Friday, November 10, 2006

Right now I’m sitting in a sweltering hot room with an air condition that appears to not be functioning. I’m also sun burnt from our full day of activities as part of the training session we’ve had for the past four days. Today’s portion of the “sports for people with deficiencies” consisted of our group of 18 wearing bright red t-shirts (given to us by the man leading the formacao) and doing activities on the beach. We learned how to be resourceful and make a medicine ball out of a busted ball, water, sand, newspaper, plastic bags and tape. We also made stress balls out of sand and balloons and learned the secret to juggling. These were all things to use to help train people for sports. Also included in the day were those dreaded trust games where you have one person in the middle of a circle of people who is supposed to fall around and the people in the circle have to keep them up. I learned how to throw a javelin and a shot put and watched others try their skill at the discus. After snack time we played sitting volleyball and did activities in the ocean. It was pretty exhausting but I can’t complain after having spent the day playing on the beach.

So back to the sweltering room...After pretty much any sort of information session, class, etc, there is always a party with food and certificates passed out to honor your completion. After the electricity went out in the restaurant above the CEJ, we moved to our current location which is about 20 feet away from the CEJ and managed to keep electricity. We’ve been listening to the guy talk about paper work needed to make a project and have begun to form the association on Maio and decide who is in charge of what. They’re serving paella for dinner and then passing out certificates. So I am now officially certified as going through the class which pretty much means that I have a pretty piece of paper to decorate my room with.

Remember the blurb I wrote on the man asking why only women could come to the English class? Well today I was talking with a different man in Villa and explaining what I do, etc and he asked me why focus on women. This time I stood up for the women here and explained to him about the lack of opportunity for women in school, etc. Apparently all the men are now getting jealous that its the women who have banded together and are taking a stand for themselves. I don’t have any expectations on how things will change between men and women in Maio while I am here but I think this women’s group is getting more well known, at least in Calheta, and all of the women are getting really excited to do projects and have opportunities to learn things that they felt they didn’t have before. Even if I don’t accomplish anything really big while I’m here (which it seems a lot of people expect from me), I’m really proud to be working with a group of people who seem to really care about their community and their future and have taken the initiative to work for what they want.


Saturday, November 11, 2006
The Americans are back! Well, two of them anyway and its so great to see them again. Today was definitely a food day... We went to the Italian’s for lunch to celebrate the arrival of her husband. Later in the day we walked over to the soccer tournament across from the CEJ. A few of my roommate’s students were playing and its always fun to be out when the rest of the town is crowded around the “soccer field.”

We had heard a rumor that the Americans were coming back so we walked down to wear they are staying and alas, there they were! It was such a nice reunion. We went over to the British guy’s restaurant and celebrated with his new chocolate ice cream recipe which is the best one by far.

In a few minutes we are about to head over to one of my counterpart’s house for goat. I think I may be sick tomorrow after eating so much today.

Over the past two weeks 2 volunteers decided to ET or early terminate. Its really sad to see them go but I know they need to do what makes them happy. I’ve also heard that another volunteer is being medically separated which is also really depressing. I guess I always assumed some of our group would eventually ET but I wasn’t really sure when it would happen. Being the eternal optimist, I kind of hoped that everyone in our group would make it and show Peace Corps up but its not for everyone and I don’t want anyone to be where they don’t feel they should be. Leaving early is something that is on every volunteer’s mind at some point throughout their service. It is really hard being away from your friends, family, and your familiar surroundings and we definitely have our up and down days. Being in Cape Verde is a mixed blessing. We have certain elements of what we see back home- lights, faucets, refrigerators, Internet, sometimes even washing machines, but the electricity and water are inconsistent and it makes for an interesting time. The work part can also be frustrating because we are here to help and work at a job but a lot of the time it seems like the people here have everything covered and we question why they want us here to help. I understand how people would want to leave when they feel like they have nothing to do or could be doing the exact same thing back at home.

For the most part I’m happy here. I feel like I’m beginning to make friends, and once I start on my regular schedule next week, it will be nice to have a regular routine. One of the biggest frustrations for me as a “community mobilizer” volunteer is that I did not come in with a regular schedule. I need to have structure and I went about making it for myself. It’s taken a little while but I think the people and groups that I’m going to work with are ones that I really want to work with and will be happy helping with projects and classes. The longer I’ve been here, the more I’ve seen a need to work with the women and girls in this community and help them get access to more opportunities.


Monday, November 13, 2006

Saturday night was a lot of fun. Besides having food and drink thrown at us for hours, our friends also played guitar and sang Cape Verdian music. After our dinner we headed out to Figuera because “the discoteque in Figuera is better than the one in Vila.” In reality this meant, the are less people/ people that our friends that took us know well enough to tell their significant others that they took the American girls to a Disco. It was no where near as crowded as the one in Vila which was good because if all the men at the one in Vila were as drunk as the ones in Figuera, we would have had to fight off 5 times as many people who wanted to dance with us. It was nice to be there with people we know who could keep the staggering drunks away and it was a really nice time.

Yesterday evening was the women’s group meeting. I invited someone from the girls group in Borreiro to come talk about doing a joint project for the women to teach the girls to do weavings. We somehow got into conversation about the information sessions of people with deficiencies and that got a lot of people really wound up. These women were very opinionated on the topic and were pretty much all yelling at the same time for about 15 minutes.

When I got back we went to the Italian lady’s hotel to take a shower because we are all out of water and I think I’m the cleanest I’ve been in a long time. My hair is actually soft today. Yeah, I know, it a great feat...

This afternoon I was supposed to start my English classes in Calheta but apparently people have it stuck in their minds that class begins on Tuesday. I rode my bike most of the way to Calheta and then hitched a ride for the last few km with an Italian guy who was driving a friend home to Calheta. After learning that I would not actually be teaching today, I ended up going to a meeting at the primary school with my counterpart to meet a music teacher who wants to play violin with me. I think she gave him the impression that I am able to teach him how to play classical music and that I am available to help teach his students. It’s going to be interesting how this plays out because as I learned from the other night, Cape Verdians learn music notes as “do, re, mi...” and not as “a, b, c...” I also do not have any sheet music or music formed well enough in my memory to actually teach it to someone. Anyone know of any music organizations that would be willing to donate sheet music to teach with or maybe even a cheap violin so they/I can practice?

About 2 km into my ride home, my back tire sprung a leak, thank goodness for cobblestone roads...., and I ended up walking with the bike for a bit. Eventually a car came by and luckily I knew someone in it so they gave me a ride back to town.

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Today was another crazy experience. Now that I’m really excited and ready to start my classes, they keep getting changed around on me. I woke up and walked to Borreiro (since the bikes out of commission) to teach computer classes and when I got there the center was empty. I figured that the kids were just late since that is not unusual here and turned on the computers to upload a typing program. Apparently my pin drive is too new for the Windows 98 computers and I was unable to even access the files on the drive. I tested my luck with the second computer which is even older and couldn’t even get the computer to boot up. This is going to be one heck of a computer class. Eventually one girl showed up and asked me if we had class today since the leader of their group failed to tell anyone I was starting this week. She said she would tell the others that we are starting this week so cross your fingers that tomorrow I will have a class. I ended up talking a bit with a woman who lives next to the center and an older woman who said that the girl I had spoken with about the class “belonged to her” so I’m going to assume it was her mom. I found a car back to Vila and met up with my roommate and another teacher who was hanging out at our house.

Since it was still early (early meaning before all the stores close for lunch) I went to the back to check on my bank card which has still not arrived. I ran into my counterpart from Calheta and was informed that she does not think that I should ride my bike to Borreiro because there are not many cars on that road and if something happened to me she would worry. I kind of felt like she was playing the mom role but it was nice of her to worry about me. Since my bike is out of commission for now, I guess I will ask the camara if they can hook me up with a car to Borreiro or I’ll try to hitch a ride like I did today. She also informed me that she had a meeting in Vila today right around the time we were supposed to start our English class so she wants to wait until the next class (scheduled on Friday) so she can be there and tell the people to be respectful and speak slowly since its sometimes difficult for me to understand Maio’s rapid fire Kriolu.

So between that and some drama going down at the Italians affecting our English tutoring sessions, I’m still waiting to actually start some of my classes.

Since I have a free afternoon today and lesson plans already made, I just started and finished reading John Edwards, “Four Trials.” I actually teared up for part of it which is probably what he wanted. But seriously, I really respect him as a person and in the back of my mind, I still want to see him run for President. Now that I’ve finished his book, I really want to read Elizabeth Edwards book, “Saving Graces.” If anyone wants to help me realize this goal, I will be indebted to you forever (or at least until I come back from Africa). My roommate just finished War and Peace and now its getting passed on to me. I feel like everyone in the Peace Corps plans on reading or brings War and Peace with them since we all know that we’ll have a lot of time on our hands.

Wednesday, November 8, 2006

So it was day three of the information sessions and today we learned
definitions of terms (deficiency, integration into the community, handicap,
etc). We made mock project proposals and went over what you do to make a
project. Tomorrow we¹re going to practice something on the beach. Im not
sure what, but we were told to bring a broken ball, a volleyball, volleyball
net, empty water bottles, rope, and a few other random things. Let¹s see
what happens.

My counterpart from Calheta told me some exciting news today. She wasn¹t
able to get hold of the girl who was going to tell the womens group that Im
not teaching this week so people ended up showing up. The exciting part is
that more than the initial 22 women showed up, just for the English class.
Word must be spreading about the group and it makes me happy. In addition to
that, a man from the town asked my counterpart why the class was just for
women and said it was unfair that men could not take part in the class. She
then stood up for the women and basically told him its not fair that men
have more opportunities, etc. I was really proud of her after hearing her
retell the story and I¹m getting more and more excited to work with these
women.

This afternoon we had our girls group meeting at the CEJ and it went really
well. Today¹s topic was Sex and Gender Roles. We did an activity where we
put the words ³masculine² and ³feminine² on the board and they had to tape
cards with phrases like ³clean the house,² ³gets good grades in school,²
and ³raises the family² under which one they thought does the action in Cape
Verde. Afterwards we discussed the cards and why they put them where.
Afterwards, we redid the activity but this time had them put the cards up by
what each sex is biologically capable of doing and then discussed. It was
really interesting to hear what the girls had to say: They put ³is able to
have more than one boyfriend/ girlfriend² under boys and it led to a
discussion about what would happen if there were an equal proportion of men
and women in the country and how to change the mentality of people. Next
week we discuss relationships with the opposite sex.

So the elections were yesterday and I really want to find out the results.
The electricity was out during lunch so we didn¹t get to use the internet. I
can only imagine how crazy it was a GW yesterday. Its so politically charged
and I miss that elections in DC are like watching the Superbowl elsewhere. I
know probably a dozen or so of my friends back at home were probably working
on campaigns or campaigning themselves.

I received a wonderful package in the mail today from my mom, a
³Thanksgiving in a bag² if you will, complete with recipes, pie crust, and
spices to make pumpkin pie. I¹m guessing there¹s pumpkin and French¹s fried
onion rings on the way!

The lock guy just left and we now have all our keys. Now its just getting a
peephole installedŠ
--

Maio updates

Friday, October 27, 2006

So this week has been interesting. Thank you all for the birthday wishes. My
roommate and I went out to lunch to celebrate and partook in some amazing
fresh tuna, French fries, and ice cream. At night, some of our friends that
work in the camara/high school came over with a cake and wine. It was a
unique little festa since the electricity was out and all we had was candle
light.

Tuesday I brought the left over cake to the Casa de Juventude where everyone
was thrilled to polish it off.

Wednesday, we went to the Italians house for lunch and English lessons only
there were no English lessons. However, we did partake in pasta, pizza,
shrimp, mussels, and salad.

After lunch, we had the first girl¹s group meeting and it went really well.
Six girls showed up and we went through introductions and objectives of the
group. They all seemed happy to be there. After the meeting I received a
call from Peace Corps that my bike had arrived on the boat and I was to
report to the pier to get it. Of course I had no idea how you go about
finding a bike on a huge cargo ship so I asked about 20 people what to do
and they all pointed me in the right direction. Eventually I got my bike
only to find out that one of the wheels was slightly off track. I brought it
to the Italians and they fixed it for me. When I got home it was dark and we
headed back to the Italian¹s place to celebrate their housekeeper¹s
birthday. She¹s a really sweet lady from Calheta and we had fun eating more
pizza, tuna, and cake. After dinner there was a little dancing and more
chatter.

Thursday I went to work at the Casa de Juventude and a woman from the camara
came in to tell us about an upcoming program. I agreed to help with
something but I¹m not sure if its teaching a computer class or just helping
with activities. Anyways, its for a few days in November to bring awareness
to and have activities for people with mental and physical disabilities.

Today I walked into the Casa de Juventude was asked for information on AIDS
for a project someone is doing. I spent my morning typing information out in
English to later translate into Portuguese so she can understand it. Another
crazy day as usual.

This weekend I¹m teaching a computer class in Borreiro and trying to change
the days of my computer classes so I have free time on the weekends. I think
we might go picnic on the beach on Sunday which should be fun.

Telecom is putting in a new phone tower by the post office, ie, right
outside our house, and has taken to working at 7 am on the dot. Its really
loud and obnoxious and I really hope that they finish soon so I can sleep.
Other than that, things here are going well.

Ti logoŠ.

Sunday, October 29

The electricity has been on again off again for the past few weeks. When we
first arrived, it was pretty good but lately its been off more than on which
can be quite frustrating, especially when I want to use the Internet.

Today I had my first computer class in Borreiro. I think the bike ride there
and back about killed me. Its been years since I¹ve really been on a bike
and even though it was only 9 km each way I am exhausted. It took about an
hour to get there and 40 minutes to get back thanks to the hills. A few
cars passed and gave me thumbs up as I struggled up the hills. When I
arrived in Borreiro, a group of school girls all laughed at me in my stylish
bike helmet that I¹m obligated to wear. I don¹t mind wearing the helmet.
Knowing my clumsiness I¹ll probably fall off a lot while I¹m here and I¹m
sure the helmet will come in handy. As for my lack of sense of direction,
there¹s only one main road on the island so it¹s hard to get lost. I made it
there in one piece and on time to start the class. But now I¹m a little
sore from my first bike riding experience. If I keep this up, I¹ll be in
great shape by the time I return to America.

The class was supposed to start at 4 and no one showed up until 4:30 except
for a few boys who were admiring my bike. One class commenced, we spent the
30 minutes that I had left doing introductions, defining the computer and
talking about its components, and figuring out a better time to have class
since I would like to be able to do other things on my weekends. That part
took the most time and I still don¹t think its resolved, but the leader of
the group is collecting names and times for classes and it looks like I¹ll
be going there 3 mornings and an afternoon each week for classes. About 10
or 12 girls came and they ranged from having zero computer experience to 2
years. It should be interesting to see how the classes progress. I¹m looking
forward to it but I¹m also still trying to get over my fear of being in
front of the classroom.

Last night my roommate and I ran into one of the teachers and were invited
to his house to look through movies to borrow, He has quite a collection,
all probably illegally downloaded and sent to him in the mail. We¹re going
to watch 40 Year Old Virgin tonight after partaking in mango ice cream at
the British guy¹s restaurant. Tomorrow, we are going on a picnic at the
beach and I¹m really looking forward to getting some sun and swimming. The
beach we are going to is supposed to be a lot calmer than the one closest to
our house.

Wednesday, November 1

Monday, my roommate¹s boss comes to visit and we¹re looking forward to a few
days of good meals paid for of course by Peace Corps. It should be a fun
visit. I got word that one of the guys from the Canary Islands is back for
a few days and has invited us to dinner on Tuesday. I don¹t know if we¹ll go
since the APCD will be here but I have a feeling someone will show up at our
house again and we¹ll relive the ³come eat goat² experience. Also, since the
APCD will be here, he¹ll get to see the new house and we can finally move! I
can¹t wait to move into a quieter neighborhood and not have the ceiling fall
on me at night.

So I¹m trying to figure out my schedule and get into a schedule and if I
counted right, I¹ll be biking 144 km a week getting to and from Calheta and
Borreiro. That¹s about 86 miles a week and 4472 miles a year. Wow.

Sunday, November 5

We are finally in our new house! We moved last Wednesday which was also a
holiday in all of Cape Verde- All Saints Day which meant no school or work.
The new house is wonderful and I like it so much better than the old one
already. The electricity has started to work better too, thanks to a new
piece of equipment that I guess came on the plane last week.

This weekend has been pretty exciting. Saturday a few teachers came to
visit. One of them brought over a cake after my roommate convinced him that
that¹s what you do in America when someone moves to a new house. Another
teacher brought over coffee from Fogo. That night we went out to the French
restaurant with other people and stayed out way past my bedtime.

Today I rode my bike to Calheta for the women¹s meeting. It went really
well, we decided on hours and days for an English class and talked about
their ideas for the group. I¹m really looking forward to working with the
group but sort of dreading biking so much every day since my legs are really
sore from the journey. When I got back, I was informed that the slightly
overweight Italian stopped by in a Speedo to invite us to eat goat for
dinner. I can only imagine this guy standing in the middle of the street
yelling my roommates name and saying ³come eat goat.²

Tuesday, November 7, 2006

So the girl¹s group is having slight problems right now. The group that is
supposed to come on Mondays still hasn¹t shown. I¹m going to make a poster
to put up at the CEJ on the days of meetings so maybe people will better
remember or just show up. Yesterday afternoon I went to a meeting that I was
informed I was to attend, not knowing what it was about or anything. When I
arrived, I learned that it was an information session about the Paralympics
and their committee in Cape Verde and trying to get regional associations on
each island. Since the 7th and 8th are officially ³Day to recognize people
with deficiencies,² they chose this particular week to have sessions. So
instead of starting my computer and English classes this week, I am sitting
in sessions all morning learning about sport opportunities for people with
physical and mental disabilities and I guess later on, how to train them or
generating project ideas to do on Maio. It¹s really that these people are
addressed because like most places in the world, there is a stigma placed on
people who are not ³normal.² I found out from my counterpart (who is also
attending the meetings) that her sister is deaf and people treat her really
badly because of her disability. She also said that she is really bright and
does way more things than any person without a disability. Its good to hear
that there are some people who are supportive, but for the majority of
people, it seems like they may need a wake up call. I don¹t know much about
how they are treated in the school system or if they are allowed to go to
school, etc, but hopefully once these sessions are done, the people
attending will take initiative to work with the handicapped in sports and
other skills that will make them feel more integrated into society.

This afternoon, our landlord proxy (the landlord lives in Praia), came over
to fix my roommate¹s light. She¹ll be happy when she comes home to find it
working. A carpenter is supposed to also come by to change our locks
because there¹s a problem with the main door- you can get locked out if you
don¹t turn the key the right way.