1 year in Cape Verde

So ONE YEAR has just about passed by here in Cape Verde(actually the 28th is the reunion). But I went ahead and celebrated with a mid service medical trip back to Santiago. The trip to Santiago was supposed to be a quick 1 week trip flying here in 1 day on TACV, visiting the sister park Serra Malagueta, visiting my host family outside of Assomada, three days of medical appointments, and a flight back...
First-off the term "Reservation" for TACV can only be translated loosely into Reservation in English, and more accurately "a piece of paper which lists 3 things: 1. your name 2. The Expected Date of the Flight 3. The expected Time of the flight"
But the actual officialness or usefulness of this paper varies.
In the Past you could fly directly between Santiago and Sao Nicolau within an hour. The simpleness of this option must have angered someone at the company and so they got rid of this and began a new, more exciting option. This consists of a flight from Sao Nicolau to Sal. In Sal you have to disembark the plane, ride a lap on the airport shuttle, re-enter the SAME PLANE, and fly to the island of Sao Vicent. So now after you fly back over the island that you just came from to Sao Vicent (with nice views of the uninhabited islands of Razo, Santo Luzia and Branco) you land at the Sao Vicent airport, where you once again disembark the plane, this time having to go through the airport and wait, after which you re-enter the SAME PLANE for a flight to Santiago. So after 3 flights you are on the main island... I still cant believe how many times I had to say hello and goodbye to the same flight crew...
Now this time...
I boarded the flight in Sao Nicolau Monday morning, thinking I would fly to the island of Sal and then catch the next flight(a new option) 15 minutes later to the island of Santiago. Well landing in Sal and trying to board the plane did not happen, because despite my printed receipt and reservation on the plane which I provided them with, they said that they did not have me on the list. After being sent back and forth between the check in and the gate security it was decided that the plane was now full and I could not go on this flight, and I had to way 7 hours for the next flight to Santiago, which really blew my plans for the whole day. Oh well I headed to Santa Maria and had some great food in one of the most tourist developed areas in the islands. Now there are no open seats for the flights back and I have to take a boat. TACV...
I spent two days in Assomada visiting the Park of Serra Malagueta, harmonizing our efforts in the ecotourism department and just seeing what all they are up to. It is a really beautiful park and I should have spent more time there hiking, and it is on my list of things to do.
Monte Gordo and Serra are both working on trail rehabilitation right now, putting together maps, and erecting signage in the park. All of these efforts are slow going but things are starting to happen now.
I got a chance to catch up with my host family, and it was amazing at the change in a year of how much the two youngest kids had grown. It was also awesome to go back after a year and have a whole new level of conversation ability with them. To have a conversation and joke and catch up was great. They are also excited about having a new trainee in a couple of weeks living with them! They are a wonderful family and anyone will be lucky to have the chance to share sometime with them.
So then comes my Terrifying trip to Praia comes.
I was riding in the Park Van with the driver to Praia, and boy sprinted across the road in front of us, and he saw us and everything but didn't stop, just ran right in front of us.
we had to stop the car so damn fast just about catching him, I thought "this kid is nuts, what is he doing?" but we didn't hit him and he and his friends told us we have to help them.
They were screaming and yelling and there were people running frantically into a house on the side of the road.
at first I could not understand what happened, just that a boy was hurt.
but then they carried out what pretty much was the limp body of this 18-20 yr kid. it was completely limp, and I hear them say that he hung himself.
and they are just screaming lets go go go go! They tell us where the next clinic is, and so we run back to the car.
so they all jump in the car with the boy and we fly down the road, and I am freaked. Now not just about the boy but at the chance that the car makes it there without hurting us all also...
so I am yelling at them" is he breathing is he breathing?"
I wanted to give him rescue breathing or CPR but I didn't know if he had a heart rate or was breathing or what from the front seat, and the franticness around.
and they were banging on his chest, and blowing in his mouth, because they were really freaked and didn't know what to do at all
and then there was the fact that the car was going so fast and the roads and other cars here are already quite threatening.
shit...
luckily the driver was the park driver and somewhat experienced


so the hospital turned out to be only 5 minutes or so down the road and at one point the kid spat or coughed up a huge a huge amount of something onto the window, which was a damn good sign, and then he got rushed into the clinic/hospital and i waited outside. the driver went in and said that he thinks the kid was now breathing so we left and continued on the drive to Praia...
damn, I looked back and just thought I was looking at a lifeless kid and I could do nothing to help... all the training in CPR and First aid... nothing. Its a sad situation. I have heard of a number of suicides here in the islands since I have arrived, and it is really saddening.
I have heard many hypothesis about these suicides including that the island of Fogo and its volcanic activity effects the inhabitants there, and I have heard many other stories about the closeness in the family tree effecting people mentally. Sometimes I think its the smallness of the islands and the maybe the lack of something here that people think they need to be happy but can never see themselves attaining here in Cape Verde, I really don't know but it is sad for sure.
So now I am in Praia for medical visits 3 days before I get on the long boat ride home.
the memories from, the last boat are sea sickness, endless music and singing, sleeping on the floor blocking a doorway between two pop machines, and clogged toilets spilling all over the floor in the choppy seas, the smell of vomit... 8 or more hours of this, hmmm.
For a country with a huge maritime history, they never quite figured out how to run a good ferry service, man.
OK I will put some pictures up, but I cant write anymore.