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.

I lived in Safende for 18 days with my host family; Teresa Vaz the mother, Isa (23) the daughter, Zidane (2) the son, Jovani (3) nephew, and Elton John (7) nephew. The community of Safende began as an informal section of northern Praia. A few dwellings turned into hundreds if not thousands. The Italian NGO Africa 70, an Italian non-governmental organization (NGO) working on urban planning and problems in Africa, the Middle East and Central America created in 1970, estimates that only five percent of the homes are legally built in Safende and Calabaceira, (2005). Safende has grown so large it has been accepted by authorities as a community with its own primary school and community center. There is only one dirt road that enters Safende from the main road. The river empties into Safende, when dry, turning into roads, paths, and people’s homes. The community is rather large, and I never had a chance to explore its entirety. Living in Safende for over a week, I started to become more comfortable with the terrain and people in the community. The first week of out stay, I had Isa or her boyfriend Adellino meet Lee and I by the main road so they could escort us through the town. I can recall the first night I came home by myself at 8:30pm and the mother, Teresa, answered the door and was happily surprised to see me alone. She did not believe me at first, and looked out the door to see who escorted me home. I finally felt comfortable traveling home alone and Teresa was proud of me doing so. Another time, Lee and I came home at 1 am, and there was not a soul in sight. Walking home at night was difficult with no streetlights; the only lights coming from porch lights and my cell phone.

Throughout the trip I was immersed in Cape Verdean language, music, dance, waste management, food, water, transportation, architecture and children. This total emersion proved to be the best aspect of the trip. It is difficult to pick one particular instance of the trip as my favorite due to all of the amazing times I had. Being immersed each day with the people and their culture allowed me to see Cape Verdeans

The hardest adjustments to Cape Verdean life was dealing with water. Adjusting to a limited supply of water on a daily basis was the hardest yet most interesting. Since there is no infrastructure bringing pressurized water into the homes in Safende, everyone transports their own water on a daily basis to their residence. This is done every morning by Isa and her mother, carrying 25l containers of water on their heads, roughly 1400 feet round trip from their home to the water source in Safende. The water was kept in 4 plastic barrels, 100-125 liters each, and was used for the family to drink, cook with, and clean their clothes with. I did not drink the water, even with the purifying water bottle I had. Instead the family purchased 5 liters of bottled water for me. This proved to be the best way for me to consume water. If someone wants hot water for a shower, one would boil water to mix with cool water. Not being capable to turn on the shower and rinse off, I was faced with my first realization of how much water I use back in the States. When Isa showed me around the house and finally led me to the bathroom, she asked if I wanted to wash off, showing me how to fill the tub in the shower and rinse off with a small pale. Although I did miss having a pressurized hot shower, it felt nice to cool off after a hot day outdoors.

The food on the other hand, was cooked thoroughly and I had no hesitations eating. Being that I love to eat and I love food and experiencing new cuisines, I was excited to be immersed in their traditional delicacies. Food was plentiful and filling containing; rice, beans, legumes, potatoes, plantains, yams, which were staple carbohydrates. Proteins came in the form of chicken, fish and on occasion pork. Vegetables such as carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, potatoes, and beans were evident in almost every meal I had with my family, and throughout my experiences in restaurants and cafes. When traveling along the coasts near the ocean, I had the pleasure of having seafood: mussels, shrimp, calamari, squid and fish. The food in Cape Verde was something I got used to having every day and now, being back in the states, it’s one of the things I miss most.

One thing that has really left its mark on me is the waste problem in Cabo Verde. It was unnerving to travel around Praia and see this beautiful landscape littered with garbage and human excrement. Walking through Safende, there are no dumpsters and no trash pickup. When I asked my host family where they put their waste they said, “The solid waste is thrown into a bag and thrown into the street or burned in the back of the home next to the garden.” Food scraps were thrown to the cat and chicken they had inside their home. All other food scraps that were not consumed by the animals were tossed into a bucket. Sadly did not utilize this compost for soil enrichment. Instead, they tossed the compost over the edge outside or down into the septic tank. The septic tank handled the toilet, sink, and bathtub wastewater.

Not all things are perfect and Cabo Verde is not an exception. Being on the island for 18 days was amazing. Having access to the mountains and beach was remarkable; though the problems of waste are not covered up by the beautiful landscape. If there were things I could change about this trip, it would be to lengthen the experience. For me, I would have liked to learn more about waste management and how the government feels about it, and what they plan on doing. Also, I would have thoroughly enjoyed visiting the other islands and compare them with the island of Santiago…maybe next time. The only disappointments I had during this trip would be the piles of garbage everywhere. It truly was disgusting and I hated seeing it. This problem of waste management is something I had been interested in during the whole trip and trying to figure out ways in which they can begin to solve their problem. Maybe after some research and some problem solving, we can determine a suitable alternative to dumping everything in the river or alongside their houses.

Arriving in Cabo Verde was a positive culture-shock; arriving back home to the states was a negative culture-shock. My view on Americans and our lifestyles has always been critical ever since I traveled for the first time to Poland, at the age of 8, as well as my recent trip this summer to Paris, Germany, Poland, Holland and Denmark. Though Cabo Verde is not European, the people have a similar demeanor and way of life. In the United States we have a very fast pace of life and have a great demand. Coming back from an island that has its own leisurely pace of life and minimal demand on I felt out of place in my own community. Arriving in the States, I was not ready to go back to my old lifestyle; taking long hot showers, throwing away all my food scraps in the trash, always rushing to be on time.