“This is as close to Africa I have ever felt”, says a guy from England as we sit at a local bar in Barraca. This place, Barraca, literally means shanty or shack. It is full of recent immigrants from Senegal, Guinea-Bissau, Nigeria, and of course the main island of Santiago. Barraca has grown parallel with the large hotels that are beginning to dominate some of the most beautiful and environmentally important regions of Boa Vista. As you can probably denote, this population growth has come with rapid growth of construction jobs. However, when those jobs end, there is nothing for the large population of construction workers. Barraca has become a breeding ground for some less the reputable characters, but also contains some of the hardest working, most giving people I have ever met. So as we sit there and I am doing my best to translate conversations for people in both directions I realize that he was right. This is Africa. I forget this on a daily basis.
Many Capeverdians will swear up and down that they are not African. As if being an African is an insult. However, a recent genetic study conducted throughout Cape Verde has revealed the most frequent genes are of African descent (1). The population is African, many things have become such a normal part of life that I forget how different life truly is, and speaking with people who don’t know the language or culture snap me back to something that I once knew. I am by no means an expert of either, but I am infinitely more experienced than those stepping off the plane today. The idea of not having to worry about if you will have water tomorrow is just one of the many things that don’t seem that strange anymore.
I find myself drawn to Barraca, I feel safe there. When I go there I see many of my friends that I don’t generally see in other parts of the town I live in. The scene in Barraca is rapidly changing as well; many government initiatives have commenced to clean and beautify the zone. The name has even changed to Good Hope, but I don’t think the name has quite caught on yet with the majority of the population. There is another term that I like to use with this zone; morabeza. This is one of those words that will never directly translate because there is an idea and mentality behind it. My friend tells me it’s a mentality of friendship and joy, and when you come to Cape Verde you feel full of happiness because of the accepting nature of most people here. The people of Barraca are some of the poorest, but they are some of the happiest I have ever known. I use to constantly wonder what was behind someone offering me something cloaked in friendship. That feeling has slowly left me the more time I spend in places that I like to call “super-traditional Cape Verdean”. This feeling has undoubtedly grown with my confidence in the language. I always felt as though I was falling behind in language because I had spent less time out practicing and more time working at the computer. All of that has changed in a matter of months. For the first time I feel as though I am really hearing the language. In languages, many words have a meaning because of our history or culture. Think about it… there are words that are funny because of some facet of American culture etc. The same is true in other languages, without cultural growth, language is truly difficult to understand. I attribute all of this personal growth to my work with Natura 2000.
I was recently in Praia with Natura 2000, but representing Peace Corps for the third annual TAOLA meeting. TAOLA is the word turtle and Kriola smashed together to represent this incredibly lengthy title; The National Sea Turtle Protection Network of Cape Verde. The organization allows for all programs, large and small, to present the previous year’s data and then turtle experts from around the world critique and offer suggestions for the upcoming turtle season. This is a positive step for the protection of the third largest nesting population of Loggerhead Turtles in the world, 90% of this population is from Boa Vista. We are also an integral breeding ground for Humpback Whales; needless to say Boa Vista is incredibly special and has a special place in my heart. The TAOLA meeting went really well and many of the smaller organizations benefited greatly having so many experts present to provide feedback. I was also very lucky to have met Adolfo. He lives in Spain, but was in Praia with Natura 2000 for the meetings. He is a herpetologist… who studies lizards… his PhD was a population study…. I obviously enjoyed speaking with him immensely. He was excited to see the things I have been working on, and added some great insight to something that I am currently trying to explain. Here is a brief overview:- · Under rocks that have burrows leading to lizard nests, I have found large circular piles of spines from a common plant species on the islet. Further, the spines are occasionally refreshed with green, newly fallen spines from this plant.
- · A few explanations; this is some form of nest guarding. However then the question is; nest guarding from what and how do the spines play a role. The second explanation would be to keep the nest moist and hydrated. If this is the case I will need to look at nesting success compared to nest humidity. One more possibility is that the spines could play a role in thermoregulation of the nest, which I believe would be closely tied to nest moisture.
These are the things keeping me so busy and happy over the past couple of months. The idea that I have found MY people amongst the constantly evolving life of a Peace Corps volunteer, is one of the most comforting feelings that I have ever had. I don’t think my friend Samir will ever quite understand what he has meant to my current mentality. Thank you friend, amizada de bo e muito importante para nha mentalidade e n pensa bo sabi bo ta fika nha amigo siempre. The coordinator for the national park on Boa Vista has arrived, but my future with him is currently clouded. Next month will be the year mark here in Cape Verde, and I have made it this far without the park job, not knowing the future with the parks is nothing new.
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| Samir presenting his data at the Third Annual TAOLA meeting |
1- http://asemana.sapo.cv/spip.php?article53126&ak=1
