World Map and Such

Thanksgiving was a hit, we had more food in this house than I ever thought possible. The ladies, Misty and Kate, literally stayed in the kitchen for an entire day and cooked the following wonderful menu; chicken, garlic bread, stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, green beans, pecan pie, pumpkin pie, and cheesecake. The company was even better. However, Danny and I didn’t realize how isolated we were until they came to visit. Yes, Danny and I live together, but we are literally the only Americans on the island, and he is the only person that I truly trust at this moment. And so if you imagine the size of my island, and then think about my city, you begin to feel the overwhelming sensation that you’re alone in the Atlantic. It doesn’t help when the people visiting are all second year volunteers and talking about going home already. Somewhat depressing to hear them talking so enthusiastically about leaving and how we don’t have much time to accomplish the things that we want to do.

On a brighter note, my English classes are going well and they asked me to tell my family and friends in America; "Happy Thanksgiving". No, they don’t know exactly what it is, but I gave a quick English class on what it is and what we typically do in American households. It gave me an opportunity to teach some words we needed to learn, but also let me share a little bit of my culture with my students.

Now that I have divided the class into speaking levels, this is the size of my church class. They range from novice low to intermediate low. To put that in perspective that is the level I was during the first two weeks in Cape Verde. Herein lays the problem with the slow pace of English learning, after a lesson they don’t leave speaking English. The students will switch back to their native language and so the practice stops outside of the class. And now, I completely understand how we Peace Corps volunteers “learn” a language as quickly as we do, and how incredibly hard teaching a foreign language actually is. Sorry Mrs. Cryan, you were a really good Spanish teacher. 

The World Map project is going well. We have made great progress and this weekend is the big day where all the children will come and paint the countries.

As far as Danny and my relationship go, we are fine. We have had serious differences, we have tested each other, and resolved many of our differences, and I am confident that there will be nothing that can derail the Boa Vista machine.

Also, I forgot to mention that I have started making these as meals. I have named it Pop's-Meal, after the man who taught me how to make this, and make a difference. Thanks for always being there Pop.