Well, I had a great weekend, how about you? Really though, after a long string of satisfyingly relaxing but dull weekends, this one was pretty non-stop and fun. To start with, on Friday night, we were invited to dinner at a friend's house, though we were very late, because I had to teach until 8:30. So after arriving late, we ate a bit, had a drink, and went to the praça in town for live music. For the first time since arriving in Sal Rei, there was a crowd in the center of town, drinking and listening to music. I'm not sure if it's just because it is starting to be tourist season and they want to put on a good show for the cash cows, I mean, visitors, but it was a good time. We got pretty tired pretty early, because it was such a long and exhausting week, so we were back home by midnight, and I was asleep by 12:05.
We had invited a lot of people over for dinner on Saturday, promising Mexican food, so we spent a lot of Saturday preparing for that. I spent all morning walking around town, buying a few things for dinner, but mostly trying to organize picking up some of our stuff from the port. Peace Corps sent us our beds, tables, and chairs from Praia by boat, so we had to get them. Unfortunately, this involves finding someone with a truck we can use while both the port and the future apartment are both open at the same time. Harder than it sounds. Turns out that neither were open Saturday morning. So hopefully that will happen early this afternoon. Anyway. I relaxed a bit in the early afternoon, and then we tackled making dinner. We made enchiladas, refried beans, and spanish rice. To those of you in the US, this is not terribly exciting. To anyone who has lived overseas, this is earth-shattering. Nadia's mom sent her some spices you can't get here, like chili powder, so that is what made a large part of it possible. In any event, 6 or 7 friends came over and ate with us, and the dinner was a huge success. The enchiladas were awesome, and the rice was also very good. The beans were good, but I think I need to work on that one a bit. Not that it really mattered to our guests, considering that I don't think any of them had really had any of these things before. So everyone stuck around until eleven or so, and took off. One guy promised to return in an hour to pick us up to go out to Mazurka, the one and only real discoteca around here, but three things prevented that: we passed out in the living room of sheer exhaustion; the power went out at midnight, as always, thus ensuring that we would not wake up again; and Paolo never showed anyway. He just told me this morning that he fell asleep at home. And a bird just smacked headfirst into the window of the CEJ. Lovely.
Which brings us to Sunday. We had planned on not doing a damn thing all day. At least, that's what I planned. Reading, running, swimming, napping were the only agenda items. But Helena, a Portuguese teacher at the high school, called at 10 asking if we wanted to go on a little trip with her and her family. So obviously we said yes. Helena and her boyfriend Tony came with the two kids and we drove to the opposite shore, in the northeast corner of the island. After picking up two more kids in João Galego, we went to a place called Baia das Gatas, where the water is calm, shallow and warm. So I spent about two hours floating in two foot deep bathtub-warm water, sipping cold beer and eating watermelon. I can think of at least 7 million worse ways to spend a Sunday. We went to a little fisherman's shack nearby, where we bought some fresh fish and eel. We then returned to João Galego, where Tony is from and where most of his family lives. The whole family was absolutely amazingly nice, and it also turns out that at least two other people I know in Sal Rei are immediately related to them. That's just what it's like here. One big family. My counterpart also has family there, so she was there with a coworker, and we chatted with them briefly. We hung out with Tony's family until about 8 pm, drinking beer, chatting, eating, and just hanging out. I got to witness my first goat killing, followed by my first goat skinning, gutting, and dismembering. My only observation is really just that there was a lot less blood than I thought there would be. I guess the goat was pretty small, but still. We deep fried the moray after it got dark, which was delicious, as always, though the little spine bones are a pain in the ass. Tony's uncle and their neighbor, who also works at the high school here, were particularly drunk and were desperate to practice their English. I obligingly had many long, drunkenly repetitive conversations with them about various and sundry topics, but mostly we just reiterated many times over how Boa Vista is the best island in the country, and how they also think it is the best place in the world to live. Anyway, other than the conversations in English, one of the best parts of the day was realizing that I had almost zero trouble with Creole all weekend. I managed to carry on conversations with a minimum of pausing and repeating, and overall had a damn fine time of it. Go me.
So that's all for now. Back to putting together an English course.
Monday, October 30, 2006
Friday, October 27, 2006
I'm going to try a somewhat more thoughtful post today. People always say that Peace Corps service is a lot of ups and downs, and that's very true. But not quite in the way I was expecting. I guess I was expecting some loneliness, challenges with language, difficulties with food, water, electricity, etc. But none of those things have bothered me: I haven't felt alone since the first week or two, my language needs work but is progressing nicely, and food, water, and electricity are blessedly stable and adequate here (mostly). No, the thing that has been bothering me the most has been me.
When you are put somewhere alone to do a self-motivated, self-designed job, you quickly learn the most difficult part, which is the "self." It's not that I'm lazy. I hope. It's more that, because I am young and only a year out of college, I am pretty used to having someone prescribe my work for me. When I was manager of the helpdesk at Wes along with Justin, I had the most say in my job that I've ever had, and I liked it a lot. I'd like to think I did a good job. But even then, I had a director who worked really hard to keep us afloat and we received a lot of direction from her. The most guidance we receive from Peace Corps is some information on how to get ideas for what to do, or how to plan a conceived project (ok training in that area was less than adequate, but that is another story). Not to say that PC doesn't support us; they do, fully. But they aren't there to give us a job description. Also, my counterpart here, though she has ideas, isn't pushing any one job on me, other than the English classes. My computer classes are going well, but they are mainly designed by the training coordinator here.
Now, as far as what to do, I have no shortage of ideas. I've got about a dozen ideas for projects, both major and minor to do in the next couple years. I've been mostly thinking about the major ones, but I haven't yet started them because I keep thinking it's too early for them, and I don't want to get involved in something huge now while I'm still such a newbie at planning and teaching classes. But there are also minor projects I could be tackling.
So what is bothering me about me? That fact that I have yet to tackle one of these projects. Now, the Peace Corps, along with most sensible people, would say "Oh come on, you've been there a few weeks, take your time." And in fact, PC recommends that community development people take about 3 months to just kind of watch the community, build contacts, find out what people need, etc. So I'm only about halfway through that period. And every PC volunteer I've spoken to has said not to set high expectations and not to push yourself too hard, because the end result is disappointment: one person can only do so much in such a short period of time. But nonetheless, I can't shake the feeling that I expect a lot more from myself. I don't expect to change this place in 2 months, let alone two years. But I do expect myself to do lots of small things, and so far I haven't even dented my list.
So what am I going to do? Organize a road race for World AIDS Day. It's short notice (5 weeks away), but I think I might be able to pull it off. Most of the burden of organizing falls on me and Nadia, but if I can do a lot next week, I bet we could have a successful event. The idea is that, in conjunction with this global event, we have something to promote health and bodily care in general, with additional focus on AIDS.
Anyway. It's not that I'm disappointed with what I am doing. I just kind of feel like after spending so much time in the youth center here, I should have more to show for it. But starting on Monday, I have resolved to spend less time on the internet here (it's incredible how addictive it is), and more time getting around and doing things.
When you are put somewhere alone to do a self-motivated, self-designed job, you quickly learn the most difficult part, which is the "self." It's not that I'm lazy. I hope. It's more that, because I am young and only a year out of college, I am pretty used to having someone prescribe my work for me. When I was manager of the helpdesk at Wes along with Justin, I had the most say in my job that I've ever had, and I liked it a lot. I'd like to think I did a good job. But even then, I had a director who worked really hard to keep us afloat and we received a lot of direction from her. The most guidance we receive from Peace Corps is some information on how to get ideas for what to do, or how to plan a conceived project (ok training in that area was less than adequate, but that is another story). Not to say that PC doesn't support us; they do, fully. But they aren't there to give us a job description. Also, my counterpart here, though she has ideas, isn't pushing any one job on me, other than the English classes. My computer classes are going well, but they are mainly designed by the training coordinator here.
Now, as far as what to do, I have no shortage of ideas. I've got about a dozen ideas for projects, both major and minor to do in the next couple years. I've been mostly thinking about the major ones, but I haven't yet started them because I keep thinking it's too early for them, and I don't want to get involved in something huge now while I'm still such a newbie at planning and teaching classes. But there are also minor projects I could be tackling.
So what is bothering me about me? That fact that I have yet to tackle one of these projects. Now, the Peace Corps, along with most sensible people, would say "Oh come on, you've been there a few weeks, take your time." And in fact, PC recommends that community development people take about 3 months to just kind of watch the community, build contacts, find out what people need, etc. So I'm only about halfway through that period. And every PC volunteer I've spoken to has said not to set high expectations and not to push yourself too hard, because the end result is disappointment: one person can only do so much in such a short period of time. But nonetheless, I can't shake the feeling that I expect a lot more from myself. I don't expect to change this place in 2 months, let alone two years. But I do expect myself to do lots of small things, and so far I haven't even dented my list.
So what am I going to do? Organize a road race for World AIDS Day. It's short notice (5 weeks away), but I think I might be able to pull it off. Most of the burden of organizing falls on me and Nadia, but if I can do a lot next week, I bet we could have a successful event. The idea is that, in conjunction with this global event, we have something to promote health and bodily care in general, with additional focus on AIDS.
Anyway. It's not that I'm disappointed with what I am doing. I just kind of feel like after spending so much time in the youth center here, I should have more to show for it. But starting on Monday, I have resolved to spend less time on the internet here (it's incredible how addictive it is), and more time getting around and doing things.
Monday, October 23, 2006
Ok, back to writing about Cape Verde, I promise. Oh wait, first though: damn it all, the Mets lost. I didn't get to see the game, which makes it worse, but apparently a crappy reliever by the name of Wainwright struck out Beltran with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth. Maybe next year. In the mean time, we can only hope that Detroit will take out the Cards. Bleah.
Last week was interesting, especially the second half of the week and the weekend. I can't remember if I mentioned it or not, but the whole Peace Corps staff came here last Thursday for a staff retreat. I didn't get to spend too much time with the staff unfortunately, other than the director, assistant directors, and medical officer. I spent a lot of time with my immediate technical boss, who runs the community develpment part. He obviously had to meet with me, check up on my progress, remind me of some things I had neglected, talk to my counterpart here, etc etc. The country director also took us out to dinner one night. He is really cool, and I'll be sad to see him go in January, when his service is up and he will return to the US. We ended up going to a restaurant that we had never tried before, which turned out to be a mistake, as it is also apparently the most expensive restaurant on the island, if not in Cape Verde. Some Portuguese architect/macrobiotic chef runs it. Cool guy, good food, too much money. So where was I? Ah yes, we also had dinner with the medical officer last night, who is also really nice, and like everyone in Peace Corps, has interesting stories about all the places she's lived. Saturday, we had dinner with the whole PC Cape Verde staff, 17 people in all. I met the regional training director (for West Africa, I assume), and of course she graduated from Wesleyan, class of '86. We're everywhere. Overall, it was really good to see familiar faces, not to mention speak in English to a whole table full of people. It's the most I've spoken my own language since leaving my fellow volunteers after training. Some people had ideas about things I can do here, other people just had some feedback on what I've already done. I feel a bit reenergized about my work here, after hearing some positive things, and also realizing that I've done a bit more than I thought I had.
Friday night was one of the most fun nights I've had on Boa Vista. Unfortunately, Nadia missed out on it because she was sick. The CEJ had a little event to celebrate Cape Verdean culture: music, art, crafts, people, etc. We had some random carvings, instruments, hats, clothes and whatnot hanging around the entryway, but the main even was a sort of homage to a local woman for her contributions to culture through music. The woman, Valda Vieira, is an older lady from Vila Sal Rei, with kids and grandkids. She has an amazing voice and has sang a lot over the last few decades. A friend had taken videos of interviews with Valda, her family, and neighborhood friends, and my part in this whole thing was to piece it all together into one video. So I made a 22 minute video of everything, and Vilma made a 42 slide powerpoint of photos of Valda's life. So during the event, I hunched over in the front and manned the projector and laptop, changing between photos and videos as the whole thing progressed. The meat of the whole thing was the music. A morna (more on that in a sec) band came and played instruments, while various people sang. It's eerie that all 15 or so people who sang had amazing voices. In a room of 100 people in the US, I don't think you'd find 15 people who could sing like this. Valda sang a few, as well as her family, and all of her friends. The whole event went on past midnight, and I was exhausted by the time I made it home.
Some notes on music here. There are three distinct styles of Cape Verdean music. The type that has its roots on Boa Vista is called morna. Morna is very slow, acoustic music, usually a couple guitars, drums, and mayba a bass, accompanied by very emotional, heartfelt singing. It's mostly love songs, or songs about life on Boa Vista. It's not exactly dancing music, but it's really nice to listen to. On the opposite end of the spectrum, there is funana, which I think I've mentioned before. Funana usually has an electric guitar, bass, accordion, a kind of percussion thing I can't really explain, synthesizer, and a drum machine. It consists of a loud repetitive beat, accompanied by frenzied accordion, guitar, and organ. It is unbelievable annoying to listen to, especially in a packed and crowded hiace with a massive woofer under your seat. But it is really fun to dance to, plus the beat is simple, so it's easy for pure honkeys like myself to grasp the rhythm and not look retarded. The third type of music is zuke (spelling?), which is basically Cape Verdean pop music. It's much like standard pop music around the world. It's a little R&B sounding sometimes, maybe some reggae and hip hop influences, depending on the song, along with some generic pop influences. I dunno, I can't really make many comparisons, since my background in pop music is weak at best. It's entertaining enough in bars and clubs, but (like most pop music) a lot of it sounds exactly the same. The most famous CV musicians are probably Cesaria Evora and Tito Paris, but there are some younger ones getting more famous in the world at large, like Gil Semedo and Mayra Andrade, whom I actually kind of like. And she's really hot. Horrendously, American rap culture is invading here in a huge way, and has yet to do a single positive thing for this society. People here are dangerously obsessed with 50 Cent, and for some reason they love Akon, who fails to be relevant almost anywhere else in the world. So kids here dress like they think big rap stars in the US would. You see a lot of NBA jerseys around, even though games aren't broadcast here and most people don't know the teams, baggy jeans with huge logos, bandanas, chains... I dunno, I find it to be pretty irritating that their own culture is getting drowned out by rap drivel, musically and socially. Not that I have anything against some quality hiphop - I love some good Mos Def as much as the next guy. I'm talking about the really lame, corporate gangsta rap that is as much marketing machine for a fake lifestyle as it is anything close to music. So it's sad.
Ok, time to try to figure out how to teach beginning English.
Last week was interesting, especially the second half of the week and the weekend. I can't remember if I mentioned it or not, but the whole Peace Corps staff came here last Thursday for a staff retreat. I didn't get to spend too much time with the staff unfortunately, other than the director, assistant directors, and medical officer. I spent a lot of time with my immediate technical boss, who runs the community develpment part. He obviously had to meet with me, check up on my progress, remind me of some things I had neglected, talk to my counterpart here, etc etc. The country director also took us out to dinner one night. He is really cool, and I'll be sad to see him go in January, when his service is up and he will return to the US. We ended up going to a restaurant that we had never tried before, which turned out to be a mistake, as it is also apparently the most expensive restaurant on the island, if not in Cape Verde. Some Portuguese architect/macrobiotic chef runs it. Cool guy, good food, too much money. So where was I? Ah yes, we also had dinner with the medical officer last night, who is also really nice, and like everyone in Peace Corps, has interesting stories about all the places she's lived. Saturday, we had dinner with the whole PC Cape Verde staff, 17 people in all. I met the regional training director (for West Africa, I assume), and of course she graduated from Wesleyan, class of '86. We're everywhere. Overall, it was really good to see familiar faces, not to mention speak in English to a whole table full of people. It's the most I've spoken my own language since leaving my fellow volunteers after training. Some people had ideas about things I can do here, other people just had some feedback on what I've already done. I feel a bit reenergized about my work here, after hearing some positive things, and also realizing that I've done a bit more than I thought I had.
Friday night was one of the most fun nights I've had on Boa Vista. Unfortunately, Nadia missed out on it because she was sick. The CEJ had a little event to celebrate Cape Verdean culture: music, art, crafts, people, etc. We had some random carvings, instruments, hats, clothes and whatnot hanging around the entryway, but the main even was a sort of homage to a local woman for her contributions to culture through music. The woman, Valda Vieira, is an older lady from Vila Sal Rei, with kids and grandkids. She has an amazing voice and has sang a lot over the last few decades. A friend had taken videos of interviews with Valda, her family, and neighborhood friends, and my part in this whole thing was to piece it all together into one video. So I made a 22 minute video of everything, and Vilma made a 42 slide powerpoint of photos of Valda's life. So during the event, I hunched over in the front and manned the projector and laptop, changing between photos and videos as the whole thing progressed. The meat of the whole thing was the music. A morna (more on that in a sec) band came and played instruments, while various people sang. It's eerie that all 15 or so people who sang had amazing voices. In a room of 100 people in the US, I don't think you'd find 15 people who could sing like this. Valda sang a few, as well as her family, and all of her friends. The whole event went on past midnight, and I was exhausted by the time I made it home.
Some notes on music here. There are three distinct styles of Cape Verdean music. The type that has its roots on Boa Vista is called morna. Morna is very slow, acoustic music, usually a couple guitars, drums, and mayba a bass, accompanied by very emotional, heartfelt singing. It's mostly love songs, or songs about life on Boa Vista. It's not exactly dancing music, but it's really nice to listen to. On the opposite end of the spectrum, there is funana, which I think I've mentioned before. Funana usually has an electric guitar, bass, accordion, a kind of percussion thing I can't really explain, synthesizer, and a drum machine. It consists of a loud repetitive beat, accompanied by frenzied accordion, guitar, and organ. It is unbelievable annoying to listen to, especially in a packed and crowded hiace with a massive woofer under your seat. But it is really fun to dance to, plus the beat is simple, so it's easy for pure honkeys like myself to grasp the rhythm and not look retarded. The third type of music is zuke (spelling?), which is basically Cape Verdean pop music. It's much like standard pop music around the world. It's a little R&B sounding sometimes, maybe some reggae and hip hop influences, depending on the song, along with some generic pop influences. I dunno, I can't really make many comparisons, since my background in pop music is weak at best. It's entertaining enough in bars and clubs, but (like most pop music) a lot of it sounds exactly the same. The most famous CV musicians are probably Cesaria Evora and Tito Paris, but there are some younger ones getting more famous in the world at large, like Gil Semedo and Mayra Andrade, whom I actually kind of like. And she's really hot. Horrendously, American rap culture is invading here in a huge way, and has yet to do a single positive thing for this society. People here are dangerously obsessed with 50 Cent, and for some reason they love Akon, who fails to be relevant almost anywhere else in the world. So kids here dress like they think big rap stars in the US would. You see a lot of NBA jerseys around, even though games aren't broadcast here and most people don't know the teams, baggy jeans with huge logos, bandanas, chains... I dunno, I find it to be pretty irritating that their own culture is getting drowned out by rap drivel, musically and socially. Not that I have anything against some quality hiphop - I love some good Mos Def as much as the next guy. I'm talking about the really lame, corporate gangsta rap that is as much marketing machine for a fake lifestyle as it is anything close to music. So it's sad.
Ok, time to try to figure out how to teach beginning English.
Thursday, October 19, 2006
Wrote this last night...
Ok, in today’s blog entry, I’m not going to comment much on Cape Verde. Instead, I am going to vent on America. American politics in particular. But first I’d like to mention that I just reshaved my head and it is fuzzy and pleasant. Also, there is a dog in our neighborhood who has decided to start barking all night, inspiring the whole local gang to join in. Would I be a bad person to big rocks at somebody else’s pet? Anyway. Since coming here to Boa Vista, I’ve taken up the habit of spending some time every day reading the newspaper. No no, I’m not having the New York Times delivered here, though if any wealthy readers of my blog would like to arrange to have it sent to me, I will love you/marry you/give sexual favors. But I read the Times and the Washington Post online for a while. Partly it is because I am a hopeless politics nerd (among my other nerdisms), but also because if I didn’t do so, I would probably not even notice World War 3 happening. We’re that isolated. But enough on that.
So this may sound cheesy, but one of the things that is so important to America and the developed world at large is democracy. We don’t really think about it much, and a depressing number of people don’t even vote (note: I have not missed a single election since turning 18. Not even state and local ones. Yeah, I care that much. Ok, fine so I may have missed a school board election or two. Shut up.) But the point is that we have the luxury to pick and choose candidates based on our infinitely picky standards and personal opinions. We have the choice to choose between multiple people representing different ideologies. Want tax cuts? You’ve got your man. Against the war in Iraq? So is this guy. What I never thought about until recently is that a lot of places don’t have these choices. This may seem obvious, and perhaps people more aware than I made this realization before the age of 23. And I don’t mean just knowing it, because it is an obvious fact, but I mean really thinking closely about it. But a lot of other countries (my current residence being a fortunate exception) either do not have the choice, because they do not have a democracy, or they have the choice between someone corrupt and someone who is not, or at least is acceptably so, which isn’t really a choice at all. You don’t get to pick ideologies. You just get to pick someone who won’t starve you, kill you, or squander your money.
So here is where current American politics comes in. For the first time in my admittedly short life, many districts are facing a different choice than usual. I’m going to go ahead and target Republicans here, because they have made it so damned easy lately. The corruption rampant in the GOP has surfaced in so many places recently as to be unbelievable. It is something that I have always been aware of, and that most well-read people have probably also been aware of. But it until recently has not been something criminal, provable, and public. I won’t pick on Foley here; he’s fucked. Everyone left and right of the aisle can write him off as a creepy pedophile. But the House leadership that cared more about damage control than his behavior is blameworthy. Bob Ney admitted to selling influence to lobbyists as part of the Abramoff scandal; who knows how many more will be implicated, or worse, escape unharmed or unnoticed. Then this new lobbying scandal investigation involving this other guy (can’t remember his name right now – Wolder?), who is accused of heavily helping out a sketchy Russian oil and gas company who was on his daughter’s firm’s payroll. I can’t say whether he is guilty of anything illegal or not, but it still makes him an asshole in my book.
So the point is this: next month’s elections are no longer about whose politics you side with. For the first time since I have been politically aware, the vote is about driving out the corrupt, the disgusting, the bought-and-paid-for. It is something wholly incredible and inimical to the American spirit, or at least what I desperately hope/wish the American spirit is. It is something reminiscent of the third world. Of course they’re not killing people or holding indomitable military power. But the corrupt control more than most of us can imagine, and it’s killing the country. There is no choice right now in many parts of the country. It’s not about who supports gay marriage or medical marijuana. It’s only about a citizen’s attempt to drive out a culture of corruption and influence peddling that pervades the current government. We’re finally at the point where our democratic choice is only vaguely a choice.
I know, the Democrats aren’t wholly innocent. I understand that the same mentality pervades part of my party, too. And I know that a right winger would invoke Harry Reid’s name here, but if you go ahead and read the details of his story, you will notice that his infraction was quite minor, and actually rather silly. All he did is neglect to declare a change in property ownership from personal to a corporate half owned by a friend. He has apologized and agreed to enter his oversight into his financial declarations. Nonetheless, I am sure that there are some jerks out in the Democratic party as well. But in no way, shape, or form does it even begin to approach the awesome level of corruption in the Republican party. I could go on for pages about it here, but this blog is supposed to be about my experience in Africa, not my American political opinions. Nonetheless, I had to get it out there. But whatever I think, get out there and VOTE on the 7th. Please. I don’t give a damn who you vote for (well, I have a preference). Just do your part.
I should also note that times like this are probably the major reason why I have abandoned previous thoughts of a US political career. Those of you who knew me in high school might remember me telling you that I had every intention of running for Congress one day. Sorry, I’m reneging on that. I just can’t get myself involved in this system. So instead I’ll be wandering the globe, working for international organizations, and having a much better time.
Ok I’m done now.
Ok, in today’s blog entry, I’m not going to comment much on Cape Verde. Instead, I am going to vent on America. American politics in particular. But first I’d like to mention that I just reshaved my head and it is fuzzy and pleasant. Also, there is a dog in our neighborhood who has decided to start barking all night, inspiring the whole local gang to join in. Would I be a bad person to big rocks at somebody else’s pet? Anyway. Since coming here to Boa Vista, I’ve taken up the habit of spending some time every day reading the newspaper. No no, I’m not having the New York Times delivered here, though if any wealthy readers of my blog would like to arrange to have it sent to me, I will love you/marry you/give sexual favors. But I read the Times and the Washington Post online for a while. Partly it is because I am a hopeless politics nerd (among my other nerdisms), but also because if I didn’t do so, I would probably not even notice World War 3 happening. We’re that isolated. But enough on that.
So this may sound cheesy, but one of the things that is so important to America and the developed world at large is democracy. We don’t really think about it much, and a depressing number of people don’t even vote (note: I have not missed a single election since turning 18. Not even state and local ones. Yeah, I care that much. Ok, fine so I may have missed a school board election or two. Shut up.) But the point is that we have the luxury to pick and choose candidates based on our infinitely picky standards and personal opinions. We have the choice to choose between multiple people representing different ideologies. Want tax cuts? You’ve got your man. Against the war in Iraq? So is this guy. What I never thought about until recently is that a lot of places don’t have these choices. This may seem obvious, and perhaps people more aware than I made this realization before the age of 23. And I don’t mean just knowing it, because it is an obvious fact, but I mean really thinking closely about it. But a lot of other countries (my current residence being a fortunate exception) either do not have the choice, because they do not have a democracy, or they have the choice between someone corrupt and someone who is not, or at least is acceptably so, which isn’t really a choice at all. You don’t get to pick ideologies. You just get to pick someone who won’t starve you, kill you, or squander your money.
So here is where current American politics comes in. For the first time in my admittedly short life, many districts are facing a different choice than usual. I’m going to go ahead and target Republicans here, because they have made it so damned easy lately. The corruption rampant in the GOP has surfaced in so many places recently as to be unbelievable. It is something that I have always been aware of, and that most well-read people have probably also been aware of. But it until recently has not been something criminal, provable, and public. I won’t pick on Foley here; he’s fucked. Everyone left and right of the aisle can write him off as a creepy pedophile. But the House leadership that cared more about damage control than his behavior is blameworthy. Bob Ney admitted to selling influence to lobbyists as part of the Abramoff scandal; who knows how many more will be implicated, or worse, escape unharmed or unnoticed. Then this new lobbying scandal investigation involving this other guy (can’t remember his name right now – Wolder?), who is accused of heavily helping out a sketchy Russian oil and gas company who was on his daughter’s firm’s payroll. I can’t say whether he is guilty of anything illegal or not, but it still makes him an asshole in my book.
So the point is this: next month’s elections are no longer about whose politics you side with. For the first time since I have been politically aware, the vote is about driving out the corrupt, the disgusting, the bought-and-paid-for. It is something wholly incredible and inimical to the American spirit, or at least what I desperately hope/wish the American spirit is. It is something reminiscent of the third world. Of course they’re not killing people or holding indomitable military power. But the corrupt control more than most of us can imagine, and it’s killing the country. There is no choice right now in many parts of the country. It’s not about who supports gay marriage or medical marijuana. It’s only about a citizen’s attempt to drive out a culture of corruption and influence peddling that pervades the current government. We’re finally at the point where our democratic choice is only vaguely a choice.
I know, the Democrats aren’t wholly innocent. I understand that the same mentality pervades part of my party, too. And I know that a right winger would invoke Harry Reid’s name here, but if you go ahead and read the details of his story, you will notice that his infraction was quite minor, and actually rather silly. All he did is neglect to declare a change in property ownership from personal to a corporate half owned by a friend. He has apologized and agreed to enter his oversight into his financial declarations. Nonetheless, I am sure that there are some jerks out in the Democratic party as well. But in no way, shape, or form does it even begin to approach the awesome level of corruption in the Republican party. I could go on for pages about it here, but this blog is supposed to be about my experience in Africa, not my American political opinions. Nonetheless, I had to get it out there. But whatever I think, get out there and VOTE on the 7th. Please. I don’t give a damn who you vote for (well, I have a preference). Just do your part.
I should also note that times like this are probably the major reason why I have abandoned previous thoughts of a US political career. Those of you who knew me in high school might remember me telling you that I had every intention of running for Congress one day. Sorry, I’m reneging on that. I just can’t get myself involved in this system. So instead I’ll be wandering the globe, working for international organizations, and having a much better time.
Ok I’m done now.
Monday, October 16, 2006
Well, I'm sitting in my classroom, watching all my students take a test. It's weird. I've never been on this end of the spectrum before. Oh wait, except TAing Latin 102, but that hardly counts. In any event, they are taking a 2 part exam on what I've taught them lately. I think they should be able to do it. At least 75% will be able to with out a problem.
Also, I am immensely pleased that the Mets have tied it up with the Cards. Obviously, I wasn't able to watch any games, and I have in fact nearly missed out on an entire season, but I check online in the morning for 15 minutes of sports reading to catch up. Mondays are the most exciting, because I get to read up on weekend games. I was vaguely nervous going to espn.com today, seeing as how I was about to find out about 2 key games. So it looks like I missed a 13 or 14 inning hitting slump and then a hell of a come back. Go figure my team waits until I move to a country without cable to get this far. Now if they can whip the Cards twice more, we'll have... a Mets/Tigers WS?? Wow. If Delgado ends up pitching again by the Series (if we make it...), I think we
Anyway. I had a freaking great weekend. Guess what I did? ...Nothing. I relaxed, took walks around town, ran, swam, read, and just chilled the fuck out. Now, this isn't any different than any other weekend in Cape Verde, really, except that this time I did it with a different attitude. Before, I always kind of felt like if I was relaxing, I wasn't being a good volunteer. Like I should be improving my Creole, or meeting people, or trying to do something else volunteery. But I've pulled away from that. My Uncle John, who did PC in Nepal in the 60s or 70s, had one piece of advice for me, and that was to just take it slow and not have huge expectations. He said that as soon as he stopped trying so damned hard, great things started happening, and he ended up being a phenomenally successful volunteer (he worked with the Red Cross to set up the Himalayan Mountain rescue system that is still in place today). So after laying the pressure of myself, I am enjoying myself more, and actually meeting new people much more easily.
I also have continued my running a bit. After running, I'm usually so hot and sweaty that even 5 minutes of freezing shower can't cool me down and I start sweating again as soon as I get out. Any runners will know what I mean, and I hate that shit. So yesterday, I didn't even go straight home. I ran to the other side of the road, across the beach, stripped off my shoes, socks, and beater and dove right into the water. And let me tell you, it was probably one of the best ideas I've had in the last 10 to 15 years.
I wandered down a long beach to where the watersports guys have their little shacks set up and asked around about equipment for sale. No one sells it. One guy pointed me to a street in town where he said someone had a shop that sold snorkel gear. But I went there, and the shop didn't exist. It's a frequent problem here: people will be certain that something is there, or that you can buy something in town, but really it just does not exist. It's odd, like people don't really know their own town that well. Nonetheless, I got a nice long walk out of it and met a few people.
One unforseen blessing of teaching a class in Creole for an hour and a half every night is that I have improved my speaking a lot. My listening is still so-so, I often don't understand when people speak fast, but that's just how languages are for me. I find them easy to form, but difficult to comprehend. Kind of the opposite of most people I think. But practice will improve.
Ok, kind of worried, some students have asked me many questions about the test. Must tend to them.
Also, I am immensely pleased that the Mets have tied it up with the Cards. Obviously, I wasn't able to watch any games, and I have in fact nearly missed out on an entire season, but I check online in the morning for 15 minutes of sports reading to catch up. Mondays are the most exciting, because I get to read up on weekend games. I was vaguely nervous going to espn.com today, seeing as how I was about to find out about 2 key games. So it looks like I missed a 13 or 14 inning hitting slump and then a hell of a come back. Go figure my team waits until I move to a country without cable to get this far. Now if they can whip the Cards twice more, we'll have... a Mets/Tigers WS?? Wow. If Delgado ends up pitching again by the Series (if we make it...), I think we
Anyway. I had a freaking great weekend. Guess what I did? ...Nothing. I relaxed, took walks around town, ran, swam, read, and just chilled the fuck out. Now, this isn't any different than any other weekend in Cape Verde, really, except that this time I did it with a different attitude. Before, I always kind of felt like if I was relaxing, I wasn't being a good volunteer. Like I should be improving my Creole, or meeting people, or trying to do something else volunteery. But I've pulled away from that. My Uncle John, who did PC in Nepal in the 60s or 70s, had one piece of advice for me, and that was to just take it slow and not have huge expectations. He said that as soon as he stopped trying so damned hard, great things started happening, and he ended up being a phenomenally successful volunteer (he worked with the Red Cross to set up the Himalayan Mountain rescue system that is still in place today). So after laying the pressure of myself, I am enjoying myself more, and actually meeting new people much more easily.
I also have continued my running a bit. After running, I'm usually so hot and sweaty that even 5 minutes of freezing shower can't cool me down and I start sweating again as soon as I get out. Any runners will know what I mean, and I hate that shit. So yesterday, I didn't even go straight home. I ran to the other side of the road, across the beach, stripped off my shoes, socks, and beater and dove right into the water. And let me tell you, it was probably one of the best ideas I've had in the last 10 to 15 years.
I wandered down a long beach to where the watersports guys have their little shacks set up and asked around about equipment for sale. No one sells it. One guy pointed me to a street in town where he said someone had a shop that sold snorkel gear. But I went there, and the shop didn't exist. It's a frequent problem here: people will be certain that something is there, or that you can buy something in town, but really it just does not exist. It's odd, like people don't really know their own town that well. Nonetheless, I got a nice long walk out of it and met a few people.
One unforseen blessing of teaching a class in Creole for an hour and a half every night is that I have improved my speaking a lot. My listening is still so-so, I often don't understand when people speak fast, but that's just how languages are for me. I find them easy to form, but difficult to comprehend. Kind of the opposite of most people I think. But practice will improve.
Ok, kind of worried, some students have asked me many questions about the test. Must tend to them.
Friday, October 13, 2006
Well, it's Friday and the end of my 5th week on Boa Vista. It's gone a lot faster than it did in São Domingos. I wonder why... In any event, all I've really done this week is teach classes and write a proposal for two English classes. Some thoughts on teaching here...
I had a really, really awful class on Tuesday. Now keep in mind that this class is just Windows Explorer: Make a folder, copy a file, make a shortcut, move this, cut that. I got up and went through a few miscellaneous things and handed out a sheet of exercises for them to practice with. It was basically making a series of folders and subfolders and copying some files into them. The mega problem came when people all of a sudden didn't seem to understand making a folder inside another one. I noticed that about half the class had just created about 15 folders all right next to one another, in clear defiance of the directions, which very clearly had the word "dentro" (inside) over and over again. So I tried explaining it, and received blank stares all around. Frustrating. So the next day, I went into the room before class and deleted all the extraneous and ridiculous extra files all sitting around on the computers, and re-explained everything to them. It seemed to work. I handed out the exercises again and they all got it. Whew. But one of the problems I have noticed is an all around difficult time following directions. Sometimes a student will get to, say, exercise 8 which asks them to copy a file into a folder. They can't find the folder. Ok, look at exercise 3, where it asks you to create the folder. Did you do that? No? A-ha, therein lies the problem. It's very strange to me, but seems to be pretty universal here. But it's not all bad. The class is pretty clearly divided into three groups: those who have a really hard time, those who get it after an explanation and some practice, and those who get it before I'm even done talking about it. I have one last class of miscellaneous stuff to do today, and then it will be followed by a test on Monday, which they have to do alone. Given the general difficulty with following guided, written exercised, I wonder how some of the students will fare. Many of them understand what they have to do perfectly well, but nearly always need verbal nudging to get it done. I have been told by PC volunteers the world over that this is a common issue. American and European school systems stress problem solving skills, but here it is generally rote memorization that is emphasized. As a result, people in some developing countries have difficulty applying a skill in an abstract way, i.e. any way that isn't exactly how it was originally explained.
Anyway. I am planning a pair of English courses now that will start in November. Both classes will be aimed at slightly older folks, because English is already required for 7th through 12th grades. The first will be an introductory course for those with little to no experience in English, and the second is a more advanced conversation course for those who just want to improve grammar and vocabulary. I finished up with the proposals the other day and am going to start planning out classes today. I was a bit disinterested in the idea for a while, but I'm starting to get excited about it. The beginner class will be fun to just teach the most basic aspects of our language. And for Leland the Language Nerd, it will be interesting to kind of dissect English in a way that I haven't ever had to before. For the advanced class, I've picked a list of real world topics to discuss, mainly shamelessly stolen from an advanced textbook I found in the library of the CEJ. So the goal will be to facilitate (bonus peace corps buzzword) discussions and use them to clarify grammar confusion and pick up new vocab. Not bad.
What else... Nothing really. I still live on the beach. Tomorrow, I'm going to wander down a stretch of beach on the other end of town to see if I can find some of the watersports guys. I want to ask them where I'd be able to buy a bodyboard and snorkel gear, and maybe get some connections for windsurfing lessons. They cost about $40 otherwise, and I clearly cannot afford that. So let's hope... Ok, time to plan some English lessons.
I had a really, really awful class on Tuesday. Now keep in mind that this class is just Windows Explorer: Make a folder, copy a file, make a shortcut, move this, cut that. I got up and went through a few miscellaneous things and handed out a sheet of exercises for them to practice with. It was basically making a series of folders and subfolders and copying some files into them. The mega problem came when people all of a sudden didn't seem to understand making a folder inside another one. I noticed that about half the class had just created about 15 folders all right next to one another, in clear defiance of the directions, which very clearly had the word "dentro" (inside) over and over again. So I tried explaining it, and received blank stares all around. Frustrating. So the next day, I went into the room before class and deleted all the extraneous and ridiculous extra files all sitting around on the computers, and re-explained everything to them. It seemed to work. I handed out the exercises again and they all got it. Whew. But one of the problems I have noticed is an all around difficult time following directions. Sometimes a student will get to, say, exercise 8 which asks them to copy a file into a folder. They can't find the folder. Ok, look at exercise 3, where it asks you to create the folder. Did you do that? No? A-ha, therein lies the problem. It's very strange to me, but seems to be pretty universal here. But it's not all bad. The class is pretty clearly divided into three groups: those who have a really hard time, those who get it after an explanation and some practice, and those who get it before I'm even done talking about it. I have one last class of miscellaneous stuff to do today, and then it will be followed by a test on Monday, which they have to do alone. Given the general difficulty with following guided, written exercised, I wonder how some of the students will fare. Many of them understand what they have to do perfectly well, but nearly always need verbal nudging to get it done. I have been told by PC volunteers the world over that this is a common issue. American and European school systems stress problem solving skills, but here it is generally rote memorization that is emphasized. As a result, people in some developing countries have difficulty applying a skill in an abstract way, i.e. any way that isn't exactly how it was originally explained.
Anyway. I am planning a pair of English courses now that will start in November. Both classes will be aimed at slightly older folks, because English is already required for 7th through 12th grades. The first will be an introductory course for those with little to no experience in English, and the second is a more advanced conversation course for those who just want to improve grammar and vocabulary. I finished up with the proposals the other day and am going to start planning out classes today. I was a bit disinterested in the idea for a while, but I'm starting to get excited about it. The beginner class will be fun to just teach the most basic aspects of our language. And for Leland the Language Nerd, it will be interesting to kind of dissect English in a way that I haven't ever had to before. For the advanced class, I've picked a list of real world topics to discuss, mainly shamelessly stolen from an advanced textbook I found in the library of the CEJ. So the goal will be to facilitate (bonus peace corps buzzword) discussions and use them to clarify grammar confusion and pick up new vocab. Not bad.
What else... Nothing really. I still live on the beach. Tomorrow, I'm going to wander down a stretch of beach on the other end of town to see if I can find some of the watersports guys. I want to ask them where I'd be able to buy a bodyboard and snorkel gear, and maybe get some connections for windsurfing lessons. They cost about $40 otherwise, and I clearly cannot afford that. So let's hope... Ok, time to plan some English lessons.
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Monday, October 09, 2006
Sound the trumpets, folks, because we finally have a home. Temporary, of course, but it's not a hotel room. So here's what happened last week: The country and regional safety and security coordinators were going to be visiting Boa Vista anyway, to check out the island, add to the notes that they already have. So PC basically enlisted their aid in helping us get a place to live. So Mike and Hilario showed up on Thursday and saw some places. Then we spent nearly all day Friday looking at potential houses and apartments. Nothing was really to perfect satisfaction, unfortunately. Everything was either too expensive, too old and crusty, too not-entirely-built-yet, or too one-bedroom-ish. As for that last one, you wouldn't think that this would be an issue. But on no less than half a dozen occasions, we have showed up to see an apartment that we have been ASSURED has two bedrooms, only to find that it has only one. It defies all sense and reality. If I were a scholar, I would make this my life's research: How does the number one, in passing through a single human beings eyes and brain, suddenly turn into two? It's spectacular. But that is neither here nor there. We did revisit an apartment we had seen before and were pleased to see that it only has a few weeks more work to be done on it. Obviously that is no good for now, but it is absolutel ideal for a permanent residence in size, price, location, everything. So in the mean time, we are shacked up in the only other two bedroom place we could find: an Italian tourist apartment just outside the main cluster of town. It kinda sucks that we are not as inside the community as we would like. It also kinda sucks to be associated with the tourism industry. It definitely sucks that it is costing way more than it should. But oh wow is it a nice place. It's nice enough that I feel guilty having it. As much as I like it, I definitely prefer the more humble place in town. Nonetheless, it is never bad to eat dinner on a balcony overlooking the ocean, or spend Sunday reading with a nice beach breeze blowing. It was also fully furnished, which was pretty necessary given our situation. It just wouldn't make sense to have to buy all our furniture and then move again a month later after barely settling in. So yeah, that's where I am now. I can finally relax and enjoy myself a bit.
I also am halfway through teaching my first computer class. It's going pretty well as of now. I have to teach in Creole, which was a frightening though at first, but that has actually not been the hard part at all. The most difficult thing is forcing myself to go at a pace suitable for someone who has literally never touched a computer before. In the US, even people who don't have computers or despise them know how to move a mouse, know the difference between right and left clicks, know where the start button is, etc. Not so much here. And concepts that seem easy to me aren't. In giving instructions, I might say quickly "Ok, go to the Start menu, click on the Control Panel, find the user accounts icon." But it's not that easy. I usually have to specify which mouse button, and say exactly where to click on each screen. It was frustrating at first, but now I don't mind so much. The good part is that my class is interested, attentive, and nearly always on time. Because they are older, they are mature and don't give me shit ever. I like it. I have another class, in Microsoft Word, coming up at the end of the month. Also, my counterpart is pressuring me to start teaching an English class soon. I certainly don't have a problem with teaching it, and I would actually love to get it started, but I'm a little lost on it, to be perfectly honest. It's not exactly my element and I don't even know where to start. Nadia has been giving me ideas, and I think that the first class is going to be a very basic conversational class, with the material dictated by the needs and levels of the students. I can see that either going really well, or really badly. We'll see... For people who already know, I think I'm also going to try to organize an informal discussion hour with friends that we've made around town. They always want to speak English with us, so I figure why not get them all together at once and have a chat?
Also, North Korea just tested a nuclear weapon. Yikes.
I also am halfway through teaching my first computer class. It's going pretty well as of now. I have to teach in Creole, which was a frightening though at first, but that has actually not been the hard part at all. The most difficult thing is forcing myself to go at a pace suitable for someone who has literally never touched a computer before. In the US, even people who don't have computers or despise them know how to move a mouse, know the difference between right and left clicks, know where the start button is, etc. Not so much here. And concepts that seem easy to me aren't. In giving instructions, I might say quickly "Ok, go to the Start menu, click on the Control Panel, find the user accounts icon." But it's not that easy. I usually have to specify which mouse button, and say exactly where to click on each screen. It was frustrating at first, but now I don't mind so much. The good part is that my class is interested, attentive, and nearly always on time. Because they are older, they are mature and don't give me shit ever. I like it. I have another class, in Microsoft Word, coming up at the end of the month. Also, my counterpart is pressuring me to start teaching an English class soon. I certainly don't have a problem with teaching it, and I would actually love to get it started, but I'm a little lost on it, to be perfectly honest. It's not exactly my element and I don't even know where to start. Nadia has been giving me ideas, and I think that the first class is going to be a very basic conversational class, with the material dictated by the needs and levels of the students. I can see that either going really well, or really badly. We'll see... For people who already know, I think I'm also going to try to organize an informal discussion hour with friends that we've made around town. They always want to speak English with us, so I figure why not get them all together at once and have a chat?
Also, North Korea just tested a nuclear weapon. Yikes.
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Well, I just visited our potential "two bedroom" apartment. The reason for quotation marks? It doesn't have two bedrooms. I have no idea why we were told that it it does. But it doesn't. It has a futon, in the living room. And by living room, I mean kitchen. It would be a really really nice place, if you were a tourist couple looking to stay here for a summer. But not if you're a pair of Peace Corps volunteers. Who aren't married.
Well, now I have to call my asst director and tell him that we still don't have a house. Not only that, but we no longer even have any leads to find a house. According to Nadia's boss last week, this means we have to move to the other house, an hour away, in the interior of the island. Shit. Not that that makes any sense, moneywise, because the cost of transportation would actually come out to the price of an entire other apartment for the two of us. Fuck.
Well, now I have to call my asst director and tell him that we still don't have a house. Not only that, but we no longer even have any leads to find a house. According to Nadia's boss last week, this means we have to move to the other house, an hour away, in the interior of the island. Shit. Not that that makes any sense, moneywise, because the cost of transportation would actually come out to the price of an entire other apartment for the two of us. Fuck.
Monday, October 02, 2006
I still haven't taken any pictures of Boa Vista, but I did find this on the computer I'm using, so I decided to upload it. I have no idea where on the island this is, but this could basically be any beach anywhere, except Vila Sal-Rei. Beaches are beautiful, interior is heinous. See what I mean?As I indicated in the last email, I've been struggling to get this apartment thing handled. But of course, we weren't able to see it last week. The landlord got back from Italy yesterday, so we are waiting for him to show it to us. We bumped into his wife last night, and she said that it is best if we wait until evening to call him and set it up. Clearly, this is not ideal, but I am slowly learning to deal with things like this. Hopefully (HOPEFULLY), we will be able to see the place by tomorrow morning and we can tell our director to jump on a contract. Holy shit, do I ever want this apartment. It's located in another section of town that I very badly want to live in...
Ok, to explain that: I've sort of figured out how this town is divided up. Nadia and I always just thought that this was a quiet and less social town than São Domingos. Not so. On weekends, there is never anybody in the praça (town square), and the whole end of town that we are on just seems deserted. But a walk around on Saturday with Nadia, and then a separate solo journey of my own on Sunday proved otherwise. The other, older part of town is buzzing with life. Every Cape Verdean is sitting on the stoop, drinking at a bar, lounging by the boats, playing soccer, swimming, or one of any number of other random weekend-y kinda things. So yeah. It was very uplifting to see that this town has more than meets the eye. With some luck, we'll get to live there and then we'll have a balcony to relax on and make friends with our neighbors. Ohhh, the balcony... It overlooks some rocks and then the bright blue harbor filled with fishing boats, with Ilheu de Sal-Rei just past it. The ilheu (a long island that protects the harbor from the ocean) is almost totally barren, except an abandoned 16th century Portuguese fort and a lone church. Anyway, the point is that every evening, the sun sets over this nice little vista right in front of my potential future balcony. Oh god, I will cry tears of blood if I don't get this apartment.
So last week was kind of a downer. I think other volunteers are having similarly rough experiences. Natawnee and I (obviously) keep in constant contact, and she had a bad one as well. I was feeling pretty down all week about the housing thing. I can't possibly express often enough or strongly enough how much I despise living in a hotel room. Ugh. So I ended up downloading a bunch of cheap games to my laptop and hiding in my room for like 4 hours on Sunday. Not the most constructive way to deal with the situation, but sometimes it can't be helped. Afterwards, I decided to get up and go for a walk. That's when I wandered through the cool section of town and my spirits were much uplifted. Saturday, we just kinda floated in the bay for a while in the sunshine, and did a little shopping. I also bought a backpack for work, which is significant because it is the only concrete purchase I have made in over 3 months. Wooha.
Also, I miss my girlfriend a lot. A lot a lot.
Ok, off to do some work for a while, because I teach my first computer class tonight. Introduction to computers, 17 students, 7 pm to 8:30, Monday through Friday, for two weeks. Fun.
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