Mi Casa!!!

Hi guys. Here~s the latest update from Africa. Hope things arew well for everyone. Today Iºm taking my first baby steps out of my village and into the nearest vity....Assomada. Africa is....well...itºs certainly Africa. Txao!!

Things here are amazing. My host mom and dad (Palmeira y Mani) are about 75 years old. They have 5 grown sons, all of whom work and live in the main city of Praia. The first night was VERY SCARY. The three of us just staring at each other for about 15 minutes. Complete silence. Fear and Panic. Then came the food. Tons of rice, fish, salad, bread, juice, coffee, beans, corn , more fish and more rice. A Feast. All of it tasty, and a little weird. After I ate all of that, she cleared the table and did the dishes. Bout 20 minutes after that, one of her sons, who happens to be the UN representative for CV, came over and we had the whole dinner over again. N sta fartu. That was the first sentence of Ceiolu that I learned. I am full. Anyway, Palmeira is the richest lady in Cha di Tanque, a small village where I am staying. They’re dirt poor by any but African standards, but live well for this place. During the 2 dinners, 37 neighbors came over to meet me. No shit. 37. I know because I wrote down all their names. (Which they all thought was a little weird.)

The house is amazing. It’s a big square with the middle cut out and open to the outside. From the rua (street) you enter a sitting room with 4 chairs. This is the ONLY room where members of the opposite sex can talk to each other alone. (First rule of the house) From there you enter the opened square I mentioned which is a tile concrete floor with broken bits of colored tile laid about, and huge pretty plants, including a papaya tree, all around. To the left is the cusina (kitchen) about 5 X 5 feet, to the right, the master bedroom (10 X 10) and a water closet (4 X 4). There is water in the toilet, which comes from an underground tank. You pump a bunch of water up to the roof with a lever, and that operates the plumbing (sorta) for the day. We get to flush it once per day, and there’s enough water for 3 cold showers, about 2 minutes each. (2nd rule of the house) Other side of the square is the alfombra fresca. A porch covered with empty bags and hay woven together to form a thatch roof, held up by sticks, under which sits a table for 8. Beyond that lies a second cusinia, the one where they use fire to cook fish, boil water for coffee and tea, etc. Then there is the jardin (garden). Papaya, Mango, Banana, Coconut, Corn, Beans, Kale, and amillion other things. 3 chikens, 3 rabbits, a turkey, 2 goats and a pig. I literally wake up in the mornings, pick a mango or papaya of the tree and eat it for breakfast while Palmeira cooks me up an ovu (egg), coffee and some fish stew (cachupa).

Best of all is my room. Up a set of steep white stairs from the open square of the cenete of the house, I have a rooftop apartment all to myself with a view of the mountains and the entire ribiera (valley). I have a patio all to myself where I sit and play my guitar and read in my chair when I’m not studying or over at the neighbor’s house playing with their kids. (I’m learning more from them than I do at school!) My room has a door with a lock and key that only I have. It is about 8 X 10 painted white with flowered curtains on both of the windows. I keep them open all the time and a really nice cool breeze blows through them all day and all night. Fiku, the dog, sleeps on the patio outside my room at night. I have a bed to sleep on and a second bed on which all of my things are laid out, as well as a desk and chair, and some flowers in a cup. There is a light that works if I need it, although I’ve been so tired that I usually go to bed as soon as it gets dark, around 730. I’ve put some pictures here (I think) so you can see all that I’m talking about.

I’ve been here only 3 or 4 days (already lost count) and already I’m able to at least make all the basic communication. (Me hungry, me thirsty, how are you, whats your name etc.)

One quick funny story….So I’ve been going around saying “Boa Tarde. Modi Ki bu Xioma? N Xioma Caley”, which means Good Afternoon, whats your name, my name is Caley. Turns out Ke Li (pronounced Caley) litrerally translates into “What is this?” So, I’ve been going around the village saying “Good afternoon, whats your name? My name is What is This?” LOTS of people looking at me like I’m the dumbest thing that ever came to Africa. So funny.

Anyway. I’m SO happy I came. Africa is everything I thought it would be and much much more. It’s poor and rugged beyond description, but beautiful as well. I can’t begin to tell you how vibrant, beautiful, pleasant and polite the people in this village are. Everybody sings all day long. Amazing.

I want for nothing, have more than I need, and have never been so happy.

All My Love.


ps I think the pictures arenºt working becuase theyºre huge files. I may try otra vez when I get back to a computer.