Tarrafal sta sabi!

Well, I have finally made it to my site, Tarrafal on the island of Santiago. It is a cute little town perched next to the beach, with a few seaside restaurants I can use as my outlet to unwind for the day or think about life here in Cape Verde. For the next month or so I am living with Cameron and Nico, the other two volunteers here in Tarrafal. My house is not quite ready and time moves rather slow around here. Our house is located behind the enormous church found in the plaza. In a 10 minute walk from the beach to our place you experience the atmosphere of beach/Rastafarian life, a remote little plaza that somewhat resembles South America with tropical plants and mountains in the background, then you reach our neighborhood and you feel like you are in fact, in West Africa. My day consists of going to the agriculture fields, and conversing with the local farmers and my coworkers to improve my language while trying to learn about their farming techniques and various projects. I have started collecting materials to begin a small greenhouse so I can learn to plant tomatoes in the atmosphere here. Tomatoes are of great importance to Santiago and one of my projects will be working with the local producers to find techniques for better marketing and production strategies. When I am not in the fields I am enjoying a swim in the ocean, laying out on the beach, or I “txiga”. To “txiga” in Cape Verde, is to walk around the streets saying hello to whoever you see (normally people are just chilling on their front porches everywhere) and if they say, “txiga, txiga!” then you simply sit down with them and shoot the breeze for a couple hours.
For the time being, that is life here in Cape Verde! I will update once I have moved into my permanent house, or in a month…whichever comes first…probably the first month mark, ha. I have however, seen my house and it is merely a 500ft walk to the beach! Tudo algens fika bazof!