Hiking the Rattlesnake

Last Sunday, we took on the beach at Rattlesnake. It was a nice hike with a beautiful snaking valley. We did another serious hike up and over a mountain, then battled the snaking valley and out to an oasis where there were pretty palms growing. We relaxed near the water on some beautiful rocks and enjoyed a nice long break. Near the water, we discovered old stone houses that were abandoned, at least we thought they were abandoned. We discovered that 4 fishermen were living in one of the stone spaces. You will see the picture of the fish. These are being dried to be sold. The fisherman take them into town every now and then and sell them in the market. Then we headed back; the hike up through the moutain pass was pretty rough and when we got to the top, the wind was so fierce that we could barely stand up. You'll see a picture of my friend Pedro battling the wind!

The hike was about 6 hours long, so I was really worn out afterward. But, since we start at 6 am, that means we are always home in time for a good lunch and a long nap!

my garden

I tried to post this last week, but the internet got cut off, so I am trying again.

I told my grandaddy when I was home that my tomato plants weren't producing fruit even though they were growing tall. He told me that leggy plants with no fruit need sunlight. So, I moved my garden to the other side of the house. Unfortunately, our "sun" room doesn't get much in the way of sun. It's a nice space for sitting and reading but terrible for growing anything. So, now my plants are happily growing tomatoes! I also have basil, parsley, marjoram, cayenne pepper plants, and lots of pretty wildflowers! I used some of my compost too and things are growing better than ever. I have great looking compost that really gave new life to everything! I am really glad that I have taken the time to try this all out. It's been a great learning experience.

Dia de Professores

Last Monday we had a holiday to celebrate Professors! Cape Verdean will think of anything to have a holiday, not that I'm complaining. But, these things to get in the way of class schedules and such, which is frustrating when you don't know the holiday exists until your students annoyingly point it out to you the day before! At any rate, I.S.E. organized a lovely dinner to celebrate the occasion. I have posted a few pictures, which basically just show how enthusiastic I was over the ordeal! The resturaunt was great. The place was pretty, the food wonderful, and the company... well, it was fine.

Calheta hiking

Two weeks ago, I went hiking out to Calheta beach. We have been doing a lot of slogging through lava fields, over mountains, through a valley and out to beautiful hidden beaches! It's been great. Calheta beach was no exception. I was pleased that there was a rather difficult mountain pass where we hiked more or less straight up for while then crossed an extremely windy pass. It was a great workout and the scenery from the top was amazing. You'll see the great colors of the mountains here and the contrast against the ocean. I have been so blessed to get to go on these amazing hikes every weekend. I know so many people living in this city who have never gone more than 5 minutes off the beaten path. I suppose that's the same in all places!

Opening Day

After attending a day at the beach, I was invited to opening day at the newly improved Mindelo soccer stadium. The renovation included new plastic grass which is the greenest thing I've ever seen in this country. There were some opening events such as someone important kicking a ball toward the goal (sort of like throwing out the first pitch). Just before the big game was to begin, the President of the local government gave a speech. She said that she was restricting the field to private use only and began to harrass the crowd by saying that she had been blackmailed by the soccer federation. She is a bit crazy. At any rate, the crowd booed her and left. She said that she wouldn't permit the game because of some political infighting. Then the game went on anyway in the form of a scrimmage. It was quite an eventful event! As you can see, the field is very pretty, but I'm not sure how much use it will get considering the problems with the local government! Ah, third world politics!

A day at the beach

Two weeks ago, Saturday, I was invited to go to the beach with the Basic English school group. You may remember that I worked with these children during Christmas, delivering gifts to an extremely impoverished area of Mindelo. This weekend, we got to play games on the beach and swim. It was a great morning! Unfortunately, I got a little sunburnt! But, it was worth it. Really, really worth it. The kids were so happy and funny. You'll see the great pictures of being buried in the sand and them running around and enjoying the sun. The weather is beautiful this time of year. You will even see some modeling from a 12 year old girl. The women in this country are just unbelievably attractive at young ages!

I'm back online... sort of

The internet has been recovered, unfortunately, it is not back up to speed. It takes about three times as long to do anything! Hopefully the international phone lines are back up. We haven't been able to make calls and getting through to the country has been difficult. BUT, I think we're moving back toward regular communication.

I have a ton of new pictures to post, so when I have some time, I'll get on that! Until then...

Oragami paper

Still no internet, so I am using the satellite place because this is SUPER important. In my final months of service, I am working with some boys from the local orphanage. We have gotten really into doing oragami, but we are working with whatever scraps of paper we can find. I know they would do so much better with oragami paper or something like it. If anyone can send some to me, I'd be so thankful! The boys will just love it too.

If possible... send to:
Casey Maugh, ISE
C.P. 299-Mindelo
S. Vicente
Republic of Cape Verde

or you can send it to my mother and she can carry it over with her...

Her address:
Betty O'Brian
6404 Shore Drive
Ocean Springs, MS 39564

THANK YOU IN ADVANCE!!!

Internet is GONE

Last night a ship in Praia cut the international internet cable for the country. This means that we have no internet. You might ask how in the world I am posting this blog??? Well, there is one internet cafe with satellite internet near my house, so I am able to pay for this service. Unfortunately, no internet any where else on the island. Pretty soon this place will be over run with people and crazy. This cut cable has the country in quite a panic, and they are predicting this not to be fixed for about a month. Needless to say, you will be hearing from me less frequently now that I have no internet at home, and I have to pay ridiculous amounts to use the net here. So, don't think me uninterested or uncaring if I don't post for a while!

Happy Easter

It is Sunday afternoon and a beautiful day in Cape Verde. I am happy to report that I have been going to the beach for the past 3 days and loving it. The water is nice and the winds have died down now. Yesterday afternoon I went to my first "semi-pro" soccer game. Two teams from the Mindelo area played. The fans were crazy. It was as if I was at an SEC game. It was great. The teams were both good. The crowd favorite, Academica, won, but I dare say they were not the better team. They scored two goals off of corner kicks and one goal that was completely by chance. I would have liked to have seen the other team win becaue the crowd was so obnoxious about "their" team that they were rude to the other team. At any rate, it was fun and a great event to really experience another part of the culture here in Sao Vicente.

Tomorrow we head back to school. We have until the end of June until the semester is finished, so we are far from the end. I know schools in the states are within countdown range, so I envy you all! But, in brighter news, my MOM will be visiting me soon. She is planning a trip in May! I absolutely cannot wait. This is also a wake up call to anyone who still wants to visit... I only have about 3 1/2 months of service left here in Cape Verde! Come on over, the water is nice...

It's A No!

The day finally came. I received a phone call on Thursday to confirm my suspicions that I didn't get the USM job. I must admit that I was extremely sad. I was really hopeful that this job would work out for me, but I will now move my efforts toward other things. I just wish that I had gotten the news of this job earlier since I have been waiting around for 3 months. I also wish I had gotten the news earlier because Easter weekend is not the time that you want to hear bad news. I just wish I were with my family at this time... But, I'll be home soon.

Poor kitten

I woke up with morning to the sound of a crying kitten just outside of my window. I went out to check out what was going on and I found a sweet little black cat. He was in the back of an abandoned pick up truck. I am certain that he was put there by someone who didn't want him. As I have mentioned before on this blog, Cape Verdean generally do not like black cats because they believe them to be witches. At any rate, He is about 3 or 4 weeks old and pretty strong minus one eye that was matted shut. I picked him up and brushed him off and tried to get him to drink some water or milk, but he wasn't really interested. He sat on my shoulder for about 10 minutes. I tried to give him to a friend with a mouse problem, but my friend didn't want him. So, I returned him to the great outdoors. I put him on the ground and he began to wander off. I must say that I feel like a horrible person today. I wanted to do more, but my roommate would kill me if I brought a cat home! I just am so torn about it. I'm leaving in 3 months and can't keep him... AHHH. This is so frustrating. In the states, I would have been able to take him to a shelter, but here, he just has to be taken in or live on the streets. I try to tell myself that this country is different. Animals are pretty low on the list of priorities in this country since children and adults are starving and living on the streets too. It's so difficult sometimes to know what the right thing to do is.

Hike to Flamengo

This Sunday morning, after a battle with a killer cold, I decided to join my hiking group. We headed out to Flamengo beach today. On the hike there, we crossed through some farming land that I had visited before. I believe I wrote here about my visit with the delegate for Agriculture and she showed me the farming land that has benefited from the recycled water system they have here in Sao Vicente. Well, today, we came across that same green area. This time I was armed with my camera, and I was determined to get some good photos. Lately my photos haven't really been coming out well. Partly is due to the fact that I have a new camera since the robbery and I haven't really learned to use it. Well, I think I did better today. I got some great shots of the farming land, the little shacks in the area, and the beach.

The walk was peaceful and we had a new member today. Well, she was new to me, apparently she used to hike all the time, but she hasn't been around for a while. She was nice and brought a ton of coffee on the hike and then asked Pedro to carry it! Unfortunately, I don't drink coffee, so I didn't get to enjoy her efforts!

That's about it on this Sunday. I spent my week in Praia and got a cold from one of the 40 volunteers at the conference. I am happy to be back home and to have gotten a couple of days rest. I am still recovering, but today's hike got me some fresh air and back on my feet. I should find out tomorrow about the USM job, so keep your fingers and toes crossed. If it doesn't work out, there's always something else in the works! I'll keep you posted.

update on my life

I figure this would be a good time to let all of you in on what's been happening in my life lately. As you know, I applied and interviewed for the USM job. I had my interview on Feb. 1 and 2. I received a phone call about 3 weeks ago from USM's department chair saying that they were still in the midst of the process. It had been about 1 month since I had my visit, so I was correct to assume that another candidate had been chosen. The department chair said this was the case, but that I was still a definite possibility because nothing was final and I am next in line. So, three weeks later and I am still waiting for a final word. My roommate and my mom keep saying that no news is good news, so I am sticking with that.

In other news, Jill, my former roommate and foster mother to my cat, Jackson, tipped me off about a one year position at Tulane University in New Orleans. I have applied for this position with hopes that it might happen for me. That would certainly give me a year to regroup and figure out what's next.

Finally, I have been looking into jobs with the Peace Corps. I am interested in possibly working as a recruiter for them for a year or doing some kind of work within the U.S. part of the organization. My boss here at PC told me that he thought I'd be good working abroad with volunteers too. SO, I'm keeping my options open at this point. You never know what will come through...

That's about it. School is good. Life is pretty "normal." I was in Praia a week and a half ago for a training workshop. I am headed back to Praia this Tuesday for our annual All Volunteer's Confrerence, which should be interesting. I look forward to seeing all of my fellow volutneers as we talk about the fact that we only have a few months of service remaining and little direction! It seems like a common theme around here!

1 year anniversary

Today is the 1 year anniversary of Morgan (my brother) and his wife Holly! I'm sure you will all recall the great wedding photos I posted last year after their wedding. Well, this year they spent a week in the Bahamas! They also just recently moved into their new home in Birmingham, AL. I just want to public mark this occassion for them. I know they are devoted readers of my blog, so I didn't want to leave them out!

5K for Women

On Sunday, Elizabeth and I participated in the Race for Women’s Day/Month. We were supposed to start at 10 am, but in true Cape Verdean fashion, we started about 11 or so. It was extremely hot, so as we waited, I became more anxious because I knew that this 5K was going to be even harder with the heat.

At any rate, there were both men and women in the race, even some of the boys from the center were I have been working. It was fun to be in a community of people who all enjoy running. I really miss the racing communities I was in during grad school.

I came in 6th place and received a little trophy. It is really nice and a great memory of the race!