Arrived

An endless chain reaction of late flights... and iºm finally here in Praia. Two Cape Verdean dads were complaining about the insanity of our late flight from Lisbon to Praia (the flight kept fluctuating between cancelled and malfunction, as everyone stood in line wondering what was going on.) As I laughed with the two men, motioning that "oh well, we cant do anything" we got to talking, and i was delighted that we could communicate with a mix of French and Portuguese. His daughter goes to school in either New Jersey or Los ANgeles... while those two places certainly dont sound the same, somehow i couldnt tell the difference with his accent... either way, he called me "nu jerseles" for the duration of the flight. They ended up taking me under their wing as the flight arrived in Praia 3 hours late, arriving at 3am. Bernardino, one of the men, was sure to ask around as we arrived if people knew the place where i was staying, and ended up dropping me off with his ride to his own residence. He even insisted that I not take any money out at this hour and gave me 5 bucks in cash just in case... i insisted on giving him dollars, but he smaked my hand, saying no no. if you come to Tarrafal, and mention my name everyone knows me.

Its quite a shock here. Reminds me of the cement buildings, construction, and disoriented feel of being in Dakar. Attempting to sleep after 28 hours of airports was surprisingly difficult, with the symphony of dogs barking. i could remember the first time being in Dakar, hearing sounds of dogs and goats, hearing my name with each baaaaaah. This time it was only barking. Layers and layers of barking.

More to write soon. talk of a music festival on an other island. Vamos Ver. we will see what happens.