So it turns out that I am about as crafty in Cape Verde as I am in the United States. Not so much. In November I decided to be a joiner and attend a week-long workshop at the Brazilian Cultural Center to make holiday decorations. Being that we are going to stay put for the holiday season, I thought it would be a good idea to brighten our house with some festive decor.
After the first night was spent listening to the instructor, in Portuguese, lecture us on the appropriate colors of the holidays season [don’t you dare use purple to decorate your Christmas Tree!] I was not sure I was even going to return the second night. Turns out, I have nothing else to do. So I showed up on Tuesday with my homework complete. I was to cut out fabric Christmas Trees. Upon arrival at class I found out we were going to have to sew these things together, turn them inside out, stuff them and make little pillow ornaments out of them (see lead photo). I thought, “How hard could that be?” Wow. Sewing. Way hard. To add insult to injury I attended this class with two women, Joy who is an exceptional sewer and Susan who certainly understated her experience sewing, both from different generations than me, if you know where I am going with this. Not to replay the whole conversation, but at one point it was said, “Your mother doesn't sew, how does she get through life?”
On night three, I have decided I am just done sewing. I really don't care if everyone in the class has made four different ornaments and I have yet to finish my one. I am done. I eye the glue gun when I get there and am ready to rock it out with that. The whole night everyone is telling me how beautiful my candy dish looks the way I decorated it with these red and green rocks, so I think I am doing a fantastic job. Until I get home and show said candy dish to my lovely husband. That is when I realize this candy dish is actually kind of ugly (though now I secretly love it). What's worse is that I had three burnt fingers to show for it.
The fourth night Susan had the brilliant idea to bring wine to class. Not only did this loosen all of us up (and that is when my creative juices really took off), but it also offered us a new prop to decorate. Wine bottles!
In the end, the workshop was a lot of fun and I made several neat little decorations from it. Each year I will take these decorations out at holiday times and think of purple not being the right color, sewing is not for me, burnt glue gun fingers, and that wine makes everything just a little more fun.
Happy Holidays!
Monday, January 3, 2011
Visitors for Thanksgiving
The day before Thanksgiving, Jen Keyte and I spent the first day of her vacation in Cabo Verde making chocolate mousse, pumpkin pie, and setting the dinner the table…in bikinis. Between cooking various dishes, time was spent sunbathing or taking a quick dip in the pool. From the outside nothing seemed typical about this year’s Thanksgiving, but when the day arrived it felt like all traditions were in place.
The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade played on TV, and while the spectators looked cold, the sun was shining and sky was blue outside our door. The whole house was filled with the typical smells of Thanksgiving. However, the oven was full of three small stuffed chickens when we found out the only way to get a turkey was head into the “fora" and find someone to kill one for us. Football entertained the crowd after dinner was over, but I was unable to indulge in my typical tryptophan nap because my parents were not here to do all the work so I was in charge!
We certainly missed our family, but we gathered our Cape Verdean family of friends together for the big day including our visitors, Brian (who came from Liberia/Geneva where he splits his time) and Jen (who came from New Orleans, by way of many other US cities as she came on vacation off a series of work travel).
It was the first Thanksgiving that Mike and I hosted as a family ourselves and I settled (exhausted) into bed that night with the biggest smile on my face.
After recovering from the holiday, we had a great time showing Jen and Brian around our island of Santiago. We drove to Assomada, the second largest city, and took a long walk to see a huge baobab tree in the middle of a dense green valley. Though we were not sure what to expect, I think we were all quite shocked buy the enormity and beauty of this tree, rumored to be one of the oldest ones in the world.
The Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade played on TV, and while the spectators looked cold, the sun was shining and sky was blue outside our door. The whole house was filled with the typical smells of Thanksgiving. However, the oven was full of three small stuffed chickens when we found out the only way to get a turkey was head into the “fora" and find someone to kill one for us. Football entertained the crowd after dinner was over, but I was unable to indulge in my typical tryptophan nap because my parents were not here to do all the work so I was in charge!
We certainly missed our family, but we gathered our Cape Verdean family of friends together for the big day including our visitors, Brian (who came from Liberia/Geneva where he splits his time) and Jen (who came from New Orleans, by way of many other US cities as she came on vacation off a series of work travel).
It was the first Thanksgiving that Mike and I hosted as a family ourselves and I settled (exhausted) into bed that night with the biggest smile on my face.
After recovering from the holiday, we had a great time showing Jen and Brian around our island of Santiago. We drove to Assomada, the second largest city, and took a long walk to see a huge baobab tree in the middle of a dense green valley. Though we were not sure what to expect, I think we were all quite shocked buy the enormity and beauty of this tree, rumored to be one of the oldest ones in the world.
Thursday, November 18, 2010
Farewell to the Stolens- Fora Style
Those of you who have been reading this blog for a while probably gathered that our two closest friends in Praia are Kelly and Ná Furtado. What you may not know is that after they were married this past May they decided to start their marriage and life together in America. Boo for us. Big time.
But instead of dwelling on how they abandoned us, I'll focus on our fantastic weekend in Ná's hometown of Pedra Badejo, about 40 minutes from Praia in the mountains along the coast. Referred to as the “fora” because it is in the interior of the island, this town maintains a much more traditional way of life than in Praia.
This was not our first visit to Pedra Badejo, and Ná's family welcomed us back with open arms. We started at Grandma's house where Ná grew up. The family was busy cooking katxupa, which is a delicious stew of beans, fresh corn, various meats and vegetables. Somehow we did not get the message that this katxupa was for us, so we set off to eat a HUGE and delicious lunch of other Cape Verdean specialities like feijoada (another bean stew, but somehow completely different than katxupa), grilled fish, chicken, and of course rice and french fries. Then to aid digestion we happily took a long walk around the small town. It's long because Ná is like the mayor having to stop and shake hands with and talk to everyone he knows, which is everyone in town. Stopping back by Grandma's house on the way out of town, our stomaches still COMPLETLEY stuffed from lunch, we chowed down on the fresh and delicious katxupa anyway. I mean, we didn't want to be rude. The guys also indulged in a little grogue, the local liquor made from sugar cane.
After a night out for the guys and night in for the ladies, we awoke early at our great hotel to panoramic views of the sea and a black sand beach. After breakfast we headed out with Ná's Uncle and five brothers to a coconut grove, which was a highlight for all of us. It was strikingly beautiful and GREEN after all the rain this summer. Ná's brothers, all of whom are almost as handsome and nice as Ná, led us into this orchard where one promptly climbed up a fresh palm tree knocking out many coconuts. Then they took turns chopping open the coconuts with a machete and we each enjoyed the fresh coconut water and coconut flesh out amongst the trees.
But do you know who loves the fora the most? Strela! She got to eat and drink whatever she wanted and roamed around free with all new smells. She was in HEAVEN.
*Footnote: Furtado translates directly to the word “stolen” from Portuguese and Kriolu so we often refer to Kelly and Ná as the “Stolens.”
But instead of dwelling on how they abandoned us, I'll focus on our fantastic weekend in Ná's hometown of Pedra Badejo, about 40 minutes from Praia in the mountains along the coast. Referred to as the “fora” because it is in the interior of the island, this town maintains a much more traditional way of life than in Praia.
This was not our first visit to Pedra Badejo, and Ná's family welcomed us back with open arms. We started at Grandma's house where Ná grew up. The family was busy cooking katxupa, which is a delicious stew of beans, fresh corn, various meats and vegetables. Somehow we did not get the message that this katxupa was for us, so we set off to eat a HUGE and delicious lunch of other Cape Verdean specialities like feijoada (another bean stew, but somehow completely different than katxupa), grilled fish, chicken, and of course rice and french fries. Then to aid digestion we happily took a long walk around the small town. It's long because Ná is like the mayor having to stop and shake hands with and talk to everyone he knows, which is everyone in town. Stopping back by Grandma's house on the way out of town, our stomaches still COMPLETLEY stuffed from lunch, we chowed down on the fresh and delicious katxupa anyway. I mean, we didn't want to be rude. The guys also indulged in a little grogue, the local liquor made from sugar cane.
After a night out for the guys and night in for the ladies, we awoke early at our great hotel to panoramic views of the sea and a black sand beach. After breakfast we headed out with Ná's Uncle and five brothers to a coconut grove, which was a highlight for all of us. It was strikingly beautiful and GREEN after all the rain this summer. Ná's brothers, all of whom are almost as handsome and nice as Ná, led us into this orchard where one promptly climbed up a fresh palm tree knocking out many coconuts. Then they took turns chopping open the coconuts with a machete and we each enjoyed the fresh coconut water and coconut flesh out amongst the trees.
But do you know who loves the fora the most? Strela! She got to eat and drink whatever she wanted and roamed around free with all new smells. She was in HEAVEN.
*Footnote: Furtado translates directly to the word “stolen” from Portuguese and Kriolu so we often refer to Kelly and Ná as the “Stolens.”
History in the Making?
My TACV flight back from Boston reminded me of what was in store for me the weekend I returned home. Referred to as “History in the Making,” on October 30th Akon, a Senegalese pop-star famous in the States, was coming to do a concert. Half of his entourage including his brother was on my airplane and I have to say all the big headphones, encrusted Rolexes and Louis Vuitton luggage did give me pause as people do not normally roll like that in Cape Verde.
Mike had secured us and our “team” of Kelly and Ná, Carrie and Derek VIP tickets from the Embassy. So we got all “buzz off” (Cape Verdean Kriolu for the Yiddish “faputzed” or “all dressed up”) took a few shots and headed out on Saturday night for the main event. Now I didn't really think I knew who Akon was or as Derek puts it, “everyone's favorite monotone popstar.” but turns out I knew almost every song and all the words that go along with them. Hm, I guess I have to thank Hot 99.5 in Washington, DC for that?
In this blog, I can not do two things justice: 1. What a big deal this was for Cape Verdeans & 2. How much freaking fun we had.
Rumor on the street was that this concert was the biggest thing that has happened in Cape Verde SINCE INDEPENDENCE. Yes, that is right, since Cape Verde won a war, freeing themselves of Portuguese rule and establishing an independent nation. That and Akon are the two biggest things that have happened here since 1975. For how much fun was had, I will have to refer you to our pictures. We were drinking warm beer and jumping up and down dancing like teenagers. See, I told you I couldn't do it justice.
The highlight of Akon's set, can you call it that especially if he was lip-syncing the whole time? Anyway the highlight of his set was the song, Right Now (Na, Na, Na), that we dedicated to Ná, while singing on the top of our lungs.
Mike had secured us and our “team” of Kelly and Ná, Carrie and Derek VIP tickets from the Embassy. So we got all “buzz off” (Cape Verdean Kriolu for the Yiddish “faputzed” or “all dressed up”) took a few shots and headed out on Saturday night for the main event. Now I didn't really think I knew who Akon was or as Derek puts it, “everyone's favorite monotone popstar.” but turns out I knew almost every song and all the words that go along with them. Hm, I guess I have to thank Hot 99.5 in Washington, DC for that?
In this blog, I can not do two things justice: 1. What a big deal this was for Cape Verdeans & 2. How much freaking fun we had.
Rumor on the street was that this concert was the biggest thing that has happened in Cape Verde SINCE INDEPENDENCE. Yes, that is right, since Cape Verde won a war, freeing themselves of Portuguese rule and establishing an independent nation. That and Akon are the two biggest things that have happened here since 1975. For how much fun was had, I will have to refer you to our pictures. We were drinking warm beer and jumping up and down dancing like teenagers. See, I told you I couldn't do it justice.
The highlight of Akon's set, can you call it that especially if he was lip-syncing the whole time? Anyway the highlight of his set was the song, Right Now (Na, Na, Na), that we dedicated to Ná, while singing on the top of our lungs.
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