Three islands down...five to go!

First of all, just wanted to say sorry…I went back through and read all my old blogs and realized I don’t proofread. Ooops. There are lots of mistakes but one other sorry, I’m not really going to start proofreading now, I just wanted to acknowledge that I am a bad writer!

Mel, Sarah and I took a vacation to the island of Brava last week. It is called the island of flowers and it definitely deserves its name. In contrast to the stark brown of Fogo this time of year, Brava is full of color. There were hibiscus and gorgeous Bougainvilea everywhere. The island of Brava is tiny and only accessible by boat from Fogo but if you are looking for tranquility and like hiking, it is definitely the place to be. We were there for 5 days (there is really no way to stay for less time because of the boat situation) and getting back to Fogo I was rested and ready to go again.
I met with the girls who are helping me organize a youth group here in Bila. We made an invitation to our first meeting of the Centro de Juventude’s “Grupo de Apoio”. The meeting was planned for Saturday and in my mind was a success. On that Saturday, with the great youth who showed up, we brainstormed ideas for the group and discussed the reasons we were all there and wanting this group to become a reality. We already have some events in mind (there is a huge festival in Bila in two weeks so we are planning an event for then) and our next meeting is Thursday to firm up the plans. I really hope the group survives, since this is a project I have had in my mind since my arrival on Fogo. This is where I think the youth of Fogo can show their strength and ability to make an impact in their communities.
While I sit and ponder the development of this new project, I am also at the stage of realizing, as I said last blog, that it is really April. One year ago, at the end of this month, I received a package in the mail telling me I was going to be spending two years of my life in some little country I had never heard of called Cape Verde. Wow, what a difference a year makes. Now we here are in the process of filling out applications to help with the training of the new group coming in, and I realize that maybe right now in some state in the US there is someone opening that same package that came to me and set me on this course. Head-trip.
In other news, Katxupa is huge and happy and will be 6 months old at the end of this month. We in the process of trying to figure out where to go for her “I’m a big girl and my owner doesn’t want me popping out pups” operation. She comes with me to work most of the time and when I don’t bring her everyone asks where she is. Today, I was sitting in a different zone than my own without her, and this man I did not know started asking me about where I was from and where I lived. I told him my zone and his reply went as follows: Oh, you’re Katxupa’s owner! She is definitely better known then me! She had a great time staying with Uncle Sam in Cha while I was in Brava. She really loves it up there because we let her wander like a true Cape Verdean street dog. She goes off to play and comes back when she wants something or is tired of chasing the chickens and the goats.


p.s. Just so the world knows what those of us living amongst wild animals or on farms already knows. I was watching a movie the other day and there was this picture perfect scene where a rooster is crowing at the crack of dawn to awaken the peacefully sleeping family. Well you should all know that in the real world this is not what happens. Those damn animals crow at all hours of the day and night. Ok, that’s all, just wanted to set the record straight.

Ok, not in Brava, but another perk from the festival in Cha...pictures on the donkey.

This is my favorite sign of all time. It is telling you not to throw up on the floor of the boat.

We got a little lost with me as the trail navigator..

Our "camp" at the "beach" in Brava. I got to use my new tent!

How many people does it take to start a fire??

A Cape Verdean's first s'more.
Ok, not on Brava, but there is a new puppy on the block. Look at what a beast Katxupa is!

I bet Hawaii isn't as cool as Fogo!

Our new friends from Dakar
The Fogo girls

Imagine playing on a field of lava

Last Wednesday, April 2nd, was an important date to the Mel and Sam's town of Cha das Caldeiras. It was the anniversary of the eruption in 1995!! Of course you know what that means in this culture...PARTY! All the volunteers, minus Sean, were able to make it up for the celebration. We also had some additions to our group of 8 peace corps; Brittany's mom was here from america visiting, Sarah and Alex from Santiago were here as well as 4 american students studying abroad in Dakar that they met on the boat coming over. In all we were a dinner and party group of 16! The 4 kids from Dakar made an excellent addition to our party group but i think they may have gotten a little more than they bargained for in the way of tour guides...they were always with one of us volunteers! But they definately returned the favor of free tour guides by sharing their Duty Free store bottle of Bombay Saphire with us!

The festival included dances, bicycle races, donkey races, soccer games, really good BBQ meat because of course they kill lots of animals for festas and there were supposed to be goat and chicken fighting but only one of each species showed up for the match! I guess the others got a bit scared and backed out. Everyone went their seperate ways on Thursday, which for me included going home to pack for my vacation in Brava!!

The satisfaction of a completed project

Sorry, wrote this a couple days ago and never got it up so it's a bit dated:

Well, it’s the end of March, the end of month 9. It’s crazy that April 1 will be the beginning of my 10th month here. You know, I went back and visited my host family for the first time since leaving them after training. I had left this place, my first family in Cape Verde, 7 months ago and going back was like worlds colliding. My town of Ribeira da Barca looked the exact same. All the people were still there, but something had changed. When I left there in September, I don’t think I fully appreciated, or even realized, everything that my first family gave to me. I was frustrated that I still had no idea what Mama Julia was saying AT me and I was ready to be living on my own again. When I left, I still couldn’t communicate. But going back was unbelievably uplifting. I was greeted by a group of kids running at me screaming “Laura, Laura, Laura!” and the beautiful smiles of my family and neighbors, who have taught me about accepting a stranger, no questions asked, and making them part of your family forever. I could see how far my language had progressed first hand as I sat with the women who had looked after me for those two months and I told them what I was doing and they told me all that I had missed and we all understood each other!
My worlds collided again 2 days after seeing my host family, when I picked up my biological parents at the Praia airport!! God, what a head trip that was, to see part of my American life here as part of my Cape Verde life. It was great to see them, of course, but again, it just seems crazy to me, that I have been in this country long enough to warrant visitors. Alan and Ellie had a great time here (or so they tell me!) but I think it took them some time to get used to some of my everyday things like walking all over (and always walking uphill), no electricity in Cha, my stove that has no temperature control (it is just always on high, simmer isn’t an option!), the fact that the noise that comes from my upstairs neighbors sounds like they are in the next room with a megaphone and how to bucket flush a toilet! At the same time, they can finally picture where I am, they can picture my wonderful neighbors who protect little single and alone me; they can picture the woman in the market where I buy my vegetables and they can picture my wonderful friends on this island (who thank God helped me play tour guide cause I was getting a little tired and stressed towards the end of the week). Next up on my visitor list….my bestest friend, Miss Emily Marie Dodds, in May/June!
(sorry i know that was a bit melodramatic, but true non-the-less!)
The end of March also signifies the end of my (and Sarah’s) stressful Cape Verde Women’s Day project. Since I have been lazy and not blogged about this project before, I will tell you quickly what we planned. The 27th was Cape Verdean Women’s day. Sarah got it in her head (and I helped to push it along) to make this giant exchange of women on the island to talk about issues concerning all women on Fogo, domestic violence, education for girls and micro-credit. We took our idea to the local women’s organization for advice and from there, it just took off . We had thought of only using women from zones where Peace Corps was represented, but we ended up inviting 2 women from every zone on the island…in all about 180 women invited with a budget planned for attendance of 150. Well after a few stressful weeks leading up to the event, Thursday the 27th finally comes and Sarah and I are just hoping that some women actually show up. I won’t have an exact count till tomorrow, but it’s in the range of 130-140 women of Fogo!!! In all a great success even though we started 2 hours late and changed the entire program for the day the morning of the event. You see the night before there was an extremely tragic murder; a 20 yr old, mother of two, was killed in an act of domestic violence. She was the cousin of one of our speakers and so in light of that event, we put a little more emphasis on domestic violence. The day lasted until 4:30 and in all the women gave us incredibly positive feedback. Hopefully this can be an annual event as the women really felt empowered and like someone was listening to what they were saying.
Next up…youth group in Bila, camping trip to Brava (another island) and the anniversary of the ’95 eruption in Cha!