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:

Titanic x2

After the large boat which made regular trips between Maio and Praia, the Barlevento, sunk in April this week brings somewhat of a repeat. The Musteru, the Barlevento's replacement sunk on Monday on its way to Fogo. According to the gossip in the street, two large vehicles (with at least 6 wheels each) are now at the bottom of the Atlantic along with the rest of the cargo the ship was carrying. One of the Italians that Stephanie and I had previously eaten with in our English lesson days was on the boat moving to Fogo and lost everything he owned. And more recently, I heard that another volunteer was on the boat going to visit Fogo. As Lauren so ellequently puts it on her blog- this is the reason Peace Corps makes us where life jackets when traveling by boat.

With COS coming up next week this is unfortunate news for us on Maio where the airport is still not complete and our one large boat a week is again out of commission. Currently a 25 passenger fishing boat is coming to Maio about 3 times a week for emergencies and taking people to Praia but you can imagine how safe it feels to go on a small fishing boat when one of the two largest boats in Cape Verde sunk and the ocean has been really rough. Once again this creates more difficulties in planning our women's group trip to Fogo and about half of them have expressed their fear of going with all the Titanic-ing of the boats. Luckily there are a few other boats that go to Fogo but getting to and from Maio continues to be a challenge.

In other news I've spent this week getting ready to go to Praia and visiting with people. I've started giving away personal items and thinking about what I want to take back to America. My landlord is now the proud owner of a few pairs of pants and I've been giving out photos from past activites. I spent the morning yesterday with my counterparts kids painting sea urchins and shells that we collected on our passeo from May 1st. Then today I spent the morning in Morro visiting Bert and Miriama and saw the improvements on his grocery store. He's also got a Maio tourist website with info and pictures at . My computer class was again cancelled this afternoon because all the students went to go do campaign stuff, i.e. drive through other towns in the back of a large truck yelling out "viva" and waving flags. This also happens in Calheta about 2 or 3 times a night complete with honking horns and blasting loud music. So this is how people campaign in Cape Verde...

I'm really enjoying teaching the fishermen and I wish I had gotten to know them earlier on in my service. If Peace Corps sends more volunteers to Maio I hope they work with the fishermen. They make up an important part of the population on Maio and are underappreciated. In class they are very respectful and interested in learning which makes the class go very smoothly. I'm also learning a little about fish and fishing in Maio which is a fun bonus. I mainly like to ask them how the ocean is each day and when tuna is coming back and to explain the differences in fish.

COS conference is next week and I'm looking forward to it. I'm still waiting on my official approval from Peace Corps for my COS date but I'm trying to be patient. It's kind of like at the beginning applying to go and you feel like you wait forever until you finally get that invitation in the mail. Now I'm awaiting the okay from Washington for when I leave. Its one big cycle.