The Gym, New Frineds, and the caiperinha

The Gym, New Friends, and the caiperinha.

So my town keeps getting better and better, as I’m now a charter member, actually the only member, of the Cha di Igreja Gymnasio. Djon, my friend and neighbor, was in the states for a couple months working as a painter, and the one thing he bought and brought back with him was a work-out set and some free weights. He gave me the key to the joint last week, and I’ve been using it every day since. This thing probably cost less than $200 back in the states and it’s got everything. You can do cable pulls, leg extensions, bench press and all the transitions from that, curls, squats, military press, etc. He’s also cemented a pull-up bar into the corner of one room, and a triceps station in the other. He’s also got a rack rigged for dips, and those torturous elevated hand grips for push ups…no thank you. He’s also fashioned some heavy bars by pouring rocks and cement into plastic buckets and connecting them with cut-outs from pipe…they’re even painted cornflower blue to match the door of the “gym.” There are even some very lovely naked Chinese and Brazilian women taped on the walls for motivational purposes. All of this is tucked away in a tiny traditional-style thatched-roof hut across the plaza from me. It’s dark and hot and sweaty in there, and it is definitely my kind of gym. (And since it’s free, it’s also MUCH cheaper than the gym at the old law firm.) Anyway, all of the equipment is old but in great shape, there are very few mirrors, and I’ve got the place all to myself. I’ve been going with my MP3 player once, sometimes twice a day, for about 45 minutes, and getting exhausted. I gotta tell ya, it feels good. Between the hiking and the swimming in the ocean and the cooking for myself, and going to the “gym,” I’ve managed to lose a couple kilos (they use the very efficient and easy to understand metric system here…and now that I understand it, I wish we did in the States as well) and I’m all tanned and trimming out and feeling healthy and energized, despite the slow pace of life here.

In other news, last night I had dinner tonight with some new friends, Gisele, Gylda, and Benvinda. All of them gorgeous and two of them 9 months pregnant. As an aside: The question of the week for me, from EVERYONE in town, has been “Bo ta ranja enomorada o pequena lina Chan di Igreja inda?” (Have you arranged a lover or girlfriend here in Cha di Igreja yet?” When I say “Inda nao” (not yet), the most common response is “Modqui?!? M’titebe adjudob. Bo ta kuntse-l nhe amiga _____ inda?” (Why in the hell not?!? I’m going to help you. Have you met my friend _____ yet?) Anyway, I think that was the purpose of the dinner tonight, as Benvinda is in the market for a man, and she and I were told repeatedly what a naiss (nice) couple we make. (And for the record, I am in total agreement on that point.) Anyway, we had baked sweet potato, baked English potato, curried rice, grilled bananas, coiva (think…spinach meets lettuce, but on acid and steroids), and some sort of shredded meat-like substance. I decided not to inquire as to its origins. For desert we had pudeen (it’s exactly flan, for those of you reading in Texas). All of it was delicious. Benvinda (which means “Welcome” by the way…) was beautiful and intelligent and delightful and charming, so there must be something wrong with her if she’s single. After, we played Bischka (a really fun card game), and I had a beer. I excused myself at about 2045 (here they use what we call “military time” at home, so 2045 = 8:45PM), as anything later than that and the town will start gossiping. Came home, made myself a caiperinha (this is the Cape Verdian equivalent of a Margarita, and is a VERY delicious drink that I will be making for everyone when I come home) and played guitar until Djon and Marlen came upstairs to fala um boquat (chat for a while). He and I and Marlen stayed up and talked for half the night and looked up at the godzillions of stars that were on display.

Chalk up one more great day!