Survivor: Cape Verde: Festa!

So much has been happening these past couple days that I can’t believe its only been 1 week! Today was my first day off from class to just hang out in Picos. After a nice breakfast of coffee and fidjos (not to be confused with fidjus, which means children), fidjos are basically fried balls of dough kind of like donut holes, I bata ropa ku mi irma, Sonia. Bucket, soap and a washboard – it was harder than I thought it was going to be and I will definitely be rethinking my clothes-wearing approach to minimize dirty clothes. The washboard is definitely hard on the hands and I am pretty sure that all my clothes got one size bigger. I was washing on the front patio and by the time I was halfway through there was a large crowd of neighbors watching me through the gate and chuckling about the “merkana bata ropa.” At least I’m providing good entertainment, I guess…

After washing clothes we went to a festa! One of the women in town was turning 96!!! and she definitely looked like she had a couple more years in her – very impressive. The whole town turned up and there were 5 GIGANTIC pots of food cooking on fires in the backyard of the house. The food was delicious: rice, potatoes and beef (it had been slowly cooking all day and it was incredibly tender and flavorful. Dad, it made me think of you, you would have enjoyed it), manioc and pork, chicken, some sort of couscous made of corn and a bean and kale dish. Just reminiscing about it I feel full. It was a good time to meet and talk with neighbors and I played several games of Uno and dominos with the neighborhood kids.

After eating, me, my sister, Nuka, Matt and his brother, Gil, and Peter (another PCer in the town) and his sister, Sofia, decided to go to Assomada to use the internet café. We hopped on a Hilux (side note about the Hilux: its similar to a taxi system. Its a flat bed truck with benches and a cover. People just flag it down and then you yell to the driver when you want him to stop so you can get off. The driver will stop for as many people as he can so he can make more money. Imagine 10 people crammed into the back of a flatbed pick up truck bumbling down a dirt path. Its really crazy) Anyways, we got to Assomada (~10 minute ride) and we all called home. I think I talked a mile a minute, there’s just so much to say and talk about! We walked around Assomada and boy is it different from Picos! Assomada is a pretty big city (relatively speaking) with big buildings and street markets and restaurants. We walked down a street of vendors – I have never seen bigger piles of flip flops and bras for sale. I have no idea where all this stuff came from because it was definitely not all made in CV. It was neat to see a different side of CV. Between crazy hilux drivers, shouting vendors and people walking around there was a lot going on and after 4 days of safety/security talks in Praia I was definitely on my guard. I didn’t realize how tense I was until I got on the Hilux back to Picos. I am definitely glad to be living where I am. Even though there aren’t as many amenities available (internet would be nice) Picos moves at a relaxing pace and its nice knowing my neighbors and having the community feeling.

Other random things that have happened:

- CVians use lots of sugar and milk in their coffee and when I tell them I don’t want any sugar they are shocked. Its been 3 breakfasts already and they still just stare at me as I take my first sip of coffee. I have to be sure to say that the coffee is good; otherwise, they start pushing the sugar container my way.

-The house doesn’t have running water so I have been taking bucket baths. Not going to lie, I love taking long hot showers at home, but bucket baths aren’t half bad! And its amazing how little water you really need to take a bath. Also, thank god for short hair. It makes washing 148x easier.

-I know I already talked about this, but I can’t even do justice to describing how dusty the road is. Between my house, the festa and Peter’s house there was a lot of walking today. By the time I got home and took off my chacos, I could still see the outline of the straps in the dirt on my feet and Peter’s bare feet looked like he was still wearing socks because of the color differences. It was pretty gross. We’ve decided to change our title of SED (small enterprise development) to DFD (dirty feet development). It seems fitting enough. I can’t imagine what’s going to happen once it starts raining – I hope there’s still a road so I can get to class.

-All of the CV host families are incredibly generous. They get really angry when we buy things for ourselves and its impossible to get out of any house without being fed first. Today we were all at the festa playing Uno waiting for the food to be ready when my sister asked if I was hungry. I said “Yes, I am hungry! I am excited to eat!” and so she immediately got up and offered to take me back to our house to cook me lunch. I have to constantly make sure that whatever I say doesn’t cause them to feed me even more food. Another example, which has come to be known as the “Malta Effect” happened yesterday night when I was eating dinner #1 at Matt’s house and he asked if I had had Malta, a really tasty malt drink. Matt had bought one from the store on his way back from class; his mom saw him drinking it; got angry that he had spent his own money and then offered to buy him more Malta from the market in Assomada. Then at dinner #2 Nuka mentioned to my mom that I was interested in trying Malta so my mom gave Nuka money and she went to the store and came back with 2 Maltas. And when I say went to the store, I mean she walked about 10 min there and back in the dark. Then today we found out that word had gotten to Peter’s mom that we liked Malta and she went to buy him a pack too. Hence, the “Malta Effect.”

-just took my malaria pill for the week, lets hope for no hallucinations or psychedelic texture dreams!