Home at Last

April 4, 2007

I just returned home from In-Service Training (IST), an All-Volunteer Conference (AVC) that allowed me to meet up with other Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) who have been living among the islands for the past ten months. We were in Praia, the country capital. Then we sat through sessions that were held along the beachside of Tarrafal. After that I visited my home stay family in Sao Domingos, where I lived the first two months in Cape Verde during Pre-Service Training (PST). And yes, when you join the Peace Corps, you become aware that every official title becomes an acronym of some sort.

It was interesting seeing the other volunteers, to exchange information about recent project proposals, secondary community development projects, funding sources, varying forms of Kriolu, etc., but the entire experience was a whirlwind that I am honestly glad is over. The paved roads, tall buildings, speed and accessibility of Praia was overwhelming, as were the lifestyles of PCVs from the northern islands. I am beginning to realize that living in a rural site develops a much slower pace in an individual, even one from L.A. like myself. The whole experience of IST was admittedly too much for me because I found myself aching to get back to the stillness of Ponta Verde.

Once the plane touched down on Fogo soil I felt I was finally able to breathe again. The streets were familiar, the people recognizable, and I felt I was myself for the first time in two weeks. As I sat in the front seat of my friend’s car, full of people I knew and with the driver’s gorgeous sleeping baby resting trustingly in my lap, I looked out at my island and felt a sense of belonging. Friends along the road greeted me, telling me I had been missed, and I arrived in my community to hear that my good friend had given birth to her baby. I immediately went to pay her a visit and as I lay next to her on her bed, gently touching the tiny fingers of her newborn child beneath the covers of the dimly lit room, I knew what it was like to be home.