Dias na Isla de Dunas Areias

Sleep, enjoy your precious sleep. It’s a hard thing to come by here. Between the construction workers who begin at 6 am, traffic, the party that happens every night next to my house, and the roosters who never seem to know what time of day it is, sleep is a hard commodity to find. I am also finding myself busier everyday as well; I have added three more English classes to my schedule to accommodate for the more advanced speakers. There is a huge benefit to teaching; 1) you are helping people learn a language that is truly useful in the world 2) There is a sense of gratification when teaching and 3) the instant recognition throughout the city when I walk around. For example, I was walking to one of the local stores to but some potatoes and rice, when I see a guy in a wheelchair wearing a Pittsburgh Steelers jersey, me being the Steelers fan that I am, had to ask him if he knew what his shirt meant. I then explained to him that the Steelers were my favorite team of American Football or “bruteball”. I love this word in Creole. He then goes on to explain that he knows a little bruteball and has seen a few games that have been on the television, but I digress. The point of this story was what he said as I was leaving, he told me; “I have heard about you, you’re the one teaching English in the church. You have good heart boss”. I didn’t know what to say or do; I was a little chocked up. I had never been recognized for teaching before and I didn’t expect to be, so I was taken aback at what he had said to me. I like that guy, hope I see him around town more often.

In other news, progress is coming slowly on the World Map project, and our friend Shon at the Centro de Juventude is doing his best to get us the paint we need. I was also recently approached to do a Christmas project in which groups of people go door to door and collect a small amount of money to buy food and other things for the less fortunate here on the island. I have been truly touched by the generosity that this culture has shown me. This island is truly unique, a treasure that few in this world know about. When I first arrived on this island I cursed the fact that I was placed in a city; this is not the Peace Corps that I read about, this is not what I was told I was going to be doing. However, the more I allow myself to open up to the whole experience and not worry about the details, the more I find the experience entirely enjoyable. I have found a friend, who is not American, and he is very anxious to learn more English, he is an Air Traffic Controller and is the unofficial coach of the basketball team that I play on. His English is not bad, he just needs help with some verb tenses and conjugations and he will be fluent, sounds like a task for me.

With Thanksgiving around the corner one can’t help but think about family. This will be my second Thanksgiving away from my family; the first was due to school obligations in America. However, this time I will be surrounded by a different family, my Peace Corps family. Several volunteers from Santiago are coming here on the 26th with a turkey in tow. I plan to extend an open invitation to all of my neighbors to join in the festivities to share a little American culture. The neighbors will be happy to learn that I will not be cooking, and probably more likely to participate. My culinary skills don’t venture far beyond a grill. I have however mastered the art of baking chicken here! A friend of mine, who runs a local restaurant, gave me the secret which I will reveal….. never.

To: Roosterless Eight Hour Sleep Friends

From: Sleepless in Cape Verde