This is a guide for my family and friends about my life as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Cape Verde, Africa. I teach English as foreign language to high school students in Boa Vista, Cape Verde. Also as a disclaimer, the comments expressed here are solely of the author and do not represent the United States Peace Corps, the American Government, or any other governing body.

Friday, April 27, 2007

25th April 2007

Yes, the blogs are really piling up. Well, I am able to get on the internet now, but it is a very slow process. My computer-savy roommate explained that the main cable isn’t fixed, so the country is using a satellite replacement as a temporary solution. Apparently the satellite doesn’t carry nearly as much bandwith and with a country of 500,000 people using the same line, it gets a little slow. But I think it was a very bad idea to have a temporary solution. The mind set then becomes, ‘well, at least they have something, we don’t have to hurry to fix the problem.’ Brilliant. So for now, I will continue to write journal style and publish all million blogs when the internet allows.

Well, this past Monday was national Dia do Professores, or teacher’s day. So a great day was planned for all the teachers on the island. This of course includes the high school as well as all the primary schools. I would say there were about 100 or so of us teachers who participated in the day. They arranged for us to go to Venta Club, the humungous resort hotel that’s outside of the city, about a 20 minute drive. The Venta Club is an all-inclusive resort for tourists, so we never really see the tourists who stay there and they never really see us. Everything is included, and they have their own private secluded beach, swimming pools, a couple of restaurants, and their own discothèque. So everyone piled in the bus, and for about $20, we were given our run of the hotel as well for the entire day.

Needless to say, the problems started before we even walked in the front door. The teachers were told to pay 1,500 escudos (about $20) to be able to go. Everyone paid ahead of time. When we arrived at the Club, we were told that the actual feel was 2,500 escudos, about $15 more. The outrages started. No one brought money with them as this was an all-inclusive day, and who needs money? When you get a lot of Cape Verdians together, they tend to get a little overbearing. And since most of the teachers were women, they were not hesitant about letting their opinions be heard. Well since we were all there and making a slight fuss (although I have to interject this and nothing against primary school teachers, but it was they who were making all the noise. Those of us high school teachers were pretty blaze about the whole thing and willing to pay the extra 1,000 escudos later, as we didn’t have it with us) the Venta Club decided that they would let us in for an extra 500 escudos to be paid at a later date. Right. Like that’s going to happen.

Anyway, the place was amazing. And maybe my judgments a little screwed because I haven’t been around that sort of thing lately, but the place was nice. It was so big, and it had good food, and beautiful views and it’s own private secluded beach. I could definitely see why a British or Italian tourist would come to Boa Vista for vacation. Because you could be anywhere. On any beach in the whole world. There was no one else around for miles. The beaches in my town of Vila are 20K away, there is no one to bother you. So we Cape Verdians (I’ll just include myself in the group as I felt like I was anyway) spent the day lounging by the pool, eating, and for me, feeling really normal. I watched and got excited about a game of soccer, I played tennis on a grass court (aren’t you jealous daddy?), and swam in a (very cold, but who cares) swimming pool. It was really cool.

Trouble was bound to surface again in this perfect day. The main restaurant in the hotel is a buffet serve yourself type of place. They have a variety of different types of food, dessert and since it is all inclusive, a variety of beverages as well. So lunch came around and the hotel reserved an area of the sitting room for us and we were allowed to go and serve ourselves along with the other tourists. Now, even though the hotel is quite large and there were quite a few people staying there, the addition of 100-150 extra people is felt, especially in a dining hall. Our addition made significant lines and the food ran out quicker. I am sure that there was no lack of complaints from the guests. It’s not that we were that pushy (although the Cape Verdian culture doesn’t really include standing in line, it’s more of a just shove your plate in the front and grab what you can) I can see how the guests were frustrated with the sudden change of pace. Well, the evening dinner came around and we were told we could no longer serve ourselves; that there was now a set meal and we would be served. But we were asked to stay in place meaning out of the food serving area. Begin uproarious protestations now. Some people boycotted eating, some tried to leave and go home, all the while screaming about racism, that the blacks weren’t able to mingle with the snotty whites in their own country. Let me tell you something that my good friend Elizabeth (who is Cape Verdian) and I discussed: 100-150 people of any size, shape, or race, are a nuisance. They do get in the way, of course they do. I don’t think racism was behind the change of service, but it was a little abrupt and not explained properly, so of course there was going to be an issue. But the hotel had to bring in extra people to serve us and prepare dishes especially for us (although to add insult to injury they served us catchupa in between our appetizer and entrée leading people to believe that we were having that for dinner. Catchupa is the national Cape Verdian dish consisting of corn, some beans and occasionally ham pieces. Let’s just say it’s like putting a plate full of grilled cheese sandwiches in front of Americans who just paid about $20 for this dinner and telling them that’s what there was to eat). Anyway, this change was no easy task for them. Obviously, it was for the comfort of the guests and to make things a little easier on everyone. Anyway, but they turned our visit into Cape Verdian culture day, so afterwards there was a band who played Cape Verdian music (actually the only band on Boa Vista) and we all danced. And when I say we, I mean all the Cape Verdians and the tourists watched, which was awkward. I would have asked one of the torusits to stand up with me, to get them included in the dancing, but I was afraid I’d get a look like in the movie Dreamgirls when Eddie Murphy sings in that fancy Miami beach hotel to all the white people and the one woman jumps when he points at her (yes they have some new movies in the video store it’s very exciting). Anyway, it was just an interesting experience to be in such a segregated group, where such obvious racial tension was present all the time. Anyway so that was my day, it was a very good time, and I will post pictures when I can. I hope everyone is well.

19th April 2007

I was on the Cape Verdian radio today. I thought that was pretty cool. At least I think was on the radio. I didn’t get a chance to hear myself. But I’m pretty sure I was. I didn’t even know Boa Vista had its own radio station. I have no idea where the station would be, but whatever. The one and only journalist on the island came to my little-people English class today and wanted to interview me and a couple of the kids in the class. He pretty much asked me the same questions I asked myself at the beginning of the children’s classes. ‘Why are you teaching English to little kids 6 years old?’ So I explained in the best Creole I could that it’s valuable to give kids a foundation for this language, since this island in particular is becoming so touristy. A couple of my little ones counted to 10 in English, they were so cute. So, that was exciting. In other news, we’ve decided to hire another maid. Our one we had months ago stopped showing up after like three visits. Then I was doing the laundry for a few months but I don’t want to do it anymore, so we’ve hired someone else. Hopefully she’ll stick around longer than two weeks. Although, it’s hard to do laundry without water, which we’ve been out of for two days now. Again. The Peace Corps was nice enough to send us two large barrels to store our water. It’s enough to bathe, wash the dishes, and flush the toilet for a few days, but not enough to do laundry or anything major like that. We are getting used to it, and it’s a little easier to live with the barrels, but still irritating. Oh well. And it looks like the internet isn’t coming back any time too soon, so sorry that the blogs are piling up.

18th April 2007

So of course the one week where I can’t access the internet everyday, I have like a million things to say. Today was the interview for the program in America. Like I thought, it was a little too good to be true, but not a total disappointment. This interview process was supposed to happen around a month ago, but for transportational reasons (have I mentioned I hate TACV, Cape Verde Airlines?) they couldn’t get to Boa Vista until now. The people from Wesleyan University had already gone back to America, so the woman who came was a representative from a section of the Cape Verdian government in charge of all youth activities. She works for the group that sort of in charge of all the Youth Centers in Cape Verde. Because of timing issues, she told me that they have already chosen the five Cape Verdian students who are going to America. Well, needless to say, I was pretty disappointed for my students. But she also told me that the students chosen had to go through rigorous language scrutiny. They have to be pretty much fluent in English and under the age of 19 to boot. A difficult process. But there is another program in Cape Verde over the summer that is sort of the same thing, only in this country. A few students from America are even coming here for it. It will be a intercultural exchange sort of thing for American and Cape Verdian students. Around 20 Cape Verdian students are chosen from around the islands in various forms of artistic expression: dance, theater, and music (both singing and playing of an instrument).

Two of my students decided to apply. They are 11th graders and only level III English. In this particular program, the English is not as rigorous, but as the Americans and Cape Verdians will be in classes together, English will have to be somewhat understood, and I don’t know many American high schoolers who can speak Portuguese, let alone Creole. Patricia, probably my best student, decided to apply for the dance section and Zelinda applied for the theater. The woman who came to do the interviews was very nice and I liked her a lot. She let me sit in on the interviews. I may be slightly partial, but I think my girls did the best out of everyone who applied. They had to exhibit some proof that they were able to do what they say they could. Patricia spoke English very well (ok I coached them a little before hand, but how could I not!!) and she danced various types of dance and showed she was ready to learn new types. Zelinda pulled off a monologue and showed quite some aptitude as an actress. Her English is not quite as good as Patricia’s, but she did just fine I think. Well, the interviewer afterwards told me that she would for sure take Patricia. Zelinda was a definite possibility and there is probably an 80% that she would go. But none of the other applicants were really considered. MY STUDENTS! My own, level 3 (!!!!) students were chosen for this program. Now, I believe in the school as a whole, and yes I would have been happy to seen any other student go, but the fact that it was my student just makes me so proud . So, I think they find out for sure in the next week or so, but I was so proud of them in the interview, they held their own, and didn’t seem as nervous as the other students, they were so great! Ok, well that’s all I have to say and I’ll keep you all posted on the for sure outcome of this whole business.

17th April 2007

I’ve assigned a section of “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” to my 11th grade class. They are only level III English, but they are fairly smart kids, and tend to pick stuff up fairly quickly. Leland used this particular story in one of his adult English classes and it seemed to go over fairly well. I though it particularly bold of me to try it with a level III high school class, but so far, it seems they are liking it. It’s a little deviation from the ordinary at least. The section of the story is Chapter 2 of the novel: The Glorious Whitewasher. In this section, Jim, the slave, has a few lines of dialogue that are quite difficult to discern, but remarkably, the class was able to figure out what English words he would be speaking. I was actually quite proud of them. I hesitated a little, explaining the language of the black slave, to a room full of students who were only sitting there because the slave trade began in the first place. Their ancestors just happened to be “lucky” enough to not have made it to the Americas. I put “lucky” in parentheses only because it’s not as though they were treated any better. Cape Verde, in the slave era, was a rest stop for the Portuguese slave traders. They stopped here to regroup after kidnapping the West Africans. Some of the kidnapped were left here to serve the Portuguese working here permanently. They may not have made it to the American horrors, but they were slaves here none-the-less, although I get the feeling it wasn’t quite so severe.

In a semi-related topic, a group of people associated with Wesleyan University (Leland’s alma mater, coincidentally) is coming tomorrow to interview any 10th, 11th or 12th grader who exhibits a fairly strong grasp of the English language and a strong background in some sort of artistic expression. This includes, theater (both acting and technical), singing, dancing, visual art, writing, or photography. The group is selecting various Cape Verdians from around the country to go to Connecticut to participate in a 5 week workshop at Wesleyan University to expand their English and artistic base. Tomorrow the representatives will come, and interview the students who show interest. I have encouraged my 11th graders to at least gain the experience of interviewing, as this is a valuable skill regardless. I have one or two who will try and who I think have a fairly decent shot of getting this position. I somehow find the whole thing just a little bit too good to be true. Opportunities like this are so rare, that when they do occur, it’s almost as though they are so delicate you don’t want to believe in them too much. For at least one of my students to make it to America to have the opportunity to express their culture through artistic means is just such a great thing for them, and I truly hope that I know a student or two who makes it. It’s the opportunity of a lifetime for these kids. They dream about going to America, and for a deserving student to have the chance to experience a college-style life, even if for only 5 weeks, just makes me happy and hopeful that they’ll make it. Well by the time this is posted, we shall know how it went, and if my bad feelings of it being too good to be true have any basis or not. I’m hoping not. Wish my students luck!! Some of them really deserve this.

16th April 2007

So I found out today that our internet will be disconnected until around the end of this week. Not just our island’s, but the whole country’s internet. This is due to someone dropping their obviously heavy boat anchor right on the country’s DSL line in Praia, snapping the fiber optic wire in half. This raises several questions: 1. Why is the very important wire not buried deep under the ocean floor; 2. Why was a boat able to drop its anchor in it in the first place; 3. Why is the wire running through a place where boats park themselves? These are all valid questions that of course have led to the argument over who should pay for the wire to be fixed. The boatman or CV Telecom? I, personally, feel that it is the responsibility of CV Telecom to pay for the wire repair as it was in a dumb location to begin with, plus I hate CV Telecom for my own reasons; perhaps, then, I am biased. But anyway, this means that I am currently blogging at home and will publish my blogs when I am able to use the internet again, so these blogs are in journal format. Sorry about that.

Well, things are going fairly well these days. School and work is back in full swing, although there is that distinct smell in the air: the smell of things coming to end. Spring is ending; summer is coming upon all of us quickly. It’s the smell of the end of school and the crazy and fun times ahead. The students have an energy that’s like the last inhalation before you blow out and blow off all that steam. It’s a good feeling. My students are anxious to be finished, and I don’t really blame them. They are behaving slightly better in class, although “better” isn’t the best word to describe it, I just can’t think of the appropriate word. It’s almost as if they feel that if they just hold their breath, keep their heads down, and do the work, they’ll get out of here just that much faster. Well, they won’t but it works all right for disciplinary purposes.

Although, the end of the school year is approaching quickly. There are 6 different grades that make up the secondary school. These 6 grades are divided into three cycles. The first cycle is 7th and 8th grade, second cycle is 9th and 10th, and third cycle is 11th and 12th grade. At the end of each cycle, the students have a large cumulative test, called a PGI. Weeks are spent reviewing for this test, as it is crucial for their final grades. In two and a half weeks, I give my first test of the trimester. Then for the four weeks following that, I will review for the PGIs in my 8th and 10th grades. They take their tests beginning the 6th of June. This trimester will be over before all we know it. I’m in the fifth week of my little people English class. I still love it, and the break I had a couple of weeks ago was very much needed, as it is exhausting to keep up with 6 year olds as well as plan new lessons and discipline the 8th graders all in the same day. But I like it, it makes the days pass quicker.

I know I talk constantly of counting down the days, passing the time, and basically sit in anticipation for the end of all this business to be over. I don’t mean to sound as though I am going through hellish torture here. It’s funny, because in my past life (ante-Peace Corps) I remember counting the hours until work/class was over. But I don’t think that I’ve ever counted down the days for a selected period of time. And like I said, I don’t hate it here by any means, and I’m not miserable (most of the time ); but I guess I look at my service here as one long work day. My trip to England is like lunchtime. Each school break in the middle of school is like the ten o’clock coffee breaks that I always forgot to make coffee for :) (I was never good at making coffee). My life, like my days used to be, is divided into breaks and quantified time spaces. I jump from break to break, like jumping form hour to hour in a workday. It’s no way to live life I know, but my life is currently unique and calls for unique ways to cope. Anyway, things are good, classes are going pretty well so far, I have finally booked our tickets to London after much trouble and deliberation with airlines, and Leland and I have some pretty solid friends in the community that make the experience just that much better. It took a while, but I can now say that we have fit ourselves pretty neatly in daily life here. Everyone knew us before, but now nearly everyone who knows us says hello to us on the street. We are no longer the strange Americans, but we are “so-and-so’s teacher” or ‘profesora de Corpo da Paz.” It’s nice to fit in finally.

By the way, I just received a card in the mail today from my friend who is in the Peace Corps in Macedonia. It was a Christmas card, and it was sent out December 12th, 2006. I guess there is absolutely no predicting this ridiculous mail business.

15th April 2007

I just wanted to make a note first: I think my last blog might have gone slightly misunderstood. It was not I who was mugged. Two other volunteers were here visiting us for spring break, and they wandered to a part of the beach that is a little more deserted. Two men approached them and demanded their money and bags. They dropped everything and ran. They weren’t hurt, and didn’t lose much, but it was still an unfortunate experience and I’m sorry that it happened on my island, which is usually so safe. They have, however, caught one of the guys after two elderly British tourists were attacked in the same place. It seems that only one of the muggers was there, and pulled out a knife to threaten the tourists. They were willing to oblige, but the mugger made an unfortunate call by holding the knife up to the woman’s neck. The husband lost it and attacked the mugger and knocked him down. He grabbed the knife (that was thankfully dull) and the woman got a slight cut on her face, and the man ended up with cuts on his hand, but between the two of them they knocked the guy down and called the police who caught him. The police here sent our visiting volunteers a photo to identify the guy and it turns out he was the same one. So, well done British tourists! Although, I can’t say that was the smartest move.

Last night Leland and I went to a coworker’s son’s first birthday party. There are four people who work at the Youth Center, not including Leland and I. The woman who now runs it is named Vilma and it was her son’s first birthday. Her second in command, so-to-speak is a Shon who is dating a very nice teacher at my school. We hang out with that couple a lot (you may have seen the photos of us rolling around the desert with them). Then there are two young people who work the internet café mostly: Diva and Johnny. Diva is 19 and, of course, very pregnant. In fact, she’s due next month. I like Diva a lot. She’s very nice, and is fun to talk with about life in general. But I do feel sorry for her, for obvious reasons. She is not married to the father of her (oopsie) baby and she’s only 19. Vilma’s life, on the other hand is the complete opposite. She is in her late 20s, in a pretty solid marriage to a very nice man, and they live in a nice apartment with the cutest little guy for a son. I sat next to Diva at the party as Vilma was showing everyone her son’s baby book. Similar to the one I had when I was a baby, it is full of silly baby statistics, like when he said his first word, what it was, first day and time he walked, rolled over, crawled, etc. It had photographs of the mother, father, and extended family. Diva and I looked through the book together and I thought about the contrast between Diva’s situation and Vilma’s. Vilma went to college, got her degree, had a stable job and husband and then had a child. Diva barely finished high school before she became pregnant with a man who probably will not marry her, and still lives with her parents and works probably very close to minimum wage in a job that she won’t be able to move up in.

Let me back up and clarify for a moment. There is nothing wrong with Diva’s situation, and it happens to women all over the world, in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, worlds, among the rich and poor. Child out of wedlock is nothing new to anyone, nor do I believe that it is by any means a catastrophe in any situation. And I know I have harped on the pregnancy issue in this country already, but just sitting there, with this girl who is my brother’s age looking at the photos and symbolic lifestyle that she probably would never have made me sad. But there’s nothing I can really do about it, maybe that’s the most frustrating part. I just hope that the baby gets a better chance than she had.

Monday, April 09, 2007

Saturday night, Leland and I decided to attend a Gala. Yeah I said Gala. Who knew, right? We paid about $20 to sit in a large discoteque that was converted into a rather nice dining hall, complete with table service dinner and (nearly) full bar. There was live music, presentations of art and other artisan work, and all the who’s who of Boa Vista was there. It was another one of those things where Leland and I had to keep kicking ourselves to remember where the hell we were. Namely, in the Peace Corps on an African archipelago, and not in New York City or Chicago at an art exhibition for the latest chic artist. We were dressed to the nines, surrounded by most people who were speaking English (although there were Cape Verdians there as well, among them mine and Leland’s counterparts as well as some other teachers from the high school). The Gala was put on by an Italian who owns the main grocery store in town and is married to a Cape Verdian and now lives here. I don’t think his initial design was to make money, I think it was an attempt to bring an elevated ‘something’ of the western world to a country that is conflicted as to whether it wants to join that world or not. At any rate, the event seemed to be somewhat of a success although not all the tables were sold. The food was ok, served in ‘European portions’ (Cape Verdians tend to serve their food heartily and on a generous pile of rice, beans, and french fries) but was brought out in 5 courses. A coursed meal. Yeah we were surprised too. I think I’ve been to a total of about 5 dinners that contained more than three courses in my whole life, the majority of these being weddings (although the one more memorable one was the one in Paris, France where my family and I went one night, and in between they brought us these Champaign classes full of palette cleansers in three different colors, one being green, it was so odd. Remember family?) Anyway, the idea that I was sitting at a Gala being served my second entrée while sipping on a glass of wine was entirely ridiculous to me, but made me feel just a little more human, even if most human beings don’t engage in that type of event on any type of regular basis. That’s not the point, really.
I live a completely different life from what I know like to call my “former life.” Any semblance of that life makes me feel a little more alive, even if it was not a regular occurrence in this “former life.” But I have no access to regular occurrences from my “former life” so these snippets of irregularities have to do to keep the memory and emotional feeling of who I was alive. I can’t go to Wal-mart, Target, a normal video store, the movies, the mall, or shopping really of any kind. So the abnormal ‘Western-style’ occurrences that happen, even the ridiculous ones such as Galas, are taken advantage of and loved for every minute they allow me to remember what it was like to live a life that I was used to.

The past two weeks have gone by in a kind of blur and I can only hope that the rest of my service continues in this swift fashion. I am coming to a dip in my mood, only to be expected after the emotional high I found myself on when surrounded by people I feel comfortable with and can get close enough to touch, or come in human contact with. It’s not that I don’t have Cape Verdian friends, but it seems, to me at least, that there will always be this barrier between us as Americans and them as people of a different cultural lifestyle.
The week began with those of us first years arriving in Tarrafal, a beach community on the northern tip of the main island of Santiago. We have lost 5 volunteers since our initial training but have recently gained one new volunteer from amongst those evacuated from Guinea recently. We are now, then, 29 first year volunteers. Monday and Tuesday were spent catching up with friends, laughing, and basically reliving a more compact version of our initial technical training. There was an abundance of snacks, including fruits and pistachio nuts (!) (of course food had to make a small appearance in my narrative; it wouldn’t be a Fazel experience if it didn’t impact me in some way. Although I must say that I was neither the only one thrilled nor the most enthusiastic about the appearance of the exotic sustenance). Tuesday evening the second year volunteers arrived in true second year fashion: absolutely nuts. I’m pretty sure this place makes you crazy. The sessions became slightly more interesting and the nights a lot more lively, as it is the one and only time that all 35 or so of us Cape Verde volunteers will be in the same place at the same time. For a lot of us, being isolated on an island with only one or two other people who are like you makes you hungry for the human interaction that only other Peace Corps Cape Verde volunteers can provide. We clung to each other sharing our stories, letting lose, and laughing and laughing until we eventually had to go back to our isolated lives. I, along with some others, tried to stretch out our time away as long as we could and I ended up staying the following weekend after the conference was over in the capital city of Praia. A lot of my friends had decided to hang around as well, so to me it was a no-brainer to tag along.
Last Sunday I got to visit my homestay family in Sao Domigos. I hadn’t seen them since I left for Boa Vista nearly 7 months ago. My homestay mother’s niece had died taking them to a nearby town, but they arrived back to Sao Dominogs in time for me to spend about 20 minutes with them. I felt bad, and told them that the next time I would spend more time with them. It’s interesting to see the way the homes that hosted volunteers have changed in the past few months. Our families receive a daily stipend to support us, which is usually more than enough to support us as well as the rest of their entire family. So needless to say, they usually have some money left over. Houses were remodeled, new TVs and DVDs were bought, and there is a brand new armoire in the room I used to occupy in my homestay household. But I was happy to see them, as they were happy to see me, and I am just sorry that I wasn’t able to visit them before now. I should be going back to that island some time in June or July so I will hopefully be able to see them a little more.
Well I came back to Boa Vista early last week and home to a houseful of guests. Leland had come back the Friday before when everyone was scheduled to go back to their sites and so was here to welcome other volunteers who wanted to extend their “vacation” as I did. We have heard from nearly every volunteer who has visited us here that our site is by far the best site on Cape Verde. I would not argue that point by any means, as our beaches are amazing and this island is relatively safe (although there was an unfortunate experience that happened with two volunteers that were visiting last week being mugged just up the beach from the windsurf shack that Leland and I generally hang around. They weren’t hurt, but it left most of us in complete shock, as this is something that we never hear happens). So Leland and I know we have it good as far as location goes, but the lack of other human contact is something I wish I didn’t have to deal with.
Which is why you will all be happy to know that I have made a rip down calendar that is one page for everyday I have left until my friend Stephanie and I fly to England to meet my family who I haven’t seen now for a little over 9 months (!), a lot for me. It was my way of quantifying an event that I can actually keep track of; plus it keeps me a little saner and gives me something to look forward to every morning (and I might as well confess at this moment that the map of the London Underground system has now become my computer’s background). I begin the third and final trimester of the school year today and I could use all the sanity I can get. I know it will go by quickly and hopefully without too much rediculouslessness, but this is Cape Verde and of course the PC so who the hell knows?
In other news, I did attempt to learn to windsurf, and found myself sore the next day. Of course, I stayed on the sand, just practicing holding the sail in the proper way and learning how to grip it and stuff, but I can now say that at least I have begun to learn! Also, the market just got mangoes back in, so I think their season is picking back up which makes me happy, although they are still slightly expensive, costing about $1.50 for each mango. When the season is in full swing I have a feeling they will become slightly cheaper which is just splendid. And mother, you will be happy to know that in my newfound appreciation of veggies, I have started eating zucchini on a fairly regular basis. I actually quite like the flavor, and stir-fry has become one of my favored dishes to make. Meat and chicken have been a little difficult to obtain these days, so I have officially been a vegetarian for the past three days ☺ Tasha, aren’t you proud?