Zonino!

The weeks seem to fly by rather fast, one day its Monday and the next thing I know its Friday and my weekend of hanging out has already passed as well. December is here and when I look back I can hardly remember the day I arrived at the airport here in Santiago, that day I was jet lagged, sleep deprived and unsure what I had gotten myself into. The ground I walked onto was intimidating, different and unknown. Now, I call Cape Verde my home and couldn’t feel more like a part of the community here.

I fully believe I have the best of both worlds, if that makes any sense at all. I work in a remote little village just outside of Tarrafal that portrays the stereotypical Peace Corps experience one can imagine. When I am not at work however, I am a beach bum living it up with my Cape Verdean friends (pre and post broken foot, however). For example, to get to work I bike through the fields down this little one way stone paved road for approximately 5 kilometers saying good morning to every farmer I pass as well as the group of women in the field cheering for me. I can see the mountains in the backdrop, the fields all around me and the ocean in front of me. Some days I stop off to join the women under the shade and batuka. Batuka is traditional drumming and is accompanied with singing songs of Africa. Other days I am sitting under the shade at the opposite end of the fields enjoying lunch with the farmers of the field. When I am not relaxing under the shade of a good tree I am conversing with the agriculturalists and learning how they implement farming techniques here. When I go home for the day it is the opposite story. My friends and I can be found on the beach laying out, swimming, cliff jumping, snorkeling and boogie boarding! At night we watch the stars from a rooftop, listen to a good band at an outside café or simply enjoy each others company on someone’s front stoop.

Now I am enrolled in a Portuguese class at a high school here. It is a fun experience and my first day I felt like the new goofy looking kid in school that everyone stares at. As the weeks have passed though I have made a lot of friends in my class and everyone is quite helpful. The weather is pleasant, during the day it is still warm enough in the sun to enjoy the water and it is just the right temperature in the shade to enjoy the breeze. Some nights I might need a light jacket to keep warm. Right now, we are getting the winds from the Sahara Desert along with a bit of dust. Sometimes there is so much dust you can’t even see the mountains behind Tarrafal! Well, I still have not moved into my house yet. Maybe I will be moved in before the end of the New Year, ha. I wish everyone happy holidays! Until 2010!

P.S. Mom, Dad if y’all were worried about me bringing a boy home or getting married here, dont…I got voted as one of the top two girls in Peace Corps most likely to date and/or marry a Cape Verdean. :)