7:30am – I wake up, eat breakfast, catch up on e-mail and
the news, and edit some pictures to prep for printing later today.
9:00am – I head out to do my errands. It’s one of those days where it’s a good
thing that I’m in no rush because everyone I see is someone I know and they all
want to talk. First, it’s the boy who
works at the casa de irmas next
door. We talk about vacation and then he
comments on how Alexandra and I speak good Creole. Somehow he also knows I speak Spanish and is
impressed that I know 3 languages! I tell him only mais ou menos, that I’ve still got a long way to go. I laugh internally at his admiration,
thinking to myself that most Cape
Verdeans are bilingual and could be quadralingual by the end of high school if
they took their English and French classes seriously.
the main street in town, where the police station and post office are located
Next, it’s my student sitting outside a loja flirting with
some girls. I go talk to him in English
so he can show off his impressive skillz.
Then Vanusa, my friend/neighbor who works at the post office, calls out
to me from across the street, so I retrace my steps and talk to her outside her
office for a bit. We talk (again) about
how I’ve hardly seen her since returning from vacation and about her plans for
her birthday party next weekend. We
decide we’ll have to find time to hang out this weekend. As I continue on my way (I still haven’t made
it to my first stop), Tânia and her kids call me from up the street, so I
backtrack once again to go chat with them.
They ask me how Alexandra is doing (she’s been sick) and Raquel (the 1
½-year-old) takes my hand and we continue on our way. I soon say my goodbyes
and go into Boutique Brasil to get some photos printed. The owner tells me I
have no problems with Creole anymore and talks about how Creole is easy because
it has no grammar. Then we talk about
Carnaval and some teacher-related festivities because they appear in my photos.
the ladies who sell fruits and veggies in our mercado
After printing my photos, I head to a loja where Alexandra
has been working with the owner to learn English. I try a couple phrases with her and she
expresses to me how happy she is to be learning and how she hopes she won’t
lose business from English-speaking customers anymore. I promise to come by regularly to practice
with her and continue on my way to the market.
I go to take out money and get asked for 20 escudos from the guy that
sits outside the ATM every day.
Fortunately, I can honestly say that I have no coins. Then I run into some British tourists that
are wandering around the city for the morning. They came on a big cruise ship
and say they’ll have an afternoon outing to somewhere in the interior of the
island. I continue on to the market
where it seems to be the busiest time of day.
The market ladies try to convince me to buy some doce de tomate and even let me open one of the jars and stick my
finger into it to try it. I tell them I’d
like to, but the jars are too big for my colleague and I to finish before they
go bad. When they sell some smaller
jars, I’ll buy some. I walk away with a
bag full of lettuce (yay!) and some fresh beets. On the way out, a fisherman friend stops to
ask me about my vacation (he saw us on the boat) and I ask him about his work
today. He tells me they caught lots of cachorinhos and we debate the taste and
health benefits of that and cavala, my
personal favorite.
a view of the port and fish market from the boat we took to São Vicente
I run to a couple more lojas
to pick up bread and eggs and fresh goat cheese driven in from Cachaço. I talk to a couple of teachers about their
plans for this weekend and it seems that many won’t be going to the
activity/party. At first I’m a little
bummed, but I decide to think of it as a good opportunity to meet some teachers
I don’t know as well and enjoy some good Cape Verdean food and music. Last stop is the post office (again) where I
mail a few cards home and talk to one of the irmas from the religious center next door.
11am – I arrive home and unpack my groceries. Then, it’s time for an intense bathroom and
room cleaning! I’ve discovered that
cleaning both once every 2 weeks or so saves me a lot of time in the long run. Plus with all the wind we get in our part of
the city, the dust piles up quickly.
Once again I’m amazed at how just a little soap and elbow grease can
take the dirt and grime out of everything!
12:30pm – I decide to go for a run despite the fact that
it’s about 90 degrees out. I know I’m
not going to be in the mood when I get done with class at 6pm and if I go now,
I can just chill out all evening. I do
my now-normal run on the hot dusty road that runs along the coast and again
really regret not wearing sunscreen. My
mouth is dry by the time I’m out of Tarrafal, but I figure I’ll just chug a
liter of water when I get home. On the
way back, it’s unbearably hot, so I decide to stop and take a dip in the ocean
before heading home. Then I do some
stretching on the beach while waiting for my clothes to dry, which doesn’t take
long. On the way home, I run into 3 of
my 9th grade students who are enjoying a panca (a free period/when the professor doesn’t show up). They walk me home and come up to chat with me
for awhile.
Trail-mates! My running trail also happens to be where a lot of people let their livestock run around.
2pm – I finally think I have some time to catch my breath,
so I make some lunch and sit down at my computer thinking about watching some
more WEEDS. But…this is Cape Verde and nothing ever goes quite like you plan,
which can be both great and frustrating.
The doorbell rings and it is Tânia and her family. Her husband needs help with his English
homework, so I sit down and try to explain some really complicated grammar
structures to someone who’s had literally 3 days of English class! The exercises they’ve been given are not particularly
well thought-through given how much time they have and what experience they’re
coming in with. We get through a couple
of exercises, all while Tânia and her kids look at pictures and ask us
questions, which doesn’t make the learning go any faster.
3pm – I tell my guests that I really need to go toma banho now because I have class in
an hour and I’m covered in sand and salt (not to mention incredibly sunburned). They leave and I take a quick shower and make
sure all my materials are ready for class.
4pm – I go over to school to teach my classes. We’re supposed to be making the recycled
wallets, but true to form none of my students bring juice or milk boxes to make
them out of, so we can’t. Fortunately, I
suspected this might happen, so I’d prepared material to do if necessary. It’s a bummer because I worked really hard
prepping for the activity and my friend Sedny even came by to help us. But…such is life when working with high
schoolers that are not particularly on the responsible side…
6pm – Finally I come home and decide that now it’s actually
my time to relax.
7pm – Alexandra gets home and we chat for awhile and then
make dinner. One of her students’ family
gets big barrels from America every once in awhile and they sent her home with
some good ol’ boxed mac n’ cheese, so we decide to treat ourselves to a night
of vegging out and enjoying some boxed deliciousness. We also roast some beets and make a yummy
beet and goat cheese salad as a side.
9pm – Alexandra and I decide to relax and watch Mad Men
before bed. While watching, we make some
bracelets out of embroidery thread to give to Julio and Rodrigo, since they
made us some really awesome bracelets out of recycled beer caps.
10pm – I shut my door, go on a mosquito-killing spree and
decide to watch WEEDS until falling asleep.
Another average (but wonderful) day come and gone.
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