Use Your Head

For all of you who have sweated your way through a pilates video, I’d like to suggest an alternative full-body workout. You can sculpt you legs, buns, abs, back, arms, and neck simply by carrying a massive load on your head and going up and down steep slopes.

Carrying cargo one one’s head is only the job of women in Cape Verde. If Scott gives it a shot he causes people to double over with laughter. When I try, people tend to mock me for carrying a child’s sized load. A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to practice my skills alongside two neighbors who went in search of firewood. (I appreciated the little practicum all the more when we faced our Thanksgiving day cooking crisis.)

The vast majority of women in my community cook over wood flame each day. Gas camping stoves are readily available, but the gas tanks are costly. Besides, folks enjoy the smoky cast iron flavor of cooking the time-tested way.

Gathering firewood is a near daily task by necessity. One afternoon my friends Juninha and Chiquinha offered to let me come with them knowing that I’d only get in the way. They’re both 50 something years old but as spry as children in a McPlay Place. We walked through dense vegetation until they spotted dead trees of sufficient size. They then kicked off their flip flops and scrambled down the mountainside barefoot. Following their trail, I half walked, half scooted like a toddler learning to go down steps. They then effortlessly attacked the tree, breaking branches by hanging from them and snapping limbs against their shins. For the larger sections, Juninha propped the branch at an angle, lifted a bolder to her chest, and threw it down to crack the wood in two. I felt like I was watching a female version of the hulk.

The three of us bundled the branches into stacks, tied them up, and lifted them atop our heads to start for home. I think my head must be slightly pointed because I could feel the pressure of the weight even through the rolled-up cloth separating scalp from stack. The walk back was no more than half a mile, but I felt like a champion when I made it home only falling once. I was in sight of the house when I slipped , but I was ecstatic that none of the kids playing soccer saw.

Juninha and Chiquinha got a good laugh out of my fall and my attempt to help out. I like to tell myself, though, that my vulnerability and willingness to be laughed at is exactly what will endear them to me. If nothing else I’ll get some ripped calves out of the deal.