I think that life is going to be very interesting for the next 18 months (or maybe 30 months depending on if I renew for another year.Haha!). I am excited, sad, lonely, creeped out, joyous, curious, scared, exhausted, and happy everyday. Not all at the same time but definitely all of those throughout the day. I of course go through these sorts of cultural mood swings but now I am more able to recognize them and I think I am getting much better at dealing with them. I also find that although I remember saying that I was learning a lot about myself at the beginning, I think that currently I have learned a lot more about myself in the last 5 months, which 7 months ago I would not have known was possible. I am learning about my own level of pessimism, my frustration threshold, and my previously unknown to me "set ways." Things that I never knew were important to m e are now very important. Places that I now consider essential were always staples before so I never thought about them. Activities and interests, that I realize now, I truly love and I could not possibly live without and probably would have never discovered had I not come here. I am learning that I care more about people than things, and not having money does not mean unhappiness.
After talking to a constant source of enlightenment, my sister, I have learned that in many ways I am stronger than I know and that when I am weak there is always God to pick up the slack or sometimes just pick me up. I have a passion for other things other than movies and books (although they are important as well) that maybe in the past would not have come up on my top five. So I guess, all in all, I am trying to say that I am learning, and hopefully growing, and that when I finally wake up from this dream I will be a stronger, more knowledgeable, and self aware person.
So work has begun, I am actively working on starting a girl´s summer camp, my roommate and I are starting a girl´s soccer team, and I and another volunteer are working on HIV/AIDS projects for women here. Since you can only get tested for Sexually transmitted diseases in Praia and since half the men and a lot of women think you can only get AIDS if you live in Praia and there is no HIV in the Fora, we are also trying to convince the "cool" guys here to go with us in a few weeks to Praia for a "look even the cool kids get tested for AIDS" field trip...
After talking to a constant source of enlightenment, my sister, I have learned that in many ways I am stronger than I know and that when I am weak there is always God to pick up the slack or sometimes just pick me up. I have a passion for other things other than movies and books (although they are important as well) that maybe in the past would not have come up on my top five. So I guess, all in all, I am trying to say that I am learning, and hopefully growing, and that when I finally wake up from this dream I will be a stronger, more knowledgeable, and self aware person.
So work has begun, I am actively working on starting a girl´s summer camp, my roommate and I are starting a girl´s soccer team, and I and another volunteer are working on HIV/AIDS projects for women here. Since you can only get tested for Sexually transmitted diseases in Praia and since half the men and a lot of women think you can only get AIDS if you live in Praia and there is no HIV in the Fora, we are also trying to convince the "cool" guys here to go with us in a few weeks to Praia for a "look even the cool kids get tested for AIDS" field trip...
So two weeks ago, I went to a place called Picos. It is in Assomada and it is this tiny town, but it has one of the most amazing churches I have ever seen. Most of the churches here are painted in some sort of fancy color and this one has about four different colors. I went there because two men got ordained to be priest (Well it is the first stage in ordination; they will not have the official ordination until June apparently). One of the two men was from Calheta, so a lot of people from Calheta and the surrounding area of Sao Miguel went. It was a good event to go to but it was sooo hot. The Red Cross was there as sort of on-hand emergency team and they had to carry a couple of people out on stretchers. None of the churches are big enough to hold all the people so usually services are held outside and every one brings their own stools or chairs. I stood the entire 4 hours.
So two weeks ago was Karnival. Karnival is celebrated on all the islands but is most famous on the Island of Sao Vincent and Sao Nicolau. It is literally like a national Mardi gras before the big religious holiday. On Saturday Whitney and I went to a teaching technique seminar in Praia. The lady who was giving the seminar is actually from the teaching English council or something and she is a representative for something like 27 countries in Africa, but she lives in Senegal. She came and gave a great presentation but she said she was going to let us go at 2 instead of 5 because she knew that most people had children and family members in the kids' parades that day.
We got back to Calheta and everyone was out on the street. I got to watch a little bit of the parade. Kids in fancy colors and funny dresses, it was very cute. On Tuesday was the official start of Karnival and everyone was in the big parade. You wear a skirt and do the Samba up and down the street. It was fun to watch. That night everyone went to the beach to listen to people play music from Brazil, but the weird thing about Cape Verdeans is that although they seem to dance at the drop of a hat anywhere else, they do not dance at concerts. That was like my 6th concert here and yet again no one danced. I am just thinking about how opposite we are because Americans seem shy to dance anywhere other than at a club, wedding, or a concert. Cape Verdeans will dance in the street, outside their house on the porch, in the Hiace butmost don´t dance at concerts.
The next day, was Siensa (Ash Wednesday). I woke up at 7 to my stomach hurting but I decided not to worry about it. I went to Elsa's house and we all went to mass. It was a good service. I got ashes on my forehead like a do every year, but no matter how many times I go to Mass here, people still ask if I am Catholic. They are shocked to hear that there are Catholics in America. Everyone thinks I am protestant. But that is not all that surprising because there are only 4 religions here: Catholics, Jehovah Witnesses, Seventh day Adventist, and Mormons. Then there are other religions that no one talks about: like Islam. People don't talk about Islam because they don't know anything about it. I have yet to meet a Cape Verdean Muslim. Still I think that people respect them because they say they pray all the time (which is a high priority for a lot of Cape Verdeans).
After Mass, my stomach still hurt but I had promised 3 people I would come to their house for lunch. Apparently, lunch on Ash Wednesday is a big deal. My roommate and I went to the closest neighbor's house first. We had soup first; the soup was beans and egg. Next we had rice, this fish called Serra, Kouve (CV collard greens), and carrots, Potatoes (regular and sweet), Mandioke (yucca), and Txeren (kind of like grits). It wasn't that bad until she wanted us to eat 3 plates. After I told her my stomach hurt she didn't pester but she did put out dessert; Cuscus and Mel, which is the equivalent to dry, cold, cornbread and the sweetest honey you could imagine. Let's just say I had to run home. I felt like crap. I decided to lie down and not go to everyone else's house. I did want to go to the beach with everyone though, but I did not k now if I could make it out of the bed.
After about an hour, I decided to go with my roommate to the beach.
So two weeks ago was Karnival. Karnival is celebrated on all the islands but is most famous on the Island of Sao Vincent and Sao Nicolau. It is literally like a national Mardi gras before the big religious holiday. On Saturday Whitney and I went to a teaching technique seminar in Praia. The lady who was giving the seminar is actually from the teaching English council or something and she is a representative for something like 27 countries in Africa, but she lives in Senegal. She came and gave a great presentation but she said she was going to let us go at 2 instead of 5 because she knew that most people had children and family members in the kids' parades that day.
We got back to Calheta and everyone was out on the street. I got to watch a little bit of the parade. Kids in fancy colors and funny dresses, it was very cute. On Tuesday was the official start of Karnival and everyone was in the big parade. You wear a skirt and do the Samba up and down the street. It was fun to watch. That night everyone went to the beach to listen to people play music from Brazil, but the weird thing about Cape Verdeans is that although they seem to dance at the drop of a hat anywhere else, they do not dance at concerts. That was like my 6th concert here and yet again no one danced. I am just thinking about how opposite we are because Americans seem shy to dance anywhere other than at a club, wedding, or a concert. Cape Verdeans will dance in the street, outside their house on the porch, in the Hiace butmost don´t dance at concerts.
The next day, was Siensa (Ash Wednesday). I woke up at 7 to my stomach hurting but I decided not to worry about it. I went to Elsa's house and we all went to mass. It was a good service. I got ashes on my forehead like a do every year, but no matter how many times I go to Mass here, people still ask if I am Catholic. They are shocked to hear that there are Catholics in America. Everyone thinks I am protestant. But that is not all that surprising because there are only 4 religions here: Catholics, Jehovah Witnesses, Seventh day Adventist, and Mormons. Then there are other religions that no one talks about: like Islam. People don't talk about Islam because they don't know anything about it. I have yet to meet a Cape Verdean Muslim. Still I think that people respect them because they say they pray all the time (which is a high priority for a lot of Cape Verdeans).
After Mass, my stomach still hurt but I had promised 3 people I would come to their house for lunch. Apparently, lunch on Ash Wednesday is a big deal. My roommate and I went to the closest neighbor's house first. We had soup first; the soup was beans and egg. Next we had rice, this fish called Serra, Kouve (CV collard greens), and carrots, Potatoes (regular and sweet), Mandioke (yucca), and Txeren (kind of like grits). It wasn't that bad until she wanted us to eat 3 plates. After I told her my stomach hurt she didn't pester but she did put out dessert; Cuscus and Mel, which is the equivalent to dry, cold, cornbread and the sweetest honey you could imagine. Let's just say I had to run home. I felt like crap. I decided to lie down and not go to everyone else's house. I did want to go to the beach with everyone though, but I did not k now if I could make it out of the bed.
After about an hour, I decided to go with my roommate to the beach.
Well that officially ends the festa season. There will not be another party until May (well there is a party for Easter but it is definitely more food and family than dancing and parades). I think I am done with all that anyway and I am so tired. So as you know, Valentine's Day was last week, well "Dia dos Namorados" (day of boyfriends and girlfriends) in Cape Verde, Portugal, and Brazil. It was an interesting time. Well I decided I was going to have fun with it! I thought be cute today and, of course, wear the colors of V-day (red, white, and pink). So I wore a pink shirt that looks almost red. The night before we made a huge batch of cookies and I took some with me to work. I went to work and everyone was pretty normal, but when I handed cookies out people were slightly shocked. But it put me in a good mood. So that evening there was singing and music in the praca and everyone went. My roommate had on a bright red shirt and I had on a pink shirt. But the entire night, every one kept asking us where our boyfriends were or asking if we were looking. We later found out that on Valentine's Day if you wear those colors it is the color of "apacianado" meaning passion. Usually only worn by people who have a boyfriend or girlfriend or who are actively seeking "passion" in their lives. I was shocked that I didn´t know this before. On Valentine's Day in the states we wear those colors right? And they don't mean anything, right? I think on the day of love, you are allowed to show that you are happy about love; whether it be love for family, friends, or partners. And even with those colors on, we got about 50 proposals a piece. HAHAH! It was a very hectic day!
