I gotchu

I am here!

It has been quite the experience so far, even though I have only been gone for, what, three or four days? On the plane ride to Praia from Boston, I was sitting next to a woman named Ana. She was sooooo funny. She is Cape Verdian, but was born and raised in Boston. She had the craziest accent. It was this intense Boston accent mixed with a portuguese accent and she would mix english and portuguese. We talked a bit and I found out that she was getting married on Friday (today!) which was amusing to me because she was flirting up a STORM with the cute flight attendant. She asked me if anyone was meeting me in Praia and if I was nervous because it was my first time coming. I told her of course I am nervous! and I was not quite sure if someone was going to be there to meet me. And she would respond with, "dont worry, I gotchu. I gotchu." Haha, she was so sweet. Once we got off the plane, we found that the missionaries who were supposed to meet me, were not there, and she helped me find my way around and get my next airline ticket until the missionaries came. What a life saver, seriously.

Well, the sister neves and sister palmer eventually showed up and I went with them to the mission home where we ate and I slept for a long time. They were so nice. Later that night they took me back to the airport to fly to Mindelo. My flight ended up being delayed for two hours, but none of the airline workers would tell us that it was delayed--they just told us to be ready to leave. I finally arrived in Mindelo to a warm greeting from James, his wife Carina, and their daughter Sharonlee. James speaks almost perfect english, but his wife only knows a few words, and his three year old daughter only speaks creole (no portuguese). I have a hard time understanding everyone here--if they arent speaking Creole, then they are speaking Portuguese REALLY REALLY fast and with the european accent. All I could hear for the first day was "sh sh sh sh" (ex. como estas=como eshtash). Hopefully I will get the hang of everything.

What else...Well, there are a million stray dogs EVERYWHERE. I just want to pet and love them all, but thats probably not the best idea. I found out today that used toilet paper does NOT go in the toilet, but in the trash can next to the toilet. All taxis cost the same amount when they are driving in the city, 150 escuros everytime. We save the water while doing the dishes and put it in the toilet after to give the toilet more pressure.

I have spent a lot of time with Carina´s younger sister katy, who is 17. She showed me around the city the first day. We walked down to the beach and to the marina and then to the office, where the english classes are taught. There are so many breath taking views here. For the past day I have been putting the english program together. I am teaching a level one and level two english class just about every day. James showed me the daily schedule he had put together for me, I cant wait. Each day includes studying the scriptures, teaching english, exercising, doing humanitarian work or teaching with the sister missionaries, studying portuguese, institute, food, and rest. Sounds great to me! We start on Monday :)

Speaking of institute, I went last night! A returned missionary named Hernani sat next to me to help me understand what was going on. He speaks pretty good english because he had some American companions. Afterwards, some of the guys came up to talk to me (they spoke a little english) to tell me that they know my brother, Sam! Two of them were his mission companions, back in the day. It was pretty exciting and I was so happy to meet them.

Ha, I have a story from this morning. Ivana is a woman who lives with the tavares family and this morning she was asking what I was going to eat for breakfast (i think) so I said cereal. After my shower I went to the kitchen and there was my bowl, a spoon, cereal, and a pitcher of very hot milk. I thought I was making my own breakfast this morning, but I think ivana was trying to help me out--or maybe she thinks I don´t know how. Who knows. I thought the hot milk was a little strange, but I put it in my cereal anyway. I asked james about it once I got to the office and he said that she uses a different kind of milk--Its a powder milk that you mix with water, and that she generally uses the tap water instead of the bottled water. And we both just looked at each other like "uh oh" cause we both realized that she probably used that for the milk she layed out for me this morning! Oh well, it was hot, so maybe she boiled it for a little and the germs went away.

Also, took my first shower since being here this morning. James said if I want hot water then I can boil the water on the stove and use that, but that is way to much effort for a shower. I dont even really like showering. I told him I had prepared for the cold showers! The water was a little brisk but thats all. I think all went well.

There is a soccer stadium right across the street from the office--it is pretty cool cause I can look out the window and see everyone practicing! Oh and one more thing, it is SO windy here. I love it because the sun is always out so without the wind it would be terribly hot.

Well, back to the program. Bom dia!