At my school here in Ribeira Brava, I teach 6 classes.  For those of you not familiar with the Cape Verdean education system (aka everyone reading this blog) there are a couple things I need to explain.  First of all school runs from mid-September until the beginning of July.  At my school, 10th, 11th, and 12th [...]

I often catch myself daydreaming about America. These dreams are usually not made up of anything fantastic, just something I miss about the States. Sitting at Tracey’s Tavern on a Friday night with friends. Watching the Bears. Driving a car. Going to a restaurant. In the beginning, there were often days were I found myself [...]

Here is someone else’s take on their Peace Corps experience that I ripped off of another volunteer’s blog (sorry Beach).  I like this write up…particularly the parts about displacing all those lost Midwesterners and learning to live with a level of chaos.  I also think that a good amount of it rings true…the parts about [...]

Here is something I sent out in an email to a couple of people back in September of 2008, when I was still living with a host family on the island of Santiago.  I lived with them in a small, rural town for my 9 weeks of Peace Corps Training.  Those 9 weeks were wonderful, [...]

Most of my meals in the States came from one of three places.  They were:   1. My mother (this is embarrassing to admit, but it is true) 2. A McDonald’s bag (this is embarrassing to admit, but it is true) 3. The microwave (Easy Mac) But here in Cape Verde I do not own a [...]

Let me do my best to describe my life here: I can see the ocean from my bedroom window.  From the roof you get a full view of the mountains that encircle us in this hilly town.  There is also a dog on the roof.  Her name is Lassie.  Lassie is awful.  Imagine a giant [...]

The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S government or the Peace Corps. I’ve set up this blog to document my thoughts, feelings, experiences, etc., etc., as I travel from Westmont, IL, to Praia, Cape Verde, and beyond.  I do not know how often I will [...]