Ah, yes, our first experience running out of water. We all knew it was coming right? But first, a weekend update...
This may have been the most "normal" of weekends we've spent in Cape Verde thus far (minus the lack of water, but we're not to that point yet). On Thursday, we went out for pizza with some friends. Then on Friday, we had dinner at the other PCV's house in Porto Novo. It was an interesting mix of American and Cape Verdean - the people, the food and the drinks. C made some fabulous lasagna and a Cape Verdean fruit and cream dessert. I whipped up some garlic bread and brought some red wine, and a couple other folks brought the fixin's for some Caiparinhas, sort of the Cape Verdean equivilant of Mojitos. The food was great, the wine was...well...cheap, and the caiparinhas were perfect for a relaxing island evening, sipping on the balcony under the stars. Around midnight we decided to go out to a local club near me and Josh's place. Typically people here don't go out until that late and then stay out until dawn. This is most likely why this weekend is the first time Josh and I ventured out - we're just getting too old for that!
We stopped first at our place to show folks around, and it was nice to have company and play host for a while. I'd forgotten how much I like to have people over to hang out. Then we trotted off to the club, which in the end we decided not to go into after sitting outside and mingling for a bit - I think we were all tired. The next day people came over to our place to veg a bit and enjoy some fresh brewed mint iced green tea. We did some laundry (in record time I might add: 38 minutes!) and then went off to catch a soccer game, which I have to admit I still find borring. BUT the idea was to mingle with the community, to spend more time doing with people in Porto Novo do, and thus the goal was achieved. After we went for pizza again and then took a nap before our CV friend took us out to the other discotheque in town. We still spent a good amount of time outside, but this time we actually went in (honestly it seems like more people hang out outside the clubs than go inside...plus there are usually small bars and food stands outside that you can go to, which are cheaper than the drinks inside, so I think part of it is a money issue). The club was crazy. Layout wise it was pretty similar to clubs in America, but there was this one very disorienting strobe light that drove us nuts all night. I immediatly was dragged out to dance (being the only white woman in the club and being taken for a tourist) and had to politely peel several very intoxicated men off of me, who's grasp of the english language appeared to stop at "I like you. You are very beautiful." It is definately a good idea for women to go to clubs with men they trust who can come to their rescue if necessary. Of course, this applies in the States as well, who are we kidding. Our evening ended around 4am at which point we exhaustedly fell into a blissful sleep.
Okay so let me backtrack for a minute here, to when we were doing laundry on Saturday. Josh went up to the roof later that night to take our clothes down and when he did, he saw two people we didn't recognize on top of the water tanks taking water out. The way water works at our place, apparently, is that water pumped up from the street to the roof of the house, fills a cement tank on the roof of the house (each apartment should have one), and then when you turn your water on the water flows from the tank into your sink with the assistance of gravity. So when I heard people on the roof (no one uses the roof but me and Josh, so I can tell when people walk up the stairs and new it was strange), Josh went to investigate. Each tank has a lock on it so pepole can't steal the water, but one of the tanks had the lock busted off and the two people had climbed on top of the 7ft tanks and were dipping in to fill buckets of water. Josh asked them what was up and they said they had no water in the apartment downstairs. On their way down, we showed them in our apartment that we did, in fact, still have water. Also, neither of the people on the roof were people we'd ever seen in the apartment downstairs, so we thought maybe they'd come in off the street to steal our water. I talked to the other PCV in town who confirmed this is done and that we needed to get a new lock for our tank.
Sunday, we notice our water pressure seems low, and then all of a sudden it stops. As in our toilet won't flush, our sinks are dry. We call the other PCV again and she tells us we need to wait until Monday to go to the water company. In the mean time, we have no water to cook, bathe, do dishes, drink....all those things that you do with water. So, we did what every good Cape Verdean would do in this situation: we climbed on top of the water tanks on top of house and took water out of the tank with the broken lock (which obviously wasn't ours, since our tank was dry). It was pretty hilarious - Josh laying on his stomach 7ft up on this huge concrete tank, dipping a pitcher into the water, dumping into my bucket below, then bringing it all downstairs to fill a wash tub to bathe in and the sink to do dishes in. Yes, probably not the most honest thing in the world to do, but seeing as we had to go to work the next day and it would have been two days without a shower, it seemed to be the best option. Oh plus, we were thirsty!
So the rest of Sunday we hung low, not wanting to torture the rest of our community with our unbathed selves, and wanting to spend some time alone since we'd been hanging out with others so much that weekend. Monday, the other PCV came with us to the water company, and it turns out they turned off our water for six months of non payment, and that to turn it back on, we had to pay the six months of back payments PLUS a fee to turn it back on. Given that we'd only been here for a month, and that it meant the water had been turned off for a while (seeing as we drained the whole tank...), Peace Corps obviously said they would reimburse us for the cost the months we weren't there and the cost to turn it back on. So we paid up and waited another 24 hours before the water actually came on. Fortunately we've been pretty good about learning how to conserve water, so we needed very little to get by for a couple of days.
I don't know if there is a moral to the story, except to pay your water bill...except that our first bill arrived after they'd already shut our water off...and we don't really understand why the water to the whole building was shut off, ie the apartment downstairs....or if we somehow paid for their water to get turned back on too...or if they don't pay their water, if ours will get shut off again too...but I guess the moral could be that water is good. And you miss it when it's gone. A lot.
The end.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Friday, October 24, 2008
Small successes, big happiness
Just wanted to post a little update about my work here. Today my boss at the Camara came in to talk to me and asked how my Kriolu was going. I told him it was going ok and that maybe he and I could sit down and talk about my job to see what else I may want to work on language wise. He told me that my job would be to work in the community with people and groups to offer information sessions and individual help on accessing micro credit. I showed him my flash cards of Portuguese business and development words, and he was impressed that I had been putting in so much effort to learn that sort of terminology. I asked him for more information on the micro credit programs they have in CV in Portuguese (written - nothing is written in Kriolu) and told him I could work with another volunteer that speaks English and Portuguese to help me translate it so I could understand it. So now I have more of a focus...he still said the most important thing is for me to keep learning the language so that I can answer questions about micro credit and help people fill out applications etc. and that without the language I really can't do much, but it felt GREAT to at least have a conversation about what my work will entail.
In addition, another volunteer who works at the high school and I are starting a secondary project. It was kind of funny, I had been tossing this idea around in my head of starting a small college information center at the high school, where the students could come and get information on scholarships and international schooling - typically, during 10th grade the school psychologist gives a small talk on post-high school options, and from what I gather the talk is basically just to steer the students in a certain way, either towards trade work or higher education. But after that, there is not a lot of guidence or follow up to see the students through. My idea, based on a few conversations I've had with students who have just graduated and are wanting to go to university but aren't sure how to make it happen, was to train the psychologist in internet research and develop a small on line database or even just links to websites that have information on scholarships etc. Also, we could work with the psychologist on using testing/surveys or something of that nature to help guide the students toward potential careers and then show them how to make those career ideas a reality.
So I mentioned all this to another volunteer, and she was like Dove, I've been thinking about the same thing, putting together a book of scholarships and school options. So we decided to join forces and see if we can't make it a joint project between the school and the Camara to help with funding (and plus, any promotion local government can get with regards to education has to be a bonus for them as well!). I think we are going to start working on survey's for students to get a better idea of what information they currently have and what information may be useful to them in the future. She teaches in the afternoons so that leaves every morning free for her and I to work together on this. Super stoked!
So that's the recent news on my work side of things!! I'm pretty exited and, although I thought I would be doing youth development and not micro credit, I'm happy to be getting some experience in that field. As far as development work goes, micro credit is huge right now, and I can't think of any better experience than serving in the Peace Corps in a country on the cusp of "least developed nation" and "medium developed nation" status, in need of volunteers to help train it's citizens in becoming financially self sufficient.
Feelin' good,
Dove
In addition, another volunteer who works at the high school and I are starting a secondary project. It was kind of funny, I had been tossing this idea around in my head of starting a small college information center at the high school, where the students could come and get information on scholarships and international schooling - typically, during 10th grade the school psychologist gives a small talk on post-high school options, and from what I gather the talk is basically just to steer the students in a certain way, either towards trade work or higher education. But after that, there is not a lot of guidence or follow up to see the students through. My idea, based on a few conversations I've had with students who have just graduated and are wanting to go to university but aren't sure how to make it happen, was to train the psychologist in internet research and develop a small on line database or even just links to websites that have information on scholarships etc. Also, we could work with the psychologist on using testing/surveys or something of that nature to help guide the students toward potential careers and then show them how to make those career ideas a reality.
So I mentioned all this to another volunteer, and she was like Dove, I've been thinking about the same thing, putting together a book of scholarships and school options. So we decided to join forces and see if we can't make it a joint project between the school and the Camara to help with funding (and plus, any promotion local government can get with regards to education has to be a bonus for them as well!). I think we are going to start working on survey's for students to get a better idea of what information they currently have and what information may be useful to them in the future. She teaches in the afternoons so that leaves every morning free for her and I to work together on this. Super stoked!
So that's the recent news on my work side of things!! I'm pretty exited and, although I thought I would be doing youth development and not micro credit, I'm happy to be getting some experience in that field. As far as development work goes, micro credit is huge right now, and I can't think of any better experience than serving in the Peace Corps in a country on the cusp of "least developed nation" and "medium developed nation" status, in need of volunteers to help train it's citizens in becoming financially self sufficient.
Feelin' good,
Dove
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
One month down, 23 to go! (Josh)
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
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
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
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