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