Inspriron

Seems like I’m chock full of anniversaries. As of September 1^st, I will have been on São Nicolau for one year. That’s one year at site, working at the park, living in my community in Cachaço, etc etc etc. What’s it all mean huh, what has a year serving in the Peace Corps meant, etc etc etc

Well, I, like all other PCV’s, certainty have my thoughts on the Peace Corps as a whole and also on my local level in Cape Verde. In general, I believe that PC is trying to get older people to join, which I think is definitely the right move. After 40 years of grass roots development, the majority of places that PC has been now need a higher level of development beyond digging wells. This means more people trained in small business development, older people with skills in forming organizations, marketing, production, etc etc etc. It’s good that it seems PC is leaning more towards this now. Lo, PC is and always will be a governmental organization, which is very apparent in the way it is run and how it interacts with volunteers.

After one year here at site, my close neighbors feel very much like family, and I believe they very much view me as family as well. They provide for you if you need anything, they help take care of you if you are sick, they teach you things you need to know. Perhaps the best aspect of my service so far has simply been the people I have gotten to know here. One year at the Park and, well, lets just say I await to see what this next year will bring. There have been several good things that have come so far from my work at the park, like a health workshops, helping develop several local families to provide food for tourists, working with the guides and monitors, and my continuing work on creation of a new protected area. Did a few trash clean ups as well.

Outside of the Park, I have had community English classes. That was three months of work, and if and when I do it again, I hope to take my lessons learned into consideration. But everyone loved them and ask when there will be more classes. Working on the bike project has been a slow processes. I now have my proposals done in English and Portuguese, and will now go to the local organizations to get their full support and hopefully some money from them too. (Buy a t-shirt!!!!! Or donate!!!!!! Or both!!!!!). I imagine that over the next year a few other small projects will pop up, but I realize that while being a PCV is certainly about the work you do, its equally about the relationships you make and the exchange with the people.

Come the end of September new 1^st year volunteers will be shipped out to the islands. For now PC is keeping volunteers in the dark about the new trainees. I am hoping we get a small business volunteer though. A news report yesterday said São Nicolau is the poorest island of Cape Verde, so we need to help create development for the people here.

PCV’s from the mainland have comments about the Cape Verde post as an easy place for volunteers. While it is certainly not difficult living in Cape Verde (not using a latrine, I typically always have electricity, etc etc etc) the difficulties arise in other ways. Such as it is harder here to at first see the need for a PCV, or where and how you can make a difference. The challenges PCV’s face in Cape Verde are very different than those on the mainland, but I think make being a volunteer equally as hard.

Anywho, some Cape Verdean music artist that people should check out are:

Ildo Lobo

Tito Paris

Tcheka

Bau

Bana

Etc etc etc

My favorite of the moment is Tcheka, really good music as it’s a combination of Cape Verde and a slight hint of west Afrikan music.

Alright, that’s it. Stay tuned for more exciting blogs about my adventures in Cape Verde, about the bike project (BUY A SHIRT!!!!! DONATE!!!!! TELL OTHER PEOPLE!!!!!!) and other things, etc etc etc

And remember, will money pay for all the days you lived awake but half asleep?

BUY THIS SHIRT!!!!!

http://sonadei.com/catalog/CVBO.php

Holy Moly!!!! Just when you thought there wasnt a way to spend your hard earned money on me, i have helped solved the problem. Together with Sonadei, we have developed a Cape Verde bicycle tshirt whose proceeds will go to help fund a bicycle project that is in the works, as been mentioend in previous blogs. Check out the link, buy at least 1,000,000,000,000,000,000 shirts and then donate even more. Also, shoot me an email if you buy a shirt or help spread the word so i know and give you a thanks.

Spread this link around, write it on paper and leave in coffee shops, engrave it on your kitchen table, whatever you have to do to help seel these shirts!!!!!

http://www.sonadei.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=86

i think this is the direct link to buy the shirt.

So buy buy buy!!!!!

Here is a news snipet from Sonadei

http://www.sonadei.com/catalog/news.php

2-1=1

So we’ve all heard the one about Math walking into a bar and the bartender says “Hey, Math, if you’re so smart, what’s 2-1?” At this, Math sits down, drinks a beer and says “1”. The bartender says “No stupid!!!!” After Math drinks a second beer the bartender returns and says “ Wait a second…. 1. You’re right” Ha ha ha ha ha ha. Hysterics aside, in the above mentioned equation the numbers represent years, so Two years less One Year = One Year. That’s right. I no longer have the miserable title ‘First Year Volunteer’; instead I have the honorable, distinctive, sweet smelling title ‘Second Year Volunteer’. With this promotion comes many perks and benefits including:

A new coffee mug

A free ice cream cone at Artica

Collection of my stool samples

A trip to Disneyworld

Another year in Cape Verde

And so, one year down and one year to go. What’s it all been about, where is it all going? I don’t know really. I do know that I more fully understand why the Peace Corp service is two years. Getting things, anything, done takes a long, long, long time. Hence, sometimes a project may take the entire service to actually get off the ground. With this prelude, here are some of my current, future, and made up projects I am working on

Movie night in Cachaço!!!!! That’s right kids, on the first Wednesday of each month, on the roof of the loja, using equipment from Parque Natural Monte Gordo, volunteers do Corpo da Paz, Os Amigos Unidos e Assoc. Monte Cintinha will show movies for children, youth and generally anyone who shows up and pays. The goal is to give kids a fun activity to do, and to make some money to help aid development of Cachaço.

Protected Areas status for Carberinho. Here’s one of those examples of a project taking a long time. I have written a proposal which me and another volunteer have shown and gotten signatures from the local community, I have now written a full length report about the area, and hopefully this coming month will do some field studies of the area. This is a long process to have the area protected, but it’s worth it as anyone who comes to visit will see.

Cape Verdeans in Space!!!!! Move over MIR residents, and make some room for a boiling pot of catxupa, cause coming this fall the first flight of the CVX1 Shuttle will occur. The space station and control center, all located here in the heart of São Nicolau in Cachaço will be manned and operated by local community members trained by Peace Corp volunteers, aka, Me. Scheduled for the first flight are three males, two females, and a donkey in case they need to fetch some water. All are excited about this new prospect of development for the island and for Cape Verde itself, and to quote Camara President Meca, “It is long past time for Cape Verdeans to enter the Space Race. For years now the world has been asking when we would send up our first astronauts, and today I am happy to announce that the wait is finally over.”

Bike Safety (…perhaps, depending on your stance towards helmets) A project that has already been long in the works and will be even longer in the works is a project I like to title, “Bicycle Safety and Awareness Event”, or BSAE. The BSAE is a project on my behalf here with the Camara Municpals and the Centro do Juventudes along with the support of Sonadei (www.sonadei.com), a great clothing company in America who focuses on clothing for bicyclists and bicycle advocacy. Well, they are going to be selling bicycle t-shirts to help raise funds for the BSAE, and the shirts will also be made from recycled materials with non-toxic dyes. The funds will go to purchase bicycle helmets from American Safety/ASHP (www.buyashp.com), an awesome organization helping distribute quality helmets at low cost, for bike riders here, and for bicycle repair workshops. I am still working on getting support from other bicycle organizations around the states, to help supply things like bicycle tools, bicycle tubes and patch kits. More on this as details emerge.

So there you somewhat have it. During my work for the Park, there are always little projects getting proposed, some implemented and a few done, like a health workshop for drivers and cooks on the island, or more English classes, or building tables and benches in the park. But, if I give it all away now I won’t have much to say next time.

Keep those dry nuts and dry fruit coming (meaning start sending dry nuts and dry fruit)

Ta ta

PS. If you want to help support a project I am doing, send me an email about what you are pondering, or if you have an idea in mind about something that you want to help do in Cape Verde with my or other Peace Corp assistance, again, send me an email. Also, if you happen to buy a surplus of Clif bars and can’t eat them all, feel free to send them to me,

I dont eat goats blood

Progress, as defined by the Oxford English dictionary, is “The forward movement of ideas, actions or thoughts towards a satisfactory or positive outcome for some, part or all of the involved participants.” Or at least that’s the definition I just made up. Either way, there is some kind of progress happening here on São Nicolau and at Monte Gordo.

One road of progression involves the Artisans who are making recycled products here at the park. While its still a slow process, sales have been made, and I have gone out to some restaurants here and sold some products and the hopes are getting to the main tourist islands and selling these products like hotcakes. As mentioned before, the two great benefits are recycling of paper and cardboard, and giving a few people a so called sustainable source of income. Soon I hope to be able to have all my avid readers be able to purchase products through our new website, which is shiny and professional. Check it out at www.ecosaonicolau.com. Or, if you have cat scratch fever and simply can not wait, send me an email and I can send you an order form for such things as recycled paper notebooks, small boxes made from banana paper or sugar cane paper, banana or sugar cane paper candle holders, recycled paper photo albums, recycled paper envelopes, among others.

Looking towards the other direction on the road of progression, we have health and safety. That’s right, if you are looking for a place to get hurt and have somewhat trained professionals helping you, then São Nicolau is the place to be. Starting this Friday, about 50 people from all walks of life will be getting health training in first aid, CPR, food preparation safety, food poisoning, etc. This is an important and good step forward.

Assuming the road of progression has yet another direction, it is looking at Carberihno. This spot, which lies along the north western coast of the island, is a rare and unique place that has been formed by the millions of years of ocean waves carving curves and designs into the exposed rock. Also, there are a multitude of birds here that you can not see anywhere else on the island. I wrote a proposal, and with the aid of a volunteer in Tarrafal, we have begun collecting signatures, and already there is tons of support, not to mention the support of the UNDP and DGA who viewed the site with me a few weeks ago.

The road of progression is a long road, at times bumpy, but hopefully the road will lead somewhere. Yup.

Things to be on the lookout for are a new and exciting bicycle project coming to São Nicolau, formation of a women’s group in Cachaço, World Biodiversity and Environment days, and other stuff.

Anywho, just ending recently was a three day festival of sorts in Cachaço celebrating Nossa Senhora de Monte Sentinha, and adding May Day, its been four days of festas here on the island. This festa is sorta the second biggest on the island and as such there were many people in town, which was certainly a site. The next big one I know of is on June 29^th when they have horse races in the dried ribeira in Vila.

Till next time, ta ta

UPDATE

The update is that an update is coming soon. Though i suppose this update counts as an update,l so another update will be coming soon. An even better update than this one, though this one is pretty good if you ask me.

Hmmm, seems like i have alot more space to fill. What to say, what to say. Ummm, goat stomach looks really wierd inside out.

Ok, peace out my minions.

Insert funny title here

So, i wrote this about a month ago, yet it still holds true, maybe even truer now that it was than, but thats neither there nor here. anyways, this post is simply ramblings that maybe i shouldnt even post. but, its been while since i posted anything and all the projects i´m working on are still just huming along, so there isnt much new info, and i´m not too good on detiling soem of the typical life experinces which would be nice to share but require a higher level of compositional skills that I currenlty have. Entao, this post.

I had wanted to spend the whole day cataloging magic, but I ended up spending only half a day. But, here is my list of the magic I experienced during a half day here in São Nicolau: The dawning sun hidden in the clouds, watching them sit, watching them brush along the mountain peaks as the morning sun grew and intensified Greeting the women on thier way to the fields, yelling Bom Dias left and right and the undeicepherable replies of Nha Mai’s, Meu Deus and others The candlelight glow reflecting off the pictures taped to the wall in my bedroom The banana eaten on the wall watching Monte Gordo awaken and shake off the morning fog Going to Hortelá along a narrow, cliff edge road Giving three small children reason to stare and gawk The two patonkas eaten with the family in Hortelá, and their laughter at my verbal enjoyment of the breakfast treats Getting small glimpses of the lives of other people, seeing in my eyes something special and new and knowing in thier eyes something normal and everyday Tearing the bark off the sugar cane with my teeth, chewing on the sweet flesh and spitting it out on the ground Playing with the calico cat laying in the shade Watching from a distance children having a potato sack race (and questioning on if potata really does have an e at the end) at the soccer field Seeing the ocean in the distance as I write The sounds and smells of the men working on repairing the wall The little child who sat next to me to show me his three marbles, and then came back with a book of bible songs A book I recenlty got sent and read, ‘Off the Map’, spoke alot about magic, about dreams and possibility, and how many things in life work to hold us back from dreaming, that tell us to dream is to be irrational, that we should accept what they say is normal and be happy, that to follow your heart and to fail or succeed is crazy.... Within my own life and those I see around me, I note that our eyes have been jaded against that which we use to behold as special, as unigue and magical when we were children. Why? What causes this lose of sight, and can we get it back? There are people I know that have regained, or at least partially, this ability, or are working towards regaining their sight. But it is rowing agaist the current, an uphill battle when everyone is saying go down, go down, go down .... I don’t want to go down any longer. I want to climb, and fall, and get back up and climb again. Even a dream the size of an ant has strength. We have created systems of imprisonment for ourselves, and live happily behind bars, laughing and sneering at those who escape while we waste away with a life sentence. I learned the reason why man must work and how to dream big dreams To conquer time and space and fight the rivers and the seas I stand here filled with my emptiness now and look at city and land And I know why farms and cities are built by hot, warm, nervous hands Woody Guthrie

Sorry for the lack of new pictures

Why are peanuts so funny?

This post also could have been titled, Why is Pizza so funny? But its not. Anyways, why are peanuts and pizza oh so funny you might be asking yourself? And, Ill tell you. Suppose you find yourself on a volcanic island in the middle of the Atlantic ocean 500 miles off the western coast of Afrika…for example. Now lets also imagine you happen to be teaching English to 20 community members in the local kindergarden. You happen to be teaching about the present progressive, I am going, or He is eating… You also like to throw in new vocabulary, and sometimes words you think the students would like. Soooo, you say, Henry is eating peanuts. Normally, everyone repeats what you say. But when you say peanuts, everyone laughs. Hmmm, you say it again, everyone laughs. You ask why is everyone laughing, and no one says why. You repeat peanuts again, and again, laughter ensues. You then think to yourself, saying peanuts slowly and imaging you are Cape Verdean and it dawns on you. Peanuts, like pizza, sounds like penis. Ahhh, it is funny.

I hope you enjoyed the little comic relief. I unfortunately don’t have much updatage to speak of, but I can speak of some things. For instance, the paper recycling is going good, better than I had excepted. We have started collecting boxes of paper from Tarrafal and soon will get paper from Vila. A house has been setup for the Artists to start making paper products, and wham bam, we are in business. At least sustainable community development type business.

I recently hiked to this amazing spot along the coast, please excuse my spelling, but I think its spelled Cabeirnos. Either way, its this area where it consist of volcanic rock that has been eroded by the ocean to reveal amazing shapes and curves, smooth rock and places where its florescent green. Soooo, together with another PCV, I am going to work to get this place designated as a protected area, have a trash can and sign installed, a clean up done of the little trash that is there and some stones left over from when the Camara made steps, and hopefully the place will be a proud area of environmental beauty and stewardship for all to enjoy.

Oh, the Park is also in the steps of creating a tree sponsorship program. I think for about 10€, that’s 10 euros, you can sponsor the reforestation efforts of the park and the island by adopting an endemic plant, like Tortolho, or a Dragiero tree, etc etc. So if you already know you simply can not live without forking over some money to help a poor little old island, get your check books, or credit cards, handy. If you know of environmentally minded people out there, or any organizations or clubs that are looking for the perfect Earth Day gift for a loved one, well, what can be better than sponsoring a tree in a third world Afrikan island country.

There are other little projects going on at the park, and maybe one or two outside the realm of the park, but nothing is set in stone. Hence, I shant burden you with them until they possibly reach fruition. The weather has turned warm again, we had a chilly spell for about a week, and now it’s a warm spell probably for another week. The weather seems to come in waves.

There is a chance I will head to Mindelo, on Sao Vicente, later in the month. There is a theater thingy going on there, not really sure about the details, but I want to check out Mindelo, so why not. Otherwise, looking to do more hiking, and hopefully will head out to the eastern shores one of these days, maybe for Easter. Till next time, ta ta.