October 20th, 2009 - Ramblin'...

My last weekend of half-days and little responsibility. On Friday night we decided to celebrate with a little morrei (fried eel). Amazing. I certainly wouldn't want to encounter one of those little guys in the water, but when they are good and dead, I'm game. I even love the chewy skin ( I generally have a strange aversion to the texture of certain foods). The spinas (tiny bones) are the only thing that causes some slight hesitation. Maybe this is the secret to why Cape Verdeans are on average an above average looking people. The French had it wrong. Eat foods with bones, and eventually you will learn to savor your food and slow down. If it weren't for the spinas you'd better believe I'd absolutely devour them whole. What fascinates me is that Cape Verdeans can eat these pieces of heaven without looking the least bit perplexed. Some might even say gracefully. You don't even see them getting rid of the bones until they are all stacked in a neat little pile on the plate. In the meantime I'm sitting there with bones on my shirt and in my hair. I'm pretty sure it's the equivalent of a baby trying to eat spaghetti next to an Italian Don. I mean a fork and a spoon? Really? Too complicated.

As if that wasn't enough, when I ran into a former colleague later I couldn't refrain from blurting out that I heard his voice this summer when I was flying to Boston. You know the voice in the video that tells you to fill out your customs forms? Yeah, well I know him. Funny coincidence. One more to added to list of people that have a legitimate reason to think I might be borderline insane.

Aside from that, on Sunday I went on the AM hike. Of course I initially went to the wrong gas station, but I realized my mistake. I'd like to think it's because my brain is slow to wake up before the sun, but the problem is it doesn't become much faster later on in the day. The walks are usually about 3-4 hours (of course with a snack in the middle) but this one was a bit longer. We circled Mount Verde and walked along a ribeira until we reached the water. From their I broke off with another volunteer I managed to coerce into waking up early and a co-worker. We detoured and walked to one of the more secluded beaches. Apparently it used to be the 'posh' beach and only the wealthy had access because you needed a truck to get out there. Just last year they finished building a beautiful new road so now.... hello, we roll in! So much for keeping it posh. Unfortunately I was not only not wearing a suit, but I also forgot my camera.