The Past Year

Since coming back from Cape Verde last winter, my life has changed drastically in ways that I wouldn’t have expected or predicted. For one, I found myself going to grad school in Auburn, Alabama. Auburn is a place so different from Milwaukee, that it might as well be a different country; there is different food, a distinctly different culture, and people lack the ability to drink at all. Despite this I have found that I have enjoyed the much warmer climate, great people, and real world projects that I have gotten involved with down here. They have helped me to realize that while I enjoy living in the Midwest, it isn’t the place that I enjoy so much as the great people and opportunities that it provided.

Of the many opportunities that my stay in Auburn provided, the one that I have enjoyed the most down here has been working with people from different backgrounds, occupations, and areas of the country. It has allowed me the opportunity to see how different people think, work, and approach life.  Below is as an example from one of the latest projects that I worked on. In this project, we attempted to reuse an old industrial building, transforming it from an eyesore into a cultural hub, and Industrial Art Center for the City of Chattanooga, TN. Due to the multiple disciplines that were involved we were able to produce a building that not only fit in with the budget and schedule that the city desired, but also the aesthetic and narrative quality that the city wanted to pursue.

As I wrap up my stay in Auburn, I hope that these opportunities continue to allow me to experience something different than the life that I had gotten used to back in the Midwest. I feel that, just like in Cape Verde, these experiences have allowed me to grow, see, and experience aspects of the world that I would never have guessed would have even existed.

Cape Verde Experience

When we arrived in Praia I was excited yet nervous at the same time. I got kind of worried when I tried to communicate with my new “mother” for the first time and failed. She couldn’t understand me and I couldn’t understand her. We quickly adapted the use of a sort of sign language between us. The difficulties with communication between me and my host family were not as apparent as with other students. I may have not known any Portuguese or Creole, but the majority of the family members knew at least a little bit of English. Since most of them knew at least some English I never really felt forced to learn the language. Looking back at the experience I wish that I would have been forced a little more to learn their language. I think it would have been a more impactful experience had I learned more Portuguese.

I believe my lack of knowledge about their language greatly impacted my overall experience. The first night I spent with my family was actually a fairly scary time for me. I had no idea what I was supposed to be doing, were I was supposed to go, or how I was supposed to get there. I felt vary cut off from everyone and everything. The scariest time came when one of the family members (Jica) took my phone and walked off into someone’s house. I had no idea why she was taking my phone. The reason I was so scared was because that phone was the only way I could communicate with anyone else from the UWM group, and she had just walked off with it into someone’s house without being able to communicate to me the reason for doing so.

To Hell and back

My first impressions upon arriving in Cabo Verde/Inferno were those of sheer excitement. This was exactly the kind of place I was looking for and I couldn’t wait to meet my host family. As odd as it may sound I was thrilled by the lack of infrastructure, the size of my house and the generally poor nature of the area. Since I was looking to have an experience as different as possible from my daily life these aspects were all a dream come true.

Life in Cape Verde to put it bluntly was great and I enjoyed every minute of it. I adapted easily to the slower pace of life. I quickly lost my cell phone that I never checked anyway and did not miss TV or the internet. I will say the pace of life in Inferno was much more to my liking than in Plateau. Praia was much busier and crowded and I preferred Inferno hands down. Plateau was my least favorite place to be in Praia.

More from Cape Verde

I miss Cabo Verde, being there.
I miss the people the most, the interactions, whether one-on-one or in a group sitting down for lunch. The weather too, it’s impossible to not miss high 70’s and no rain. The culture, the 'pace of life’, island time, we were a good fit. It’s a good thing to have a plan but there has to be some flexibility to it, it’s good to just step back, relax, and go with things sometimes. That was one aspect I liked about CV, about its culture, their ability and mentality to do that. To take a deep breath and relax, live (not saying that living in Praia is sand beaches and all-you-can-drink papaya juice every day, it is just a very different culture than ours in America).

This mentality was evidenced on many occasions. Whether it was meetings being delayed by one, sometimes two hours; my own host family knowing that ‘meet at Cafe Sophia by 8 am’ in reality meant that I didn’t have to leave for the cafe until, at the earliest, 8 am; to the construction workers drinking grogue while laying cement blocks at ten in the morning. The drive from the airport to our neighborhoods was the first, and probably best, example of this type of lifestyle. It struck me, how many people were standing/sitting outside their homes, on the curb of the street, like it was the only thing to do. Maybe in some cases it was only thing to do, but that fact doesn’t matter. In a way it was refreshing, that they were outside, communicating. Even if they were not directly communicating with another person they were still communicating with their surroundings, and they were communicating with me even if they didn’t realize it.

Cabo Verde 2011 Safende

The trip to Cabo Verde would not have been the same without the experience of a home-stay. Arriving 5 hours late in Praia, we were all tired, hungry and eager to spend time on the island. I was more than eager to begin observing and absorbing as much as I could in 18 days. Arriving at the airport, we met our hosts and families. I felt eager and nervous, but without a doubt, I was excited to experience everything about Cabo Verde. I look over and see the families holding out pieces of paper with each of our names: Natalie Dulka…Adam Spoerii…Lee Eckert. I spot my name and go introduce myself to my host family. A beautiful girl, Isa, greets me. We exchange kisses and say hello. Naya, our young energetic student host, instructs us to proceed to the bus so we can go to our respective homes. Isa and I sit next to each other on the bus, trying to speak fragments to each other of what we want to say, she knows Portuguese, Creole, French and some English. I apologize to her and told her I only know some Spanish, and very little Portuguese and Creole. We laugh and we both know that this trip will be an experience for both of us.

Final Experiences from Cabo Verde

My experience in Cape Verde was sort of mixed, as I experienced many great things, but also had to deal with a lot of complications. The largest complication was the neighborhood I lived in Cidadela. It was by no means a terrible neighborhood, rather a gated community where everyone kept to themselves.

Cidadela had a lack of basic infrastructure. While the roads were paved, they lacked sidewalks, streetlights, public transportation routes, and were of poor quality .It was a four or five minute walk to catch a bus and get groceries. Even without those basic amenities, I never felt isolated from everything or felt danger while walking home at night. All this lack of infrastructure was odd to me, as Cidadela was a planned neighborhood, viewed as an upscale development. I would think that street lights would be a first step in the development process, but I guess it isn’t a priority.

OMG is that a crocodile?!

Trying to summarize the last three weeks is a nearly impossible task but I will take my best shot at it: Our grand entrance at the airport was a pretty decent preview of how the entire trip would go, arriving 5 hours late in true “island time” fashion, greeted by an entourage consisting of university students, peace corps members, Patricia, and our paparazzi, Joao. The first night there, when I got dumped off (after a hectic day and long bus ride around Praia) at my host family’s cozy Kobon abode, without anyone else who spoke English, having no idea where I was or how to navigate the lack of roads in Kobon; I did not think I would be in tears when I was forced to leave 3 weeks later.

Summary of my experience

Alli Mastel


Our arrival in Cape Verde was, to me, characterized by a sense of chaotic overstimulation: trying to see, do and understand everything at once. Many differences between Cape Verde and the US were immediate and striking; it was impossible to ignore that not all roads were paved, not all neighborhoods were planned, that water was scarce and electricity was unreliable. I expected there to be drastic differences and planned on doing all I could to adapt, and this mental preparation made it relatively easy for me to take all changes in stride.

On the other hand, I had not mentally prepared for my return to American life being a dramatic change, and the strangeness of the return sometimes caught me off guard.

3 Weeks in Hell

Joseph Buccini

Explaining my Cabo Verdean experience was very much more difficult than I had initially thought. Upon arriving home to the US, I was asked by my friends and family to tell them all about it. Hearing this, all I could say at first is how amazing of an experience it was to go there and spend three weeks with a family, my new family. I didn’t know where to start explaining my experience, there were so many different things that I wanted to say all at once, and at the same time I had no idea how to express it to them in a way that they would understand. There are a couple things that for me, sum up the experience in Cabo Verde. These would be the ideas of: resources, and community, in the United States vs. Cabo Verde.

Cape Verde Rehashed

Jason Axt

First Impressions:
On the first day it was evident that Praia was very different and much more complex than I had initially thought. It has the obvious problems of water quality, water supply, energy supply and consumption. Also it has deeper conflicts concerning unclear property laws, a conflict between cultural mentality and legalities, incomplete construction tendencies, a normality of stealing utilities, a non-regulatory taxation, corrupt government, and a culture that is heavily influenced by the Portuguese, Brazilians, and Americans. Most things, including politics and media, were influenced by the Portugal, African mainland, Brazil, or America. I found it hard to find things that were historically true to Cape Verdean culture. Cape Verde is a developing country with many physical and political issues that need to be rethought in order to grow and sustain its people, culture, and beautiful landscapes.

My Experience in Cabo Verde

Nick Mather

Before getting to Cape Verde, my idea of what it would be like can be adequately described by looking at neighborhoods such as Kobon and Inferno. From pictures I had seen of the island nation. I was expecting to live in one room concrete shacks with dirt floors and no electricity or water. I was quite nervous about the experience, but also very excited. When we landed in Cape Verde and I saw the city of Praia, I was overwhelmed with how wrong I was. For the most part, Cape Verde is pretty developed with a main city center including plazas, stores, and government buildings. This is not to say that there weren’t areas where living was as simple as a one room house with little amenities. The toughest part about arrival was how late we were, and being shoved into a new environment where communication is difficult, and not knowing how the locals live. When I got to my house in Palmarejo I was surprised at how nice it was. My house has four bedrooms and two bathrooms, which both include showers and toilets (not working of course). We also had a nice kitchen and family room. My host family was also very accommodating. I lived with a group of students of the university, and most of them had some English in high school. Two of my host brothers, Higino and Alberto (Nivo), were really interested in learning more English, and while they encouraged my development of the local language, Creole, they wanted me to teach them more English. Over my stay we had many conversations about the differences in life between Cape Verde and the United States.

Comparing Cape Verde

First impressions:

My first instinct was to compare Cape Verde with the other places I have visited on study abroad trips. I have been to Europe and India and both are very different from each other and from Cape Verde and Africa in general. I think that my previous experiences may have hindered myself from getting used to the culture and the way of life right away. I am well versed in culture shock and consider myself pretty understanding about varying ways of life - but this was much different.

I actually hated the first day we got there. I hated the fact that we got off the plane and were literally thrown into our homes without any communication about the next time we would all see each other or proper instruction on how to use our phones. I actually don’t even remember what I felt when I got to my house. Naya told me that when she left me I looked freaked out.

After the first night, the first thing I noticed was that I stood out. People on the streets would hiss and call out to me saying “blanca, blanca”. This bothered me. In my travels, I have always been told to ignore hawkers on the streets so that is what I did. However, it was difficult to decide when to ignore them. When I turned on to my particular street, those who were calling out to me ended up being people who I knew or who recognized me and wanted to get to know me.

Cape Verde Reflection

Coming back from Cape Verde left me with a very weird feeling in the pit of my stomach. I knew I wanted to be back, to hang out with friends, and to get back into the swing of school, but I could not help but feel as if I was leaving a part of myself behind. The people that I met, from the Island and from our school group, have become an important part of my life in such a short period of time. The experiences from Cape Verde will always be in the back of my mind, influencing my decisions and approach to design in the future.

Photos