December 9th - BOOK CLUB

Rachel and I finally started our Uni-CV book club. It’s something I had wanted to do for over a year, but got stuck on the idea that I needed to supply the books. Instead I am trying to create a compromise by typing up the book to cut down on the amount of money it will cost the students to photocopy the books.

We are going to begin to meet twice a month. The first book up, chosen by the overwhelming majority of the club members, is James McBride’s The Color of Water.

Now a little on the random side, I am in the process of writing my second grant proposal. Whereas our library has a good number of books, we are missing come classics and most contemporary books. I am going to include a list of the books on this page.

Angelou, M. I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
Cooper, J.F. Last of the Mohicans
Crane, S. The Red Badge of Courage\
Ellison, R. Invisible Man
Faulkner, W. As I Lay Dying
Huxley, A. Brave New World
Kafka, F. The Trial
Kesey, K. One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
Larson, E. The Devil in the White City
Lee, H. To Kill a Mockingbird
McBride, J. The Color of Water: A Black Man's Tribute to His White Mother
O'Brien, Tim. The Things They Carried
Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
Salinger, J.D. Catcher in the Rye
Sedaris, D. Me Talk Pretty One Day
Tan, Amy. The Joy Luck Club
Tolkien, J.R.R. Lord of the Rings
Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
Twain, Mark. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
Smith, B. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
Swift, Jonathan. Gulliver's Travels
Vonnegut, K. Slaughterhouse-Five
Dahl, Roald. James and The Giant Peach
Dahl Roald. The BFG.
Curtis, Christopher Paul. Bud, Not Buddy.
Curtis, Christopher Paul. The Watsons Go to Birmingham.

I have two requests. The first one is if you have these books or others that you think would be useful in a library (including young adult books) and would like to do something nice for the holidays, please send them my way. I think you can get a set price box from the post office for 5-15 bucks to ship things to Cape Verde.
You can send them to Lindsay Williamson C.P. 1120 Mindelo, S.Vicente, Cabo Verde.

The second request is that I am trying to figure out other methods to getting these books or class sets of books for the library. If you know of any organization or you work for schools, etc. I can appeal to for funds or book donations, please send me the information.

Thanks! In case I don’t update again before the holidays, have a warm, merry and healthy Christmas and New Year!

I’ll be heading off to Fogo to attempt climbing a volcano. It’s rumored to be three hours to climb up but only half an hour to climb down. It should be exciting. Keep your fingers crossed that I don’t trip over my own feet yet one more time!

December 5th - SANTO ANTAO, COVA

Went to S.Antao for the day. Decided to come back early to tackle cleaning and work, but not before walking in an old volcanic crater, that’s now farmland, and then walking downhill into Paul before stopping at Alfreds.

November 28th - THANKSGIVING

We organized a big Thanksgiving dinner. The e-mails alone were enough to cause immediate salivation. We all cooked and prepared different dishes and ended up with enough food to feed a small nation. I stuffed myself so silly in the first ten minutes that I could hardly move.

It’s funny to see how people react to stuffing themselves. We had some pacers, some belly rubbers, and of course some lay down on the ground and don’t movers. Some pictures of the evening.

Random - INSPIRATIONAL?!

113-year-old World War I vet Henry Allingham passed away in the English coastal town of Ovingdean.

Allingham chalked up his long life to "cigarettes, whisky and wild, wild women" and sources close to the war veteran said he "possessed a great spirit of fun."

GET YOUR POCKETS READY

I finally completed my first grant for funding. Some of you can expect packages in the mail of a copy of my grant if it is accepted and approved.

The backstory of the grant is that another volunteer that had taught English at the high school in Coculi, S.Antao, had ordered class sets of 12 award winning young adult books. She had chosen one to read with her eighth grade class and had created a study guide to accompany the book. The project was a success and her students were really enthusiastic about reading the book and completing the various assignments. In Cape Verde books are extremely expensive and many students hadn't had access to books before this project(most students don't even have textbooks - many rely on photocopying everything). She was really happy with the project and had been looking forward to creating study guides for the rest of the books when she extended and stayed for an additional year. Unfortunately, a minor medical problem resulted in her not being medically cleared to continue service.

That's where I come in. We were talking about her project and I asked if I could borrow a copy of each book. This semester I am teaching a teaching methodologies class and figured it would be a great project for my students to take on. My class was divided into groups and each group received a book. The students will create study guides for the book over the course of the semester.

In addition to the study guides, I'm hoping to get funding to order a copy of each book for all of the secondary schools located in CV. The books can eventually be incorporated into the national curriculum to promote literacy and EFL skills.

I'm really excited about the prospect of the project, especially in that I think it's something that will be sustainable and offer future volunteers an opportunity to expand the project even further.

I was especially touched when I heard how careful her students were with the books when the were reading Bridge to Terabitha, and seeing my students take the same care. I've also heard from co-workers that they are often working on the project between classes.

November 9th - THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT...

Some pictures of a few of my favorite neighbors. I taught them the hand slap game and now they come running when they see me. Really sweet kids. The decided to follow me home the other day. I tried to teach them 'cheese' (since most Cape Verdeans are super serious in photos for reasons I can't fathom) and how to take a self-portrait.

November 6th - DACIA DAVIS AND CO.

My future travel buddy and her brother and sister in law. Good company. I was tempted to go over to Santo Antao with them... Coulda shoulda woulda. I decided to stay to get ahead of my classes. Always easier to imagine than do. Regardless, got some fun times in with them. Let the penguin flap live on...