New beginnings

It's been a rough few weeks adjusting back to America. Mike and I moved in together in PA where he is attending Penn State and finishing a degree in Biology before applying to Dental School. Our apartment is great and things with us are wonderful. The hard part for me is getting back into America- the pace of life, living in a new part of the country, trying to find a job, trying to make friends, figuring out where I am and where I want to go. The Peace Corps was an incredible experience but now I have to figure out how to translate my experience into what I want to do with the rest of my life. I know graduate school is in the near future and I'm trying to create these great plans but getting there is harder than I thought.

One of the big changes I made when I returned was cutting off my hair. I let it grow out the two years I was gone and decided I would again donate my hair to Locks of Love. You can see the difference between the following pictures. That's a lot of hair- yikes!





I'm still trying to find a job- one that may help me on my career path and not completely change it. Needless to say, there's not much work outside of the restaurant and retail industries in State College but I'm looking. It's weird being in a college town and not actually in college.

June 28, 2008

Today we went on our first outreach to Masaaka. We split into two groups and took people's medical problems, blood pressure, and personal information. I worked with Steven, Jude, Lara, and translator/Dr. Steven. We had a good time hiking in and out of the cornfields getting from house to house. We tried to buy hot peppers (think Cape Verdian piri piri) at one house and they gave us all they had drying in the sun for free. It was really neat for me to see something from Cape Verde all the way in Uganda.






During our outreach we ran into a girl with a high fever, headache and the vomitted in front of us. We all felt really bad for her and the seeming neglect from her family allowing her to lie in the sun in this condition.

Walking up the mountains was absolutely beautiful. It's weird being back. Very surreal.

June 28, 2008

Yesterday was a pretty incredible day. We spent the morning learning how to use blood pressure cuffs and to take eye exams.








In the afternoon we went to the vocational school that I helped build in 2003. It was really neat seeing the final result and the center being utilized. There was a little session where the director introduced the teachers and students, we gave our speeches and they sang and danced.

June 25, 2008

We're here in Buhkaweka, Uganda. Just getting here was quite an adventure. We spent a night in Dubai, the only time I'll ever be in the Emirates. We saw a large mall with an indoor ski slope, the famous sailboat shaped hotel that costs at minimum $2000 a night, and drove on the island shaped like a palm tree. I felt very uncomfortable being amongst all this money. The flight to Dubai was amazing--good service, good food, and the coolest tvs with hundreds of movies, tv shows and games to keep you entertained during the flight.





When we finally made it to Uganda the Tanzania group's counterpart had not arrived so we waited with them while they figured everything out. We then drove to Kampala to change money and went on to Mbale. We finally reached home around 12:30 am and our house is great. Its across the street from the old Crossroads house which is now being used to house a Peace Corps volunteer. We've got a sitting room, a room for the boys, and 2 1/2 rooms for the girls. Out back are our 2 holes. We woke up this morning and all got on boda-bodas--motorcycle taxis-- to the intersection and then got on a matatu to Mbale. We spent the day buying supplies for our house and now have a stove, dishes and food. We got back to Bukhaweka with electricity and cooked our first meal of rice and vegetables!

On the road again...

Yesterday's 50th anniversary celebration for Operation Crossroads Africa was awesome. There was a service in the morning that leaned a little on the religious side. There were some drummers who played music from West Africa, accompanied by dance, a gospel choir from a local high school, speakers from past Crossroads groups, and a few former Crossroad-ers who are now Reverends who said prayers and a litany. It payed tribute to Rev. Dr. Robinson, the founder of Crossroads. Afterwards we headed to the UN building for an incredible feast of food from all over Africa with 4 tables, buffet style, with food from each of the regions of Africa. There was crispy duck and zucchini from South Africa, Red Snapper and Yams from East Africa, Yassa chicken and jollof rice from West Africa, and Pecan Crusted Lamb and couscous from North Africa. There were also a variety of appetizers, drinks and desserts (including mango sorbet).

My good camera broke and I had to buy a new smaller one since I would have no picture taking ability. We leave in an hour for the airport going to Dubai. My group is "fighting" over who gets the window seat so they can see the palm tree shaped island as we fly over the country. We'll finally land at Entebbe on Tuesday and head off to our site near Mbale along with the other Uganda group (working with the FDNC and Samuel).

I'm getting more excited by the minute! I'll write more when I get to Uganda.

America

I'm back in America and getting here was a little difficult but I finally made it. I got back on June 7th and my stomach problems adusting to American enriched chemically altered food are now kicking in. Good thing I'll get to go through this again in about two weeks...

Mike was really suprised to see me at the airport 3 days early and we had a great time in Winston with my family and friends. Lauren suprised us and took us to see a new musical about pirates! We also hung out with Ler, Adam and Daniel at the annual rib fest (yay bbq!).

I'm now in New York for Crossroads Orientation. I arrived Tuesday after a much delayed flight. Mike and Rick drove up Wednesday and we went into the city, drank way too many Long Island ice teas, and saw Spamalot. Very funny! Yesterday the participants arrived and we had day one of orientation. My group has 8 people (including me), mostly college students, one recent graduate, and one older woman. The majority of them are pre-med or work in the public health field. I'm really excited to start this next adventure with them and I think we are all looking forward to finally getting to Uganda.

Today is the Crossroads pinning ceremony where we are sworn in as the 2008 (50th anniversary) group of Crossroaders. Tomorrow is a big 50th anniversary celebration in the city and an African food feast at the UN.

That's about it for now. I'm going to indulge in some more Starbucks before our medical session this morning.

Ti logo...

The end of the road

So this is it. My official last day as a Peace Corps volunteer. These past few days have been exhausting and emotional. It took until last Friday to find out my plane ticket information and my boat to Praia ended up leaving at 3 am Friday morning. So much for that 24 hour rule. Needless to say I am exhausted.

I really hate saying goodbye. In the states I always like to replace it with "see you later" but who knows when I'll be back in Cape Verde. I would really like to return on vacation but that could be a long time from now.

My despedida passeo was a lot of fun. About 40 of us from Vila and Calheta went to Pao Seco for the day and cooked a ton of food. One of the guys found a star fish and gave it to me. Now I just worry that it will smell up my bag but its really cool.

I'm looking forward to going home but also really sad to leave the past two years of my life behind. Peace Corps was a dream for me. Something I envisioned doing for a very long time and now that these past two years have passed I'm kind of stuck in this place trying to figure out what is next. I mean sure I have the immediate plans, go home, go to Uganda, move in with Mike, find a job, but its not the same as working in a job that you love that takes you across the world and challenges everything you have ever known. I know I have learned so much from this experience, more than I realize and can eloquently express. And its hard to think back on the two years and generalize because everything was unique.

When they say that the Peace Corps is the "toughest job you'll ever love," its true. Despite the days that I wanted to give up and just leave or cried for hours over something silly, the experience is worth it. The people you meet are worth it. And the changes that you see in yourself are worth it.

Saying Goodbye

Two weeks left at site until its time to head back to Praia and on to the states. Saying goodbye is harder than I thought. There's the sheer number of people I need to "despede" and the stress of not forgetting anyone, despedida parties for one last fun time times 5, and making sure I leave project info with the correct people.

I went to visit a friend yesterday for her birthday and made plans with her to visit the "centro" where she works as a person that grows seedlings to be replanted somewhere else.

Today I visited another friend to learn how to make doughnuts to bring to our last women's meeting. While I was there she showed me a blue vibrator that was given to her by a friend from America. I was quite shocked to see a vibrator in Maio. I asked her if people here are accustomed to them or even knew what they were and she said no. She takes it out to show people at parties and have a laugh. Apparently her husband once found it and asked what it was for. So this is the impact of America on Cape Verde...

I spent this morning making a slide show to present at our last meeting. The women seemed to enjoy it, who doesn't like looking at pictures of themself and their friends? I then gave an impromto speech thanking them for the opportunity to work with them, encouraging them to continue when I leave and improve the lives of Calheta, and reminded them that the little activities that we do may not seem like much but all together add up and people do notice their impact. Silvia then spoke and was also encouraging them and thanked me for my contribution. I gave them a box of stuff (all our project proposals, contacts, forms for group organization, etc), pictures, left over materials from projects to keep and hopefully it will be useful in the future. I asked them what they wanted for the future of women in Calheta and as usual, most were too timid to say anything. Eventually one person spoke about having good leaders who will direct the group in the right direction. Another person said to include older people who have had lots of experience and can add more value to the group. We then danced batuk or rather I danced batuk and they laughed. I like when they laugh. Much better than the few tears that came, those few tears that I am trying to avoid that I know will eventually make their way out during an inconvenient time. But thats life, and part of saying goodbye.

People have been saying that tomorrow is a national holiday to mourn for the people that died in the earthquake in China. I don't know why that is a holiday here in Cape Verde.

I'm still in Praia waiting to get back to Maio. This past week was our COS conference (Close of Service) and it kind of makes leaving a little bit more real. It still hasn't really hit me that I'm going home in about 3 weeks and I'll no longer be a Peace Corps volunteer. The next few weeks are going to be pretty emotional saying goodbye to everyone who has been part of my life and trying to prepare myself to move on to the next stage in my life.

They did a test run on the airport in Maio Wednesday but it failed to pass inspection which means we have another week of tinkering and then another test run. Hopefully I will be able to fly back to Praia for my COS and not take the boat.

Speaking of boats, here are some pictures from the Musteiru that sank: