Fun News!

This is just a short update- I got my rural visit assignment. Before I wasn't very excited by the concept of a rural visit out in a small village for a week, but now that I know what I'm doing, I'm really pumped. I'm going to the Sine Saloum (near where I was recently) to a village of about 10,000 with one other girl, to spend the week with a Peace Corps Volunteer who works on Ecotourism. We are not really sure what we will be doing, but they speak Wolof and French where I'm going, which should work out well for me (I mainly picked based on that). It'll be an adventure- we leave next monday (9th) but may head down earlier to visit some other parts.

I take cool field trips . . .

This weekend our program took us down to the Sine-Saloum Delta area, which was an awesome excursion to take! When we go on trips on our own, those are fun, but everything isn't all prepaid, and we tend to stay at nice places. Which is always amazing! We took about a 4-5 hour busride down from Dakar to the Sine Saloum and hopped on some pirouges (canoe like boats that are the main transport here- I don't think I've even seen any other kind of boat) and took a tour of the area. I've never been to the Florida everglades, but someone said that the area reminded them of it. I personally felt like I was at a lake up in Minnesota (which is what someone else said), but either way it was lovely taking a relaxing sunset tour of the 'marsh' area. Nobody fell in and it wasn't cold, which usually makes for a great time.
After a bit they dropped us off at our hotel, which was quite a lot like the one we stayed at in Toubab Dialow in that they were a bunch of little huts all set up, and these ones had adorable front porches!!! We split into houses of 4 and set our stuff down. Right away, we all moved out to our porches for some reading time (I personally had just started 'The English Patient'- and am almost done with it). My porch faced right out onto the water, so I got to look out to a nice pink/purple sunset and read while I waited for dinner!
Oh dinner, so very lovely and wonderful! As I said, we always get very well set-up on our trips, and this was certainly no exception. Gradually we all wandered over to the eating area, and ordered some drinks (these we had to pay for ourselves). Dinner was a three course meal, which was great! We had some fresh shrimp, and then rice and fish (delicious) followed by a 5-star mini-chocolate cake. I was totally stuffed and content, and ready for some sleep! We all
hung out for a bit longer, did some porch reading by gas-lamp and then turned in (underneath mosquito nets, of course).
In the morning we got to get up gradually and have breakfast between 8ish and 9ish. Back in Dakar the bread is a pretty standard white bread, and I usually have it with margarine or a chocolate spread. This place was the same, although it was nice, hot, fresh bread with some heartiness to it, and some tasty locally made bissap-jam! The only thing that was missing was my Kinkeliba tea, which is a locally made tea from leaves that I have every morning and that is great for your system.
Once everyone had pulled themselves together- not everyone is an early riser- we hopped onto horse drawn carts. I smartly chose one with a cover-top to it. As much as I love a tan, I could tell that this was going to be one hot ride. We had a relatively young driver named Francisco, who was probably about 15. They took us for a tour of the nearby town, which was interesting to see, but I have very mixed feelings about. Once we got to the village we stopped and our director bought candy to hand out to the local children. While this seems like a nice idea, it really bothered me and the other people in my cart- so we gave our candy to another cart to give out. I have been told in other areas to not give out candy, so I was surprised that this had happened. My reasoning is that it is very bad what happens to the kids when you start giving candy out. A) They begin to expect it from tourists, b) it is not good for their diet c) most importantly it turns them into beggars. Sitting up on this cart you have children clammoring around you, trying so hard to get some candy and it is behavior that is just not something good to encourage. It was very unsettling to see, and I didn't enjoy it in the least bit.
Otherwise the ride was fine, and all feeling very hot, we went back to our lodgings to literally chill out before lunch. And what a fine lunch! This time it was a little salad with peanuts and rasins and other good stuff, and then a fish-kabob, grilled to perfection, with rice and a tasty sauce, and a fruit cup to finish! The senegalese really can make good food- sometimes I forget that with my frustration of sitting around the bowl at home and eating with everyone. After lunch was total free time, so we all headed down to the water and frolicked and jumped off a pirouge and had an overall awesome time.
I really enjoy our group trips since we don't always all spend time together. When I studied abroad before I was living with all of my friends and got to know everyone in the group pretty well. So I get psyched for these trips when the whole group has bonding time. It was a lot of fun to just chill out by the water (especially since there were no vendors trying to come up and make friends with us like they do everywhere else).
I showered off all of the sand and got ready for dinner (wearing one of my new tailor-made dresses!). We had to have an earlier dinner because we were attending something later in the evening- it was so wierd to eat so early- at 7 o'clock! Before dinner I perused one of the vendors that had set-up shop at the hotel. I had been eyeing his items all day long. He was a jewlery maker, who did phenomenal bracelets and rings made out of very good quality silver. It was frustrating though because his prices were high and he refused to bargain, because he wasn't Senegalese and had very set prices. I talked it over with Victoria, the assistant-director, who has lived in Senegal for a long time and has bought jewlery before. The decision was made that his work was high quality and meritied the price and that I would most likely not find something in Dakar at a much better price. So I went for it and got myself a gorgeous silver bracelet, which I am very happy with!
Dinner was another great meal of couscous and meat (with some eggplant for starter) and Flan for dessert. Yummy! We then set out in the dark to walk over to the town where we were going to watch a wrestling match. Here, la lutte, as it's called, is a very popular sport and a form of very traditional wrestling. It is very hard to follow since a) everyone is in the ring at once, strutting around like peacocks and getting pumped up b) there are multiple fights going on at once c) the fights don't last for very long d) it's all foreign, which always makes things hard. Nonetheless it was cool and even a few of our boys got into the ring to lutte (I'm sure they let the American's win, haha). Exhausted from a day in the sun a bunch of us got escorted home- and I passed out right away!
Sadly, on Sunday morning we had to pack up and have one last breakfast. We loaded ourselves into the pirouge and took the ride back to where the buses were. It was a nice slow pirouge ride though, so it was a good prolonged goodbye. Back at the buses we got in as quickly as possible since all of the vendors had shown up, hoping for some buisness! Some of us bought peaunuts, but we left as quick as could be. About an hour into the ride we stopped off at the 'sacred baobaob tree'. The baoboab tree is like a symbol of Senegal, a very gnarly looking tree that they say is upside down because it looks like the roots are coming out of the top (I have a bunch of pictures of them). At this one HUGE baobaob we could actually climb through a hole and go inside! I did this, got a little claustorphobic because of the stale air and then worked myself out. Still cool, just not for too long.
The unfortunate part was that this sacred tree has been turned into a tourist spot, so there are a ton of wood sculpture vendors hanging around, ALL trying to be your friend, and getting a little too touchy, trying to get you to come over to look at their stuff. If they weren't so agressive I might have, but it was just a total turnoff. After about 30minutes we headed out, some people having picked up souvenirs, and arrived back in Dakar by about 3pm. A fun weekend, but just too short!

Kids in Senegal

I feel like I have learned a lot both inside and outside of the classroom, but they are mutually educational. Without being in a homestay I doubt I would understand what the professors tell us about, and without the classes I wouldn’t have much of a forum to discuss what I notice around my house.

Today we talked about kids in my Anthropology class, specifically about how the Wolof ethnicity raises their children. For starters, while the woman is pregnant everyone in the community come by to visit to demonstrate that it is not just the mother who will raise this child, it is the whole community. There is a very strong emphasis against the individual, and raising an egotistical or narcissist child, which includes not getting too much motherly attention. Because of this, the day of the baptism and naming ceremony (which takes place one week after the birth) the baby is ‘stolen’ from the mother in order to demonstrate to her that this is not just her child, and it is not the nuclear family that counts, it is the whole extended family.

As the child is raised there is a great deal of emphasis placed on physical contact, whether through coming up to hug people at the house or via wrestling with their peers. Children are not given toys to play with because it is believed that this causes them to spend too much time on their own and not socialize. This also encourages the individual too much, which could lead to a child that is too proud and unlike the others (they want children to all grow up alike, so a month after being born they are taken to an old woman in the community to get massaged- literally in hopes of creating a baby that will have the ideal- and similar- body to all others. This includes massaging the female baby’s bottom in hopes of having a well-rounded bottom- sounds very funny, but it is quite true, still today).

Once children get to be older and might be in school they start playing more with toys, like mankalah (sp?) or with riddles. But for the most part they are really without any kinds of toys. Within my own homestay I have noticed this on multiple occasions. While this does keep a child from getting to be ‘spoiled’ there is a huge lack of opportunity for children to learn how to conflict resolve and problem solve. Their solution for everything seems to be hitting! Any kid of any age will hit one another and this seems to be because they have never learned to do things any other way.

Yesterday I brought out my crayons to color with my brothers, who are 3, 5, 7 and 12. The eldest, Cherif, took charge of passing out the crayons and I gave each kid one piece of paper. They did a good job of sharing the crayons and asking for other ones, which I found surprising because they can get to be a little rowdy and pushy about things. Nonetheless, I’ve tried to make things calm with me, so I think that they have sort have caught on.

What worries me is their lack of opportunity for personal expression. This sense of the individual seems to get very suppressed, and thereby individual talents are not encouraged at a young age when they are really important to be developed. For example, I’ve colored with Khadim, who is 7, before, and he seems to really like telling stories to go along with his pictures. Back in the states this would be a regular activity, and you would draw a picture and maybe help the child write the story that goes along with the picture (granted, his story was rather bloody/violent, but at least it was a story). Yesterday he was very frustrated because he couldn’t draw much of anything, and I think that is very indicative of the fact that he really wants to be able to express himself, but he doesn’t have any outlets. As a result he is a very aggressive kid.

The overall thought that I’ve had on this is that in many ways, countries that are doing well in Africa are still behind their potential because they are raising their children in the same exact way as they have been for generations, and not progressing in that arena. The most highly educated people in Senegal are actually educated in Europe or Cuba or Canada or the US, and never within Senegal (for higher education or rarely high school). I have been in so many circumstances when it is clear that people here lack in critical thinking skills- it sounds very critical to say, but it is clear that it stems from an early age. When we give kids problems to solve in the US, things that they have to think through, it gives them a very important skill set that just doesn’t seem to happen here.

Senegal is a relatively peaceful country, with developing democracy and heading in the right direction in many senses. They do a great job here of melding their traditional cultures with more modern things, but they are really missing out in the child development arena. It sounds so incredibly cliché to say, but their kids are their future, and parents need to be encouraged to have their children develop their talents and other skills earlier on in life. I don’t know how a whole country could possibly go about doing that, especially since it is something that needs to be developed not only at school but also in the home. It’s quite the dilemma, and has been a very interesting thing to observe. I think that what I will be able to contribute is continuing to color with my brothers and encouraging them. It is evident that my attitude towards the children is very different from everyone else, but they don’t seem to mind how I play with them, so I think that I’ll keep at it.

Last leg of the trip . . .

Saturday, March 10th
>Up soooo early to leave Mosteiros- literally up at 5am, and then on the bus at 5.30. A short visit but certainly worth it. We thought that we were going to be taken directly to the Seafood restaurant that we had been to before to get coffee and breakfast, and while we drove very near to it, our driver had to go to the airport for something. It being so early we weren't in very much of a rush, and thought that he might be picking someone up from the airport. But no, we just sat there. For about an hour. And he stood at the airport (smallllll airport) and chatted. And continued to talk. At last, hungry and in need of caffine, Jessie went to find out what the deal was. And just like that, he came back to the car, and drove us to the restaurant. Mind boggling.

>I'm quite sure that they remembered us at the restaurant, but this time we all ordered food, so it was a little more worth their while to have us sitting around for a few hours. Delicious as always though, and nice to have a real breakfast, as opposed to Dakar where we all have bread for breakfast.

>We couldn't stay away from our dear black sand beach, so we trekked down there again and spent the morning. It was just such a nice and relaxing place to go to, and a fun little locale. Around one we packed ourselves up (and Yasmeen packed herself a little ziplock bag of black sand) and went in search of lunch, lugging our luggage around town.

>Around this point is when things got a little bit hectic. We did have a boat ticket, but were not quite sure what time the boat was leaving. We were told "One o'clock, yeah, one, or two . . . or three". Not a very confident answer, so we tried to rush our lunch, yet again, a tricky matter. Nor did we have a place to stay back in Praia (and we were certainly NOT going back Sol Atlantico).

>We managed to finish lunch and hop into the back of a truck (something we were very good at by the end of this trip) and rushed down to the dock. And then we waited. For about an hour or so. The boat wasn't even docked when we got down there, so we got to watch that interesting process, as well as watching things like goats being loaded (begrudgingly) into the cargo of the ship. We also stood next to a young boy who was not bringing on luggage to the boat, but a young goat (a kid, if you will) that was about his size. Some things are just more important than others.

>The boat ride, I will sum up, as rocky. Very rocky. They handed out little plastic bags to everyone. It was interesting. We got in at about midnight. End of story.

>Back on Praia we spent the night at Paraiso, which was very lovely, and there were sheets to be sleeping under!!! (before I had been sleeping in a sleep sack, which works just fine). That and HOT showers, which I hadn't taken one of since being in the US, so although more expensive, it was very much so worth it. That and a great breakfast. A great last night place to stay. As soon as we were in our rooms we all fell asleep, content to no longer be rocking around on a boat.

Sunday, March 11th
>Slept in a little bit, enjoyed a good breakfast and a hot shower, packed ourselves up and went out to our favorite pastry shop (it's sorta our thing to follow one meal with another) and sat there and ate and ate, including quiche and doughnuts. Very fun indeed!

>Went to the park and sat around and read until getting ourselves together to go back to the hotel in order to go to the airport for our 6.30pm flight. But OH NO! Jessie's bag had gone missing, but we weren't sure when! There was a lot of Portuguese confusion, but eventually someone helped us understand that one of the waitresses nearby had seen someone take the bag but she just hadn't said anything about it. At this point Jessie and Yasmeen rushed to the embassy (her passport and many other things were in that backpack), and when the police showed up, the rest of us were put in the back of their SUV and we drove around looking for the person who took the bag/drove through a local crack park and asked locals if they had any info. Quite a lot like the TV shows actually.

>Feeling a little bit uncomfortable we asked to be taken to the embassy, to be reuinted. I have never felt so welcomed by George Bush, Condi Rice and Cheney. It was an odd feeling, but I got over it quickly. In no time the consulate worker got there (a lovely woman named Toni) who immediately got to work on things, which involved calling the airline to find out the information on the flight (she thought the sand might be delaying things). It all developed before our eyes in Portugeuse- the look of shock/confusion/disbelief on Toni's face. Apparently our plane had taken off HOURS ago. Literally hours before it was supposed to leave- which is a very un-African thing to have happen.

>Incredulous at this, and thankfully in posession of our paper confirmation tickets, the consulate travel agent was brought in to deal with our situation. It was so oddly fortuitous to have had Jessie's bag stolen because we wouldn't have found out about the flight change, and wouldn't have had somone advocating for us (in Portugeuse) to get everything fixed. (Side note- bag still missing, but the police were still in pursuit, and had information on the man who had her bag).

>Toni then said we would go stay at her house until TACV (the airline) had set up our hotel for the night. Laura and I accompanied Jessie to the police station while she filed her police report. Jessie was let into the office, and Laura and I were left in the waiting room, to watch all sorts of drama unfold (this time in Creole), including random disputes, people being brought in and you could hear them being beaten in the back room, and two large speakers that were brought in (it was confirmed later that these indeed were full of Cocaine). It was insane, and very scary, and all of the police kept giving Laura and I 'the eye'. Relieved to have her be done, we were taken over to Toni's house where . . .

>Yasmeen opened up the door and it was like we were in America! Working for the foreign service is AMAZING! It was actually Toni's birthday, so the other girls were in the midst of making her a real genuine funfetti cake with funfetti frosting, drinking Snapple and best of all . . . doing laundry. In a real laundry machine. It was out of control and amazing. And then I went into the pantry, which was full of incredible things to eat like mac and cheese, pringles, and alfredo sauce. Toni was more than happy to share since her term was coming to an end and didn't have any more need for the food. It was more than amazing, especially after being in Senegal.

>So we set to making food, had a great meal, had cake and then went to our hotel that TACV
got for us- we all got our own rooms (but many of us shared- we were too used to having one another around). It was the nicest hotel in town and so another lovely night, and a really great night's sleep.

Monday March 12th
>It was great to sleep in- but you could hear the bustle on the street of Praia Plato, so I got up and had yet another great breakfast. We put ourselves together, and had to sadly leave Jessie behind (they were still hoping to get her bag back, they had been surveying the man's house, but hadn't gone in- this part is very unlike American cop TV shows. She never did end up getting her things back, very unfortunately). The TACV people came to get us very promptly at 10.30 and whisked us off to the airport. Clearly they had gotten a talking-to, and knew immediately who we were upon arrival at the airport. The flight left on time, and in no time we we were back in Dakar, waxhaling (bargaining) for a taxi ride home.

>A GREAT trip, that will always remain with me. I needed a break from life in Dakar, so this was perfect timing for me. More posts soon on life back in Dakar (but very briefly, be glad I've been blogging about this, because after coming back from Cabo Verde I was in a very hostile mood, which I have now come out of, and I am now enjoying things again!).

More Cha and Mosteiros

Thursday, March 8^th

>Today was a day we got to sleep in! Ok, well that’s a very relative term, but at least it wasn’t getting up at 6am for a grueling hike. We rolled out of bed and went and sang happy birthday to Gwen (21!!!) then sat down to an incredible breakfast. The place we stayed was a nice auberge at a local’s house, so we got lots of nice home-made foods. There were donuts, and mini egg-something’s (not sure how to describe them other than good), hot coffee, fresh-baked bread, homemade marmalade, fresh goat cheese, and OJ. Suffice to say we cleared everything you could have eaten- it was so delicious!

>After lazily getting ready we went for a walk around the area of Cha, and found ourselves a good rock to play some cards on. Nothing like sitting on an old lava-made rock with some friends for some cards. Eventually it got too hot to really enjoy much more, so we went back to our auberge and did snacks for lunch. We had remembered to stock on back in Sao Filipe, so we had plenty of peanut butter, jelly and crackers (and cookies!) to go around.

>Around 3 o’clock Sam showed up again, and we put ourselves together for another hike, only this one was promised to be much shorter. No need for all the snacks and layers this time around (but definitely water). He took us to see the most recent volcano sight, which erupted in 1995. It was a much different hike this time, with a lot of uphill in the sand-like lava- good workout for the calves. It was hot as heck this time around, so there were a lot of water breaks involved. But once there it was totally worth it! The first spot he took us to was where the earth had gotten sucked under as a result of the eruption, so it was just a HUGE sinkhole! He said he had been down into it, but we didn’t really feel like putting in the effort of shimmying down inside, just to have to work our way back out.

>Next stop was where the volcano had erupted out of, and it was incredible! There were tons of colors, and it was a huge pit. Not how you traditionally imagine a volcano, it was more of a huge hill/small mountain with a big crater space inside. From where we stood we could see just how far the lava spread. I wouldn’t want to be around it when it went off- but they have very little way of knowing when the next one will be. All of the rocks around the eruption site were great colors of red and yellow and green, with some being very sparkly and all very cool. Sam gave us some good science lessons on it all, and even showed us certain ‘hot spots’ where if you put your hands close to the ground it is super-hot from the different elements. Such an educational spring break!

>We hiked back down (no running this time, but definitely up and down some hills) and went to the auberge to change into some clean clothes. We then joined Sam (the all-purpose man in town) for some wine-tasting. They make some very tasty (and strong) wine up in Cha, and it was fun to get to try the wines. They are trying to develop the tourism to Cha, and wine-tasting is certainly a way to get people’s attention!

>The group then split up, with Yasmeen, Gwen and Laura going to hear some local music, while Amy, Jessie and I went with Sam to prepare a (surprise) birthday dinner for Gwen. We whipped up a cake (I did the homemade frosting), which was very interesting, and very challenging, while Sam made an awesome home-made pizza. Like I said, he’s had a lot of time to get good at the home-cooking. Needless to say, Gwen was very exciting to be celebrating her birthday in such a unique fashion, and really excited by the delicious cake. After some dinner, cake and music, we headed back and fell asleep, fully content after another wonderful day.

Friday, March 9^th

>Sadly, we did have to leave Cha at one point or another. Sam had to go into Sao Filipe on some errands, so he joined us for the ride down, which left around 7am. This time we took a truck down, and sat in the back (no fancy van this time around), for a great cheap ride with awesome views. Once down in Cha we did a bit of grocery shopping and mulled about what to do with the day. The options were among staying in Sao Filipe or going over to another town, Mosteiros, with another Peace Corps person. A last minute decision was made in favor of Mosteiros, and we all piled into a Yass van with our new friend Jenda for the ride over to Mosteiros. More wonderful views of Fogo, and we were on our way to see another part of the island.

>Jenda’s Peace Corps work was significantly different from Sam’s- he essentially lives in a two bedroom apartment with another PC person, and works in an internet café. Some people joke about PC in Cabo Verde being pretty easy- and it does seem that way (even though Sam lives in Cha, he can get to Sao Filipe very easily and is never too far from things, unlike being out in the bush in West Africa). Jenda showed us around the small town, which was very quaint and took us to the beach, where we found another black beach and some crazy crashing waves- no playing in the water this time around!

>Long story short for the rest of the night, Jenda (and his roommate Mike) were awesome, and in exchange for us making them dinner (pasta!) they let us sleep on their floor for the night, and we saved ourselves some good money. It was a lot of fun, and we cooked, played cards and hung out. We had to head to bed early again, though, because this time our ride left at 5.30am- eeeeek! Mosteiros was an awesome place to visit, and considering that we had the next day in Sao Filipe, I was glad to get to see another part of Fogo and meet more cool people.

Days of hiking volcanoes!!!

Wednesday, March 7th

>Early to rise, and up the volcano we go! We got up to a wonderful breakfast, all set out for us, at 6am, but held off on scarfing down the food- wouldn't want to stuff ourselves during our hike! At 6.30 our friend Sam joined us, along with our guide Solomon (another child of Tito's). It was a cold morning, but we had dressed well and filled our bags up with snacks and water to keep us happy for the hike. When we left the moon was still high, which made for very gorgeous and striking views along the way, as the sun rose.
>The hike was a mixture of terrain, involving a lot of volcano sand, rocks, and steady climbing. I had never done hiking like this before, so it was very exciting and fun. We had each other to keep company with, and although some people might say that six people makes it go slower, we all felt to the contrary, and made sure that one another stayed well hydrated and we all got the rests that we needed. Different parts of the hike were challenging for different reasons, but well worth it indeed.
>By around 11am we made it to the top, where it was cold but sunny (happens when you go that high up!). We all felt very accomplished, as well as very hungry, and in no time we broke out our peanut butter, crackers, cookies and other goodies to chow down and enjoy the incredible view. The volcano we hiked hadn't errupted in over a thousand years, but was still a very impressive sight, and took you higher up than the crater surrounding, so it gave an awesome view, including one out to the ocean. I don't know if I've ever been that high up on land before!
>Getting down the mountain was quite another story. For this one, it's all about speed. The guide showed us where, and once at the right point, we could just run down the side of the volcano, tearing through the black volcano sand- but beware, you can be easily scratched! Some parts thrilling, other parts scary, it was the most unique way I've ever gotten down from somewhere- you usually have to be so slow and cautious!
>Once back at the auberge, we all fell dead asleep, after rinsing the black sand off of us (our shoes were absolutely filled to the brim with rocks from the run down) and having a good lunch. Sam stopped by to wake us up- and to be sure that we picked up wine for dinner that night before the shops closed- phew! Wouldn't want to miss out on that. Jessie and I volunteered ourselves up and went out for a stroll to get ourselves some locally made vino.
>That evening we joined Sam in his quaint lodgings and he made us some tasty curry with rice. Apparently while you're in the peace corps you get a lot of time to learn how to cook well- even in the most interesting of set-ups. And he was more than happy to cook for us, since we provided such pleasant company (and the wine). All in all a great, and utterly exhausting, day.

More about hiking next time!

The adventure continues . . .

Monday March 5th

>We spent the day mostly hanging out and buying tickets for our evening boat ride. That and visiting the incredible grocery store, which was just nice to walk around in and admire things (although we had nowhere to cook, it was nice to imagine being able to cook).

>The afternoon brought about quite the translating affair, when we had an argument over how much the bill was going to be. After staying at a pretty crappy hotel, they wanted to charge us extra for each person (which they had told us on the phone they would not be doing) and more than the amount agreed to on the phone. It took a lot of work and a lot of help from the nice guy at the desk, but we finally managed to get them to the price posted and not charge us for extra people stuffed into a room. It made things a great deal cheaper, and taught me that you really have to stand up for what you think you deserve. It felt ludicrous to be ignored as a customer, and that they felt like they could just charge us more because we were Americans. It's funny coming from Senegal where you bargain for just about everything, even over small amounts. I wonder how I'll deal with that back in the states . . .

>After our triumph over the hotel bill we went out to some delicious Chinese food! For some reason or another there are a ton of Chinese in Cabo Verde, and they all own shops, which all sell the exact same things- cheap clothes, random objects, shoes, bags, dishes. It's very odd to walk by five stores that literally all have the same merchandise. I shopped, but couldn't find anything that suited/fit me. Everything here is just far too tiny! They are like Brazilians in their sense of clothing sizes- the smaller the better. Anyways, dinner was awesome, and we had quite the time ordering Chinese food in Portuguese. It was a very fun dinner and another way in which Cabo Verde has a huge mix of cultures.

>We had to head back to the hotel, where we had left our bags for the day. Despite the arguments, they let us keep our bags there, which was amazing of them, considering that they saw us as a huge hassle. We swung our bags on and hopped into cabs, and were on our way to the port, eager to get on our boat. In no time we learned how travel within Cabo Verde really works. In reality, you hang out for a while, look at your mode of transportation, occasionally putting your backpack on in hopes of getting on. Instead you watch as they try to ease livestock into the cargo of the ship, people mill around, and no one seems bothered by the fact that you were supposed to get on the boat at 11pm, but don't until aroun midnight. But that was fine, because it just meant that we were really ready to fall asleep by the time that we were actually on. The inside of the boat had a lot of benches with tables, so we each grabbed a bench, and fell asleep as quickly as possible. Easier said than done because a few of the passengers decided to watch TV during a good portion of the trip. Regardless, I got a little bit of shuteye and was all ready for the adventures awaiting us on Fogo.

Tuesday, March 6th

>It was wonderful waking up to the island of Fogo after a somewhat turbulent ride between the islands. We got in early, around 8am, but there were plenty of cab drivers there waiting for us to take us up to the town! We immediately asked for cafe, and were taken to a great restaurant which has a view right to the ocean, with a huge balcony and great views, where we proceeded to set up shop for a few hours. We didn't really have anywhere to go, so we used the restaurant both for the food (some delicious Cachupa, a breakfast of eggs and beans, it's better than it sounds) as well as the bathroom for a place to change and get ready for our day.

>Around 11 or 12 we left the restaurant in favor of the beach and found exactly what we were in search of- a black sand beach! Since Fogo is a volcanic island, the sand there is all black. It was hot and sparkly and a lot of fun, and practically deserted. It was a slight trek to get down to the beach, so the closest that people got was from the cliff high above. We did have some spectators (being six females on the beach) but were left alone for the duration of our time, which was a great change from being in Senegal, where no matter what beach you are on, people will come by and try to talk to you and sell you things. At our nice beach (I won't call it little, not by any means) we had plenty of calm for reading, writing and playing in the waves.

>Once we realized that we couldn't stay forever, and still wanted to get to the base of the volcano, we packed ourselves up, and headed back towards town in search of a ride up to the inside of the crater. Much to our total surprise, we met a lot of English speaking people, all of whom come from Massachusetts. Apparently there are a lot of Cabo Verdians who come from the US back to Cabo Verde and set up a comfortable life for themselves back on the islands. They have communities in the US, mainly in Mass and Rhode Island. It was a total shock, but very helpful to all of us to get our help in English. Not to say that it isn't a cultural experience to try to communicate in the local language, but sometimes your own language speeds things up a lot more.

>Silly me for thinking that things would be sped up at all by doing it in English. We were still on Cabo Verde where things move at a slow pace, so we chilled at Tiago's Ice Cream shop (which only had one flavor since they boats were taking their sweet time with their shipment from the US) while we got things set up for a car ride. Eventually we had a car, loaded up our bags, and began the long and windy road up to the town of Cha (pronounced Chan) where the base of the volcano is. You have to get there in order to hike because you are supposed to start your hike early in the day, at around 6am, so its better to stay there rather than try to get a ride up to the top that early.

>Once in Cha we met up with Tiago's sister in law Carmen (or Zu, depending on who you talk to). Up in Cha, everyone is related to everyone, and they all have relatives that live in the main town on Fogo, Sao Filipe. This has a lot to do with the fact that the men in Cha take as many wives as they want. Tito, Carmen's father, was on his seventh wife, who was 22, to his seventy odd years. Tito has around 29 children, or thereabouts. Another interesting factor is that there was a French tourist a few years ago (not sure how many) we impregnated quite a few of the women, and as a result a lot of the younger gereration has blond hair, but not straight, caramel and not black skin, and hazel eyes. It's really quite striking.

>We managed to learn this, because shortly after meeting up with Carmen, we came across Sam, a recent college graduate who is in the Peace Corps in Cha. He was very shocked (and pleased) to have six American girls show up on his doorstep, and proceeded to be a very good friend and a helpful informant for the rest of our stay.

>Carmen help to set us up in a nice local Auberge, where we got a great deal that included breakfast, and we would be able to get good meals there at a good price. Just our kind of place! We dropped our bags and headed out with Carmen to her father's house, to meet him and taste some wine. In addition to a volcano there is vineyard space up in Cha where they grow and make their own wine, which is very delicious, very strong (14% I believe) and very good. We also got a taste of the amazing homemade goat cheese, which was to become a good friend and diet staple over the next few days.

>Satisfied after that good tasting, we went back to our Auberge, walking under the most amazing stars I have ever seen. There is no nighttime electricity in Cha, unless the generator is on, so the stars at night are so phenomenal you can't even find the constellations there are so many of them! We couldn't stay out for long though, since we had to have dinner and head to bed early in order to save up energy for the hike ahead of us.

The story of the hike and more, soon to come . . .

Amazing Spring break

Ok, so the plan at hand is to do blogs in parts, so I don't end up posting one really ridiculously long blog about my spring break. I'll list the dates and talk about what I did. Suffice to say, it was incredible. (Side note, I traveled with five friends, Jessie, Amy, Yasmeen, Laura and Gwen, a really great bunch of girls).

Friday March 2nd

>We took a car rapide to the airport and proceeded to sit in the airport for quite some time. Here in Africa things work on a different sort of time schedule, so your plane just sort of goes whenever.

>Soon enough we were on our tiny plane, flying over to Praia, the capital of Cape Verde, located on the island of Santiago. When we landed we were all very excited to breathe some very fresh air and get into a taxi that was actually a nice car, with seatbelts and fully functioning in every regard. We got to our hotel on the Plato, which is the portion of Praia that is located on the top of a hill. Not the nicest hotel ever, but very cheap, which was what we were hoping for. In no time at all we were passed out.

Saturday March 3rd

>We spent the day wandering around Praia, getting to know the wonderful place that we had come to visit. It was quite a treat to be in such a nice and relatively quiet town with so little pollution! It really reminded me of Caribbean islands, and definetly did not feel like Africa to me. In all truth it was nice to have a break of that nature, to get away from the insanity of Dakar and have a real vacation.

>Food was immediately on the agenda and we found an adorable and incredibly pastry shop where we gorged ourselves as much as possible (and visited every day we were in Praia). The wandering led us down to the water, where we sat on the pier and watched as Cape Verdians ran by and jumped into the water as we sat and chatted.

>For dinner that evening we decided to try out a local restaurant that had been recommended for live music. And indeed, it was good live music and some good food too! We knew we wouldn't be going out to eat on a regular basis, so we made sure to treat ourselves, and it was well worth it. Another nice break from the life in Dakar where meals have a tendency to get a little bit repetitive.

>The rest of the evening was spent in our hotel, having a halarious and raucous time hanging out, most likely to the chagrin of the others staying in the hotel- we're college students, what can we say?!!?

Sunday March 4th

>Today was the first day we chose to go on an adventure. And in our books that meant going to the beach! It's spring break after all, and we were planning on some good quality beach time. Our good friend the Lonely Planet Guide to West Africa (which was sometimes reliable, sometimes not at all) recommended the beach of Sao Fransicso to visit. We loaded up on goodies from the grocery store next to our hotel and found a cab willing to squeeze us girls in. The road to the beach was windy and crazy and all over the place, and a lot like a roller coaster ride (this would be the first of many rides like this), but at least we were inside of a good functioning car.

>Soon enough we were at the beach, wandering over to a nice and quiet spot, with the only other people on the beach participating in some sort of a family reunion (more on them later). It wasn't too hot out and the water was a lovely temperature, just as it should have been. The only downside was the crazy wind, which lead to lots of and lots of sand in our food. We ate it anyway- you buy it you eat it!

>After a few hours of hanging out on the beach we began to notice that the other people were leaving. Since it was such a remote beach we were not quite sure how we were going to be getting home (Lonely Planet said something about a bus, but by this time we had figured that this was a lie). I voted that we follow the other people to try and figure out how they were planning on leaving and where exactly they were venturing to.

>In no time at all we had (free) seats in the back of their truck. And note that I said in the back of their truck, not in their truck. It did have a cover over the top of it, but we did have to hold on for dear life. This being Cape Verde they only spoke Portuguese and Creole, with the occasional spattering of Spanish and English. It wasn't a problem though because our travel companions whipped out a little book, we found the page in English, and as we read we realized . . . they were Jehovah's Witnesses! Priceless, to say the least. They were all very friendly and happy to help us, and even treated us to some hymns in Portuguese. We made it home safe and sound, and went immediately to our hotel. It was a Sunday, which meant nothing going on.

>The rest of the evening was spent picknicking on our hotel floor, enjoying some wine, and waiting for the arrival of our 6th companion, Jessie, who flew in Sunday night. At last the group was whole!


More soon, and trust me, it only gets better!!!

Senegalese Music

Before I get into my blog, can I please say- WOAH! It's March already?!?! How did that happen?

Ok, now onto today's topic, the music here. There is music everywhere at all times. It is a combination of traditional music and American rap/pop music. Obviously I don't need to tell anyone about US rap (well, there is one rapper who is really popular right now, Akon, and he's Senegalese, so that's actually pretty cool).
The music here that is really well known is Mbalax, made popular by Youssou N'Dour, who is pretty much the big-shot of Mbalax and helped to make it really popular in the 80's and still is really popular (being old isn't an issue here). The music is really full of drums of different types that are played so fast and create such an intensely crazy rythm, and the dancing that follows along is pretty crazy too. There are tons of music videos showing mbalax and the dancing that goes along with it. In addition the music can be about a wide variety of topics, anything from religious songs, to love songs or songs praising their mother.
It's really fun music to listen to, and has a very Senegalese, colorful feel to it. There is also a lot of great live music available around town, sometimes concerts you pay to get into and sometimes free where you are having dinner. It really adds to the life here- the TV is always on, and usually has music videos going on. There is an interesting range and it shows how strongly senegalese hold onto their traditions, and all of the young kids love mbalax just as much as their parents do. In general Senegalese take a lot of pride in their culture and the ethnicity that they are a part of. There isn't much of a sentiment on behalf of the youth of trying to get rid of their culture- they just really like also mixing in western influences as well (in all arenas from clothing to music).

Ok, that's as much as I can come up with for now! If you guys don't hear from me it's because I'm on the road in Cape Verde. I'll blog from there if I can, but I think you'll just have to expect one really long blog about my adventures there. Hopefully it is a lot of fun, the weather is good, we figure out a way to communicate in a Portuguese country, we find cheap (but safe) hotels to stay in, and there are lots of adventures for us!
Wish me safe travels!