Top Ten Things of the last Two weeks

First was our first trip to Tarrafal. Tarrafal is a small town on the other end of the island. When Robert received his call to be on the High Council the Stake President asked if we would accompany him to Tarrafal the following Sunday. Tarrafal was to be made a ward and a new Bishop was being called. Sunday morning we left with him and another member of the High Council. He is twenty three. We are now wondering if Robert has more time with the Melchizedek Priesthood than the whole High Council combined. Umm ... pause for thought. Anyway we started off to Tarrafal which is only about 40 miles away but it took us nearly two hours to get there. We drove over 3 mountain ranges of winding roads and saw some incredible topography. It is so stark and barren and yet beautiful at the same time. I wondered on the way there why we didn't drive along the coast. Well that is because along a good part of the coast the mountains just drop right into the ocean. I could see some of that on the drive. Here are a few pictures taken along our way.

Tarrafal is a tiny town with a small beach and harbor. We walked over to it from the church while the President held some interviews.

Two. I have noticed that color is important here. This is the Electra building we go to on a bi-weekly basis. We go in first to collect the electric bills for all of the missionary apartments. That takes about 30 minutes with one of the two women that always wait on us. Now that 30 minutes is tact on to the time we have already spent in line waiting to talk to one of them. Then we go back the following week to pay all the bills. That takes on average an hour and 15 minutes - after we have waited in line. They have to generate a separate receipt for every bill payed. There are about 50 apartments in the mission so it takes forever. But you have to love the green building.

Here is more color. I guess if you don't have addressees, which they don't here, you have to come up with a way to make sure your house can be found. The missionary area books are full of notation like - it is the third house past the purple one with the green shutters near the bright yellow one on the corner.

And last but not least is the sign in front of the very pink ... hospital. Can you guess what the sign means. The H is for hospital and the horn crossed out means no honking your horn near the hospital. Patients need their rest. 

Three. Most of the roads are cobble stone and make for a pretty rough ride. But I guess maintenance is low budget because we have noticed when they get pot holes or if a stone comes lose and sticks up, they simple take a pick axe to the road and dig up several stones, lay some dirt down to level it out and then put the stones back down. This is the road crew at work.

Four. Now this is their idea of gold's gym. They have these workout stations all over the island - and people use them! These are the two we see most often. The first one is  right above the beach. I guess everyone wants to look their best in their bathing suits. The other one is by Pao Quente which means hot bread. It is a great bakery and the need to have a workout station there is self explanatory.

And just a random sample - very random - of what can be found in Pao Quente. This is a cake circled with KitKat candy bars with a Hello Kitty thing in the middle. Umm.

Five. Now I mentioned something about shopping in Cape Verde in a previous blog so these are some examples. This first one is a typical sight of where one can buy clothing. These make-shift shops are all over. There are also indoor shops but they are very small and the clothes for the most part are arranged just like the street venders display them. The other shop is of a food market on Plateau - sort of the heart of Praia shopping. Once you get through the gate, there are narrow passages leading to individual venders that sell anything from fresh garlic strung together to fruit to fresh fish on melted ice. Never have purchased the last one. Umm.

Sixth. As we have ventured out further on our walks, we have found the best beaches in Praia. This one is about 3/4 miles from our apartment. It is right below the workout station I spoke of.

Seventh. We celebrated our 36th wedding anniversary this week. Who would have thought we would be celebrating it in Africa?

We went out for a romantic dinner to a restaurant that overlooked the harbor and light house. The food so-so, the view nice, the company wonderful after all these years!

Eight. Today was our P-day so we went sightseeing for awhile. We drove to a small historic town about 15 miles away called Cidade Velha. It is where the island had its beginnings. There is an old fort clearly built to protect the island. The cannons are still there. As was the post were they shackled the slaves for auctions. A sad beginning for such a wonderful country. The views from the fort were breathtaking. This is the town below it nestled along the water front.

This is of the valley to the side of the fort.

And this is the fort.

And here is a shot that shows beautiful things can grow out of adversity. It was the only flower I saw anywhere up there.

Nine. And speaking of beautiful things growing. Here is a picture from their Seminary and Institute graduation. It was typical of most seminary graduations but they also emphasized the institute course completions. There are so many converts in their twenties that these classes are very much encouraged. They had all the Bishops and Branch Presidents there to shake hands with those receiving their awards. As the names from a ward or Branch were read, the Bishop or Branch President of that ward stood with the Stake President and awarded the certificates to the youth. And that was when some not so typical things happened. When three names were read from one ward the response from the congregation was "Missao!" indicating the person who was to receive the certificate had already left on their mission. Then two High Council members received their institute course completions. (I told you they were young) Then when one name was read it was followed by some chuckles and no one jumped up to receive the certificate. That is when the Stake President turned to the Branch President hugged him and gave him his certificate. Here is the picture of them all together.

Ten. Immediately following the graduation we went to the weekly baptism. Here is a shot of the people lining up to be baptized.

As that film about Cape Verde stated, there is light  in Cape Verde. And speaking of the film, watch it again and look at the young man who does the baptism in the film. He is the stake financial clerk and he is baptizing his fiancee. They are in our Temple prep class. She had been baptized before but they had lost her record and it had to be redone so they decided to do it for the film. Also there is a young couple they interview about the perpetual education fund. Not the one that works with disabled children but the other one. In one shot, he is sitting at a table with a young woman and she is holding a baby. That is our bishop and the young woman who looks fifteen is his wife. She is holding their adorable baby girl. They are such a cute couple. Also there is some shots in the movie taken in our apartment (which used to be the mission office). Where the man comes in and shakes hands with the missionaries at their desks that is our study. And at the end when the man - who is a member of the mission presidency - is bearing his testimony that is in our now front room. If you haven't seen the film I will add the link on my next blog. Or you can find it on the church website. Tudo Bem!