July 30, 2001

For those of you who know me, it will come as no surprise that I am the only Peace Corps volunteer to be switching host families for the ten weeks of training. I'm not proud of it, but I have just been very unhappy with my family for the past week. It's hard not to compare them to past host family experiences that I've had abroad, which were very rewarding. They are one of the few families that lives in the wealthy neighborhood of Praia, but what they have in material possessions lacks in other less obvious areas.

Unfortunately, the parents don't have a very strong relationship (there are 3 daughters aged 3, 7, 10), thus the husband is never around. We have been learning in training that it's very common for Cape Verdean men to take on multiple lovers. My theory is that the husband definitely has one. The past week he's come home twice at midnight, and then they have proceeded to fight "Where the hell have you been?" "Working, working, finishing a project at the office." I'm lying in my bed thinking,"Men don't work past 6 pm, they have domestic responsibilities, and they surely aren't at work until midnight." Anyway, there were other issues with them, including the fact that they ultimately saw me as extra income and a body to fill their storage room.

The official tally is that 4 volunteers have left early. One never showed up in Philadelphia, another ditched the first day we arrived in Praia, the other left last Monday of homesickness, and the other left today after realizing her life in the USA is better than her life here. Everyone keeps wondering who will be next, since last year about half of the incoming group left. We started with 29 and currently have 25. I'm sure that I won't leave unless I find my permanent placement unbearable or get very sick.

The woman who left last Monday had a great host family that is VERY centrally located just 4 blocks from our school where training takes place, 20 ft. from the bus stop to the market, and a 5 min. walk from 2 beaches and the US Embassy swimming pool. Right now, Cape Verde is in a water crisis. Let me tell you, you can't imagine stepping outside, sweating like hell, feeling your face constantly sticky, and then getting home only to hear that there's no water for a shower. My house in the nice neighborhood had enough for a trickle, but I can't use conditioner because nothing washes out with the soft stream. Also, electricity has been scarce. Every night this week the electricity has cut out, leaving the refrigerator warm and the freezer a slush. I get yogurts in my lunch that my host mom packs, and I never eat them because many have been sitting in a warm frig. for days. This week, electricity was out for 2 days straight, although we could use gas to cook. But imagine reading by candlelight or entertaining yourself from 9 pm onward with no light. That's when you really find out if you like your host family :) Many times, I would just go to bed early or listen to the people in the shack behind our house playing their American music all night.

These are my impressions of my neighborhood. Everything is half built. It looks like a war zone. Nice house amidst cement blocks and rebar sticks out the soon-to-be roof. Dirt "poop" fields fill the open spaces been houses because 20% of Cape Verdeans don't have bathrooms. It's a common sight to see everyone doing their "business" right out in the open, and it also makes for stinky breezes wherever you go. Because our neighborhood is in the process of being built, child herders use the dirt fields to graze their goats, cows, and chickens. A few days ago, I saw a young boy herding 20 cows who had stopped at this construction site to EAT all of the paper cement bags. When there is no grass, paper does just fine. They even ate the plastic bag liners!

So, maybe I'm depressing you with stories of poverty, but there are many great things about this country too! I'm typing at an Internet cafe, eating a banana-cheese-cinnamon sandwich. Because my family has been sub-par, my close friend's family has taken me under their wing. They adore me, so I was invited over to spend all of Sunday with them. The host father drove Dawn, her host brother from Brazil Joćozinho, and I to the beach an hour away where the water is clean. It was paradise with clean beaches and no waves.

Later, we returned for this 5 course lunch (largest meal of day), which was this seafood paella, 4 kinds of meat with veggies, french fries, fruit, and 4 desserts including coffee flan, milk flan, coconut pie, and pineapple cake, ALL MADE BY HAND. I was in heaven, to say the least. They are so funny, since they keep trying to get me hooked up with the cute host brother who's home on vacation. Dawn's host family, who I am talking about, is very light skinned because they are from the island of Brava where shipping vessels passed through back in the 1600's to the USA. Because of that, the people who live there are very American, and the 10 month old baby in the family has blue eyes and light hair, despite the parents looking darker than the child. In any case, they had this great party, and then the entire family and friends all went out to this seaside bar where we had drinks and talked.

This Friday I find out my permanent placement. Lately, training has been hectic. We are studying Kriolu right now for another 2 weeks,and then we start studying Portuguese for another 4 or so. Kriolu is an easy language, but difficult for anyone that actually likes to conjugate verbs in the past and present tense. They only use the present tense. Basically, back when slavery existed in Cape Verde and slaves were shuttled through here to Latin America, well, Africans mixed Portuguese with their native tongues. Thus, you have Kriolu in which nobody conjugates and everything is very choppy. "N mesti fazi xixi" = I need make pee. Anyway, it's difficult for me to speak in such a way that everything is only present tense.

As for my community development/business training, we have that each afternoon. They really expect a lot of us. We each have to create and implement our own projects during training. I was part of the small group that visited the city medical clinic, instead of the city dump, the police station, or the desalinization plant. The clinic was so spartan, that I have decided to do a project where we get about 10 people together and paint stenciled designs in each room. The childrens' wing will be full of Disney images taken from coloring books I brought. I think it will really cheer up the place.

Hmmm. What else? Oh, yeah, my permanent site. I find out this Friday where I'll be for the next two years, which is a huge deal. English volunteers don't find out for another 4 weeks, so I'm excited to be one of the 10 community development (business) volunteers who will know earlier. I am sure that it will be rural, although I don't know if I'll be alone. I have been told through the grapevine that if I am rural, then it will be on this island because they can keep tabs on us to make sure nothing happens. This is a disappointment because the one green island is way up north, and I'm sure I won't be getting a rural placement there. This island Sćo Tiago where the capital city is very dry, so I'm trying to not dwell on my mental images of living in some rural town that's dry and without water most of the week. I keep hoping for the best, but you just never know. In any case, our Community Development advisor named Helder is a GREAT person, and he has been working diligently to properly place each of us in a community where we will be of great use. I trust him, and have faith that things will work out as they should. The universe will provide for me, I keep telling myself. As for our community development (CD) group, two of the people who have left were CD, thus the communities are pinched to get volunteers. Helder told us he had to let some of them down and tell them they'll have to wait a year to see if they get someone because there just aren't enough volunteers to go around.

I just went to this fabric store over the weekend, and bought scraps that I'll use to make curtains or stuff for my soon-to-be home in some village. I won't start yet though. One volunteer is this master seamstress, so she's going to teach everyone how to make stuff. Who knows, I might be sewing my own underwear pretty soon at the rate stuff shrivels up due to being washed by hand on the cement washboard!

This email is long, and I hope I haven't bored you. Keep in touch, and I love to hear from you. Also, make sure to write 'VIA PORTUGAL' or 'VIA BOSTON' on your letters to me because they get lost and go to other continents, especially the Caribbean. I haven't gotten any mail yet, so get it comin', ok!