Well we have been in the “rainy season” for over a month and yesterday is the first day there has been rain here in São Felipe (now to be referred to as Bila because it’s easier for me to type and that is how all the locals refer to it). The rain has been hard and constant since before lunch yesterday which meant that every hour since the rain started, you can find me mop in hand, forcing water down drains so that my house doesn’t flood!! Most houses here are built with what is known as a “kintal”, which is an open space inside your house (it is where I do my laundry!), but also means that it basically rains inside your house. This first rain has also allowed me to see the flaws in my large home…there is a hole somewhere in the base of the wall that connects my bedroom to the kintal. So guess what?? When it rains hard and water backs up in my kintal, it seeps through the hole into my bedroom!! Thankfully, this was a wall I didn’t have anything up against so none of my stuff got water logged or damaged. The rain, however annoying for my drainage problems, has been great. Starting with the fact that because of the rain, for the first time it wasn’t excruciatingly hot today!! Also, it means that the crops get some much needed nourishment because right now, in most places the corn is little more than a sprout coming out of the ground, when it should be well past my knees. The rain makes me happy but it also makes me miss Arizona (surprise) and the awesome monsoons. I love rain, but there is nothing like some good thunder and lightning!
p.s. day after rain...what do you get when you combine two days of constant rain with the extreme heat that comes the day after the rain...IT´S HUMID AS HELL HERE!!!
Saturday, September 29, 2007
The Sounds of Mourning
I wake up Sunday to the sound of women wailing; a sound, in this culture, which only means one thing. The old man who lives across from me, who I have seen every morning since I arrived here being pushed around his house in his wheelchair, has died. The wailing is constant throughout the day, visitors coming and going, joining in this ritual of mourning. For seven days as more family and friends arrive to pay respects and keep constant vigil, the wailing will continue, each arrival kicking up a new round of grief.
This is not the first time I have heard wailing since coming to Cape Verde. With every death or anniversary of death comes the wailing of widows, daughters, family and friends. At first I thought it was heart breaking; distressing to hear these public cries of loss, but as the wailing continues, it seems to me more of an obligation than a true emotion. It is a tradition, a way that people let the community know that one of their own has gone, but the forced structure of the wailing is something I cannot comprehend. In the US, mourning and loss is such a personal thing; sadness and tears are normal, but not in this public, group manner that has time constraints. After the seventh day, the wailing will stop until the first anniversary of death, and every year after, as family comes home in recognition of the death, the wailing will commence again.
This is not the first time I have heard wailing since coming to Cape Verde. With every death or anniversary of death comes the wailing of widows, daughters, family and friends. At first I thought it was heart breaking; distressing to hear these public cries of loss, but as the wailing continues, it seems to me more of an obligation than a true emotion. It is a tradition, a way that people let the community know that one of their own has gone, but the forced structure of the wailing is something I cannot comprehend. In the US, mourning and loss is such a personal thing; sadness and tears are normal, but not in this public, group manner that has time constraints. After the seventh day, the wailing will stop until the first anniversary of death, and every year after, as family comes home in recognition of the death, the wailing will commence again.
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
My life in Fogo
Sorry for the long delay in blog entries folks, but every time I sit down to write something, I feel like I have nothing to say; which is definitely not true because so many things have changed since the last entry. So I will try to hammer out everything new because, frankly, dinner is in the oven and will take a while so there is nothing better to do. First of all, you have seen the pictures of Fogo, my beautiful volcanic island and some randoms of some of the other volunteers and me, so I hope I have satisfied one of your hungers…
…Now for the other. I have been in São Felipe now for almost 3 weeks and am still trying to settle in and feel “at home” here. Although I was nervous about living by myself, I shouldn’t have been because I think I have only spent 4 nights by myself in those three weeks. My house, since it is in the major town, tends to be the transit house. The volunteers that live in the rural areas have to come in to buy produce and use the internet, so they end up staying the night because transport around the island is shifty. I think that once the school year gets under way things will settle down. Luckily I enjoy the company and the two volunteers that live in the volcano are real foodies so whenever they are here they make me a superb meal as their fee for staying. Speaking of cooking, I have learned that cooking from scratch takes quite awhile, and when dinner preparation takes more than an hour and it is only me, I tend to have a lot of food left over. I am trying to adapt recipes for one, but the guessing of measurements can sometimes lead to disaster. But I have found I love to cook and experiment with all of the recipes I have, and even the hour of preparation passes the time and is fun because I turn on my music and dance around while I chop. The main produce that goes into everything that I make (partially because it is all I can get here) is garlic, green pepper, tomato and onion…yes I said onion. I willingly put onion in everything now. I even put raw onion in my tuna salad sandwiches. For those of you who don’t know, my disgust for onion in the states was one of the great hatreds of this world, but I guess my palate is changing. I also have willingly bought and cooked fish and I make myself a cup of tea before I go to bed so I guess already Peace Corps has changed me for the better. Let’s see, other food…I eat a lot of beans because there is not a whole lot of other protein that I like to fumble with. I do get chicken and of course fish and I make my own tortillas and pizza dough so I have already had a Mexican night and an Italian night!! I do make everything spicy because all I brought with me is crushed red pepper and the wonderful dried peppers of Jim Nelson (which before too long I will be needing a refill of!). Other types of spices are hard to find here so the Italian spices are in the mail (hopefully soon) and if anyone has anything that I have to have feel free to send it!
I have not been doing much in the way of “work” because as a community development volunteer, part of my initial job description is to integrate into the community and assess its needs. So, there is no daily 9-5 work schedule set up for me as of yet. I have been in contact with the two main institutions that I will be working with; the Centro de Juventude (youth center) and the OMCV, which is the national woman’s organization in Cape Verde. One of the projects the OMCV is doing right now is working with the youth of Fogo, holding information sessions on HIV/AIDS and related health topics. I have already attended a three day seminar and am excited to see how I can help with this project even more. So, since I don’t go into work all day, what do I do?? Well, Sunday and Monday, were basically spent washing my clothes. Man that takes a long time!!! And along with the duration of the activity, it is a massive arm work out as well! The ringing out of the clothes is the hardest part, especially the sheets and towels. I also spend a lot of time just walking around the town so that people get used to seeing me. But the walking here is crazy because my town 1) is hot as hell, and coming from Arizona I am qualified to say that…I literally think I sweat out about a gallon of water a day. I wish that I had brought more airy dresses, shorts and comfortable shirts because that is literally all that I wear. And my house isn’t much better for the heat, there is no ventilation so I sweat my ass off inside too, especially in the kitchen!! Ok, so not only is it hot here, but 2)the town of São Felipe is all hill. Every time I leave my house for something I have to go DOWN to the center of town, and getting back UP is unlike any exercise I have ever done. I know this might sound like an exaggeration, but as soon as I have my first visitor from the states you will see that it’s not. It’s hard, and it’s hot so maybe soon I will actually be in good shape!
Ok, dinner is done so that is all for now…I promise to try and be better with the entries!
Oh and if you wanted to know, dinner is a casserole with chicken, potatoes, peas and cream of mushroom soup (homemade of course)!
…Now for the other. I have been in São Felipe now for almost 3 weeks and am still trying to settle in and feel “at home” here. Although I was nervous about living by myself, I shouldn’t have been because I think I have only spent 4 nights by myself in those three weeks. My house, since it is in the major town, tends to be the transit house. The volunteers that live in the rural areas have to come in to buy produce and use the internet, so they end up staying the night because transport around the island is shifty. I think that once the school year gets under way things will settle down. Luckily I enjoy the company and the two volunteers that live in the volcano are real foodies so whenever they are here they make me a superb meal as their fee for staying. Speaking of cooking, I have learned that cooking from scratch takes quite awhile, and when dinner preparation takes more than an hour and it is only me, I tend to have a lot of food left over. I am trying to adapt recipes for one, but the guessing of measurements can sometimes lead to disaster. But I have found I love to cook and experiment with all of the recipes I have, and even the hour of preparation passes the time and is fun because I turn on my music and dance around while I chop. The main produce that goes into everything that I make (partially because it is all I can get here) is garlic, green pepper, tomato and onion…yes I said onion. I willingly put onion in everything now. I even put raw onion in my tuna salad sandwiches. For those of you who don’t know, my disgust for onion in the states was one of the great hatreds of this world, but I guess my palate is changing. I also have willingly bought and cooked fish and I make myself a cup of tea before I go to bed so I guess already Peace Corps has changed me for the better. Let’s see, other food…I eat a lot of beans because there is not a whole lot of other protein that I like to fumble with. I do get chicken and of course fish and I make my own tortillas and pizza dough so I have already had a Mexican night and an Italian night!! I do make everything spicy because all I brought with me is crushed red pepper and the wonderful dried peppers of Jim Nelson (which before too long I will be needing a refill of!). Other types of spices are hard to find here so the Italian spices are in the mail (hopefully soon) and if anyone has anything that I have to have feel free to send it!
I have not been doing much in the way of “work” because as a community development volunteer, part of my initial job description is to integrate into the community and assess its needs. So, there is no daily 9-5 work schedule set up for me as of yet. I have been in contact with the two main institutions that I will be working with; the Centro de Juventude (youth center) and the OMCV, which is the national woman’s organization in Cape Verde. One of the projects the OMCV is doing right now is working with the youth of Fogo, holding information sessions on HIV/AIDS and related health topics. I have already attended a three day seminar and am excited to see how I can help with this project even more. So, since I don’t go into work all day, what do I do?? Well, Sunday and Monday, were basically spent washing my clothes. Man that takes a long time!!! And along with the duration of the activity, it is a massive arm work out as well! The ringing out of the clothes is the hardest part, especially the sheets and towels. I also spend a lot of time just walking around the town so that people get used to seeing me. But the walking here is crazy because my town 1) is hot as hell, and coming from Arizona I am qualified to say that…I literally think I sweat out about a gallon of water a day. I wish that I had brought more airy dresses, shorts and comfortable shirts because that is literally all that I wear. And my house isn’t much better for the heat, there is no ventilation so I sweat my ass off inside too, especially in the kitchen!! Ok, so not only is it hot here, but 2)the town of São Felipe is all hill. Every time I leave my house for something I have to go DOWN to the center of town, and getting back UP is unlike any exercise I have ever done. I know this might sound like an exaggeration, but as soon as I have my first visitor from the states you will see that it’s not. It’s hard, and it’s hot so maybe soon I will actually be in good shape!
Ok, dinner is done so that is all for now…I promise to try and be better with the entries!
Oh and if you wanted to know, dinner is a casserole with chicken, potatoes, peas and cream of mushroom soup (homemade of course)!
Monday, September 17, 2007
It´s been a while...sorry
More photos for everyone!!
Sorry they are really out of order.
This is what Fogo looks like!!
The new group going to Fogo...Sean, Me, Andrea and Dave
All of the new volunteers after Swear-in.
Sorry they are really out of order.
This is what Fogo looks like!!
This is my house!! I live on the bottom floor and there is a family that lives above me. The grandma makes really good doughnuts!!
My living room...
More of the beaches of fogo.
The new group going to Fogo...Sean, Me, Andrea and Dave
Sarah and I on our last day together...how sad.
The lava canals in Fogo!! This island is so diverse and has some really cool things to look at.
More lava canals.
The black sand beaches.
All of the new volunteers after Swear-in.Ok, Ok, I am finally going to get up a little something since it has been a while!! I promise to write more but write now I am just going to put up a hodge podge of pictures for everyone to see!
Also so everyone knows, I have a new address where I would love to get letters or care packages!! And especially if any of you have time, I need recipes, so send me your favorite dish because I am cooking a lot and feel like I am going to need some variety!!
Lauren Dotson
C.P. 87
Sao Felipe, Fogo
Rebublica de Cabo Verde
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