Thanksgiving here was WONDERFUL! All the Vs on our island got together and put on a grand feast. We had all the traditional fixin’s, including cranberries in a can all the way from America! There was apple pie, a banana star cake, mashed and sweet potatoes, homemade stuffing, spiced wine and cider, and I even tried my hand at homemade green bean casserole and scalloped corn. We spent the evening curled up inside playing games and talking. It was definitely a different way to spend Thanksgiving (broken up by a walk around town and a glass of grogue in the middle of the afternoon), but a wonderful one nonetheless. I’m so lucky to be with a great group of people!
Since Thanksgiving, we’ve participated in lots of other fun activities and spent some more time exploring our city and island. On December 1, we put on a huge World AIDS Day event and I gave two impromptu classes on AIDS. It’s amazing how little embarrassment there is talking about sex with teenagers when you know how badly they need to hear what you have to say. I tried to make our conversation reach beyond the AIDS message, too. The rate of AIDS really isn’t very high here, but I’ve had 3 students drop out now due to pregnancy. We’re talking 9th and 10th graders here (ages 13-16). I’ve had numerous conversations with girls about being pressured to have sex, so it’s clear that some discussions on healthy relationships need to be had – and soon. Alexandra and I are hoping to organize a girls’ camp some weekend. Really we just want to have like a lock-in or sleepover type event where we do lots of girly things and then intersperse it with some more serious conversations about future goals, healthy relationships, and family planning. Hopefully we can get a lot of the local, well-respected women involved and provide the girls with some good role models.
Two weekends ago, we planned to take our best English students to a beach nearby, but the wind was so strong that we couldn’t go. Instead we invited them all over to our apartment to make Christmas sugar cookies and decorate our “tree” (which we cut out of paper). The kids had a blast! They ate us out of house and home, but the tree looks wonderful and they were so happy. We hope to do it again, although this time the goal will be to speak more English. That night we went to a festa for the municipality of Vila de Ribeira Brava. It lasted 3 days, like most festas here. We stayed for almost all of it, though I had to come back and teach 5 classes on Monday. Needless to say, we started the week pretty exhausted and I think I’m still catching up.
On Saturday, our school hosted a “gala solidaria” to raise money for the fundação social that helps students who can’t afford to pay school fees, uniforms, transportation, etc. The other professoras asked us to participate, so of course we agreed! I was given the part of pechera, which is a woman who sells fish. The idea was to do sort of a “fashion show” type desfile to demonstrate the different periods in the history of the island. I had so much fun taking part! A bunch of my students were involved and I could tell it meant a lot to them to have their professora nova involved. They also asked me to be part of the “Desfile Moderna,” so I got to practice my model walk a lot last week. Since then, everyone I talk to says “A professora, bom show!” I even had a little girl I don’t know come up and give me a hug on the street. It was a great integration moment and really made me feel like part of the community. After the event, we went to a party on the beach and for a moonlight midnight swim. Ah…island life is rough!
I spent Sunday just wandering around enjoying the city and talking to people I knew. I’m starting to get the hang of socializing here and really enjoy getting out and seeing people.
Now it’s just time to prep for IST and going to Praia. I’m actually really bummed that I won’t be spending Christmas and New Year’s here. I’m going to miss our little island and community. Not to mention, everyone I talk to tells me how bummed they are that we won’t be here! However, I’ve decided that’s a good sign that I’m liking it here and I think I’ll just be that much more excited to come back!
Missing home a lot these days and hoping everyone is well. Enjoy the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season and the chilly winter weather. It’s just not the same without it!
Wishing everyone a very merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year full of peace and love.
