Ok, so I found an internet cafe. And I have 9 pages of entries written on my USB drive, but I am not allowed to use it here. Damn. So what to write?

The town of Sao Domingos is small, dusty, and far from the beach. We're nestled in a little valley inland. My host parents run a bar and restaurant right at the edge of town, so I see a lot of people coming and going and I have a few local friends. Still, my best companions remain my little brothers, who keep me occupied and exhausted most of the time I am home. Which is pretty rarely, as training keeps me busy from 8 am to 6 pm during the week, and on the weekends most of the time. The night life consists of a few bars and one 'disco' where everyone dances, but there are great festas outside sometimes, where everyone dances to whatever music the band is playing that night.

I've learned a bit more about Boa Vista, where I will probably end up in September. I'm pretty excited about it. I will be able to start a brand new project with the local government there, as I will be the first volunteer on that island. Not bad. Anyway, it's time for me to head out of here. I'm in a town on the eastern coast of Santiago, and I have the urge to walk on the black sand beach. There is a big music festa there tomorrow.

In sum: Life is wonderful and I haven't looked back once. Best decision I have ever made.

Just a quick post to say.... this will be my last post for 9 weeks. I am moving to Sao Domingos until Sept 8, and there is no internet there at all. So that's that. I will try to be good about this after I am at my permanent post. I've only got a couple minutes left inthis slow ass internet cafe, so I'm signing out. Cape Verde is amazingly beautiful and all my friends here are awesome. That's pretty much all I can say. Write me emails to say what up and I'll try to get back here to Praia at some point to reply. Love to everyone back in the States. I miss nachos.

L

Ok kiddies, this is it. My first post as a Peace Corps trainee. I'm writing from Arlington, VA in my hotel room, which I will be leaving in about 2 hours to head for the airport. I've spent the last couple days in staging with 31 other trainees, getting all the basic info before heading off.

So far, I like pretty much everyone who I'm going there with. Most are young, 21-25, smart, etc... More or less what I was expecting. So I'm pleased. My roommate in the hotel lives in Hawaii, so it looks like I've got a surfing buddy for the first 3 months at least, maybe longer depending on where we end up stationed.

So I check out of here shortly and head for the airport, only to wait around for hours more before my flight. I've got a night over somewhere in Dakar, after taking a night flight to Paris, so really I won't even arrive in Cape Verde until Friday. But, I certainly don't mind some time in Senegal, though I suspect we won't be given much freedom to roam around. Ah well.

In the mean time, I gotta take a nap, seeing as I was up drinking at the revolving bar on top of the hotel until late and I was up at 6 to get my first round of shots. And this hotel wireless connection is shit and keeps dropping. There is no way I'm paying $9.95 for this crap.

But god damn am I excited.

L