Additional Thoughts

Thank god for children. At least they smile without needing a reason for doing it. Also, I tried to start conversations whenever possible, for the most part. In Cape Verde, I've developed the habit of sort of staring at people for a little longer than we normally deem acceptable; it's normal there. So, I practiced this on the metro, but did not receive a response. Something would've been better than nothing. "What are you looking at freak?!?" "Why don't you take a picture it lasts longer?!?!?" Anything. At least, I would've have felt acknowledged.

From what I've learned and seen, life seems to be an upside-down bell curve in terms of happiness. Meaning all throughout our infancy and childhood, life is great, not a care in the world. Everything is new and appears to be the shit, as a result we smile on a whim. Your slipping on ice is the funniest thing that ever happened to you. Life is great. Then as we grow out of childhood and youth, graduate college and start to think about "making money" and "a career". Your life immediately goes into the shithole. You start wearing suits, acting like a douche-bag, honking your horn in traffic, basically being a huge ass-hole because you realize that your life sucks. This is a terrible stage in life; one that needs saving. We only care about ourselves and our situation. The world doesn't exist outside of our bubble. This stage is can be saved by major events, births of children, marriage, etc. But sometimes these things can complicate the problem and worsen things. And as we grow old, we see the bottom coming up, causing us to be a little more cheerful. In general, elderly people seem to be more open to conversation and start to value their time a little more. As a result, I think that they begin to value the people around them a little more.

Why do we let our younger working years and middle aged years blow balls? These are seemingly are most productive years, but what is it that we are focused on producing? What is our ultimate goal? We change this, maybe will find a little more happiness.

Again, these are my opinions and may be completely wrong. There are probably a lot of crabby old people who don't care about anyone but themselves. But, in general, I think life breaks down as I've explained.

One love

City Blues

So, for the last couple of weeks I've been on vacation: 10 days in London/English Countryside w/my parents and lil sis and the last few in Barcelona by myself. But, after these few weeks the city has got me down. I just got off the metro here, and I'm not sure if I've ever seen such a depressing sight in my life. No one was smiling. They looked like lambs going to slaughter. Complete indifference on their faces as if not another human was on the train. What does that say about the jobs and lives that they live? They must be cleaning toilets or some shit like that. It doesn't seem human the way we treat each other. There has to be something more to life than our own sort of personal bubbles. I wish that people could just take a step back from their busy lives and look at how they're living. I realize that I don't face most of the constraints that many working people face, being a Peace Corps volunteer. But we must allow time for ourselves to act like humans and use the abilities (speech, higher thought, etc.) that we were either given or have evolved. Hopefully, I don't have to eat my own words when my Peace Corps stint ends or start a family. But, así es la vida. Something to put a smile on your faces http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfXwmDGJAB8

One love and keep it real

Mo' Money Mo' Problems

What up to my 19 followers and others that periodically view my blog. Thanks for making me feel better by reading my blog. Geniunely, though, thanks; support is always good.

Life is good. Just got back from In Service Training, which was awesome. Got to see all the volunteers that I've failed to keep up with. Hopefully, I'll do better at staying in touch now that I've been reminded how cool my fellow SED (small enterprise development) volunteers are.

During the training a lot of interesting discussions came about, some techinical talks about rumpshakin' and others that were a little more serious. The one that I felt was the most provoking was about monetizing a homestay. Two (actually a very cool married couple) of the volunteers from another island brought a story of how families in their village had housed tourists and had refused payment, which then led to the discussion of whether they should charge or not.

This argument had come up before in previous economic discussions that I had at college. It's obvious that there is a market for the good (shelter), but should they charge? My argument was that they shouldn't. If they were absolutely desparate for money, then it's another story, but it seemed as if they were doing alright, relatively speaking. The point that I always brought up was by charging for a good does that inherently change the good/service; in this case, I think it does. It changes a genuine act of compassion, providing shelter, to just another business transaction with people "looking to get ahead in the world". I don't think that it would be wrong to charge, they are providing a service, but I think that it would change the service/good. Once we start to turn everything into a business transaction, human relations turn colder (if they haven't already in many parts of the world). Sometimes accepting a gift is just as important as giving one. This family in Santa Antão (the other island) didn't have much to give, but they had space in their house for the tourists. Being nice and compassionate, they offered it without any real benefit to them. To offer money in this case would be extremely awkward, to say the least, it may even be considered rude. Who's to say the family needs the money? The best thing to do, accept it. Be grateful that they're people like that in the world. Then, return the favor somewhere down the line to some tourist/homeless person. In Small is Beautiful, Schumacher uses Gandhi quite a bit, especially this quote, "The world has enough for every man's need, not every man's greed." Our generation needs to heed this statement because who knows what's going to be left for our kids. Or maybe our generation can take some of Sean Puffy Combs wisdom:

I don't know what they want from me
it's like the more money we come across
the more problems we see.

Truth, this coming from a man who has a net worth in the hundreds of millions of dollars. U.S.A!!!

Talk to some stranger today.

One Love and Peace

Loneliness, who cares?

Dear followers,

While trying to create a new post, I got lost (pretty good for a computer teacher, right?) and somehow found out that my blog has had only 34 views. Dang, my blog must be lame. But, I don't give a hoot; it's good for the soul, like chicken soup. This sort of segues into my topic of interest: loneliness. It's dumb.

I used to get very lonely in college. My freshman year was hell for me. I thought that no one understood me nor was it possible for anyone to understand me. I was an impenetrable wall in my own mind, wouldn't let anyone in and I wouldn't let anything out, not even to the school therapist.

But my experiences living in other countries has left me immune to loneliness. Living now by myself in Pedra Badejo, the setting is perfect to feel alone: no friends (more or less on an intimate level), a foreign language that still isn't dominated and a foreign culture that makes for some awkward moments. But, in all honesty, I don't feel lonely. I think loneliness is created by how we think others perceive us. If you think that everyone thinks that you're a dork, oddball, idiot, dweeb, nerd, loaner, etc. then you're going to feel like one. If you don't care then you truly are the master of your domain. It seems to me a part of the maturation process, a step towards adulthood: not giving a f. (Sorry mom, the f is solely for emphasis) That's right I consider myself an adult now, boo yah.

But, there are consequences of kicking loneliness's ass (sorry mom). I think it could cause a coldness or indifference in one's behaviour. Not caring about other's perceptions of us could lead to a straight hermit lifestyle, which has entered my mind during my stay in Cape Verde, indifference towards friendship, and other loaner-type behaviours. Friendship is really important though. A true friend is a hard thing to find, but makes life much better. So, I'm stuck. I'm convinced that I could go on living my life as a hermit. No prob. Easy peezy japaneezy. But, I'm not sure it would be a fulfilling lifestyle. Friends are a good thing. Maybe if I could get some friends to live with me as hermits. Anyways, I know that I won't need to buy some luxury car to impress the Jones'.

Other news:

- 2 liter warm baths= da bomb
- New Year's resolution: to not turn on the lights for the remainder of my service and to not use running water unless for filling up my barrel and other water bottles.
- Meat from a can= also, da bomb


Welp that was my ramble for the day, good luck deciphering it. Peace

Jeff

Life for the last 7 months: A little catching up to do.

First off, I'm sorry. I apologize for keeping anyone who is truly interested in my life and my experience out of the loop; it wasn't my intention. But you know one excuse leads to the other, I´ve had all this work, I want to focus on integration first, my internet access hasn't been good, blah blah blah. Truly, I have had to time to keep up with this and haven't, my bad. But you know, you start telling yourself that you're really busy and could be doing so many better things till you actually convince yourself and you feel really busy. The mind is pretty powerful. I know that now.

But also I've learned a lot more things for in these 7 months. I'll give you all a quick recap.

My first two months in Cape Verde were spent in Picos, a rural town on Santiago, the largest island of Cape Verde. There, I lived with a family, learning the ins-and-outs of capeverdean life. This period also served for intensive training: learning Kriolu, different skills that may be needed and other cultural aspects. Overall, these 2 months were great, busy, but great. I shared a lot of time with a great family, who cared for me like a son. Once my host-mom even convinced me that I was sick. Weird, but impressive. My host-dad took me out on runs and included me in his yoga-style workouts that sometimes included nun-chucks, which was very funny. Many other stories came from this two-month period that seems so long ago, but most importantly I became fairly fluent in Kriolu. Which probably was the intention of the Peace Corps.

After these two months my life became a little less capeverdean. I moved out, went to my site and gained some welcome independence. Which means that for the last 5 months my daily diet has differed hardly any, and I've eaten truck loads of cereal (maybe literally). But don't worry, I take vitamins. Job related news, I work at a public youth center. I love the job. It is very community oriented, so I meet a lot of people (mainly youths), and I have a lot of freedom. For the most part I'm teaching computer classes right now, which I'm surprised to say that I like because I hate computers, but the kids/adults are eager to learn about computers and easy-going. Also, I'm working on some side projects that are in the beginning stages: environmental campaigns, cultural fairs, and some other things. But, that's mainly it.

My home is nice. Tile floors, electricity, running water (half the time) and a good location. My community is fairly big on capeverdean standards; it may be the 4th largest city in Cape Verde. And I have no really complaints about it.

Some thoughts that have developed since arriving at my site:

-I'm not sure people from the suburbs really know how to be apart of a community

• we spend a lot of time trying to avoid one another rather than spending time together
• time that is spent together is rather insignificant and usually small talk
• but I won't say that the desire isn't there, it just needs a little boost.

-Why does the society that has arguably (probably not even arguably) caused the most damage to the Earth in our planets history send young ambassadors across the world and call them development workers? All that we know how to do is to destroy something, right?

Harsh thoughts, I know. But, there is a lot of time to think here and, so far, this is what I've come up with.

Please comment. Hopefully some interesting conversation arises.

All the best and I will try my best to keep this thing going,

Jeff

Pre-departure thoughts

First and foremost, thank you to those that came to the going-away party. I am lucky to have such good friends and family that are supporting me as I embark on this journey. You all will be missed.

I am new to this blogging think and being myself, one who internalizes almost everything (ask my parents. They claim that I don't them anything), it's going to be a struggle to open up to the entire web community. I'll try though. I plan on keeping a regular, old-school journal as well. So, I'm not going to divulge all my personal thoughts. Niener, niener.

As Thursday gets closer, I'm getting more and more anxious. I just want to get over there and familiarize myself with everything. The people, language, setting, etc. I feel fairly prepared. Aside, from not having packed at all (Well, I've got my toiletries taken care of. Thanks mom!), basically disregarding most of language learning materials that the Peace Corps has provided and still needing the H1N1 vaccine. So, I'm more or less ready to board the flight to Boston on Thursday. But on a more serious note, I feel fairly prepared emotionally for the upcoming journey. I'm excited for the opportunity to start something, a project, initiative, whatever it may be, and see it come to fruition. I'm excited to apply the skills I've learned to help others. And I'm excited to mature. Although, I still think that I'll try to find my dad's belly button if I'm sitting next to him on the couch. Somethings never get old. (I've explained the game to many, if interested in the rules feel free to contact me for the rules.) Plus, I've been eating my yogurt. So, I'm ready for whatever gastronomical curveballs that Cape Verdean cuisine throws at me. Hopefully my english grammar improves too. I'm bringing the Elements of Style. Props to my bro for the Christmas gift. Again thanks for all the support. I hope to post updates every 1 to 2 weeks. But if I'm not posting enough, contact my mom. She's pretty good at convincing me to do things. Or, contact me at wozie13@gmail.com