So I just got back from the post office, and I feel I need to say something. The post office here is the worst place in the universe. I know you may be thinking "Really? Well, what about prison? Death Valley in the summer? A fire ant nest?" No, I assure you, it's the post office. Generally, if you arrive before 10:30 am, it's not so bad. You can pick up a package or send an envelope in 10 minutes or so. The problem is that they have several services there: regular post office stuff, all CVTelecom stuff (land lines and cell phones), plus Western Union. So there are people there to send stuff, receive stuff, pay phone bills, get contracts, send money to their families, receive money from abroad, etc etc. So really, it's a madhouse. And it could work well. Except for one guy. He is my mortal enemy. Granted, most things in Cape Verde run a little slower than usual, and I'm fine with that. I can just relax and let things go at their own pace, and it rarely bothers me these days. But this guy... oh man. Nadia and I joke that he is the most useless human being in the world. Sometimes, even when there is no one else there, he will literally lie to you about something to avoid completing some task. He's the reason it took 6 weeks to get a phone installed. Nadia asked him for a printout of our phone bill last week, and he said it was impossible without filling out a request for the main office in Praia. Two days ago, I asked someone else (the manager, who is awesome and supremely helpful), and the detailed bill was in my hand 45 seconds later. Today, I was 5th or 6th in line to pick up a box, and it took over an hour. Just because the simplest tasks take him 15 to 20 minutes. It's really pretty amazing.

On the positive side, my mom's package was filled with good books. I recently became fascinated with Arab history, so I now have 3 books on it, dating from thousands of years ago until the 90s. Also, Nadia got two cool books recently: on reading Hebrew and Arabic. She has a personal goal to read religious texts (Bible, Torah, and Koran) in their original languages, which I think is badass. So between that and the Anglo-Saxon grammar book I found in the PC office, we are nerding it up hardcore in Sal Rei. Who loves other languages? I do.

Also, it RAINED a couple days ago. Seriously. It never even rains here during the rainy season. It's only the 3rd time I've seen precipitation here, and the first time since September. But there was a full on thunderstorm. It moved to the west of the island, but I could see the lightning out over the water, and then the rain caught us. I discovered that the ceiling in my room leaks, too. Hurrah for buckets.

Mostly I just wanted to vent about the post office. OH, but I have another story. I don't know if I've ever mentioned the Chinese loja phenomenon before, but here it is: Cape Verde has a decent number of Chinese immigrants here, because they are able to import inexpensive everyday items for really cheap and sell them here. For instance, there are two lojas (loja is just a store) here in Vila, and they are always packed with people. Someone from São Vicente told me that there used to be Chinese restaurants around, but they all closed when the families decided to open stores instead, because you can make so much more money. Anyway, the point of this is that the woman who owns one of the lojas in town came into the CEJ the other day with her daughter, who had just arrived from China last week. She apparently hates Boa Vista and wants to go back to China. I don't really blame her, considering she doesn't know Creole or Portuguese, and this sure as hell isn't what she's used to. So her mother asked me to let her into my English class, so she can at least do something and maybe make some friends. I agreed, so she's been to a few classes. So on Wednesday, we're having a little class discussion on AIDS, and she's being really quiet. My friend Walter (whose English is excellent) was wondering what the AIDS situation was like in China, so we asked her if she knew. Conversation in brief:

"*girl's name*, do you know what the AIDS crisis is like in China? How do the rates compare with what we just read?"
"I don't know, really."
"Oh ok."
"I don't care about this."
"Um. Ok. Why?"
"Because it is not about me, so why should I care?"
(Jaws drop all around room. Stunned silence follows.)
"Oh. Well. I... Uh... Does anybody have anything to add to that? No? Ok, um... wow. I guess class is over."

Gee, good question. Why should I care? I mean, it's only the largest epidemic in history, killing millions of people per year, but I guess that's no big deal. I personally don't have HIV, so I guess I can just ignore it. Gosh, life is so much simpler now. I guess I could have taken the opportunity to discuss why she should in fact care, but the way she phrases it was pretty confrontational and unpleasant, so I just let it go rather than start an argument.

Ok, well the wind has picked up. Tonight, I teach two classes in a row. At 9 pm, I am free to spend the weekend windsurfing. The storms have been increasing the swell at the outside of the bay, so maybe I can play on the waves a bit.