Hot showers, Chinese food, my new home and other happenings since my last post.

Sorry its been awhile since my last post; between my final project, PST wrapping up, moving out of homestay and getting ready to move to site things have been a little bit hectic. But, here I am and I have lots to update you all on! I am going to try and cover all the highlights of the past 2½ weeks, so here it goes:

-The other EEs and I led our nature hike thru Tabugal and I think it was pretty successful! There were about 20 kids ages 16-20. It was a beautiful (and very long) hike from just outside Assomada all the way to the beach. It took almost all day, but was definitely worth it – we basically walked half the width of the island. That ought to give you a pretty good idea of how small this place actually is. Along the hike we each led a short discussion about an environmental topic; I talked about water management. I think it went pretty well. It was raining during my presentation and it was a little bit hard to hear, but it seemed like the kids were paying attention and they were answering my questions, so that was encouraging.

-The 18^th was my last day of homestay! We had our Swearing-In Ceremony and I officially became a PC volunteer! Woop woop! Everyone’s families came to the ceremony to see us off and pose for pictures. My mom was very sad and she looked really unhappy the whole day. She did a pretty good job of holding it together until the very last minute. I gave her a hug and kiss goodbye and she started crying. But not just crying, it was more like wailing. And that set off Matt’s mom who also started sobbing. It was all very sad and touching and I had to try really hard to keep it together. I am really going to miss my family. They have no idea how much they helped me learn the language and how much they made me feel like I was actually part of their family. It was truly a great experience living with them.

-After swearing in all the SEDs stayed in Assomada for 4 days for our Counterpart Conference. A counterpart is basically a CVean who is your co-worker and is supposed to kind of be like your advisor. Anyways, PC put us up in a hotel with hot showers and air conditioning! It was heavenly. It was the first time in awhile that I had a chance to sit around and do nothing and worry about nothing.

-The Counterpart Conference was less exciting than I had hoped. Since the local park teams have not yet been formed, I still don’t have a counterpart. Instead, they sent a representative from the DGA (Environmental Ministry) to meet with all of the EEs and serve as our stand-in counterpart for the conference. It was informative in that I got some numbers of environmental people on Sal that I should contact; however, it also drove home the fact that these new parks are really in the very first stages. They have not determined the actual boundaries of the park and nobody can even tell me a general area of where the park might be. So I was a little jealous of everyone else who got to learn about what they would be doing for the next 2 years, but that’s ok. I have been trying to prepare myself for the fact that my first couple months at site will just be spent trying to integrate into the community and make friends with people.

-After meeting our counterparts all the SEDs staying on Santiago went to their sites and all of us leaving the island went to Praia, from which we would be flying out the following day. It was really sad saying goodbye to everyone. After spending 9 weeks together we all were pretty close and so while everyone was excited to get to site, it was sad to split up. It was very bittersweet.

-The stay in Praia was short but awesome. Another night of hot showers and air conditioning. And believe it or not, but I ate CHINESE FOOD!!!!!! There is 1 Chinese restaurant in Praia (and possibly the one one in CV) and I ate their twice in 24 hours. Fried dumplings and fried noodles. Nom nom nom.

-Thursday afternoon Holly and I hoped on our flight to Sal; life jackets (PC regulation) and water filter in tow – as if we didn’t stand out enough already. We looked absolutely ridiculous. And after a 25 minute flight we touched down on quite possibly the flattest, driest, tiniest piece of land I have ever seen. We could see the entire island in 4 plane windows. Once we arrived, Holly’s counterpart took us to our house, which is in Espargos – the main city in Sal located sort of in the middle of the island. Our house is kick-ass. I don’t know what either of us did in our past life to earn this, but we lucked out. We live on the first floor of a building and have got 2 big bedrooms, bathroom and big kitchen/living area. AND running water!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Our landlord found it hilarious how excited we were when we realized that the toilet flushed! And there is also a convenience store right next door. Convenient indeed.

-Sal is the tourism island of Cape Verde and the town of Santa Maria is the hot spot for it all. Everything about this place is the complete opposite of Picos and the CV I have known for the past 9 weeks. We met up with a PC volunteer who stayed in CV after his service and he showed us around Espargos and Santa Maria. At one point we were sitting on the patio of a bar drinking gin & tonics, listening to Jason Mraz and speaking English with an Ex-pat from England. It was so surreal and miles from what I had expected my PC experience to be like.

-Our first day here, Holly and I spent cleaning house and organizing all the stuff that has been building up over the years of the apartment being the home for PCVs in Sal. We had to buy some things for the apartment so we walked into town to run some errands and get an idea of the layout of Espargos. Because we went out around noon, most of the places we wanted to go to were closed for lunch so we ended up doing a lot walking back and forth between places waiting for them to reopen. Meanwhile, we were carrying groceries, water, mop, broom, bucket and bags of other random items. Needless to say, we looked very odd – 2 brankus sweating their asses off, carrying cleaning supplies and jugs of water walking back and forth along the main street. The next day we were talking to some people we were sharing a Hiace (taxi van) with and they were like, “Oh yeah, we saw you girls yesterday walking around Espargos carrying mops.”

-Yesterday Holly and I decided to scope out the beach scene and we found that we basically live in a giant sandbox and the entire coast is beach. The water is incredibly blue and everywhere (outside of Santa Maria) is empty! The first beach we went to was gorgeous and there were only about 5 other people there. Later the former PCV invited us to a beach party that his fiance’s family was throwing. We swam, ate freshly grilled pork and chicken, drank some beers and watched the sunset. It was an unbelievable day. I know that I will probably lose any and all street cred I may have earned for doing the PC.

Some Pics

Tabugal/Jurassic Park

White people monda-ing (weeding)

Tarrafal

Random Stories

Sorry for the lack of communication lately – while tearing up the road/laying sewage pipes, they accidentally cut the phone line so nobody in Achada Liton had phone or internet service for awhile. But its all fixed!

It’s the homestretch of PST! 2 more weeks in Achada Liton, then its off to Sal! As much as I love my CV family and being around the other PCTs, I am definitely ready to move into my own place and start working! PST is really exhausting and I think its all starting to catch up with me. This is not to say that the days have not been memorable – they are still filled with absurd and entertaining events. Here are a few things that have been going on in my life:

-The culmination of the 9-week PST is that all PCTs are supposed to do a community project. I am working with the other EEs and we are organizing a nature hike to a place called Tabugal, an extremely green, agricultural and lush area located in a valley. The hike is next Sunday, but we decided it would be a good idea to scope out the trail ahead of time so the three of us and a local made the hike down to Tabugal yesterday. Tabugal is located in a deep valley so it was a very steep descent down the mountain. We were halfway down when it started pouring rain. It made the trail a bit slippy, but the cool rain was a welcome relief from the mugginess. Unfortunately, rain in CV does not mean that the humidity will end, in fact, it seems to be the opposite. Between hiking up and down this mountain and the humidity I’m pretty sure I sweat off any calories I may have consumed in the past 3 weeks. Before arriving in this country, I never thought I would sweat so much in my life – Bonnaroo has got nothing on Cape Verde. Sorry, I’m sure reading this is about as enjoyable as actually sweating. Anywhoo, Tabugal was absolutely amazing! It was like another world – one that was not far from Jurassic Park. At one point we were walking on a dike completely surrounded by plants and pushing sugarcane stalks out of our way. I felt like a jungle explorer. It was definitely not an easy hike and I was exhausted afterwards. I am a little bit nervous for next week when we have to lead the same hike, but with 30 youth (hopefully ages 16+) and I also have to give a presentation on water management in kriolu. I foresee being completely spent, both physically and mentally.

-There are different variations of kriolu spoken in CV based on what island you are on – the biggest difference is between Northern and Southern Creole. Since PST has been on Santiago (a southern island) I have been learning southern kriolu; however, Sal is in the north. So, along with some of the other volunteers going to northern islands, I have been attending Northern Kriolu classes. It is a little bit disheartening to see and hear how different this one language can be. I was just starting to feel like I was able to have a somewhat intelligent conversation in kriolu and now I have to prepare myself for going back to speaking like a 4 year-old for my first weeks/months on Sal. Words have different meanings, some words aren’t used, pronunciation is different, etc. Ave Maria!

-My mother told me I had a big butt today. I got up after dinner to bring the dishes into the kitchen and my mom says, “Sarah, bu kadeira sta rodondu!” I knew that kadeira meant butt, but I did not know the other word so I was like, “What? There’s something on my butt? Did I sit on something?” Meanwhile my mom and sisters are cracking up. Finally my sister says, “No, rondinu! Big!!” I told my mom it was because she was feeding me so much food and that I was eating at least 5 meals a day in CV. She got a kick out of that one. She is always telling me that she’s going to make me fat, so I think my big butt made her proud.

-To call somebody by their race or skin color is not offensive, just another way to get someone’s attention. I can’t even tell you how many times I have heard, “Oi! China!” It’s the best in Assomada because you’ve got all the street vendors yelling at you to buy their mangoes and Hiaces (taxis) circling trying to get people into their car. The Hiace drivers are very aggressive in general and they will pull up right next to me and yell, “Hey Chinese! Praia?! Praia?!” It is very entertaining. Another trainee was telling me about how she was sitting in a packed Hiace when the woman next to her says to the whole car, “Look everyone! Look at this branku (white person) sitting next to me!” Of course my friend understood what the lady said, so when everyone turned around she just waved and said “bon dia!” Oh hilarity. Can you imagine what would happen if someone said that to another person in the US? Lawsuit.

-Another ridiculous txiga story. The other day I was riding in a Hilux when the woman across from me starts yelling to her friend who was walking along the road. It is not uncommon for people riding in Hiluxes to yell to people they pass that are walking or sitting in front of their house. Its usually a short exchange – Hi! How are you? Where are you going? It rained today! Etc. So this lady yelled the usually things and then as we are pulling away, she yells, “Txiga! Txiga!” I could not help but burst out laughing. The lady was not even home yet and she was already yelling for people to txiga.

- I had this tune stuck in my head all day and I couldn’t figure out what it was. Then later in the day I came to the horrifying realization that it was Justin Beiber. I almost cried. Beiber fever has hit CV. If I hear that “Baby, Baby” song one more time someone’s radio is going to get smashed.

This past weekend was spent in Tarrafal where I was shadowing a current Environmental Ed PCV – also named Sara. The whole weekend was very confusing because people kept calling out, “Sara!” and every time I thought, “Oh crap, who is that? Should I know that person?” and then realize that they were not talking to me. Anyways, it was a very relaxing weekend and was definitely enlightening to see how an actual volunteer lives. She works with an Ag Association and we visited her office and walked around some planted fields. We visited the site where they raise/breed animals and I saw the biggest pigs I have ever seen in my life. They were massive and would stand on their hind legs with their front legs propped over the edge of their pen so they were eye level with you. It was actually very frightening.

There was a lot of waiting around and life seemed to move very slow. Sara said that one of the things she’s learned is how to be okay with just sitting and doing nothing. I was really impressed by how integrated into her community she was. We went out to dinner with some of her CV friends and it was really nice to see the genuine relationships she had been able to form with these people during her year in Tarrafal.

Other random and entertaining stories from the past few days:

We were waiting for a Hilux from Rochelle’s site back to Tarrafal. Across the street there was a raised terrace with a wall and then about 3 feet of space between the wall and the edge of the terrace. On one side of the wall there was this cow and he was tied to a rope that a guy was pulling on from the opposite side of the wall in an attempt to get the cow to walk around the wall. He was pulling and pulling, but the cow was not moving. This old man who was waiting for the Hilux with us decided to go help so he jumped up on the terrace and starts slapping the cow, which did not react at all. So the man, without hesitating, grabbed the cow’s tail and bit it – obviously, the next logical step after slapping the cow. The cow turned and looked at him like, whoa! What the heck are you doing? Eventually they used a stick to whack the cow and got him to move around the wall. It was a hilarious process to watch; however, out of about 10 others waiting for the Hilux, us Americans were the only ones who found it funny. I suppose biting cows is not uncommon here.

Our Hiace ride back from Tarrafal was packed. At one point there were 25 people in this car that is the size of an AstroVan. Kids were sitting on the laps of strangers, I was sitting on the subwoofer, a dude was standing bent over with his ass hanging out the open window, groceries were crammed in the non-existent trunk and I’m pretty certain that the trunk door was not closed all the way. It was actually pretty impressive how many people fit in there. Most shocking was that everyone seemed to be very good-humored about it all. I can’t even imagine something like that happening in the states and not having everyone in the car in an uproar about what was going on. So we were just about to get into Assomada when our driver sees a police checkpoint ahead. He yells, “Oi! Policia!!” and swerves into the gas station on the side of the road. He opens the door and starts yelling for people to get out of the car. We unloaded about 10 people and were left with 15 people in the car. We pulled back onto the road, stopped at the police check, the police woman looked in the car, counted all of us while she had a smirk on her face and let us go on. There was no way she didn’t realize what just happened – how else could you explain a mass exodus of pedestrians from a gas station?

In Tarrafal we met an American whose goal was to visit every country in the world. Cape Verde was going to be #124.

As I am applying half a tube of anti-itch cream to my mosquito-bite covered body, I think I prefer the flies of Achada Liton to the mosquitoes of Tarrafal. I never thought I would say such things…

Site Placement!!!!!

Today was the heavily anticipated day of site announcements and I found out that I’m going to be spending my next 2 years living on the island of Sal!!!!!!!! They are opening a new national coastal area park and I will be part of the team that gets it going! I am so so sooooo excited! I could not have asked for a better situation! So everyone go Google Sal, Cape Verde and then start planning your vacation out to see me :)

!!!!

I am so incredibly excited and happy and ecstatic and relieved and motivated right now that I can’t even describe it. We found out our site locations today and I am going to be in Sal!!!! I had a feeling that I was going to be placed there, so it wasn’t a complete surprise, but being officially told that I would be living there for the next 2 years was awesome (see above description of emotions). My job is going to be working with the new National Park being created on the island. Cape Verde is opening 3 new parks: Boa Vista, Santo Antao and Sal; each of us EEs got placed with a new park. Sal and Boa Vista are going to be part marine/coastal park – how perfect!? The project is still in its very early stages – they are still assembling the team, and I don’t have housing yet. It is going to be quite the experience starting up a national park! I’m sure things will be chaotic and uncoordinated, but how many people can say they helped establish a national park? What a crazy and unreal assignment! I can honestly say that I never imagined that my post for the Peace Corps would be on a white-sand beach and creating a national park. N sta txeu txeu kontenti!!

My CV mom was really sad when I told her I was going to Sal – she cried. She always talks about me staying in CV after PC so I expected her to be sad, but I was not expecting the crying. Then she said, “Oh my God, do you know how to cook? You are going to starve!” and proceeded to explain to me how to cook fish, rice and chicken. It would be awesome if my CV family could come visit me at site, but I think it’s a pretty expensive trip.

Also, got my first care package – vball, floss, toothpicks, power cord for my external hard drive, a BIC lighter (which I gave to my mom, but she seemed uninterested) mints, mac & cheese and RANCH DRESSING!!!! Way to go mom!!

Big Tree

Today was our second day of On-the-Job Training and me and the other EE trainees led a nature hike to the see the biggest tree in CV. We met with an LCF and current EE volunteer at an orphanage in Assomada. From there we rounded up 9 kids ages 10-15 and started walking. The tree was a 40 min or so hike from the orphanage – its located in Boa Entrada, a town just outside Assomada. We hiked down into the valley where everything was incredibly green! It’s the rainy season and planting is in full swing. We saw tomatoes, mangoes, papayas, figs, avocado trees, carrots, kale, manioc, bananas, etc. I felt like I was in some tropical place walking through the jungle.

The tree we went to visit is the biggest tree in all of CV and it was HUGE!! It’s trunk was really wide and was definitely the biggest tree I have ever seen. All the boys climbed up the tree and the girls stood around and watched and threw slugs at each other.

After our visit with the tree, we had a little discussion with the kids about the importance of trees, biodiversity and environmental protection. I was really impressed by how much the kids knew – they were explaining photosynthesis and erosion! It seems that they are learning a lot in school, but its just not carrying over to daily life. For example, they all knew that trash should go into the trashcan; however, just on our walk I saw a girl throw her candy wrapper on the ground. I feel like this isn’t that different from what’s happening in the states – people understand the importance of environmental conservation; yet they continue to do things like consume fossil fuels. The knowledge is there, but the action is not. Anyways, it was encouraging to see that the kids were excited about nature.

Random story: As I said before, to txiga is one of the most common activities in CV and people yell for others to txiga all the time. All the time. Even when it just seems ridiculous. For example, the other day I was at the house of another trainee. Her dad was standing in their front patio when a car started backing into their driveway to turn around. Her dad yells, “Bon Dia! Txiga! Txiga!” Seriously? The dude is in his car! I told my LCF this story, and apparently, it is not uncommon.

The Biggest Tree in Cape Verde!