Sorry..

I recently received a post on my blog from my cat, Jackson. Apparently I have been really neglecting my blog if my cat, who I just discovered can READ, is upset with me. Also, several friends have commented on my neglect, so I will attempt to make up for all the time away. I have lots of new pictures to share and stories to tell!

You will see some pictures of me on this posting. Two are of me and my friend Darrell. He is another Peace Corps volutneer here in Mindelo! I just thought I'd give him a little shout on my blog. He's been having to make some hard decisions lately, so I've spent a lot of time with him in the past weeks. The other photos are just pictures of yours truly! My mom always tells me to post pictures of myself, so she can see that I am alive and well... I am. One of the photos was taken for my MOM (the first one I think). It is a picture me wearing the shirt she sent me for Christmas. Thanks Mom... I love you.

As for my not writing, things have been crazy over the holidays and then afterward as well. I believe I wrote about there not being any flights leaving the islands because of the brumaseca winds from the Sahara. Well, we were supposed to be headed to Praia for a meeting with all of the volunteers, but because of the winds, we were asked to go to Praia on the boat! There are 12 volunteers from our island and the island next door, so we purchased our boat tickets with great dreams of partying on the boat for 20 hours. Unfortunately, the conference was cancelled and we didn't get to enjoy the boat ride. So, everyone stayed in town and we all partied for 3 days! It was a good substitute for the boat trip!

Happy New Year

Happy 2007! I am sorry it's been a while since I last posted, but around New Year's my life was filled with houseguests and parties. I have a lot of new pictures to post now that I have a new digital camera, but of course, my pin drive is at the photo shop! I had some pictures developed and they kept my pin drive to do the work, so I will run over there and try to get it back. Things seem to always take longer than expected around here, but I'm used to it.

The latest news is that I will be flying to the states on January 30th. I have my job interview on February 1st and 2nd and then will get to spend a very little bit of time with the family before heading back here to finish out the semester and begin a new semester. I am hopeful that all will go well with the flights. I just learned today that no flights have left the island in 3 days because the winds from the Sahara have placed a huge dust cloud over the islands making flying an impossibility. So the entire city looks like it's in a big fog (for days now). We are supposed to head to Praia for a conference this next week but things aren't looking so great for that. Let's just hope that the dust has lifted by the 30th! Okay, pictures are on the way.

a christmas eve well spent

This morning, on the Eve of Christmas Eve, I was invited to deliver clothing to some people in need. My student Sandra is a teacher at the Basic English School here in Mindelo. The Basic English School is run by a Nazarene Church, Bom Pastor. At this school, young kids take English in their free time, which is pretty cool!

Sandra and another one of my students, Auxiliadora collected clothing and taught the kids “We wish you a Merry Christmas” in English. Before giving out the clothes, the television crew came and filmed us singing our Christmas carol and a few other songs. The kids spent some time exchanging their own gifts too.

We went to what Sandra had described as a “very poor” part of the city. She said the houses were made of “lata,” which means metal cans. So, I was expecting poverty, but not like what I saw. The houses were about 15X15 and houses families of people. The house was made of metal and pieced together by nails and wire. I was devastated when I got there. I know that people out in the countryside are poor, but they have the land to live off of. These people are living in the city and have nothing. They were running up to us from all sides trying to get things. They were kind and gracious, but so very sad. No one had shoes. It was like a lost group of people. They were out of town by just enough to be forgotten. There is not water there, no electricity, nothing.

Thankfully, Cape Verde doesn’t have a winter. If we did, there would be no way for these people to survive. Cape Verde often times seems to have just enough money to make things look pretty on the outside. Even the poorest people here are able to dress nicely and cover up their poverty. However when you go to people’s homes like these, it makes you realize how much we don’t see on a daily basis.

Later in the day, I was invited to two different Christmas Eve dinners. So, needless to say, I was completely stuffed when I finally got home at 2 am! People eat very, very late here to welcome in Christmas Day. I was so fortunate to spend my time with two great families!

Then, the next morning, I woke up alone for the 2nd year in a row on Christmas. It was sad, but not as sad as last year! My Christmas day was spent with Dave and Darrell, the two other PC volunteers. We cooked a dinner and shared a little time together. Then I just spent some time alone! It was a relaxing day.

INTERVIEW

HELLO! I have an interview with the University of Southern Mississippi! YEAH! I just spoke with their Department Chair. We scheduled the 1st and 2nd of February for the interview! I am SOOOO excited. Please wish me luck. Send me good vibes and prayers!

Santa Luzia de terra

On Sunday, I got to hike to a new spot on the island! The place is in a valley behind the town of Calhau. We hiked over a ridge and started to head up the valley. On the way, it was sprinkling! It was crazy that just a few minutes up and out of town, we felt raindrops. Further up the valley, we encountered greenery! There were some big trees, Mangoes and such. There was a HUGE almond tree! That's right, an almond tree. So, we collected a ton of them. I didn't know that almonds look like figs when they are on the tree. Then you can eat the sweet outside and get to the shell. Then you can crack the shell and eat the almond!

So, we sat and used rocks to beat the almond shells open (very hunter-gatherer of us). And we hit the ripe ones out of the trees with sticks. I got them all home and decided to make "doce" out of the outer part. Doce means jam, basically. So, I boiled the fruit, got the sweet part, then cooked it down with sugar and added fresh lemon and orange juices. It tastes wonderful! It was my first time making any sort of jam. It's great. I have more to make and give away as Christmas gifts! I am sooo excited.

Well, my friend Ceasar (the one who saved my life), took some pictures. Once he gets them to me, I'll post them! Since my camera was stolen, I am pretty bummed that I can't get great photos anymore! Boo! :(

seriously, seriously

This is an installment in the completely insane life of Casey Maugh. It's always something. Never anything major, but always something completely unexpected and annoying. This time it was a break in. A man came into our house this morning at about 4:30. I went to bed early and Elizabeth was still up and on the phone, so I didn't think to shut the back door on the porch, neither did Elizabeth. We always lock that door at night, but of course, last night we didn't.

Elizabeth woke up at about 5 when she heard a noise and saw a flashlight. She thought it was me and that the power was out or something. Then she went to the bathroom, then woke me up. She asked me if I were walking around. I said no! Then she said, I think our computers are gone. GREAT! A man had entered the house, stolen Elizabeth's computer which was in the living room. Then he started to search the house. The drawers to my desk had been removed and the contents carefully inspected. Elizabeth's purse was in the office and money had been taken, but the kind thief left everything else. Unfortunately, Elizabeth's camera was also in her purse, so that's gone. We looked around the house to see if anything else was missing. We talked for a while, then I went to my room and realized that my ipod and camera were gone. That means the man came into my room and took those things! OHMYGOSH! Then I was completely freaked out, seriously freaked. I was fortunate enough to have been watching a film in my room last night and placed the computer underneath my bed, so the guy was apparently not brave enough to take that!

What a horrible way to wake up in the morning. We just feel so violated. I am now fearful that he knows there is another computer in the house and will return. I am hopeful that he's not that bold, but he did steal things from right next to me when I was sleeping! We will certainly be more vigilant about the doors and windows from now on. Unfortunately, this is the same time of year that my wallet was stolen last year. Near Christmas time, crimes really, really rise. People get desperate for money for the holidays and do crazy things. Let's just hope that things calm down in my life here in Cape Verde. I've never had such excitement in my life before. And to be honest, I don't like it.

It's finally over!

World AIDS day is on Friday, December 1st! If there is any way you can get involved with your local community, then please do! This is a really important day in Africa because, as most of you know, the AIDS rate here is far higher than most of the rest of the world, outside of India!

As I wrote before, the Peace Corps volunteers here on Sao Vicente coordinated a contest with the local cultural center and the office for childrens affairs. We asked all of the students in the 5 local high schools to submit one idea about AIDS that could be made into a one act play!

Last night, we had our ceremony to announce the 4 finalists and 1 overall winner. The ceremony went perfectly. We had two of our local partners speak, then we showed two short movies about AIDS and finally announced the winners. We had the winning student read her submission to the audience. It was a very special night. We were able to give the winner a big prize. She will have her school tuition paid next year as well as her uniforms and books. This a big cost for Cape Verdeans since education is only free until 7th grade. We also had books donated from a local book store and the Mormon church provides tote bags with 3 notebooks, pens, pencils, a ruler, colored pencils, and more! They provided enough bags for each student who submitted an idea! It was great to be able to give everyone something for participating.

The school directors (principals) all showed up, as well as the finalists' teachers, the parents of the students, and all the participants. We also had the news media there and our story will be on TV tonight! We don't have a television, but we are getting some friends to tape it so that we can watch it later. I have teach during the news hour, so I won't even be able to catch it!

It was a rewarding experience to see it all come together in the end. I am thankful it is over. I am even more thankful that it was a success. And I am even more thankful that AIDS awareness happened in a new and creative way!

Some pictures of me!

I just got a bunch of pictures from my friend Tiffany, so I thought I'd post some so that you can all see ME!

Beautiful picture

My student Michel made this collage after the ISE festa! I think it is just beautiful. It includes all of the students. At the bottom, is the English department soccer team. We, unfortunately, did not win the ISE tournament, but they had fun playing! Remember, if you click on it, you can see it better!

Nuno's birthday

My student, Nuno, had his 28th birthday party on Sunday. So, after staying awake for 2 days (Thanksgiving festivities), I had yet another obligation! It was a really nice party at his family's house. He was a great host, as were his parents. They killed a pig and we had wonderful pork skewer and such. We sat outside underneath the tree in his front yard and played cards and oril (a local game kind of like mancala). My student Simon played me in Mancala 3 times and managed to completely destroy any notions I had about being good at oril! He is a great player.

There was music and some dancing, as well as the presentation of the cake. His mother brought out a beautiful cake and then it disappeared! I never even got any. The boys from the class decided to play a little joke on Nuno, so they bought eggs and flour and decided to make a bolu de cabeca. This literally translates as a cake of the head. So, you can imagine what happened. As he was posing for pictures and we were singing to him, they smashed the eggs on his head and then dumped flour on him. It was funny. The funniest part about it was that two of the guys put their eggs in their pockets earlier in the day and they each managed to lean on the egg, which broke in their pants. I think that was karma, for sure!

The day ended about 6 with me being too tired to continue. Luckily, the party was winding down, so I didn't feel too bad leaving. Another student, Arcadio gave us a ride. Apparently, Elizabeth had arranged for him to stop by his house so they could try some of his "good" grogue. In my opinion, there is no such thing as good grogue. The rum here is soooo bad. So, we did that. I didn't partake! I learned that Arcadio is a music composer. He played some music for us of his work and we got to see his name in the liner notes! That was pretty great. I have such interesting students; I learn new things about them all the time!

Thanksgiving on Saturday

Since it would have been difficult to coordinate a Thanksgiving dinner on Thursday, we decided to invite all of the volunteers to our home on Saturday. It was a great day. Everyone contributed something wonderful to eat. We had a turkey that Elizabeth made. It was the best turkey I've ever had! It was marinated for a long time and cooked to perfection. It was a rather small bird, but it fed us all and we are still enjoying leftovers. I made some lemon chicken and little lemon icebox pies (you can see them if you click on the first picture). I didn't have a pie plate, so I just made little individuals in little cupcake papers. Our friends made: mashed potatoes, gravy, dressing, baked beans, potato salad, squash, collard greens, salad, twice-baked potatoes, apple pie, pumpkin pie, spice cake, chocoloate cake, chocolate mousse, and deviled eggs! It was a great time and the food was excellent. We have some wonderful chefs in the group, so it all went wonderfully!

Agriculture in Cape Verde

Last Friday, I got to go to a few special places with the Delegate for Agriculture in Sao Vicente. The Delegate is a very young woman with with a lot of wonderful knowledge about the situation with water and planting on this island. Elizabeth and I met up with her in the morning, and she took us for a ride to the water treatment area in Mindelo. It's not too far from our neighborhood! At this treatment facility they treat all the grey and black water from the houses in Mindelo. She told us that they have one of the few oxygen/sun treatment programs. What that means is that the dirty/yucky water from people is run into a series of big holes in the ground. These pools are pumped with oxygen and the sun does its work to break down the waste. There are a series of 7 or 8 pools. The water starts in one of these and stays there for 5 days then is moved to the next pool, then the next and so on. By the time the water gets to the final pool, it is ready to be used on crops. This is an amazing system because it is relatively cheap and makes sense for a place with no water. They have the potential to use desalinization but the system is very expensive to run and maintain, even though they have it! That's a frustrating thing, but the system they are using works relatively well. The major problem is that the farmers outside of the cities can't afford to get the water carried to their farms.

The most successful farming area is the area near the treatment plant... of course. They have a pipeline that runs 7 kilometers to deposit water in holding tanks. The water is then used for drip irrigation of the crops. We went to this farming area and learned that there are 98 associations who have access to plots of this land and the water. The local government gives out the land to deserving farmers or groups, but the land cannot be worked by companies! This way the local people have access to good land and good water and a good system for money making.

Our next stop was to drive past the island's dump! It was awful. They burn all of the trash that comes in from the city. They do not have another way to dispose of it, and the current method is harmful to the environment. All of the metal and glass gets pushed off to the side and just sits there. In Cape Verde, luckily, there is little excess packaging, but that is changing, which will eventually create a HUGE problem for trash management. Also, the glass bottles are widely used rather than cans, but there is no one recycling or collecting them, so they end up at the dump and just take up space. A recycling facility would be really wonderful, but we haven't gotten there yet. That's a minor priority compared to finding water and educating the population.

Finally, we drove out to Calhau to a cheese making cooperation. There is a coop building there where women bring their goat's milk to make cheese. The women then send the cheese into Mindelo to be sold at the stores! I have only eaten it and purchased it in a store, so this was a real treat. It was great to get to meet one of the women and hear her talk about the process and the project. This too is a center built by the local government for these women to develop their small enterprise!

It was a wonderful way to spend a morning. I learned so much! I am waiting to get a call to visit the biologist who works at that water treatment facility. They have a wonderful greenhouse where they grow seedlings to use in the city and sell to individuals. I want to explore that more and spend some time learning about planting in Cape Verde.

Pictures from the ISE festa

ISE's 7th Anniversary

Last night was ISE’s 7th anniversary. The festivities began at about 5:30 in the evening. They included a huge sound system in our little courtyard area where student sang and performed various types of music. One of my students from the English department sang my favorite Cape Verdean song, which was wonderful. There is a great band made up of students from ISE. They played most of the time. After they played, a duo of “hip hop” performers came on, crotch grabbing and all! Then the final act was a heavy metal band that played knockin’ on heavens door! Kind of strange to hear such music here!

While the music was happening, Elizabeth and I were dancing with our students, have a good old time. Our students told us to come with them! They had that look in their eye that they were getting into trouble, so Elizabeth and I happily followed. We left the courtyard and we all huddled in a big group (our 25 students and us). They broke out a bottle of ponche and passed it around for everyone to drink. Ponche is a sort of liquor. This particular ponche was made with grogue (the sugarcane rum that Cape Verde is well know for), honey, lemons, cinnamon, and cloves. Ponche de mel is my favorite, so I was happy for the little pull on the bottle. Then the small amount we had ran dry, so they decided to take us on an educational field trip to a little shop around the corner where they sell some special mixture of ponche de mel! We had a great time with them as they explained how to choose the right kind and how they make this particular ponche. Very good. Very educational, indeed!

We returned to the party after purchasing and drinking more. We danced and danced and then it was time for arroz con tudo (rice with everything). The rice was excellent and filling and a boost for more dancing. At the end of the party, everyone decided to go to the beach, so I tagged along. They brought guitars and we sang songs and just sat on the beach enjoying the cool night weather. I got a ride home from one of my students with a car.

Looking back on a night like that, I realize how blessed I am to have such wonderful students and friends here in Cape Verde.

First interview

I had a phone interview with the Department Chair at the University of Southern Mississippi on Tuesday! It was an hour long interview/conversation! I truly enjoyed the experience and am hoping for an on-campus interview in January! Keep your fingers crossed for me.

flip flops

I recently had to go to the hospital for an X ray on my broken pinky toe. I noticed something very interesting while I was there. All of the nurses and orderlies were wearing flip flops. They had on their blue scrubs with the same blue flip flops, which makes me think they are standard issue! This was very interesting to me considering the fact that the hospitals here are pretty bare and pretty dirty. The folks who work there deal with all kinds of crazy things and they presumably have to move heavy bodies and deal with bodily fluids. Flip flops just don’t seem like the right choice for hospital employees. The doctors don’t wear flip flops, which is also strange since everyone else does.

In our hospitals and doctors offices in the states our nurses and doctors wear specially made shoes for back support and such. They are very particular about their shoes because they are standing on their feet all day and doing strenuous work (sometimes). Things are different here, in so many ways…

mount cara from afar

Here is a picture of the mountain from far away, you can see the nose! Also, if you look back to the "Harbor in Mindelo" post with the pictures from the harbor with all the boats, you will see Mount cara in the backgroud, giving you a sense of how high it is.

I almost died yesterday

After I broke my toe on halloween, my Grandaddy emailed me to tell me that I need to find myself a "keeper." He said that I was always getting into something and need someone to look after me. Well, he is completely RIGHT.

Yesterday, I went hiking. The hike was to one of the highest points on the island, the nose of Mount Cara (mount face). It was a great hike, but by far the most dangerous one I've been on. For those of you who know me, you know that I have hiked all over the US and the world. I thought that hiking in Peru was the scariest, but now that has been topped. We began our ascent at 6:30am. The sun was coming up over the city. As you can see in the photos, the harbor of Mindelo is beautiful from that height. We hiked about 3 hours to the "top" or the nose of the mountain. The terrain was mostly all loose gravel and about 3 foot ledges with 200 foot drops. So, we were carefully making our way around and up the mountain. I was with a group of 8

others who are very good hikers. They were lots of fun. We made it to the summit where we relaxed and hung out. I was the first to the top, so I was named the winner and the best "cabrita" (which means little girl goat). I went up to the peak with no problems. The top was great and there is a message bottle there where you write down your name and the date you made it up! I got to write first, which was the big honor!

The trip back down, like many descents, can be more daunting. Looking down toward the bottom makes you realize how far up you are! Well, when we were about an hour away from the bottom, we were walking on a narrow ledge. There was a big rock wall on one side that we were holding on to as we crossed about a 1 foot path. The person in front of me stepped out, then I stepped in the same place. Unfortunately for me, the gravel gave way and I fell. Unfortunately, there wasn't much room to slide, so I slid, dug my fingernails in and like on the cartoons, I finally stopped just short of falling 200 feet to my death. My legs were hanging off the side of the rock, I was only held by my fingers. The man behind me, Ceasar, got to me when I stopped. He jerked me up by my arm and I am now here to type about this. Well, barely. I can't move my arm, the one that he jerked. I have about a million cuts and scrapes and bruises on my legs, arms, head, etc. BUT, I am alive.

That was the closest to death I have ever come. Seriously. I am not joking. I couldn't sleep last night because I kept replaying the scene in my head. I almost died. I am so thankful that I didn't. I am blessed....

shoes

Oh happy day! I may not have written about my buying a pair of cheap sandals, wearing them once and having them break. Well, I took them to get repaired. After a couple of days of this, I got them, all fixed. The guy who repaired them put them in a bag and I headed to the media center to do some work. Naturally, because I can be absent-minded, I forgot the bag at the media center! Great. So, I returned the following morning and no one seemed to know about it. I returned for several days and talked to several different employees. No one had any information. That was about 4 weeks ago. Today, I ran into the center to do a little work in the air conditioning (it is still about 1 million degrees here, I think it's getting hotter), and the guy who works there came right up to me to tell me he had my bag!!!!!!!!!!! YEAH! So, I got my shoes back. Now I can wear them for the second time. This time they are repaired and should be better! What a life I lead here in the underdeveloped world! I swear, I'm not helping with development, I'm just becoming Cape Verdean and being so laid back about things that I forget my head!

And, since I wrote this blog posting, I wore my new, newly repaired, newly found shoes down the street to a school. On the 200 yard walk back, one of the shoes began to come apart on a different spot. I guess it’s back to the repair guy again! I can’t give up on these shoes, now they have a story to tell!

movie night

As a continuation of our conversation night with our students, we held our first English movie night. It was quite a production, let me tell you. It began with a friend loaning me a projector. Well, I hooked up my computer and nothing happened. I spent the better part of my Sunday pleading with the computer and projector to communicate with one another. I did everything I knew how to do, but NOTHING. So, I called two of my students to get them involved in this mess. They came over and knew less than I did. In fact, one of them said, “well, you’re just supposed to hook it up and it’s supposed to work.” Yes, thank you for the highly technical advice! So, then we commissioned another student to bring her DVD player. Her husband came and we got it working, then all the sudden, the cable that connected the player to the projector decided to start causing problems. Then, we commissioned yet another student to bring his DVD player. Of course, we forgot to mention the kind of cable needed, and he brought the wrong thing. Really we just needed the cable anyway! So, then he went back home (luckily he lives in the neighborhood) and returned to save the day with the correct wire! We were in business finally!

We showed the movie Crash! We figured it would be a good film for discussion. It certainly was. Our students thought it was powerful and great. They had lots of interesting things to say about it. They also had lots of questions about it. The major idea that came out of the film from their point of view was that violence is everywhere. They also commented on the fact that they idealize America. We talked about how people have these ideas about what America is and that life in America is “easy.” Cape Verdeans have this image of the states as some great wonderland. We talked about racism in America and the class system. They agreed that they really don’t have an idea about what America is “really” like. I thought it was a wonderful way to start a discussion!

Any suggestions for our next film night????

My plants

My dear wonderful plants are just growing and growing. I am certain that the veggies I’ve planted and replanted will again need more space when they begin producing their fruit. The cucumbers have had a little difficulty, as they seem to have acquired a fungus of some sort. I have tried to use a bit of warm soapy water to rid them of this affliction. That did nothing but make it worse. Then I heard from someone that I should rub the bad spots with alcohol, so I did that. That just made the leaves die. So, now I’m leaving it to nature. They seem to be surviving and even some of the cucumber plants are thriving.

Luckily, the remainder of my garden is fine. No bugs, fungus, or problems as of yet. Many of my little guys are in need of replanting to bigger pots. I am working on that project, but I must buy more soil. Soil, good soil, is somewhat expensive when you’re working with such a small budget, so I am working on that project.

I’ve immensely enjoyed gardening so far. I sit in my sunroom often and read and work on my computer and talk to my plants! They seem to like it, and I definitely enjoy the quite time with them. Gardening has proven to be rewarding and relaxing. I’m posting some photos here, so that you can see how big their getting and how many things I’ve gotten started!

my house...finally

click on the photos...

to make them bigger

Santo Antao Pics

Here are 3 great shots from Santo Antao.

Brian - this is what you have to look foward to when you come visit! Everyone else, just look what you're missing.

Monte Verde

These are good photos from the top of Monte Verde. The view from up there is amazing. What a beautiful island. In the first picture Elizabeth caught me looking away!

My undies on display

Elizabeth decided to take a snapshot of our colorful clothesline! She just couldn't resist a photo of my underwear on display for our neighbors!

The harbor in Mindelo

These images are of the harbor in Mindelo! Pretty nice huh? All of the sailboats are coming through this time of year, so the water is filled with beautiful yachts!

pictures of the mindelo crew

The first is of Elizabeth and me in our office! The second is Elizabeth, David, me, and Darrell at dinner the other night.

MANDA

I just got a post on my blog from AMANDA. Amanda, if you read this, send me an email to my address: caseymaugh AT gmail DOT com. Anyone else who reads this can also send me email at that address as well! But, Manda, I can’t get an email out to you, so you email me first! Okay?

Conversation Night

On Sunday night, we invited our students over for our first “Conversation Night.” Elizabeth came up with idea to have a night where people could come to our home and practice their English. Our first event went pretty well. We didn’t really know what or who to expect, so we didn’t really plan for the event. Next time, I think we’ll talk a little more about topics to discuss! We weren’t exactly prepared. Well, it didn’t matter much because our student Otelindo came through with his guitar! He managed to play a bunch of song with English lyrics and we all sang along with him. It was great. Elizabeth had recently received a song book that contained lyrics of a lot of popular songs to use in the TEFL classroom. Otelindo knew a lot of those songs, so everyone gathered around the lyric book and just sang and sang! It was fun. We had students start dancing at the end (which is not surprising in Cape Verde).

After a couple of hours we invited everyone to come to watch a film with us at a local center. The film was about Sao Paulo, Brazil. It was interesting, although I didn’t understand a lot of what was said. Brazilian Portuguese is quite different from the Portuguese of Portugal, so that was a little difficult. Elizabeth purchased the film, so I am watch it with the subtitles on next time, which will help tremendously. My reading skills are much better than my listening skills!

Halloween

Today is Halloween, so happy Halloween! In Mindelo, Halloween is for adults. There are no little kids dressed up in costumes going from door to door for a chance at candy to rot out their teeth! Instead, Mindelo, because there is a holiday on November 1st, heads out and parties all night long. So that on All Saint’s Day, everyone is hung over and tired. I intend to go out tonight with a big group of my new students. They are having a party at one of the clubs, and I have been invited. Everyone dresses either in all black or all white (witches and ghosts). It is a fairly new tradition, and I am happy to participate in it! I’ll fill you in on how it goes.

Okay, so Halloween has come and gone. Going out with my students was really fun minus the two “bad” things that happened. First, I was standing in the road waiting for some friends and waiting to get into the club when a guy walked into me! He had on big boots of some sort. He giant feet ran into my flip flopped feet, which meant that his boots won! He broke my baby toe! It’s disgusting now. It’s complete black and blue and it hurts a lot.
Second, I lost my house key. That wouldn’t have been so dramatic, except I got home at 5:30 and Elizabeth was asleep. There was no waking her up. She sleeps like a rock and can’t hear all that well, so I didn’t even try. Not to mention the fact that I was the idiot who lost the key, so why should she have to wake up for me. So, after trying some pretty feeble ways of getting into the house, I looked up and noticed that I could probably break into my house through an open window. Now, we live on the second floor, so this included me scaling the side of the house, getting onto a ledge and then jumping up into the window! It was a little insane, but I was tired, my toe was broken and I just wanted to get to bed.
So, Halloween was great! No really. I got to dance with my students, hang out in town and see everyone walking around. It was all-in-all excellent, regardless of the toe and key mishaps. You know, it’s always something around here.

My first visitor

On February 22nd, I will have my first visitor! Brian, my friend since high school will be visiting me. I cannot tell you how absolutely excited I am. I will get to show off my town to someone special to me. I will also get to spend time with Brian, which is a huge deal. You see, I haven’t seen Brian for nearly 10 years. We have been in touch with one another but I have not actually laid eyes on him for about a decade. It’s crazy that we finally get to reunite in Africa! But, I couldn’t be happier about this visit. It will be so nice to have someone that I care about come see me.
So, now you all must decide whether you want to come to Cape Verde. Time is running short. I’ll be leaving here in just a little over 9 months! I’d welcome anyone who wants to come. The ticket is reasonably priced and you won’t spend much money while you’re here. It’s pretty cheap in these parts! Well, I expect you to consider the invitation, seriously. When else are you going to have the chance to stay in Africa, for free, with me? Okay, well if you don’t come, then just make it up to me by sending care packages! The second year is much more lonely than the first! I know it seems impossible, but all I want is a HUG from someone! Just some comfort and love! It gets hard to be so far away from everything that is familiar.

Darrell's back!

There are four volunteers living in the city of Mindelo. Darrell, one of us, had to return to America just a month after getting here. His grandmother died, so he headed back to the states for a 15 day trip. Tonight, we had a dinner to celebrate his return. It was great to have our family together again. When you live in a city filled with people speaking a different language and living in a different cultural reality, it’s nice to know that there are other Americans around to share with. So, being with Darrell tonight along with Elizabeth and David made our foursome complete. Our family felt solid and everything was right in the world tonight.

Darrell also brought back some MUSIC! I am so excited. He gave me copies of the new Outkast, John Mayer, John Legend, Lupe Fiasco, and Jamie Cullum. All are excellent. I already have them on my computer and headed onto my Ipod! I can’t tell you how sweet it is to have new tunes to rock! Ooooooh Sooooo Good. After dinner, we headed to the theatre to check out a play. Unfortunately there were more people there than I have seen in one place in this country! We tried to get tickets earlier in the day, but the theatre was closed, so we risked just going without. We figured that the theatre would be as it normally is…empty. Apparently Saturday night is the night to be out and about and check out the latest cultural event. Well, needless to say, I’m back at home on a Saturday night typing about my life on this computer! I’m pretty lame, but I’m okay with that!

Tomorrow night we will have another chance to check it out. We also have our first English conversation group meeting tomorrow at 5pm. Our conversation group is a chance for people to spend time speaking in English. We will show films some weeks and have readings. This week is our first, so we are just planning to have some talking points and maybe get a debate going. I’ll let you know how it goes.

A job!

The University of Southern Mississippi is hiring a new faculty member for the Fall of 2007. I just found out about this excellent opportunity and decided to apply. The job is a tenure-track position as the Director of their newly opened Speaking Center. The position entails running the center as well as teaching a little. I am super excited that I found out about this job, and as of yesterday, I completed my part of the application. I am having my letters of recommendation sent by three fabulous folks that I have worked with in the past! I can’t tell you how much I hope I get this job. I know that I am in Africa and so I may not be the easiest candidate to interview and such, but I will do everything I can to get this job. Working in Hattiesburg, the city of my birth will be great. Living close to my family and friend will be wonderful and something I haven’t done in a LONG time. Please pray, think good thoughts, send me energy, whatever you do to job… please do that! I am positive that I have a great shot at this position. I am well qualified and really want it, so that should play in my favor! Wish me well

The view from my roof!

Pretty sweet view huh?

World AIDS day project

I’m happy to report that my friend David approached me with a great idea for a project. World AIDS day is December 1st, and we wanted to do something. David told me that he had been thinking of doing a contest amongst the high school students to get them to write an idea for a short play. We would then have them judged and choose a winner whose idea would be turned into a script and performed at the March Theatre Month in Mindelo! So, we got it going. With the help of my roommate Elizabeth and the Cultural Centre of Mindelo and the Delegation for Youth in Mindelo, we have written a letter to the high school directors asking for their help with our project! It’s very exciting. David and I met with 2 directors this morning who were receptive and very helpful. We’ll meet the other 3 on Monday and get together with the teachers to have them talk with their students about our idea.

This is such a great project for World AIDS day. We have been promised funding my the Cultural Centre of Mindelo to produce the entire play. The Delegation for youth is helping us with the materials and planning and their director, Jandier has helped us with phone calls and contacts! It’s been spectacular to see this project come together in just under a week! Everyone in Mindelo is so helpful and excited to support our ideas. I can’t believe how nice it is to be able to have an idea realized with relatively little effort. Wonderful, just wonderful.

Santo Antoa

This past weekend was Allison’s birthday party! It was in Paul on the island of Santo Antao, so I took the 45 minute boat ride across the ocean to get there. Then took an hour long car ride to Paul! I got there on Saturday morning, and then we waited around forever for folks to show up. You see, the party was not at Ali’s house, rather it was out in the ribera (a ravine). The people we were waiting didn’t show, so we went on to the location. The Camara (local townhall) has a beautiful party spot up there. They have a swimming pool, which they filled for us. There is a grill area, bathrooms, soccer fields, camping areas and a dancing space. It is super sweet. Ali killed a pig for the event, so there was plenty of meat to grill and other food was prepared for us! There were about 150 people there. It was quite a party! It started at about 2 in the afternoon, and people just trickled in until about 9:00 when we headed for the house. We decided to head into the slowly filling pool after dark. It wasn't completely filled, so we got to do a little slip-n-sliding in the bottom of the pool. It was really fun.

Unfortunately, things took a turn for the worst after the pool part started. The birthday girl got in a fight with a guy who stole a bag of the pork meat. Then he retaliated by unplugging the lights that he brought. At that exact moment, a woman was walking down some stairs, the lights went out, she fell about 8 feet onto her face. Her teeth were knocked out! And a woman who is 7 months pregnant slipped in the pool at that moment as well. Then, I got out to get my clothes and someone had stolen them, as well a couple of other people’s clothes! GREAT! BUT, I wasn’t hurt, so I was the least affected by the light drama!

The party was a great success and it was really fun to meet new people. I got to see my newest thesis advisee as well. He is a professor at the high school in Paul and he left ISE without completing his thesis in 1999. So, now that I am in Mindelo he can have me as an advisor. I’m happy to help!

Oh! My plants are doing so beautifully. I just transferred cucumbers, squash, and zucchini to larger planters! They are getting huge and close to flowering. I’m super excited. All of my other plants have come up. I now have about 30 different cups of baby plants that are getting strong. They are loving my sun room! I am soooo thrilled with them.

Crazy = No shoes

I had a startling revelation the other day as I was walking through the central part of Mindelo. I realized that any adult without shoes in the city is definitely crazy. This might seem obvious in the states. If someone were walking around without shoes, they’d have to be crazy. But, in Praia, people walk without shoes on occasionally and in the more rural parts of the islands it’s much more common to see adults who are shoeless. However, in Mindelo, a city of class and charm, no shoes equals some sort of mental problem. So, I have learned to look at people’s feet. That way I can avoid the shoeless folks!

My first class

Last night was my very first class in Mindelo! I met my students and got to know a little about them. They all seem quite wonderful and quite interesting. They remind me of my students in Praia in many ways. They have an enthusiasm for their education, and they are willing to try new things! I am teaching them a class called “Syllabus Design and Materials Evaluation.” Seeing as I am not an education specialist and know next to nothing about the theory of creating a syllabus or evaluating materials and textbooks and creating lesson plans, I am learning with my students. I am just one or two steps ahead of them. I certainly never expected to be teaching such a class. I was hoping to teach British Literature or something within my realm of knowledge, but I will accept this challenge!

Each year when school starts, I feel a certain sense of peace. I love school. I have always loved school. I love teaching, and now I feel like I am back in my groove. I’m happy to be able to help my students! I’ll certainly learn a lot this year. I can’t wait until my next class (even though it is from 8 until 10 pm)! I’ll let you know how it goes!

Yoga

Yoga!

At 5:45am, I headed out to a local park for yoga with my roommate Elizabeth. Her yoga class was great! There were 8 people there, which made for a nice group. Everyone there was new to the practice of yoga, but they were taking all the odd/awkward poses in stride. The atmosphere was excellent. The plaza is nice and flat and overlooks a very nice part of the city. There were a few raindrops when we began, but nothing much came of that. It was overcast and a nice breeze was blowing. I imagine it’s going to get a lot cooler here and more and more overcast as winter sets in on these Northern islands.

As we were practicing our yoga, people began strolling through, looking to see what we were up to. It wasn’t apparent that they had ever seen such a display. In fact, an old man with three dogs, came along and decided to watch for a while. Unfortunately, he had his hand-held radio with him that was blaring static for a bit. Then he realized after about 3 minutes that he wasn’t getting reception and tuned into an upbeat song that really threw off my balance!! But, it was fine to have people take note of something new and different. I am thankful to have the chance to have a good yoga teacher and a great space to do yoga.

Seedlings

I have now planted tons of different veggies and flowers! I have parsley, mint, marjoram, chives, tomatoes, marigolds, evening primrose, calendula, cucumbers, zucchini, and zinnias! And the best part is that things are sprouting. The cucumbers are the most aggressive. I just planted them on Saturday and as of Tuesday morning, there are about 20 sprouts that are each 1 inch high. Now, that’s power growth! I can’t believe them. They are incredible. My sunroom is just the perfect warm spot for the little guys to grow and flourish. I am now working on getting larger pots for them, which might be tricky, but I’ll see what I can do. On our roof there are wonderful old basins and things to grow in, but our landlord is a little picky about our using things, even though they aren’t in use! So, I’ll have to be resourceful. Maybe I can get someone to donate old buckets and such to me! We’ll see…

My house

I am posting a bunch of pictures of the inside of my house! We live on the top floor of a two story house. Our house is incredibly big. We have two rooms that don't use; we just keep them locked so that they don't get dirty. They serve as guest rooms when we actually have some guests. We did have two female volunteers from Benin stay in one of the rooms. They got in touch with us on a visit of our tiny little island! We met them for dinner and found out that while traveling in Mauratania, they were mugged and had everything stolen. We offered them a place to stay and some meals to help them out! They were really cool. But, that is beside the point.

Back to our house. We have great bedrooms. They each have huge built in closets with tons of storage space, as well as nice sized built in shelving with sliding doors on the front. These are great because we don't have any furniture to store our things in! Other than that, there is just a bed and a fan in my room, which you can see in the picture.

The other pictures include, our living room, which only has one small table, a trunk, and some nice big windows. Our kitchen is very big and we even have a breakfast nook with a little table and stools donated from ISE. We have two verandas where we can hang our clothes to dry. We also, as you will see in the pictures, have a sunroom. It's beautiful and my little growing plants are loving the greenhouse effect in there. The other room in the pictures is our study.

The study/ office is an interesting space. Originally, we had no furniture in there, so we just sat on the floor with our computers. Yesterday, we got a desk from our neighbor. He asked two young guys to carry it up and put it where we wanted. They couldn't get it through our office door, so they tried to turn it sideways and the glass top fell out of it! There were about a million pieces of glass everywhere. I mangaed to get cuts on my hands and legs from the clean up. The funny part of the story is that when the glass broke, the two guys bolted! They got out of our house before we knew what happened. We were left to clean up the mess and then we were left with a desk in our hallway. So, I took the door handle off, which created a little more space. Then I removed some blocks of wood from the bottom of the desk, which was just enough to get the desk inside the room. It is a very nice desk and we can each sit on either side of it and work from our computers! It's a wonderful addition to our home.

Elizabeth!

Here is a photo of my dear roommate Elizabeth! She is a great roomie. She is teaching yoga three days a week at 6am, so lucky for me I get to take free yoga lessons from her! I am so excited. We start this week, so I'll keep you posted on the classes and how they go. Things are starting to pick up here and now that a real schedule is starting, I'm feeling more at home here on this new island.

gardening

It’s been a difficult transition from Praia to Mindelo! I didn’t realize how hard it really would be, but on Monday, my classes will start and another semester will be underway. I’ll be teaching on Monday nights from 6-8pm and Thursday nights from 8-10pm. This is not the most desirable schedule, but I suppose I’ll survive. I was supposed to teach on Friday nights from 7-9pm, but I refused for obvious reasons! I just couldn’t imagine teaching every Friday evening. That would be awful.

Well, I am now gardening. My mom recently sent me a ton of different types of seeds. I have a beautiful sun room that works perfectly as a greenhouse. I have already planted some herbs, tomatoes, cucumbers, and several different flowers. So far, only the marjoram has peeked out of its soil, but I am patiently waiting. Any advice on gardening is welcome! I don’t have the greenest thumb, but I now have great space for this project, so I’m trying it out.

I am also creating a compost area on my roof. Hopefully my compost will be great for my little plants once they start taking root. I’m off to the gardening store this morning to check things out and see if they have anything I might need. Wish me and my little plants the best! They are making me happy! I am talking to them and tending to them with care! As of today, I have three little sprouts... one parsley, one marjoram, and one mint!

Monte Verde

On Sunday morning at 7:30, my roommate, Elizabeth and I got up and hiked a nearby mountain! It was great. I had been there before when I visited Sao Vicente in June. But, when I went before we didn’t do much hiking. So this time I was determined to hike to the top. Since I had a person willing to try it out, we went! There is a road that leads to the top of the mountain, but I was not very excited about hiking all the way to the top on a cobblestone road. That is hard on the feet and the knees and really not very fun. So, I decided that I was going to find the trails used by the farmers to get up and down. The first trail we took led us up the steep side of the mountain, bypassing many winding switchbacks on the main road. We hit the road after a bit of hiking on this nice path, then walked the road for a couple hundred feet. Luckily, we saw a man with a shovel coming down above us. I asked him where the trail led and he said that it would take us near the top, putting us back out on the road. He came all the way down and we met him and started up! It was great. That second part of the hike began at the “pink floyd” graffiti on the wall (easy to remember for next time). It was a pretty good uphill and then led along some fairly serious drop-offs. Elizabeth wasn’t too excited about the sheer edges we were passing, but she made it just fine!

We made it to the top in no time! We traversed some of the farmed land and made it up to a small house. Back in June I met Joana and Julio, an older couple who have a weekend home at the top of Monte Verde. It was great to see them! Joana welcomed us in and gave us a little snack and something to drink. It was a nice relaxing time at the top. Elizabeth got to ask Julio lots of questions about the agriculture there (which she is very interested in… it’s her area of study). Joana gave us a little taste of her homemade “cider” which was really nice. It was cold at the top! I was wearing a long-sleeve shirt I packed! At about noon we headed down the mountain. We ended up at the bottom and looked back up at what we had done! It was a great morning hike. Anyone who comes to visit will surely get to hit that trail. SO, that’s an invitation to all of you people who want to come to paradise! I leave here in 10 months, so you better get a move on visiting!!!!!! I’d love to have anyone come to see me! I miss everyone!

Not for individual sale

You know how in the states, anything that comes packaged inside of another package has a label “not for individual sale”? Well, that label is on products here as well, but there is no one enforcing that rule. I’m pretty sure that the law doesn’t exist in Cape Verde. So, you can open up a package of anything and just buy 1 of them. For example, if you want to buy yogurt, which comes in packs of 4 cups, but you only need 2, then you just tear the two you want out of the package. If you want a cigarette, but not the whole pack, you just as for 1 cigarette. If you want eggs, you just tell them how many you want and they are put in a plastic bag for you. Anything that is sold, can be broken down and sold off for its parts! Pretty crazy, huh?

Along these same lines, there are no copyright laws. I may have written about this before. In this country, students just make copies of entire books if they are required to read them. There is no buying books! I have seen libraries that just have photocopied books available for check out. Similarly, when you go to the video store to rent a DVD, everything is a burned copy! There are NO original films. Basically, every video store in town has the same movies because they are all burned from the same, single, original DVD in the country! It’s kind of strange, but when you live in a country where luxury items like books and DVDs are so rare, it’s the response!

yellow fin tuna

This morning, I walked down to the fish market to get some fresh fish for dinner tonight. Going to the fish market is amazing. All the fishermen are coming in off of their skiffs and hauling huge tuna. These little boats are weighed down with the largest fish you can imagine. Then the men bring them into the market and begin cutting them. They cut out the long strip of meat on the sides of the fish and hand it over to the women. The women take the fish to the other side of the market and sell it or put it in buckets and carry it on their heads around town. There are also young boys who will clean the fish for you before taking it home! It’s just wonderful.

In Praia, the fish market was far away from the port. In Mindelo, they are one. It is excellent to watch the process. There is no big fishing industry here. There is no processing plant. It is just men and women working together to get the fish prepared to be sold. I heard from a Capeverdean that the waters around the islands are one of the only places in the world that is not over-fished. This is apparently because the Cape Verde government has not sold off the rights to the water for commercial fishing. Most other nations have done this so that they can make money off the taxes and export of the fish. But, Cape Verde has learned from other nations that if they sell their waters, they will, in the end, have no fish and their people will have no work. It is, in my opinion, the right decision. Cape Verdeans rely on the fishing they do for the people here.

Bread Factory

I live about 200 yards from a bread factory. This means that every morning and every evening, I get to enjoy the delicious smells of baking bread! The factory near our home is great. They have extremely cheap bread. It is open everyday, all day, so we can run in and get warm, fresh out of the oven bread anytime. They have the regular, standard breads, but they also have a whole wheat bread that is unbelievable!

I also live another block from a vegetable market and the fish market. The women always have great produce, just like in Praia. But, the majority of the produce is grown in a little town near Mindelo, Calhau. I wrote about this town before because of its amazing beach. They also grow lots of veggies there, which means they are not importing the produce from Portugal, which is always better. I am in love with the fact that I don’t have to go far to get everything I need. I have a banana lady now. I have a vegetable lady. And dependent on the kind of fish I prefer, I have many choices of fish!

Calhau Again

I have been back to the awesome beach at Calhau two more times since I last wrote. It is amazing there. I would like to take some photos, but I fear that if I carry my camera there, it will get sandy or wet! I certainly don’t want to risk it!

Anyway, the waves at Calhau are huge. I was out battling them and playing in them when three really huge waves came up and took me for a ride. I didn’t know what was up or down! I managed to get a bunch of water inside my ear when I was flipped over. So, today I woke up with what appears to be an inner-ear infection! Great. I thought salt water was supposed to be healing. I guess it’s not so healing when you get it stuck in your ear and it won’t come out! I’m sure I’ll be fine. I am just taking it easy right now, while my ear drum is all stopped up. Any home-remedies would be great. The doctor here wants me on antibiotics, but she knows that I hate medicine, so she told me to give it some time and see if it resolves itself. She’s a good lady!