So here we are, one month in. I have to say, it really doesn't feel like it. I guess that's how it is when your mind is constantly working on overdrive, trying to figure out how to handle all sorts of situations that seemed so easy and "normal" at home. Or situations that you'd never even thought about being in at home.
When we first got here it is was, How do I find out about this place when I can't understand a word they are saying? Fortuately, it didn't take us too long to find some friendly faces that could help us with our language and walk us through some basics, like turning on our water and electricity. In fact, our first day here we were even invited to stay with someone who had known the previous volunteers until our utilities were turned on. We very quickly felt very welcomed in our new home.
Of course everything hasn't gone completely as planned. After our frustrating phone call from Peace Corps a couple of weeks back, we just wanted to know what PC expected of us (since we'd obviously gotten it wrong the first time). None the less we did what was asked and have worked out a more regular schedule with the Camara. That's made the days fly by.
Beyond that, I think our involvement in the community is going as well as can be expected. People are starting to see that we aren't just tourists and we are getting a feel for how things work at the Camara. Dove is still in the dark in regards to what the Camara is expecting of her, but I'm starting to get an idea. So far I've just been helping keep computers up to date and running, while I wait for parts for the computer that will be mine.
Once I'm setup with my own computer they actually have a little database work that they're looking for me to do. Of course this is contingent on having someone I can work with who can maintain the project after I'm gone - Peace Corps development focuses on sustainable development, so if I do it all myself, what happens when I'm gone? The trick for me is that the national goverment is already working on a project that will do the same thing (organize government data). They have a centralized system where they are in the process of connecting all of the local goverment offices to main office in Praia, but my offices won't be on their network until our new office building completed, which should be done by the end of the year. Then after that who knows how long it will be before we actually receive the program. So, I will be creating a stop gap program that will be used between now and when we get the official program , with no real clear transition date. The bottom line is that I need to create an program simple enough to be maintained by anyone but robust enough to stay in operation for an unspecified length of time.
Of course...I'm still waiting for a computer.
We are (ok, Dove is) getting good with the food we have available to us here. Resources are always scarce when you live on an island but we've been eating well using a cookbook that PC gave us in training and tortillas that Dove learned how to make from one of the volunteers that left the islands durring our training. We're learning how to fillet fish, making burritos and questidillas, frozen chicken is abundent for many uses, and bread and eggs are easy to find. One of our favorite dishes out of the PC cookbook is an Indian Dahl made with coconut milk and suprisingly enough I enjoy adding cilantro to it. I never liked cilantro before I met Dove and she has successfully converted me.
Speeking of books, you might notice a new Amazon wish list icon on the left hand side of our blog. We decided to create a wish list for each of us. I have some books in there that I think I will like but I would love other suggestions too. I actually have time to read here!
Thank you everyone who has dropped us a line on the blog and in emails. It's always nice to hear from everyone back home. Now that we have DSL, we are also able to chat and even use Skype! Yay free phone calls!
Ti logu
Josh
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Video of our apartment (in theory...)
So we keep trying to upload this, I hope it actually worked this time!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIdZyt_CCLw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIdZyt_CCLw
Better late than never
Bom dia! Our apologies for our lack of updates on the blog...so when we said we were getting internet "tomorrow" we really meant "when they finally come to the house and hook us up. Which was today. A week later. And since we'd already paid for internet, we didn't really have the money to go to the cafe to give updates. BUT we are now on line, in our house, so assuming the electricity is running...we 'll be connected.
This week in PN (Porto Novo) has been interesting and full, frusterating and fun. Last Monday we had our whole week mapped out of places we were going to visit and people to talk to in the community. And then we received a phone call from our Associate Country Director (APCD) who informed us that we should be at the Camara Municipal every day from 8 to 4. This was a huge surprise for us, since we had been told during training to NOT go into work for the first three months, or rather, to go in to work, introduce yourself, and then let them know you would be checking in periodically but that you were supposed to be learning language and the community for the first three months - which is what we had been doing. It was very frusterating to be doing what we thought we were supposed to be doing, and then be told (rather sharply) that we were wrong and that we must report to our site assignments at 8am the next day, and that they were going to actually call our bosses to let them know we would be there.
Needlsess to say, we were both pretty shocked and upset. It felt like we had been caught doing something wrong, though we thought we were just following directions. Never in this whole adventure have we wanted to just go and hang out and not do the work we came here to do, but we felt like we were being accused of just that. It was probably the lowest point we have had since we got here, and the first time we had thought about saying "Forget it, we're going home." We felt very disrespected and also concerned that we would lose face with our counterparts at the Camara who were now being told just the opposite of what we had told them once we first started
And so, we took a deep breath and went to work the next day. Josh had some things to work on for part of the day, being IT and all, but my job was less clear. In fact, it is still not clear. I tried to sit down with my boss and figure out what I should be doing, who I might talk to etc. and he basically said my language wasn't good enough and it would be too complicated to explain things now, so that I should go to a town 30 minutes away to work with a current volunteer to learn the language a couple times a week. When I asked what I should do on the other days, I was told "wait." I'm still waiting. I'm not sure that they understand that the person they want me to work with has lived here for over a year, and thus of course would have better language skills than I would, and that, even if I did work with her a few times a week, it's not likely I'm going to have my langage skills up to the level they are hoping in a short amount of time. I'm trying, I really am...but realistically these things take time. By the way, the car that was supposed to bring me to this other town for language lessons was broken down on Friday, so I wasn't able to go anyhow.
The upside...Josh is doing great and is really, really happy to be doing IT stuff again. He can tell you more about his work right now. Also, I talked with the APCD again at PC and I'm assuming he talked to some folks about our training because he seemed to believe that we actually were told at training to not go into work for the first three months...however, the misunderstanding was, because we were working in an institution that had a direction and such, our positions different, that we need to be in the institution to figure out how things work, what is happening, and how we might fit in. The converstation made me feel 100% better, primiarly because I felt validated that what I was doing WAS what we were told to do, and also because it made sense. In addition, it seems like my job will involve policy work, and working on ways to make improvements at the local government level, which was what I have been considering doing once we get back from Cape Verde (International or Public Policy). And I shouldn't be spending all my time in the Camara once I have a handle on how things work and what my role will be; hopefully I will be helping to build partnerships with outside organizatons and the Camara.
In other good news...Josh and I made our first friends in the community. He is a Capoiera instructor and volunteers nightly to teach kids in the community. He's also been helping us with language. Also, I have a language tutor now too...Claude, you asked about language here. First, I 1000 times agree you MUST continue language to be successful in the Peace Corps. Second, for some reason that I don't quite understand, because this is an election year, there is only enough money in the budget for 10 people to get a paid tutor. I didn't qualify for one because I scored too high on my LPI, which I am a little grumpy about because I wanted to use the money for a tutor to learn Portuguese. Everyone here SPEAKS Kriolu, but everything is WRITTEN in Portuguese, so any written work I do, any proposals etc, needs to be done in Portuguese, w hich I don't know any of. Fortunately we did find people willing to work with us for free, but it's difficult because sometimes they aren't available at the last minute, so you walk 20 min to go to a lesson and they aren't there. Ah well.
Sunday was beach day, and we are both nice and crispy. We finally found some cumin at a local market, and the Unicoop has cheese again (these things are a HUGE deal in PN, at least to us!). We discovered that the sparkling mineral water in the store is close enough to club soda. I made Peanut Butter cookies, chicken and mushroom alfredo, and Indian dahl, all delicious. Josh gave me my first hair cut - it's growing realy fast, or at least it seems so!
We hope all is well State side. This weekend was emotionally difficult for us because Josh's sister got married on Saturday and we couldn't be there. We tried to call but couldn't reach anyone, so we were both pretty disappointed. This is the third wedding we've missed too.
Being away for so long, things are bound to fluxutate, but in the grand scheme of things, things here are pretty good. Besides, how bad can life be stranded on a windswept island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean?
This week in PN (Porto Novo) has been interesting and full, frusterating and fun. Last Monday we had our whole week mapped out of places we were going to visit and people to talk to in the community. And then we received a phone call from our Associate Country Director (APCD) who informed us that we should be at the Camara Municipal every day from 8 to 4. This was a huge surprise for us, since we had been told during training to NOT go into work for the first three months, or rather, to go in to work, introduce yourself, and then let them know you would be checking in periodically but that you were supposed to be learning language and the community for the first three months - which is what we had been doing. It was very frusterating to be doing what we thought we were supposed to be doing, and then be told (rather sharply) that we were wrong and that we must report to our site assignments at 8am the next day, and that they were going to actually call our bosses to let them know we would be there.
Needlsess to say, we were both pretty shocked and upset. It felt like we had been caught doing something wrong, though we thought we were just following directions. Never in this whole adventure have we wanted to just go and hang out and not do the work we came here to do, but we felt like we were being accused of just that. It was probably the lowest point we have had since we got here, and the first time we had thought about saying "Forget it, we're going home." We felt very disrespected and also concerned that we would lose face with our counterparts at the Camara who were now being told just the opposite of what we had told them once we first started
And so, we took a deep breath and went to work the next day. Josh had some things to work on for part of the day, being IT and all, but my job was less clear. In fact, it is still not clear. I tried to sit down with my boss and figure out what I should be doing, who I might talk to etc. and he basically said my language wasn't good enough and it would be too complicated to explain things now, so that I should go to a town 30 minutes away to work with a current volunteer to learn the language a couple times a week. When I asked what I should do on the other days, I was told "wait." I'm still waiting. I'm not sure that they understand that the person they want me to work with has lived here for over a year, and thus of course would have better language skills than I would, and that, even if I did work with her a few times a week, it's not likely I'm going to have my langage skills up to the level they are hoping in a short amount of time. I'm trying, I really am...but realistically these things take time. By the way, the car that was supposed to bring me to this other town for language lessons was broken down on Friday, so I wasn't able to go anyhow.
The upside...Josh is doing great and is really, really happy to be doing IT stuff again. He can tell you more about his work right now. Also, I talked with the APCD again at PC and I'm assuming he talked to some folks about our training because he seemed to believe that we actually were told at training to not go into work for the first three months...however, the misunderstanding was, because we were working in an institution that had a direction and such, our positions different, that we need to be in the institution to figure out how things work, what is happening, and how we might fit in. The converstation made me feel 100% better, primiarly because I felt validated that what I was doing WAS what we were told to do, and also because it made sense. In addition, it seems like my job will involve policy work, and working on ways to make improvements at the local government level, which was what I have been considering doing once we get back from Cape Verde (International or Public Policy). And I shouldn't be spending all my time in the Camara once I have a handle on how things work and what my role will be; hopefully I will be helping to build partnerships with outside organizatons and the Camara.
In other good news...Josh and I made our first friends in the community. He is a Capoiera instructor and volunteers nightly to teach kids in the community. He's also been helping us with language. Also, I have a language tutor now too...Claude, you asked about language here. First, I 1000 times agree you MUST continue language to be successful in the Peace Corps. Second, for some reason that I don't quite understand, because this is an election year, there is only enough money in the budget for 10 people to get a paid tutor. I didn't qualify for one because I scored too high on my LPI, which I am a little grumpy about because I wanted to use the money for a tutor to learn Portuguese. Everyone here SPEAKS Kriolu, but everything is WRITTEN in Portuguese, so any written work I do, any proposals etc, needs to be done in Portuguese, w hich I don't know any of. Fortunately we did find people willing to work with us for free, but it's difficult because sometimes they aren't available at the last minute, so you walk 20 min to go to a lesson and they aren't there. Ah well.
Sunday was beach day, and we are both nice and crispy. We finally found some cumin at a local market, and the Unicoop has cheese again (these things are a HUGE deal in PN, at least to us!). We discovered that the sparkling mineral water in the store is close enough to club soda. I made Peanut Butter cookies, chicken and mushroom alfredo, and Indian dahl, all delicious. Josh gave me my first hair cut - it's growing realy fast, or at least it seems so!
We hope all is well State side. This weekend was emotionally difficult for us because Josh's sister got married on Saturday and we couldn't be there. We tried to call but couldn't reach anyone, so we were both pretty disappointed. This is the third wedding we've missed too.
Being away for so long, things are bound to fluxutate, but in the grand scheme of things, things here are pretty good. Besides, how bad can life be stranded on a windswept island in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean?
Monday, October 6, 2008
Technology and Cape Verde
So today we have an excellent update...starting tomorrow, we should have DSL in our house! Weºre going to try it out for a while, see if itºs worth it, but weºre feeling very isolated news wise, and itºs expensive to go to internet cafes all the time, plus rather irritating if you want to do things like chat with friends and family, so weºll see if this works!
We also uploaded some new pics of our place, and hopefully shortly weºll get a video on line. Right now itºs too big to upload. Things here are all excellent, we had visitors over the weekend and it was nice to hang out with other PCVºs. We had a mini birthday party for Josh (his birthday was on Thursday) and I tried out some of the Peace Corps Cookbook recipes...the macaroons came out great, the chocolate pudding cake was only so-so.
Iºve become quite adept at cooking with what weºve got here, but I have one major complaint. Bugs. Not bugs crawling around or outside or in the shower with you, but bugs in my food, and namely bugs in my flour. In the States, I rarely used flour at all, especially white flour. Here, thatºs all we have, and itºs a staple, so Iºve become the queen of mexican food with all the tortillas I make. However, there are these little black bugs and little whiteish worms in the flour here...so sifting your flour takes on a whole different meaning and necessity. Of course the only sifter I can find is a little tiny one that you would use for tea, so I guess I should add that to my list! Its odd, I think in America if I had bugs in my flour, Iºd squeal a bit and then throw the whole thing out. But here...thatºs just wasteful, and besides, I have yet to buy a bag of flour that dosenºt have bugs or worms in it, so even if I did toss it, the next bag would be the same. Its just something you have to shrug and accept. Grudgingly.
Work wise, Josh and I have been coming up with lots of questions to ask people at the Camara and at different organizations around town, and weºve been introducing ourselves and finding out exactly whatºs what in Porto Novo and Santa Antao. Or trying to. The language is still a struggle, as Iºm sure it will be for probably the first year; this is why the Peace Corps lasts for two years. I personally am feeling shy (yes me, shy) about going out and meeting people, which of course would help with language, but itºs probably our biggest challenge (if you donºt count the bugs in the flour. Kidding.).
Once we have internet up and running, weºll let you know what chat program you can catch us on, and when. Until then...weºd love some emails about the upcoming elections, the economy, or anything else of interest! We visit the Times regularly, but frequently the articles change quickly so we donºt actually see whatºs going on in the world. So if you see something you think weºd like to know about, tell us!! Or just send us the link.
Ti logu,
Dove
We also uploaded some new pics of our place, and hopefully shortly weºll get a video on line. Right now itºs too big to upload. Things here are all excellent, we had visitors over the weekend and it was nice to hang out with other PCVºs. We had a mini birthday party for Josh (his birthday was on Thursday) and I tried out some of the Peace Corps Cookbook recipes...the macaroons came out great, the chocolate pudding cake was only so-so.
Iºve become quite adept at cooking with what weºve got here, but I have one major complaint. Bugs. Not bugs crawling around or outside or in the shower with you, but bugs in my food, and namely bugs in my flour. In the States, I rarely used flour at all, especially white flour. Here, thatºs all we have, and itºs a staple, so Iºve become the queen of mexican food with all the tortillas I make. However, there are these little black bugs and little whiteish worms in the flour here...so sifting your flour takes on a whole different meaning and necessity. Of course the only sifter I can find is a little tiny one that you would use for tea, so I guess I should add that to my list! Its odd, I think in America if I had bugs in my flour, Iºd squeal a bit and then throw the whole thing out. But here...thatºs just wasteful, and besides, I have yet to buy a bag of flour that dosenºt have bugs or worms in it, so even if I did toss it, the next bag would be the same. Its just something you have to shrug and accept. Grudgingly.
Work wise, Josh and I have been coming up with lots of questions to ask people at the Camara and at different organizations around town, and weºve been introducing ourselves and finding out exactly whatºs what in Porto Novo and Santa Antao. Or trying to. The language is still a struggle, as Iºm sure it will be for probably the first year; this is why the Peace Corps lasts for two years. I personally am feeling shy (yes me, shy) about going out and meeting people, which of course would help with language, but itºs probably our biggest challenge (if you donºt count the bugs in the flour. Kidding.).
Once we have internet up and running, weºll let you know what chat program you can catch us on, and when. Until then...weºd love some emails about the upcoming elections, the economy, or anything else of interest! We visit the Times regularly, but frequently the articles change quickly so we donºt actually see whatºs going on in the world. So if you see something you think weºd like to know about, tell us!! Or just send us the link.
Ti logu,
Dove
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
What you want? Baby, I got it (Dove)
Iºve gotten a few emails from folks asking about things we want or need here. So we came up with our first list of stuff that weºre missing or just canºt get here that is "essential." Before we left, we gave everything away on freecycle, so if you want to send us stuff feel free to go on your local free cycle site and ask for it for free, we donºt mind used! Here we go:
A veggie peeler
Pillow cases (you canºt buy them individually here) - yellow, orange or white would be cool
Fitted sheets (again, canºt get them here and itºs driving me nuts!)
Art, as in stuff to hang on our walls, preferably stuff our friends have made!
Soy sauce
Hot sauces
Boullion (like those things you make soup with)
Pot holders (donºt have them here, my hands are not happy)
Towels (either bath or beach, the ones here donºt absorb anything)
Flame deflector (for gas stoves)
Backpacks (like school ones, Eastpack or Jansport or whatever - joshºs broke and we bought another and it lasted literaly 2 days before it broke)
Books!
Itºs expensive to ship stuff here if it weighs a lot, but stuff under two pounds is really cheap in a bubble envelope, so if you can find a couple free towels or sheets on free cycle, and send them seperatly in an envelope, it would probably only cost a few dollars in shipping!
Much love, and more pics soon,
Dove
A veggie peeler
Pillow cases (you canºt buy them individually here) - yellow, orange or white would be cool
Fitted sheets (again, canºt get them here and itºs driving me nuts!)
Art, as in stuff to hang on our walls, preferably stuff our friends have made!
Soy sauce
Hot sauces
Boullion (like those things you make soup with)
Pot holders (donºt have them here, my hands are not happy)
Towels (either bath or beach, the ones here donºt absorb anything)
Flame deflector (for gas stoves)
Backpacks (like school ones, Eastpack or Jansport or whatever - joshºs broke and we bought another and it lasted literaly 2 days before it broke)
Books!
Itºs expensive to ship stuff here if it weighs a lot, but stuff under two pounds is really cheap in a bubble envelope, so if you can find a couple free towels or sheets on free cycle, and send them seperatly in an envelope, it would probably only cost a few dollars in shipping!
Much love, and more pics soon,
Dove
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