fast food" countries. But this entry isn't about research or statistics or the lack of breast cancer in Cape Verde. This is about a woman, my neighbor in Sao Domingos, who lost her battle with the disease last week.

Francesca, has three children (ages 10, 12, 17). These kids have been taking care of their mother for the past year and a half. She has been bedridden for that long, after returning from a masectomy in Portugal. She is a very good friend of my family, so I spent time at her bedside speaking with her and spending time with her. Her children were my friends. I spent time practicing English with them and they helped me with my Creole. Her children are incredibly wonderful and strong. I attended the visitation (with the family, which is different than in the states) where I got to see the children and talk with them a bit. I'm not sure what will happen to them now, but I do know that Cape Verde is a wonderfully community-oriented place. The children will be well taken care of here by my family and others.

This blog entry is a tribute to this woman, who, by the time I knew her had gone from a vivacious mother to a skeleton of a woman. She is survived by some wonderful kids that I am glad I know. The picture: Junior, the 10 year old son of Francesca.

The market

I have discovered that shopping at the open-air market on the Plateau is far better than shopping at the local mini-markets or larger grocery stores, at least for veggies and fish and the herbs. The open-air market has about 200 vendors, all women. The main part of the market is veggies, these are in the center. On the sides of the market are the fish and meat vendors (these areas are a little scary, but they sell excellent fresh TUNA for a very, very good price). The very center of the market is where you can get fresh herbs.

I have visited the market on several occasions and have found lots of exciting things. Just this morning, I bought beautiful green leafy lettuce (they don't have iceberg lettuce, thank goodness), 6 georgeous/homegrown tomatoes, 2 onions, 2 huge green onions (they are very different here than our small bunches of scallions in the states), 1 head of garlic, and 1 cucumber. I got all of this for a mere 340 escudos (about $3.10, US). And from another woman, I purchased 4 carrots and she threw in a zuchini because I am from Sao Domingos and so is she!!! Sweet. I love the perks of knowing people in this town. I have two women that I buy from on a regular basis because they give me a good deal and I know they aren't trying to hike up the prices because I'm an American. AND, if they don't have what I'm looking for, they will walk me over to one of their friends and ask her to help me with what I need. Now that's helpful. I also have a woman in the fresh herbs section that helps me out! It's really nice to get everything I need to cook dinner at the market and it's fun to see the ladies. They always ask me how I am and give me kissed on the cheeks. It makes my day to head up to the market because I get to practice my Crioulu and I am meeting lots of nice women there.

Okay, that's all for now. Just thought I'd fill you in on my latest, greatest pleasure in life. Txau, ti logo.

Just kidding... (REVISED)

I spoke toooo soon. My ipod is acting CRAZY, so I am trying to get Ipod to be sympathetic to a poor/sad Peace Corps volunteer and fix my Ipod for me. It is freezing, stopping, skipping, and doing all sorts of other odd things at this moment, so I SPOKE TOO SOON. Feel sorry for me again, please!!!!!!!!!!!

Ignore the below post:

A miracle has occurred. After 5 days of no music, I walked into the Peace Corps office Saturday afternoon to file a formal complaint online with Ipod. My friend and fellow volunteer Sarin was here and he asked to look at the device. After approximately 30 seconds he said, "what exactly is the problem?" All of my music was there just as it had been.

Okay, before you all get angry and upset because I didn't really lose my music and you sent or are sending things to me, just think, you can enhance my music collection, just as I requested some time back.

I am relieved to say the very least and excited to get my music back. Please send on anything you were planning to send. I'd love to hear new stuff.

Sorry for the panic! It's been 5 really long days without my tunes! Thanks for all of the support and kindness during this time of need!

Buses

An extremely common form of transportation in Praia is the bus (autocarro). The buses cost 28 escudo, which is MUCH cheaper than public transportation in the states (at Penn State it was $1.25 each trip, here it is about 25 cents). The buses here are usually packed because everyone uses them to get from place to place. It also takes a long time at each stop because each person has to pay the driver. The driver (conductor) is responsible for receiving all money and giving change. So, this can be a lengthy process. I tell you all of this not to comment on the expense or overcrowding of public transport, rather because something rather wonderful happens just about every time I get on a bus. When the bus is at the point of “standing room only” and a young child gets on a bus with his/her parent, someone will inevitably take the child into his/her lap while the parent stands. Parents think nothing of giving their children to complete strangers on the bus. People are generally happy to have little kids sit with them as a way to ensure the child is safe. I can’t imagine being in the US and seeing this happen. No parent in the states would allow a complete stranger to hold his/her child, no matter how kind the gesture seems.

This kind of thing reminds me of the sense of community Cape Verdeans have. They really have a sense of what it means to help a fellow community member, even in big cities like Praia. People here think nothing of helping one another when needed. Women get on buses with their daily wares from the market and the bus drivers or other patrons get out of the bus and help them with their buckets and bags and jugs. This is just normal. My roommate Dianne never, ever has to stand on a crowded bus. Because of her age, someone always offers her their seat, without fail. People here are thoughtful and helpful. Maybe that’s what happens when you live in a place where life is stripped down to the essentials. People here aren’t talking on cell phones or listening to ipods or emailing people on their Blackberries. Cape Verdeans are talking to one another even when they don’t know each other. They tell jokes on the buses and ask you questions about where you’re going and if you need help. Things are just different here and I am getting really used to the “difference.”