Caley in Cabo Verde

Yay for Cape Verde!!

2009-08-15T04:48:00.000-07:00

SANTA MARIA, Cape Verde - Winding up an 11-day African tour, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Friday she's optimistic about its future and voiced no regrets about "tough love" messages she gave to government leaders there.

"I love coming to Africa," Clinton said at a joint news conference in Cape Verde with Prime Minister Jose Maria Pereira Neves as she prepared to head back to Washington.

"I have been overwhelmed," the secretary said of her visits to Kenya, South Africa, Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria and Liberia, as well as Cape Verde. "I have been filled with hope and I have seen despair. But I come away with an even greater level of commitment than I had before," Clinton said.

She used the tour to reinforce a message that President Barack Obama brought to Africa earlier this year, a call for leaders to fight corruption, promote democracy, and combat civil strife, disease, violence and squalor wherever it exists.

Responding to Clinton, Neves said that "we represent a new and emerging Africa" with progress in the areas of free press, free speech and the rule of law.

U.S. officials have said that Cape Verde, a former Portuguese colony off the coast of West Africa, could serve as a model for other African nations as it has held numerous free and fair elections and has taken measures to ensure accountability and transparency in government.

Clinton, particularly, praised the government as "a model of democracy and economic progress in Africa." She noted that women account for more than half the members of Cape Verde's Cabinet. "I think the United States can learn a lot from your example," she told Neves.

Said Clinton: "I always feel a sense of awe that we are in the place where human beings began so many, many years ago."

"I leave Africa even more committed about what lies ahead," she told reporters. "The Obama administration has delivered ... a message of tough love. We are not sugarcoating the problems. We're not shying away from them."

Suzie and JC

2009-07-02T02:21:00.000-07:00

Both former runner ups in the Miss Txangreja pageant.

Prima Vani

2009-07-02T02:20:00.000-07:00

Leo

2009-07-02T02:19:00.000-07:00

Haven't had a picture of Leo up in a while.

Sex Sells

2009-07-02T02:17:00.000-07:00

So I've resorted to using Cape Verde's extreme sexual undercurrent to sell T-shirts...and hopefully protect the environment and save some sea turtles.

Beni and the Jets

2009-07-02T02:16:00.000-07:00

Beni and Paolo

2009-07-02T02:15:00.000-07:00

Bang the Drum

2009-07-02T02:14:00.000-07:00

Feijao

2009-07-02T02:13:00.000-07:00

Beans beans the magic fruit....

BARAKA

2009-07-02T02:09:00.000-07:00

So here is an example of the roaming, portable, tent-store-villages operated by the Senagalese. They follow the festas from town to town, selling their wares out of mobile tent cities.

Trainer

2009-07-02T02:08:00.000-07:00

Zeus

2009-07-02T02:05:00.000-07:00

Notice the image on the guy's shirt.

Barefoot Derby

2009-06-18T01:18:00.000-07:00

So below are some pics of something Cape Verdians doing something, for fun, that most of us would find torturous. They are running full-speed, down a VERY tall, VERY steep, VERY rocky mountainside. These people are nuts.

Paolo

2009-06-18T01:16:00.001-07:00

----------------
Now playing: Frightened Rabbit - My Backwards Walk
via FoxyTunes

Beni

2009-06-18T01:14:00.000-07:00

Elton

2009-06-18T01:11:00.000-07:00

Iris Looking Right Through Me

2009-06-04T18:09:00.000-07:00

Dia Mundial de Criança

2009-06-04T18:03:00.000-07:00

So yesterday was World Children's Day in Cape Verde. (In case you haven't noticed, Cape Verde is prop doid (totally crazy) about "World" and "International" Fill-in-the-Blank Days...including World AIDS Day, World Democracy Day, World Malaria Day, and my personal favorite World Disaster Mitigation Day...yes, it's a real holiday here.)

Anyway, yesterday it was all about the kids and we had a pretty fun little project in Txangreja. With a little help from a friend that works in the kamera in Mindelo, a nice donation from a couple of tourists who fell in love with our town during their 24 hour stay, and an accord I arranged with several families in which they agreed to kill one of their chickens in exchange for my carpentry skills (who knew I even had any?)...we managed to provide a Thanksgiving-like dinner (each student got 1 chicken part, french fries, rice, juice or milk, cranberry sauce and a SALAD!) for all 79 kids in our school, a trip to the beach and a hell of a party (complete with dancing, balloons, a poetry recital and a game of charades) to boot. Perhaps best of all, we managed to buy three trophies...none of which were awarded for sporting events, all of which were awarded for "Academic Achievement." This was a COMPLETELY novel concept for everyone involved...academic achievement in this country being regarded about as highly as one's ability to juggle. In any event, a trophy is a trophy, and kids were salivating for weeks at the thought of winning one.

Over the past few weeks the teachers and I had the kids busy memorizing poems, learning dances and doing various arts and crafts in anticipation for the big day. In addition to the various performances, everyone's handiwork (cut-out paper flowers, houses made of matchsticks, spinning tops carved from wood and toy fans made from sugar-cane bark) was displayed on tables in the classrooms, and pretty much the whole town came out to peruse and admire. At the end of the day, a select panel of esteemed judges (Me and one of the drivers) awarded the trophies..one each for poetry, drawing and short story.

Basically it was a terrific day, and one the kids won't soon forget. It was great to see them laughing and smiling all day long, and the big meal was a REAL treat. Although I LOVED the part of the day when the kids' read their stories and poems and showed off their drawing, it wasn't my favorite part. That has to go to the part of the day where we asked for volunteers to come up to the mic to answer the question..."Why Are We Celebrating Kids Today?" The answers were as varied and surprising as anything I've seen in Cape Verde since being here, and even had me a little choked up at one point...although that's not saying much as I've been known to cry during dog-food commercials. Anyway...it was a great day, and I got some great pics of the kids all dressed up for their special day. Have a look below!

Diane Humoring Me

2009-06-04T18:02:00.000-07:00

Vivian in his Hat

2009-06-04T18:01:00.000-07:00

Mickey in her Dress

2009-06-04T18:00:00.000-07:00

Admiring the Original Works

2009-06-04T17:58:00.000-07:00

Big Meal!

2009-06-04T17:57:00.000-07:00

Hamming it Up

2009-06-04T17:55:00.000-07:00

Leo telling us Why We Are Celebrating Children Today

2009-06-04T17:52:00.000-07:00

Dulce 2

2009-05-27T11:08:00.000-07:00

Dulce

2009-05-27T11:06:00.000-07:00

Mindelo Boats

2009-05-27T11:04:00.000-07:00

Cruzinha Boats

2009-05-27T11:02:00.000-07:00

Salting Fish

2009-05-27T11:01:00.000-07:00

Big Haul

2009-05-27T10:58:00.000-07:00

The Coculi Derby

2009-05-10T03:32:00.000-07:00

The Winning Pony

2009-05-10T03:31:00.000-07:00

And they're off....

2009-05-10T03:30:00.000-07:00

Coculi's Saint Day Mass

2009-05-10T03:29:00.000-07:00

Change We Can Believe In!

2009-05-10T03:27:00.000-07:00

This is by far the most popular selling item on Santo Antao right now. He's a rock star even here!

Me and Neli

2009-04-26T11:25:00.000-07:00

This was taken by Leo...who's 5. Pretty good!

Logoa 2

2009-04-26T11:23:00.000-07:00

Lagoa

2009-04-26T11:21:00.000-07:00

Almost at the top of the highest point in Santo Antao.

Cabrito 1

2009-04-26T11:14:00.000-07:00

So it turns out that it's bad to be born a boy if you're a goat in Cape Verde. Since you can't produce milk, and you can't produce more goats, you're basically screwed from the get go. Accordingly, this cute little guy...

Cabrito 2

2009-04-26T11:13:00.000-07:00

....in the hands of this cute girl...

Cabrito 3

2009-04-26T11:11:00.000-07:00

...became this little guy. We grilled him up later that evening and he was DELICIOUS!!!

Boardwalk in Paul

2009-04-24T14:44:00.000-07:00

...cobbles instead of boards.

Mar e Baixo

2009-04-24T14:42:00.000-07:00

So its just about summer time again, which means the little rowboat fishing vessels can start going out again, after being beached for most of the past 4 or 5 months.

Black Saw

2009-04-24T14:39:00.000-07:00

So here is a picture of the ancient abandoned leper colony at Serranegra..."Blacksaw."

Txan

2009-04-24T14:38:00.000-07:00

Cutie From Cruzinha

2009-04-12T08:08:00.000-07:00

Almost Abandoned Village

2009-04-12T08:04:00.000-07:00

Still one family living here...even though it's a two hour hike to the nearest village with running water or electricity.

Long Walk Home

2009-04-12T08:02:00.000-07:00

This is the halfway point along the almost-5-hour hike from Ponto do sol to my village.

Heavy Load

2009-04-12T07:59:00.000-07:00

And you thought YOU had a hard day at work...

Lavinha and her new Friend!

2009-04-07T07:27:00.000-07:00

Depressing Update

2009-04-07T07:26:00.000-07:00

So it was brought to my attention that I haven't written anything of substance in quite some time. Mostly because there hasn't been anything big or of real interest going on recently, just lots of little things. And also because most of those little things are sorta depressing. For those of you who are especially bored, feel free to read on...

The local association that I work with is going through a regime change and has pretty much closed it's doors until May, when the newly elected leader, Beti, will "take office." At our yearly association assembly, which drew a crowd of 50 (and that really is a crowd in this neck of the woods) Beti read Pedro the riot act, saying that since Pedro took office almost three years ago, the association hasn't succeeded in getting nary a penny, nor a single day of work out of the kamera, which isn't exactly true, but close enough. Remember that since the national government is SO inept (they are absolutely non-existent this far from Praia), its become the job of the local associations to beg and plead with the kameras for help and work and roads and jobs and everything else. It's true that Pedro isn't the most dynamic guy in the village, but it's not all his fault. Consider in the last month or two, we (as an association) have sent 6 letters to the kamera (and other organizations) asking for help with building 4 latrines for houses that don't have bathrooms or running water in them, money to send a group of six girls to a women's conference in Sao Vicente, a projector to show some AIDS awareness films in the plaza, money to help a woman who is slowly going blind from cataracts get lasic surgery, a truck to haul away to giant garbage container that has been sitting full almost since the day I got to Txangreja, and to help defer school transportation costs for the night school girls . In a stunning display of ineptitude and obscenely poor use of resources, the kamera decided to...expand our dirt soccer field. They actually sent a bulldozer here from Ponto do Sol (that trip alone probably took three days), right along our pitiful excuse of a "road" (which will undoubtedly wash out during the next rains and again strand the town for weeks without food or supplies or transportation) past town down near the shore to our soccer field. There it spent 10 days moving dirt around to accomplish nothing more than to add about 1 meter of dirt and rocks along one side of the "field." There were apparently unprepared to deal with the huge boulder that was along that side of the field, which previously served as a convenient place to watch the games from the sidelines, but which now resides right in the playing area. (See picture below.)

This is exactly the sort of asinine governing that is typical of this Ribeira, if not the entire island. Its up there with paying for three day festivals with bands brought in from Brazil and Portugal rather than three day seminars on domestic violence or alcoholism, buying new soccer cleats and jerseys for all the men's soccer teams in the Ribeira rather than new school uniforms or supplies for the boys AND GIRLS that need them, burning half an island's worth of trash every couple of months in one of the most popular tourist areas on the island rather than using it to fill some of the gaping holes gouged out of the bottom of the Ribeira's by the sand company. You could really go on for a week describing all of the bad decisions that the kamera makes and about two seconds discussing the good ones. But I'm just ranting.

Another thing that got me down recently was a fight in town. Other than the occasional signs of domestic abuse I see on the faces of some of the women and kids in town, I've seen nothing of violence or meanness since coming here. That changed a week ago when 2 guys got in a fight which was quickly ended when one guy literally caved the side of the other guy's face in with a huge rock. I saw it happen, heard the sickening crunch of bones. The injured guy is still in the hospital and if he lives it'll be a long time before he's eating solid foods or seeing out of his left eye. Despite this...no police. Not that day, and not since. If you ask why not, you're told n'e nada ver d'nigem. (It's nobody's business.) It's terrible.

Finally, on the depressing side, is the issue of the night school girls that I mentioned earlier. In a weird way it's an extension of the American financial crisis. Vla is a rich Txangrejan who owns the one school bus that services Txangreja, and two of the hiace vans...one of which takes a group of 8 girls to night school in Povoçon (think of it as community college.) Until recently, Vla was living near Boston and working at a GM plant making good money. (All three cars, his mini-market and the local bar...all paid for by his GM salary.) That plant closed and he's been forced to come home. His first act upon arriving was to tell the night school girls that they were shit out of luck. For the past 6 months they've been paying 3000/month in tuition, and 3500/month to Vla's driver to take them back and forth to Povoçon (45 minutes away) every night. (Keep in mind that Beni makes less than 8000/month as a teacher, and that's considered a "good paying job.") Anyway, 2 of the girls dropped out and now Vla says it's not worth the trouble to take the other 6, unless they want to make up the difference. 2 months short of graduation, and now all the money they've spent thus far in the school year is wasted. It's EXACTLY the type of thing that makes development in a community like this so difficult. All that money saved or borrowed and invested in a worthwhile, potentially lucrative goal....a better education...and now it's been for nothing...because a greedy American - Cape Verdian wants apparently needs his 7000 escudos more than the girls need to get to school. It's really depressing, and exactly the type of thing that makes me want to come home in September rather than stay an extra year. (I've done the math on fuel, driver salary, wear and tear etc. by the way, to try to look at it from his point of view, and any way you slice it, he's raking them over the coals and making a very hefty profit. But I'm just ranting.

On the good side, we've just started the computer literacy lessons in town. I've spent much of the last 2 months helping 2 fairly computer-savvy guys from town plan for, prepare and implement a 2 month computer seminar. I gave them the lesson plans, student handbooks, practice exercises, and tests, and worked with them on teaching techniques, and how to be a better instructor. 35 students, 5 computers. It's tough, but people are excited and its nice that there is an activity going on again in town. So far things are going well, with only the problem of frequent and random power outages driving me crazy.

So that should bring you up to speed.

What's new in the Real World?

Worst Idea Ever?

2009-04-07T07:23:00.000-07:00

It's a small pic, but I think you can make out the huge boulder that is now sitting in what should be the corner-kick area. 10 days of work, and all the trouble of a bulldozer sent to our town...to add 1 meter width to our dirt pitch.

Click HERE!!!

2009-04-07T07:21:00.000-07:00

Wanna test your mettle as a teacher? Try explaining the concept of a "right click" to someone who's never touched a computer before in their life...in a foreign language.

Computer are Fun!

2009-04-07T07:19:00.000-07:00

Beni

2009-04-07T02:54:00.000-07:00

Neli at the Beach

2009-03-23T15:55:00.000-07:00

Mindelo Artwork

2009-03-23T15:53:00.000-07:00

Choppin' Moray

2009-03-23T15:52:00.000-07:00

Porto Grande in Mindelo

2009-03-23T15:51:00.000-07:00

Ivan The Terrible

2009-03-23T15:49:00.000-07:00

I miss this old bastard.

Demonio/Timo

2009-03-23T15:47:00.000-07:00

Dod Eat Dog World

2009-03-23T15:44:00.000-07:00

So I, like many people, am a dog lover (I miss you Ivan!), and that's something that's pretty damn hard to be in Cape Verde. The concept of animals as pets here is a novelty, where they are strictly sources of food or labor or both. Katxors (dogs) in this country DO NOT have it good. Quite the contrary, they live an almost uniformly miserable existence. In Praia, hundreds of crazed roaming packs conduct warfare in the streets like drug cartels in Mexican bordertowns. (During our Peace Corps safety training, we were advised to carry rocks in our pockets to defend ourselves against mongrel hoards.) They're sick and soiled and starving. Most have mange or fleas or some other oozing variety of skin ailment. All of them limp. People either hate them or fear them, and rarely do they feed them. Those that aren't cannibals survive off of garbage. They shit in the street, then eat it. It's not a pretty picture, and much less so for a country that's betting much of it's financial future on tourist dollars.

Things in Santo Antao are better, but it still ain't pretty. When I came here last June, the populace of the tiny village of Janela was being overrun by wild dogs, and the kamera was forced to conduct a large scale extermination. Over a hundred of the bastards killed with poisoned fish bait, tossed in a pile, and burned. It wasn't much of a pile. It turns out that the type of dogs that survive in, literally, a dog-eat-dog world, aren't the big bruisers you might expect. Rather, it seems evolution in this part of the world favors the short, lean, skiddish, jackal-looking types.

All that being said, I recently got a dog. Accidentally.

A few weeks ago several volunteers hiked the five mountainous hours to my village from Ponto do Sol. And they brought Demonio (Demon) with them. Demonio isn't a Cape Verdian dog...he's a 2nd (now 3rd) generation Peace Corps dog. A 2003 volunteer first adopted him, before passing him on to a 2006 volunteer, who then broke from tradition and gave him to a Cape Verdian neighbor. That did not turn out too well for Demonio. In the 4 or 5 months since, Demonio has gone from well-fed, well-rested and well-adjusted, to a flea-ridden, gimpy, half-starved sad sack.

According to the volunteers that he followed here that weekend, they came across him in Ponto do Sol and gave him a few drinks of their water before heading off, and he just followed them all the way here. Conditions must have been pretty bad to make that unfamiliar walk, with pretty much total strangers, based on a few sips of water. Maybe he recognized them as Americans, or at least english speakers. Whatever the reason, when I walked into the Sona Fish bar in Cruzinha to greet my friends, there was Demonio, looking pathetic and collapsed on the floor, and I knew I was in trouble.

In the days since we've become fast friends, and I must admit, I like having a dog again. Plus, this guy game pre-trained. He can sit, down, stay (up to a point), shake hands and I've just got him to start rolling over today. This is Absolutely Mind Blowing to my neighbors, and Demonio and I have been the talk of the town for several days now. When we go walking, people will grab their friends and say something along the lines of: "Fazel senta! Oi DEUS, a bo oiya?!!! Aghora fazel deta! BROP!!! Fazel da mao! KRED!!!" (Make him sit! Holy Shit, did you see that?! Now make him lay down! Holy Shit! Make him shake! Holy Shit!) When the kids see us coming they'll start pointing their fingers at him and yelling, en masse, senta! It's like that.

What I think is even stranger for them is to see how I interact with him. I think its' safe to say that the only thing a dog in Txangreja has ever been given by anyone is a swift kick in the ass. But now they see me giving him attention, affection, a bath, a plate of fish and rice and I've overheard people talking about us, saying "Agora Caley dja ranja prop um companher" (Caley's made himself a new friend.)

Anyway, I've had to change his name. Things were going great until last Sunday, when Demonio took off after a cat and I couldn't find him. Church was letting out, with all the village elders strolling and chatting in their Sunday's finest, and I was walking through the plaza, calling for the dog, hollering "Demonio! Demonio! Onde-b Demonio!" Well, that did not go over too well, and suddenly everyone was crossing themselves and whispering and and staring at me in disbelief, and a few even went back into the church. Thankfully Romeo pulled me aside and explained the problem to me. Essentially people assumed I was walking through town clapping and whistling and calling forth the demon spirits and in general engaging in blasphemous and intolerable behavior. I told him that was the dog's name, that I didn't name it, that it has had the name for years. He made it very clear to me that none of that mattered and that Demonio was um nom feo (an ugly name) and that I needed to change it. So, now Demonio is Timo, cuz I think that was one of the names from the Lion King, and it sorta sounds like Demonio, and now I don't have any problems calling him or introducing him to anyone.

Txan Mosaic

2009-03-19T07:48:00.000-07:00

Sad Cemetery

2009-03-13T08:23:00.000-07:00

This is a sad site. On the right side of the cemetery you can see all the graves and headstones and shrines. All those little mounds of stones on the left?...that's the child cemetery. Although they're much better now, in the years before independence the infant mortality rates in Cape Verde were very high...comparable to other African nations. Anyway, if you go way back in the blog you'll find a story about a guardacabeza festival that I went to. Basically, newborns aren't really acknowledged by the community until after they've been alive for more than a week, after which point there is a party to introduce them to the town. This photo puts that tradition into a little better perspective.

Txan from the Opposite Rim

2009-03-13T08:22:00.002-07:00

More HDR Cruzinha

2009-03-13T08:22:00.001-07:00

Cruzinha in Panovision

2009-03-10T16:55:00.000-07:00

Splish Splash I Was Taking a Bath. On the roof.

2009-03-10T16:53:00.000-07:00

International Wmoen's Day, and a Big Success!

2009-03-10T16:49:00.000-07:00

So Sunday was International Women's Day here in Cape Verde...not sure about the rest of the International Community. Yes, Cape Verde is very fond of "International" and "World" fill in the blank Days. (Some of my favorites include World Malaria Day, World Disaster Reduction Day, Democracy Day, and International Kids Day.) However, if anyone in Cape Verde deserves a day of recognition, it is definitely the Women. I've said before that men here are pigs, but I'm not sure I've made it clear just how bad the women have it in this country.

They do all the cooking, all the cleaning, all the housework and almost all the regular work, they raise the kids (and usually end up raising the grandkids and great grandkids), fetch the water, scrounge the wood and care for the animals. They do it all almost completely on their own, or with the help of their aunts and sisters and nieces and cousins and daughters. The are unarguably the center of the home. They're also the walls, the foundation and the ceiling, and they get treated like the doormat. If they ever got it into their heads to go on strike, this country would fall apart in a day. And all of this is done for largely ungrateful kids and a man who rarely if ever contributes ANYTHING to the household and is almost CERTAINLY sleeping with two or three eight other women, and probably has kids with some or all of them.

Anyway, I got together with some of the women from my village and we put together a little activity for all the women and girls in town. There is no money, so it wasn't anything extravagant. The goal was just for the ladies in town to have a little fun and food, and be recognized for all of their hard work and sacrifice. There was to be a performance from the Txangreja Girl's Club we started (there are currently four members, plus me), music and some games, to include dodgeball, a three-legged race and an "obstacle course" which required participants to jump-rope, hula-hoop, run with an egg on a spoon, and answer a "women's empowerment" question. It turns out that despite how well women can dance here, the can't hula-hoop, and eggs are too expensive to waste on games, so they substituted potatoes. Everything else went pretty much according to plan.

I REALLY pushed for a thirty minute information session and informal Q&A about domestic violence and was met with some REALLY uncomfortable stares and general disbelief that I would even bring it up. Domestic violence is a real problem in this country, and in this village in particular. (Last week 15 year old Samira got a big black eye after refusing to wash her brother's laundry, and 65 year old Mara needed 18 stitches to close up the gash in her head given to her by her husband and his belt buckle, just for instance.) There are a million factors that contribute to its prevalence in Cape Verde (tradition, cultural acceptance, boredom, poverty, alcoholism and machismo among them), but the biggest obstacle seems to be the fact that to even whisper the words "domestic violence" in public is is hugely taboo. It's maddening, and one of the reasons I don't have a lot of male friends here. Anyway.

In principle, the men were to cook a dish during the day and bring it to my house, and I was to set up the "post-activity" dinner and dance over at the Dancing Trapiche. I wanted it to be women only until midnight (so they could have all the food to themselves, leave the kids with the men, have a beer and a laugh without men around and, in theory, get to just be girls together. The men could come in after midnight, provided they did all the cleaning up afterward. The Women thought this was an Excellent Idea. In reality, the women did all the cooking and cleaning, the men showed up, drunk, about 20 minutes after the food was served and scarfed everything down in seconds. But the Obstacle Course was a Big Success.

Overall I'd say the day was a big success. There was a special mass at church and all the old gals were there in their finest attire, there was a big turn-out, the music was good, and, after a lot of prodding, a lot of participation...even from the Old Gals in town. And as I said...the Obstacle Course was a Big success.

Pics of the day below.

Obstacle Course!...(was a Big Success!)

2009-03-10T16:48:00.000-07:00

Pink Boots!

2009-03-10T16:44:00.000-07:00

My sister says my niece is coocoo for cocoa puffs when it comes to her little red boots. This little girl feels the same way about her pink ones.

Approaching the Starting Line..."It's On Now!"

2009-03-10T16:42:00.000-07:00

The Obstacle Course was a Big Success!

Iris all dressed up.

2009-03-10T16:39:00.000-07:00

Last week I told Iris what her name meant...she didn't know it was a pretty flower, and then I showed her some actual Irises, and ever since then I think she's had a bit of a crush on me.

The Old Gals

2009-03-10T16:38:00.000-07:00

Top 'o the World!

2009-03-10T13:33:00.000-07:00

Once you get to the top of the "hill" (in the picture below) you can rest in these probably-hundreds-of-years-old ruins. Then, whether you're heading back to Txangreja or onward to Ribeira Alta, you gotta climb back down.

Stairway to Heaven

2009-03-10T13:29:00.000-07:00

So this is part of the VERY difficult hike to Ribeira Alta. It's REAL steep. Look closely and you'll see the pathway zig-zagging up the side of the mountain. In some parts it's nearly vertical.

Cruzinha, in Stunning HD

2009-03-10T13:27:00.000-07:00

Carnaval Comes to Txan

2009-03-03T03:47:00.000-08:00

So it was Carnaval the other week, and while debauchery and hyjinks with the other volunteers in Mindelo sounded kind of appealing, I opted to stay here in Txangreja and celebrate with my town. We had a big old time at the school, having spent an hour of "shool time" a day, for an entire week, making costumes and musical instruments (just FYI...flattened bottle tops nailed to wooden sticks make for great tambourines and shakers). Anyway, we had three girls tie for best costume (Paper Dolls, below) and they walked away with the last of my Starburst candies as the Big Prize. Afterwards we all marched through the streets making a helluvalotta racket. Great day! Pics below.

Mickey doin' the Twist

2009-03-03T03:45:00.000-08:00

Shirley

2009-03-03T03:44:00.000-08:00

Paper Dolls

2009-03-03T03:42:00.000-08:00

So the budget for our costume and costume contest was, well...nonexistent, so we improvised. Here are three of the best costumes of the day...all made from the pages of Esquire, Paste, People and Newsweek magazines.

Rosey and Mickey

2009-03-03T03:39:00.000-08:00

In another bit of improvisational wizardry, we used plastic bags, rice sacks, and corn and flour bags for grass skirts and dresses.

Leo...as a baby girl?

2009-03-03T03:38:00.000-08:00

For some reason, despite this being a very homophobic culture, it is perfectly cceptable for men and boys to dress as women and girls...but only during Carnaval.

Leli

2009-02-13T07:52:00.000-08:00

Batuku!

2009-02-05T07:18:00.000-08:00

So I hope this will be a real treat for everyone at home. This is a short clip from a video I shot a while back, but should give you a pretty good idea of what the Cape Verdian batuku style of music and dance is all about. As you can see, it's pretty spicey. This is a "semi-professional group, so they've got real drums, but in most of the rural villages, they use plastic sacs filled with clothes. The thing tied around the waste of the dancer is called Pano d'Terra and is a holdover from WAY back in the day. (Excuse the watermark...in order to get this down to a size that wouldn't break me trying to upload it, I had to use some demo software.)

Dropping Copters

2009-02-05T07:02:00.000-08:00

So, no, I"m not throwing kids out the window here. Rather, I've been teaching the kids about methods of transportation this week and today we talked about helicopters. Except for maybe in a movie, kids here have never seen one, so I made them all a bunch of paper helicopters and let them paint them and later we went to the top of the association building to drop them out the window and let them fly. They worked GREAT!

Casa de Trapiche

2009-02-05T06:56:00.000-08:00

Txan d'Riba

2009-02-05T06:51:00.000-08:00

Ribeira de Inveirno

2009-02-05T06:49:00.000-08:00

Sugarcane in Garça

2009-02-05T06:41:00.000-08:00

Visita

2009-02-05T06:31:00.000-08:00

So for about 7 days last month, I had the riotous pleasure of getting to know some of Benvinda’s extended family, namely, a housefull of aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews of hers from her fathers side. Benvinda’s grandfather on her father’s side actually had, I shit you not, 42 children, by 7 different women. Her father, in turn, has 11 children by 2 different women. (I believe I’ve said before that men in Cape Verde are, as a general rule, pigs.) Anyway, the six full-blood brothers and sisters (those sharing the same mother), some spouses and kids and a couple of infants all ben d’fora (came here from France, Italy, Holland, The Netherlands, Belgium and Brazil) for a virtual festa-thon of eating and drinking.

The reason for their visit was the enduring Cape Verdian cultural tradition of honoring the dead. In this country, when the head of a family dies (in this case it was Benvinda’s grandmother...who died shortly after New Years last year), the entire family gets together exactly one year later to re-mourn the loss. There wasn’t much mourning going on though, and it seemed to me more of a celebration...and why the hell not. Here was a group of brothers and sisters, all born on Santo Antao, and now scattered all across the globe, who haven’t been all together in the same room in decades. Well, they got plenty close for comfort as the lot of them, plus Beni, her mom and her brother and sister, all slept at Beni’s house for the week, which is about the size of your average American bedroom.

Now I was nervous to meet all these people, as apparently word of my existence had already made it’s way to them in their various countries, and I was warned by Beli (Beni’s mom) that they would want to have a good look at me while they were here. The day of their arrival I actually tried to skondi (hide) in my house (ostensibly to give the family time to themselves, you know, for mourning or whatnot) but that did not go well as it wasn’t long before I heard Uncle Lili (who lives in Sao Vicente and whom I know quite well already) in the street shouting my name at the top of his lungs. I peaked my head out the window and was told I’d volta’d ingrot (become ungracious) and that I had exactly five minutes to appear down at Beni’s house. So, I put on my one pair of pants and, for the first time in four months, had to take off my flip flops and put on shoes, and I made my way down to Vuk Taref, and knocked.

Beli opened the door and I was instantly assaulted, in nearly every manner of the word. There was a lot of noise and confusion. My cheeks were kissed, pinched, and in the case of Lili, slapped. My ears were pulled, my head tossed around, my shirt pulled, my buns pinched and squeezed, my muscles tested, my wallet stolen. Someone handed me a beer and then punched me in my balls. There were tremendous, bone-crunching bear-hugs. And these were not slender people. Although Beni is fairly slim, at least so far, her Aunts are very short, very healthy women. It definitely took both arms to hug them, and even then I was more or less bent over and enveloped by ample bosoms, and had difficulty breathing amongst the cleavage. They were all of them, almost to a fault, warm and affectionate and inviting. It was readily apparent that these people were, to say the very least, a rowdy group. I was a little surprised by this actually, as this is not the normal reception for anglos in a Cape Verdian home. (Here, they naturally assume that when a caucasian shows up at someone’s house they’re either lost or looking for a bathroom.) That’s when I looked up and saw the other white guy in the room. The other white guy in the room turned out to be Bob.

Not knowing who or what or from where he was, I offered him my hand and greeted him in the language I now feel most comfortable speaking...namely kriolu, and he in turn responded, in perfect kriolu (as good or better even than mine I’m sad to say), that he was Bob, husband of ten years to Ana, Benvinda’s fierce and feisty aunt. This kriolu greeting between non-native-speaking white men (Bob speaks perfect English, along with a host of other languages) earned us rolls of incredulous laughter from the rest of the family and a resounding chorus of “Oi nha mae, es a prop Cabverdianos agora!” (”Sweet Jesus, they’ve officially become Cape Verdians now!”) I really liked Bob. We are a lot alike and honestly, if I was a middle-aged Hollandish computer programmer with more hair on my head, I’d be Bob.

Anyway, the week was passed mostly eating and drinking and talking and laughing. The second night of their visit I made the mistake of preparing caipirinhas (sort of like a Cape Verdian mojito) for the ladies, who had been slaving in the kitchen for 48 hours (and who would continue to do so for the duration of their stay), and they were instantly fuskod (drunk off their asses). There was unfortunately not enough limes to make drinks for the men and m toma um bon bokuat d’abus (I suffered a lot of abuse). Next day Lili had arranged a whole sack of limes and insisted I make a humongous bucketful for the next night, and over the course of the week we did indeed consume buckets of delicious caipis. Other activities for the week included renting a car and touring the entire island, several nights of grilled tuna and corn, vivts to extended family in the ribeiras of Mocha and Garça, a PBJ picnic on the beach and lots of watching sunsets. It was a great week and I’ve been assured by all the Aunts that I’m now able to count myself as um souç d’fmailia (a member of the family).

Update to Follow

2009-02-03T07:03:00.000-08:00

So it's been quite a while since I wrote anything here, but that's not because I haven't been busy...in fact just the opposite, and anyway, they'd cut off my internet for most of last month. Not to worry though. Not only have I been working my buns off, but I've been walking them off too. In preparation for writing what may someday probably not become a bestselling book called "The Txangreja Hikes," I've been clearing and using some ancient and long-forgotten trails to climb to the tops of all the mountains in my ribeira, and you just wouldn't believe the views they offer. I've tried to post some pics below, but it really doesn't doe them justice.

Anyway, I've been busy walking...as well as planning for and seeking, asking, begging and swindling funding for a girl's summer camp here in Txangreja, so in the next couple of days I'll post something about how that process is going. I've also almost finished up posts on my meeting almost the entirety of Benvinda's family, which was a hoot to say the least. There are also entries regarding a bloody and horrid atrocity committed by me, and further atrocities that I'm currently considering. In the meantime, here are some pics.

Gals

2009-02-03T06:57:00.000-08:00

Looks like a Model!

2009-02-03T06:54:00.000-08:00

Ribeira de Boca de Moch

2009-02-03T06:49:00.000-08:00

Heading to Work

2009-02-03T06:45:00.000-08:00

Sunset

2009-02-03T06:43:00.000-08:00

Cemitario

2009-02-03T06:42:00.000-08:00

Ribeira Garça

2009-02-03T06:38:00.000-08:00