Strange Days…

Strange things (for Cape Verde) have been happening here.

First off, yesterday I went to Bila, and on the way, we got a flat tire. First time it’s happened to me here in Cape Verde. Only the second time since becoming a PCV (we had a flat in Ghana). And only the third time since I got my license (as you will recall the unfortunate squirrel swerving incident as I was leaving D.C. to prepare to come here).

This flat was also a bit funny since I went with Myguy, and most hiaces on this island take the long way around (via Cova Figura) so we specifically got a hiace that passes through the PV, which is a shorter distance to Bila, but a lot more hilly. So, any time we might have saved going this way was lost as the driver changed the tire. By the time we got to Bila, most of the other hiaces from Mosteiros had already made it.

As it is, going to Bila is no longer the exciting thing it used to be. When I first got in country, everything was fun and new. Going to Bila was always a treat. Being able to buy fresh fruit and veggies not available in Mosteiros, gazing at all of the crap in the Chinese lojas, walking through streets filled with people, chilling in Idealist’s enormous house, were all ways to escape the initial confusion of the first few months.

But of course, as time went on, everything became more normal. Getting up at five in the AM to catch a hiace lost its amusement. I understand why the hiaces are they way they are, but it doesn’t make me any less annoyed. Now with Chinese lojas here in Mosteiros, as well as the wider availability of green peppers and tomatoes (I actually bought real, not in a can tomatoes for the first time this week, they’re great!) there’s less reason to travel out of site. And really, though Bila is considered a city by Cape Verdean standards, it’s still like most other places in Cape Verde, where not a lot goes on.

So there was the flat tire on the way there. On the way back, for about half of the trip, I was the only passenger in the hiace, which is also not normal. I have been in hiaces not filled to the brim, but this was a totally new experience.

Then last night, it started to rain. Let me say that again. It started to rain. This is not the rainy season. The rainy season was over like four months ago. And there was also thunder and lightning, which is also generally unheard of. Before 10am this morning, two people (both adults, both professionals in town) had asked me if I had been scared by the booming of the thunder. I really though they were just condescendingly trying to get a laugh at my expense but then I remembered that they don’t usually get thunder here, and there were probably plenty of people and kids who were scared.