The Cape Verde Chronicles Part 1

A long time ago, in a galaxy far far away, a young man changed forever. He had a lot of growing up to do. There would be no going back after that change. And if it hadn't been for those experiences, he may not be where he is today or treasure the little things in life that we all take for granted. Here are the lost letters I found while digging through several boxes. My mother kept all of my emails and printed them off. This week I kick off a series called the Cape Verde Chronicles. Eleven years later, I share with you some of my younger thoughts about West Africa and the tiny island nation of Cape Verde.....

My host family in Praia

Letter written on July 24th, 2000
"Hi there!!!

Well the world amazes me sometimes.....I am here fine....and I will have a phone down the road.....I will let you know.....we have to rent the internet by the hour....it's like 2 dollars here to do it....and everyone and their mother wants to use it.

I love it here and it is very pretty in some areas....but it's definitely 3rd world....and very much polluted....it's weird....I'm not having culture shock because it reminds me of Mexico.....however the language is a struggle from time to time but my Spanish has been very very helpful....the little Portuguese I know has been made stronger by the people conversing with me....it's very very hot here and the islands are little more than bare rocks in the middle of nowhere....after 9 weeks here I will know which island I will be going to and hopefully speaking the languages almost fluently......

I have met wonderful people here and I have also met several crack pots....and I wondered how they got into the Peace Corps....they have been slowly phased out during our training due to stress.....and there is stress.....but I live for this stuff.....I am very happy and very content to be here......when we landed I became excited by this new chapter in my life. 

The school I would teach at

Well it's not exactly the Hilton here and the food is something to be desired....you know how much I hate fish.....well, I haven't eaten any of it so my dietary choices are very limited....n ka gosta peix!....yuck!  I have eaten ants in my rice.....I didn't think they saw those little guys there while they were boiling the rice.....um....it's just very different.....I don't really look forward to dinner time here, but I do love this stuff called cachupa.

We went to the beach yesterday and it was weird to see naked people swimming.....people would just jump off the cliff butt naked.....I wish I could be that free with my own body.

We have school almost everyday and everyday I am with 29 other people which is a little overwhelming at times......because I am used to the quiet and privacy of my own world.....but there are some very special people in this group that I can see turning into lifetime friends.....

There are 2 islands that everyone wants to live on....Sao Antao....the greenest and prettiest island of them all and Sao Vicente.....it has a very beautiful city known as Mindelo which holds the best carnaval and it is said to be the "least African" of all the islands with a lot of European and Portuguese traditions left behind....My wish is Sao Antao because the island has plants and I miss them here. I am going through a withdrawal of gardening.

Well I'll be back and emailing again at this internet cafe in Praia.....all my love to everyone.......Kreesh, my new adopted name on the islands. "

Looking back on all of this, I smile.   I did a lot of growing up in that space of time.  I didn't end up on the greenest of islands but instead....the driest!  More tales this week....