Times they are a changin'

After all this time away from America, a visit from friends from St. Louis brought the sight of this image…

 

 making me wonder what has become of the homeland.

Has America changed so much since our departure that today’s public finds this ad appealing? According to Alden and Candace,  there have been several changes since our leaving, but the list doesn’t include a fashion shift toward gold sparkling leggings and platform heels, thankfully.  Word has it that everyone in the States now has an iPad, Twilight has been replaced by the Hunger Games, and Facebook can now creepily recognize people’s faces.

The visit from our friends from America was a wake-up call to some of the changes we’ll face when we return.  It’s not even that America will be that different, but that our perspectives have shifted so drastically that when we arrive we’ll be seeing the US through new eyes.  Being with friends from home also forced us to acknowledge some changes in ourselves since joining the Peace Corps.  Our skills of English conversation have grown rusty, our senses of humor may not quite make sense, and I’m afraid I’ve become more cynical.  (I attribute it to continuously witnessing hardship in the lives of close friends and knowing that many of their problems are unnecessary, yet nearly impossible to fix.)

Also…. I now unconsciously make a clucking noise to show disapproval or annoyance.  Totally appropriate in Cape Verde, but absolutely not going to be ok when I’m back in America.  The same goes for reflexively flashing a thumbs-up to all passersby.  When Scott rides in a car he’s incapable keeping his hands at his sides.  He waves to everyone we go by as if he were the reigning beauty pageant winner riding through town in a parade.

Alden and Candace’s visit, in a way, signaled a mental shift in which Scott and I began preparing for our return to the states (most likely in September).  But aside from all the introspection (and panic), we had a really fun time hanging out.

One of the highlights of the visit was an Easter day celebration.

Both Candace and my mother were considerate enough to stock us with Easter goodies including egg dye, plastic eggs, and lots of candy to fill them with.  On Sunday we invited several good friends to the house for a special meal, and our Cape Verdean friends were pleased with the idea of a cultural exchange.  They thought it was nice to teach Alden and Candace to play cards and oril (a traditional game) and how to kill, prepare, and eat all the parts of the goat.

Likewise, the four of us Americans enjoyed sharing our Easter traditions.  After the meal we ushered everyone outside for an egg hunt.  The twelve kids who participated are pros at looking for eggs, but they usually have a screaming chicken to help them narrow down a location.  Despite the rough terrain, they quickly found all the eggs. 

We anticipated that the adults would want to play too (and eat the candy), so we decided to organize two rounds.  Eliza, not one to play by the rules, disregarded the “no adults allowed” regulation on the first round, and lugged her two year old around like a sack of potatoes while scrambling up the hillside and searching for booty.  When hauling little Juelma became too much of a burden (about 15 seconds in), Eliza just left her on the ground and went head to head with her 6-year-old challengers, viciously struggling to gather the most candy… for Juelma, of course.

The grown-up round was also a lot of fun.   7 adults took off uphill at full sprint when we signaled the beginning of the hunt and then dove and slid to snatch eggs out from under their friends’ hands.  Cape Verdeans are big on competition, and the added promise of candy made the event even more of a thrill.  The egg hunt was a success by all accounts.

 Chiquinha breaks away from the pack in the opening uphill sprint to the eggs.

 In a tender mother/daughter moment, Eliza teaches Juelma to hunt eggs.

Candace’s egg dying activity was a big hit.  (Candace is the one wearing a black shirt.)

ps. Thanks to all of you in (and formerly in) St. Louis who made a special effort to send notes, photos, and goodies to us via the Basses.  We are so grateful that you’re still keeping us in mind… and stocking us with chocolates!  A huge thanks, of course, to Alden and Candace, who not only made the trip half way around the globe to visit us and transported a ton of loot, but very considerately predicted exactly what we most wanted to see in their magical suitcase.