Life is quiet. After the initial sense of limbo when IST was cancelled, I’ve more or less found things to do for the next few weeks. Most importantly and excitingly, I have officially purchased tickets for São Vicente for February, to spend Carnaval in Mindelo. Nadia and I are both going, as are many other PCVs, so it should be a wild time. After Carnaval, I’m taking the boat over to Santo Antão to visit Natawnee in Paúl.

Predictably, I spent the weekend windsurfing. I won’t bore you with the details, but I moved up a couple meters in sail size, and the difference in speed is awesome.

I start teaching English classes tonight. This class is an advanced class, for people who already speak English. I don’t know quite what to expect right off the bat, so I have to spend the first couple classes trying to figure out what level they are so I can work with it from there. Because of the IST fuckup, I now have to take several breaks: one for my internet class (can’t teach both at the same time – it’s complicated), one for Carnaval, and one right at the end for the rescheduled IST. I’d be lying if I said I was excited about the class, because I really don’t care to teach English. I’ve never done it before, and there seems to be a lot of pressure on me to do it well. Then again, I’ve never done any of this before, so who am I to complain?

The library project seems to have come to a screeching halt. Nobody has so much as touched a book in there for weeks. There is still no organization, no plans for organization, and most of the books remain sealed away. To be perfectly honest, I don’t even know why anymore. I don’t know if they just don’t know what to do, or if they just don’t feel like doing it. By “they,” I mean the rest of the staff here. Apparently the president of the câmara is pretty annoyed that it is not up and running yet. So we are having a meeting today to discuss getting it on track. I don’t know how much help I should give, because if they already have a set plan, then I’d rather just let it happen. On the other hand, I am not sure that they have as much experiences with public libraries as I do, having grown up as a little nerd-boy. Hmm.

Otherwise, life is exceptionally quiet. I am going through what seems to be a pretty universal experience with all volunteers. I am bored and restless. This is the longest I have ever stayed in one place in ages. I mean, I never leave town. There is nowhere else to go. Transport even to Rabil or Estância de Baixo is really expensive and there is nothing there that isn’t also here in Vila. On a bored weeknight in CT, I could at least drive down to New Haven and meet people for pizza and beer. Here, all I can do is grab a book. I guess it’s a nice change of pace from the east coast, but I can’t help but get fidgety. I am looking forward to February, not just to have a good time and see other volunteers, but just for the chance it represents to get off Boa Vista for a week. Island fever strikes hard. If it weren’t for windsurfing and the general camaraderie of François’ place, I think it would be a lot harder to deal with.

Interesting. I managed to write a page about nothing.