Warmest Chirstmas Ever

As I sit here listening to the same four Dean Martin Christmas songs on repeat I think to myself; Oh Christmas… is it really so close? I certainly don’t feel like Christmas is here, especially since the temperature has stayed a consistent 28 degrees Celsius. I always wondered what it would be like to miss all the consumerism, 2 months of Christmas music, and Santa ringing the bell outside of every Wal-Mart. I surely thought that it would be wonderful to not have any of that… and I was right, kind of. I do miss that loud, annoying, bell-ringing Santa, he reminds me of home. But here on Boa Vista, we are not entirely without Christmas celebrations, the largest grocer on the island has decorated the outside of the store with a giant star, and I have helped with the planning and construction of the Christmas tree in the main square.  But something is still missing… probably family and friends… and perhaps the fun-kind of eggnog. I will not be entirely void of friends to spend Christmas with however. Two of my closest friends here on the island, Gilson and Michel, have asked me to “pass” Christmas with them, to which I graciously accepted. There is also a small group of Peace Corps Volunteers coming here, hope they don’t mind me making my rounds during Christmas. I don’t think it would be in good taste to show up to a Cabo Verdi Christmas with 4 other Americans. I’m sure they will understand.  

The Christmas festivals thus far have been really cool! Every weekend there is music and dancing in the plaza. One thing I still haven’t figured out though; how in the world do people know what time things start here? Seriously, there are never announcements or fliers. I just get lucky and know a few people who are generally involved in the events. I have no idea how everyone else figures out, I imagine if they are passing by the plaza and hear and see people, they stop. But this is a mystery that has yet to be solved.  

The most recent basketball practice was not going so smooth, so I introduced a game that I am sure many of you are familiar with; 21. I think the team loved it, because we played it for four hours on both sides of the court. I also learned a new game called “suspensão”. The rules are simple enough; one person starts out by shooting free throws, if he misses, the ball can be touched by the next person in line, but he must shoot while in the air. If the second person in line misses, the third person goes, and so forth until someone makes one or no attempt is made to shoot. The benefit of not shooting is, if you try but don’t touch backboard or rim, you go back to zero points. So, sometimes it is best to not shoot. 

I wish I had more cool stories to tell you but, things move slowly here. I am still jobless, but I am happy. I have found some peace in the tranquil pace of my life. I hope that you all find some peace this holiday season, and drink one more grown-up eggnog for me.

 Feliz Natal- Feliz Navidad- Merry Christmas

from Boa Vista

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.

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

Days on a Dune Island

So it’s been awhile since my last post, believe me I have my reasons. How am I supposed to top dolphin-saving, Giardia-fighting, turtle-protecting blogs? My life seems to have found some sort of groove here in Sal Rei, and it has nothing to do with my primary assignment (the National Park that may never commence). I am teaching 8 English classes now, 6 in my house and 2 at Nazarene church a little bit up the hill from my house. Mondays and Wednesdays I go to the church and teach for roughly an hour and half from 7 to 8:30pm. On Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays I teach two classes a night in my house, these are by far my favorites. The classes in my house are smaller and we are able to cover more material. These classes have some cool benefits as well. One of my students is the owner of a local restaurant, and she makes the best Cape Verdean cheese cake, which she is kind enough to make for me sometimes. Also, there is a stigma of bad customer service here in Cape Verde, no more sirs and mams, one of my classes is made up entirely of the waitresses of some restaurants in town.

In other local news, my favorite bread-lady has left Boa Vista for her home on Fogo, very sad. I saw her in the Plaza and she called me over. As, I walk a little closer she has a look of concern in her face. She tells me that she is going to Fogo and Brava, so naturally I ask her when she is coming back. Never! What do you mean never? She then proceeds to explain to me that she misses her family and she doesn’t like it here. She makes me promise to find her when I come visit Fogo, and so I do. So the once busy Padaria is no more. My impromptu Portuguese lessons are no more. I will miss my friend, but I am happy for her, she wants to be with her family. I find a bit of a paradox that as I get busier, I feel as though I have more time doing nothing.

I had a meeting with a few people from the Boa Vista government and my friend, the director of the library, in which we discussed a project from Christmas. The plan is to make a Christmas tree entirely out of recycled 1.5 liter coke and sprite bottles. There will also be a contribution from the churches whom I believe, if I heard it correctly, are making a nativity scene out of old juice containers. Not exactly how I pictured myself inducing environmental change, but I’ll take what I can get.

In other news, I am now in possession of flippers for snorkeling. A friend of mine who lives in the same complex as me has loaned them to me indefinitely. My snorkeling adventures have become more frequent and have become a fairly good integration tool. Every time I go there is always someone watching and eventually they wander close enough for me to talk to. We’ll talk about any and everything, eventually using my snorkeling mask and flippers to go on their own little adventures. And supposedly, there are better spots to snorkel that some of them have promised to take me to, but they tell me that I have found a good spot because there are so many fish there. Way to go mom and dad on the snorkeling stuff! Everyone tells me they are “profissional”, no translation necessary.

On another note, I think I have decided to allow myself 1 shower every two days instead of three. That third day makes a big difference in the amount of water we consume, but it also makes a big difference in the way one smells.

Sorry for the lame blog, cooler things to come!

To: My Mothers; Biological Mother (love you mom), "Hood" Mothers, and Cape Verdean Mother

From: Needing a Shower

Africa Needs You

Sometimes I wonder to myself, what the hell I am doing here. It seems as though I don’t do anything, I spend the majority of time just hanging out it seems, but these seemingly mundane days have their effect. Simply being out in the community can have an impact on those who see you. I walk the streets of Sal Rei, and my name is yelled from across the street; “Matios, how are you, are you passing well”, and sometimes I am mistaken for Danny, but hell, were both “white” Americans, what’s the difference.

But the real reason I am writing this blog is to inform you all that I am in the middle of a big project known worldwide, called World Map, see this link if interested: http://multimedia.peacecorps.gov/multimedia/pdf/media/PCTimes2010_01.pdf

I have been in contact with a pastor from the church in front of the primary school, where we plan on doing this project, and he is very excited about the project. He actually dropped by my English class this morning to observe, and has asked me to teach an English class in one of the classrooms at the church to adults in the community! A real board on which to teach, righteous! But back to the project, December 5th is International Volunteers Day (IVD), and in conjunction with this, Danny and are inviting some of his 7th grade class to paint the countries which Danny and I will have completed by the time IVD arrives. I would like to ask my American friends for some help, if you could send any of the following items for this project as soon as possible, it would be greatly appreciated:
Erasers
Masking tape
Small paint brushes
Erasers
Protractor
Black Sharpies (wide-tipped, medium, and small)
Pencils
Sharpener

Thank you for any assistance that you can provide, and remember mail takes a little over two weeks to get here. No rush or anything, but seriously, sorry for the late notice. Address:

Matthew Acre
Correio de Boa Vista
Boa Vista, Cape Verde
Via Portugal
Par Avion

To: International Volunteers (that's you if you're reading this)

From: Lacking Materials