Hi Everyone!!!! Sorry....Sorry....Sorry. It has almost been a year since last time I wrote. But Iºll do a little catch up. These are just some things that I have been up too:

Girls´ Group (every month)Leadership Program (Muda bu Vida (change your life)Informational meetings with youth about problems they are facingExpositions with STDs and DrugsHoliday Activities for kids here at the youth centerEveryday organizing (coping, filing, creating forms, collecting data and analyzing it, etc.)Everyday dramaI am officially leaving Peace Corps and Cape Verde at the beginning of SeptemberFinishing up activities and my responsibilities at the center so I can whole hearted say goodbye to Cape VerdeIºll put some pics up so you can see them. Iºm in a transitioning stage. Iºm ready to go because I know I donºt belong here, but at the same time this was my life for two years. Iºm excited to go back to the states and discover more of the American culture. My two years here have made me meditate on me and who I am. Itºs been a challenging two years, but two years I wouldnºt trade for anything.

Acampamento de Meninas –

“Sua Mente… Seu Corpo… Sua Escolha”

“Your mind… your body… your choice”

From September 1st until September 5th 2008, my colleague Dannielle Thomas and I organized and implemented a girls’ camp in Ribeireta, Sao Miguel in Cape Verde. It was for girls from the conselho/(county) of Sao Miguel, which is the county where I live in in Cape Verde. We had 15 girls attend from three different parts of the county. They ranged in age from 11 to 15. We had four youth leaders help during the five days by leading events and helping the girls. We had sessions on making good decisions, leadership, AIDS, teen pregnancy, relationships, and male and female roles. Luckily we had a doctor from the local hospital come talk to the girls about AIDS, pregnancy, and ways of protecting yourself. Another day we had a woman come and talk with the girls about gender equality. Everyday we had art, theater, sports, and we had the girls journal about different subjects. For projects the girls did: “what is a good leader”, “what is AIDS”, “express yourself through art”, “what is art”, and “positive qualities everyone has”. At night we watched Scenarios de Africa which are short films done by people in Africa about AIDS. We watched them and had discussions about them. The girls were open for everything and all things. They enjoyed everything, and can’t wait for next year!

Over all I loved working and playing with the girls, but it was a lot of hard work. The most difficult part was finding money for our budget, which consisted of mostly food for five days. Dannielle and I ran everywhere asking for money, which didn’t come till the second day of camp, so we had volunteers from the center, where I work, run around asking the citizens of Calheta, Veneza, and Ponta Verde for donations of food. Luckily no one went hungry, but everyday we had to go somewhere and get something. It was a good thing that Dannielle likes doing that, because I stayed and did the overall running of the camp by leading or starting activities.

By the end of the camp Dannielle and I were both exhausted but feeling good for all the hard work we put into it. At times it seemed like the camp wouldn’t succeed, but thanks to everyone in Sao Miguel and back in the states we had a successful girls’ camp where 15 girls made new friendships, were educated on important issues, and had opportunities that don’t normally get.

Thank you for all your generosity and for thinking of me and the kids here in Cape Verde. Your donations have made a difference to the kids here. Thank you!!!:)

*please remember to visit my facebook site for more pictures of everything I talk about and my everyday life.

Hi everyone! I hope everything is going well. I wanted to take this time and talk about casamentos in Cape Verde. A casamento is a wedding. Here in Cape Verde weddings are a big deal, and usually cost a lot of money, so not many people get married, but for the ones that do it is an affair to remember.

On July 26th, my host mom Dilma married Pepe a guy that she has been living with for 8 years. I asked her how he asked her to marry him and she said they just agreed to get married. They don’t have the elaborate marriage proposals that we have in America. Though don’t get me wrong, that does happen it, but it is not the norm. People just decide to get married.

Ok, so from this point on it’s about organizing. All of their families from different countries will come and there will be a three day celebration. The first day is registering and a party; the second day is a party, and the third day is the casamento (wedding) and the reception, another party. So it is partying for three days. All the women that cook for three days never sleep for those three days. I don’t know how they do it, but they do it. The night before the wedding is what we would call the bachelorette party or bachelor party. The “groom to be” goes away and stays somewhere else until the wedding. Here the night before is eating and batuking (the traditional dance here in Cape Verde).

So on the day of the wedding the bride gets ready. For my host mom’s wedding her friends got her ready because she was nervous or sad (I don’t know what) and couldn’t function, so the ladies took over. Now the bride arrives at the church in the nicest car that can be found. But now depending on if you marry in a big city or a small town there can be more than one wedding. When I arrived at the church there were five other brides and grooms there. So that day there were six weddings at the same time. Now if she married in a small town like Calheta where I live, you could just have your own wedding. Here in Calheta there was a wedding where she was walked down the aisle by her father and had music, but that did not happen with my host mom. She arrived, sat with Pepe the “groom to be” and waited for the service to begin.

Now the service was the traditional service: vows, rings, and the kiss. The one difference was there are madrinhas and padrinhos which are godmothers and godfathers. You can have one of each or more than one. My host mom had a godmother and Pepe had a godfather, so they accompanied them doing the service. There were flower girls, but they just sat in the seats with everyone else. You can’t find real flowers here in Cape Verde to use for special occasions. There are real flowers here, but they are scarce and not used for events. Dilma´s bouquet was made of fake flowers. After the service everyone goes out for pictures and then the fun part happens. The bride and groom get in a car and everyone else gets in other vehicles and we have a parade and honk, sing, and dance. It’s so much fun. Ok, so after the parade everyone goes to the reception which is just like the same in the states; you eat, say congratulations, and dance. There is the cutting of the cake too.

The one strange thing about the day is not all of the family goes to the service. For my host mom’s wedding, her mother and two sisters did not come to the ceremony, but stayed and prepared for the reception. The father of the bride went as well as the mother of the groom, but not the mother of the bride. I don’t know why that is, but I guess the women stay and cook and prepare.

In America you can go to city hall or Las Vegas and get married right away; here I just learned you can go to the Registrate's office and have a quick marriage ceremony.

So if you have any more questions about casamentos (weddings) in Cape Verde, just send me an email and I’d love to answer them.

*sorry but this computer is being funky and won't upload the picture, so as soon as I can I'll upload a picture of Dilma and Pepe.

This is a picture of my Mom and me when she was visiting. Aren't we cute?

Hi everyone!! Sorry Sorry Sorry that it has been two months since I have last written. The center no longer has internet, so I don't get on very much anymore, but I usually always update facebook, so you can see up to date pictures there because this blogger only lets me do about one or so.

So what has happened in two months. May was just May. It was preparing for my mom's arrival in June. There were a few bumps in the road with TACV, but all and all I think everything worked out. So I took a few weeks of vacation time and traveled to another island called Fogo. Fogo is known for it's volcano, which you will see in the picture to the left. It was an amazing feeling being in the volcano. It last erupted in 1995, no one is every hurt. I think it gets active every 50 yrs. or so. It was nice visiting another island. I saw Brava from Fogo which is another island. So I konxi (know) 4 islands and have seen 3 islands from other islands. So seeing 7 islands out of 10 is pretty good. My goal is to see as many islands as I can before I leave.

Life know is getting crazy. Since I've been on vacation I haven't been to the center to see how things are going. The new volunteers are coming in a week or two, so I am helping with PST (Pre-Service Training), so that'll last a couple of months. Oh thank you to all who contributed to the things brought to me from my mother for the center. Everything will be put to good use. I also want to thank the little boy, Noah, for reaching out to Cape Verde and helping the kids here with his care package. Thank you Noah. Remember if you have questions or comments please feel free to email me. I might not respond right away, but I will definitely respond. I hope everyone is well. Whitney

So this past weekend I along with some friends went to the biggest music festival in Cape Verde.....Gamboa. It was a three night event starting at 10 p.m. and ending at 6 a.m. It was fun. Music from all over was there. One woman sang Tina Turner, which I enjoyed. The only downside to the weekend was Saturday morning when D and I were walking to lunch I slipped on the sidewalk and messed up my knee, and by that I mean I got a gash in it and needed to go to the hospital for two stiches. I freaked out a little because this was the first time I had to get stiches, but my doctor with Peace Corps helped me, as well as the people in the hospital. All and all a good first experience with getting stiches.

*The image to the right is not an actual picture of Gamboa, but a representation of all the people that go to Gamboa every year.

So last Sunday Dannielle and I put together a recycling art activity for the kids in Veneza and Calheta. About 30 kids came, which is good for a first time event. We made flowers out of little plastic bottles and made picture frames from the tops of beer. We plan to do this every month and try to get more volunteers from the center to help. Next month weºll make caterpillars, and then music instruments, and so on. So if anyone has any ideas for us, please send them my way. It was fun, but very tiring. I also was sick that weekend to with "gripi" which is the flu. Now I´m better and running the center while Nelito works on a campaign. I hope everyone is well.

Riberia Da Barca is located on the water. I lived with Dilma (my mom), Pepe (my dad), Halga (my aunt), Myra (my sister), and Joice (my cousin). At first I was very overwhelmed to be livng in a home of complete strangers, but after two months it was so hard to say goodbye. Luckily I am back on Santiago and can visit them whenever I want to. Look for more photos of Riberia Da Barca at Facebook.com.

So this past weekend I went back to Riberia Da Barca for a visit. Riberia Da Barca for those who donºt know is where I spent my first two months in Cape Verde. I hadnºt been back for 3 months and I knew it when I arrived because all the kids had grown up so much. It was just a one day visit but it was nice to talk with everyone and see everyone. Flat Stanley also came along for the visit. The picture you see is a pig who died and how they clean it. First they burn off the skin and then clean it and cut it up to sell or to eat. It is quite an experience.

So the other day Dannielle and I went searching for a zona in São Miguel (name I donºt know) and we were to late to go because there were only a few cars that go there, so instead we went walking. First we got in a helix (which is a truck with the back enclosed for people to sit), but as we were returning to Calheta the helix decided to take a break so D and I decided to walk and explore the area where we live. We walked through three or four zonas, which would be towns and talked and txigaed (visited) with people and took pictures. By the end of the day we were both worn out, but a successful day none the less. We have good pictures and made new friends.

So...I guess it´s been about 2 weeks or so since I had my dinner party, but let me tell you it was fun. My friend Base (Boz) cooked for Dannielle, me, and his friends; so to return the favor I cooked an American meal for them. I made barbeque chicken, mashed potatoes, biscuits, and made an apple pie for dessert. They enjoyed all of it except the apple pie. Sweets here are not looked upon as much as in the states. Everyone said they liked it and want to learn to make the mashed potatoes. Dinner parties are fun. I suggest everyone to have one. You eat, talk, and later play games. What else is better?

International Women´s Day 8-3-08 (day, month, year)

This year for International Women´s Day, the Center along with OMCV (Women´s Organization in Cabo Verde) teamed up to put together an event where Samira a Cabo Verdeana who is HIV positive talked with people about her story. The nurse from the local hospital talked to everyone as well. They talked about problems women face in Cabo Verde and how to protect themselves.

Batuk which is the traditional dance here was performed. Women put cloth around their waist and feel the music and just dance. People here just dance; it is so refreshing.

The volunteers from the center participated in the event as well.*Oh 27-3-08 is Dia de mulher di Cabo Verde (Cabo Verdeana women´s Day)

My computer class.... it began two months ago with 12-14 people, but now has ended up with 7 mininas (girls). We finish up next Friday. I had no idea how to begin a computer class when Nelito, my boss at the Center asked me to teach a class. I always considered myself an average person when it comes to computers. To begin I asked my friend Jenny another Peace Corps Volunteer, who is a very knowledgable person about computers for help and she gave me books about how to teach Windows, Word, Excel, etc. So to begin I taught "my girls" Windows and Word. I think reading the book and doing the exercises helped them. I know the girls are a lot better now at computers than when they started. They are the greatest group of girls!!!!!:) See the picture. Aren´t they cute????

It also helped that the center just got new computers, so keeping up to date has helped. The weird thing for me is that everyone here wants Excel. For me, I never used Excel, but everyone asks for help, but I tell them I am "fraku" or "weak" at Excel, but will teach them what I know or what Jenny has given for teaching material. Jenny rocks!!!!!

Boa Tarde tudo (Good Afternoon all),

So this is my first blog....exciting!!!!!! So to begin Iºll just talk about an average day for me. I get up at 8 a.m. and go to work at 9 a.m. I teach an aula de informatica (computer class) from 9-11 a.m. Then from there things get busy. Because the center got internet there are txeu (lots) of people who come in to use it and Iºm in charge of keeping track of you is where and how long they use the computer. At first it was very overwhelming, but now Iºm starting to organize more. If anyone has any ideas on how to organize please pass them my way. I can use all the help I can get. So anyway from there I try to get work done for up coming classes or fazi avisos (make flyers) for up coming events, but because there are so many people coming in and out of the center it makes "my time" nearly impossible. So anyway I leave at three and then work out at the polivalent (sports center), make dinner, watch Roswell (thank you mom) and go to bed. Thatºs pretty much an average day for me. Not too exciting, but I love it nonetheless.

Oh yesterday I cooked Cape Verdean which meant cooking whole fish, (which I did not clean because I donºt know how) by frying them, making arroz (rice) and batata fritas (french fries). That is one typical Cape Verdean meal. I didnºt expect french fries to be here when I came, but was that much more surprised, when in restaurants you usually always get french fries with meals. But my favorite meal in Cape Verde is Gallinha (chicken), arroz, batata fritas, and ensalada (salad). Yum Yum Yum!!!!! Love it love it love it!!!!!

Ok so for my first blog I think I did alright. Any questions or concerns please donºt hesitate to contact me.

Also you will notice that my blog has little treats that I would like or ideas on how help the center. Iºll keep you up to date this way more than I think emailing.

Ok, (I like to say ok) hope everyone is well. HAPPY BIRTHDAY WENDY!!!!!!!