CHRISTMAS IN CALHETA!

(25 December 2008)


I just wanted to give you an update on my last Christmas in Cape Verde. I had a pretty awesome time. Whitney and I planned it out pretty well I have to say. We sent out the invites on Thanksgiving Day and we ended up having everyone except for 4 volunteers on this island at our house. One volunteer came from Sal and another volunteer from the island of Maio. My friend and volunteer Emily brought her friend who is a volunteer in South Africa, another volunteer brought her boyfriend and her brother who was visiting from the states, and Justin's mom was there as well. Whitney and I have been on the go… buying, planning, and organizing for over a month. We went to Praia and everywhere in-between for supplies, decorations, and food. But it turned out really well. I made eggnog that was a huge hit (I had to use grogue, which is like Cape Verde's official liquor and is like unfiltered vodka and moonshine instead of using rum or bourbon because it was soooo much cheaper) fortunately I don't like eggnog so I drank enough to taste but I couldn't bring myself to drink a full glass. I made cream of mushroom for Whitney's green bean casserole, and then I made stuffing, potato salad, three chickens, and one ham. The ham gave me small heart pains. I cooked it double the time because I could never tell if it was done, but luckily Justin's mom was here and she informed me that it was done I was just unsure because I am use to cured hams that are already brown. So I put my homemade glaze on top and it was devoured in literally minutes.
So when everyone arrived they had to read the schedule and they received the 2 page Holiday trivia (which had Christmas questions as well as Kwanzaa and Hanukkah questions and they had to complete it by 8) and then they all had to place their gift for gift exchange in the gift bucket, and place their food dish on the table. So we ate and then We placed all complete trivia on the wall for everyone to see, then Whitney and I went to Christmas eve mass at 9:00pm and during that time everyone was supposed to choose a song from our 11 hours of Christmas music ( 6 hours of which came from my neck of the woods…Oh mama, bebe, and missy, backdoor santa" was on that list but no Santa Claus wants some loving. I am saving that for next year!) that had been playing all day. We came back from mass exhausted because we had to stand for 2 hours with all the other 400 people that were there.

When we got back we set up karaoke outside. We let the three "visitors" be the judges. It was funny because none of them were shy in the way you would think that they would be. They gave constructed criticism and number amounts. It was the funniest thing that I have seen in a while. One group (adeyemi and Andrew) sang the fresh prince of bel-air theme and everyone sang along. They should have been disqualified because technically that is not a Christmas song but they added a "merry Christmas" at the end. Emily and Justin won karaoke with a pretty synchronized version of "
Feliz Navidad." It was actually pretty well done. After that we had gift exchange that we actually had the best gift winner (the gift was an awesome coffee pot) and the funniest gift (a hammer with a bag of nails). Then we gave the rest of the prizes:

Trivia Winner-Emily
Cookie decorator winner-Anne
Closest relationships to Santa or lives closest
to the North Pole- Jessica
First person to Arrive- Jackie
Most cups of eggnog-Andrew
Best Christmas Outfit- Whitney and Dannielle (self-declared)

We had a really great Christmas. I think it was the perfect way to celebrate for us. It was festive, fun, and there was enough going on that we could forget for a couple of hours the fact that we were sad not to be with our families and friends back home. I think it was a good way to celebrate and give everyone the chance to be together and celebrate. We then tried to go to the discotec (club) but it was too expensive and so we came back and hung out. Most people didn't sleep and left at 9:00am on Christmas day. But a few people stayed. Christmas morning Justin's mom came over and she made homemade biscuits (with self rising flour and Crisco!!! That she brought in her carry-on.), and we ate Whitney's awesome egg casserole, and hash browns. Before Alex and Joe left they made lakaa (I think that is how you spell it) which are Jewish potato pancakes. Those were good! We ate all the food and then everyone left. Luckily, everyone saw all the work, time, money we put into all of this and they cleaned up EVERYTHING! I went to bed about 3:00am and I heard around 5:00am my friend Brian yell to everyone "I think it would be wrong to just leave and leave this place a pigsty! " He rallied everyone together and they cleaned for a couple of hours. Sarah came from her host fam's house later that day and we watched 27 dresses, some bad lifetime movie and to end the wonderful Christmas movie night we watched Batman the dark Knight (which was a Christmas gift from my friend Endia), then we exchanged gifts, and then we ate leftovers all day. That night a really famous Cape Verdean Singer came and we went to his concert. Then Whitney, Aguinaldo, Papi, and I went to the club. It was an awesome way to end the holiday.

The next day we did nothing because we were so tired and It felt good to relax. As much fun hosting that party was, it was exhausting. Later that day we went to the beach. All in all it was a fun time. I think bing here really does make me appreciate all the Christmas "traditions" that I have with my family. I mean I do believe that I took them for granted because they were always a part of my life. But being here I now know that Christmas, thanksgiving, etc. are really important to me. I completely understand the fact that it is the happiest and most depressing time of the year. I had a great time doing this and I really think everyone enjoyed it and appreciated it but I am very excited about the holiday season next year and being home in GA!
New years is another excuse to have a 3-day party so I am now getting ready for that. I bought some material (red) about 3 months ago and I now have a man in my town making a shirt for me. If that does not go the way I want I will be wearing this really cute red dress I bought in Praia. Well I love you all and miss you more. Have a great rest of the Holiday

SAL (salt) e BOA VISTA (good view)

Well I know it has been a while since I wrote to everyone. I felt like there has been so much to write about that I sort of got overwhelmed just thinking about it. But I owe you some updates, so here goes…
Well in October I went to the islands of Boa Vista and Sal (the names of the islands literally translate into good view and Salt). Boa Vista is gorgeous! The beaches have ridiculously white sand and blue water. There is also a desert there that is so amazing and almost indescribable in its beauty. There were literally times that I just couldn't even speak, I just had to stop and stare. The pictures we have don't begin to compare to the real thing. However, even with all the beauty I could never live there. There were literally no cape Verdeans, ok there were a few, and it was so touristy. They had resorts the size of cities. Everyone we saw was either from another island, Italian or Portuguese. Even with all that I thought that I was ready for Sal…not so much.

Sal is the tourist capital of the islands of Cape Verde. There were hotels and resorts everywhere! It also had magnificent beaches and beautiful scenery. There were also…restaurants! We actually went to an Indian restaurant that was owned by a married couple from India who lived in the Canary Islands for like 20 years. They were really nice and the food was good. But the downside because the islands are relatively remote and far away from Santiago, food is very expensive, therefore restaurants were expensive and the portions were a lot smaller. Even on Boa vista an orange was 4 times more than on the island of Santiago.

In Sal we went to the salt mines. It was really cool. They have pools with water and they are filled with salt and you can go and sit in the pools and your skin comes out unbelievably smooth. People from Spain, Portugal, and Italy come just to lie in these pools and see the salt mines. It is a national park so all cape Verdeans get in for free.

Overall it was a really good trip. I had a great time although I am pretty sure I am going to avoid taking boats after the 8 hour trip to Boa Vista and then another 5 hours to Sal and then the 12 hour round trip back to Praia. I mean it is a lot cheaper but now I understand why. I am gad I went as well because it allowed me to see the beauty in Santiago in a better light. I knew that I picked the right island a year ago. I love Santiago. I love the Kriolu here, I love the culture, the food is great here, the people are beautiful. I have a connection to this island and after coming back from Senegal it definitely has a connection and strong stereotypical African essence. It is a beautiful island but also that is what I love about Cape Verde: that EVERY single island is so drastically different and EVERY island's kriolu is so different and unique but they all are proud and strong in their patriotism and loyalty to Cape Verde.