Cape Verde Week 1 & 2

Well we have arrived in Cape Verde and the first questionwe are asking is; " why is it called Cape Verde when everyhting is so dry and desert like"? The people assure us that 4 or 5 of the islandsare actually green but the other islands suffer from much drought and remain dry year round. We are living on a dry island called Mindelo. It has the 2nd largest population in the country behind Praia. In our present area we have 4 branches located within the metropolitan area and one branch on the island of Sal and one on the island of Santo Antao.

Things are very dusty here and the wind seems to stir it up quite frequently. We are constantly dusting, and sweeping the floor. We have been kept busy assisting the missionaries in the area. We have two districts of missioanries with about 8 in each district. We have already learned how to get around in the taxis and by foot. Many of the placeshave no address' so you just give a general locale and the taxi driver headsoff. We have found the food to be expensive, manily because everything is imported. They do grow some local fruit and vegetables.

This past weekend we headed to Santo Antao for a branch conference. The ferry ride takes about 45 mintues. It was nice going over but a little rough coming home. Some of the locals got a little sick. We continue to practice our Portuguese and many of the members say they understand us pretty good, it just when they speak that difficulties begin, they speak so fast.

We have had some problems with the water heater in the bathroom ( in shower head type) so the owner put in a small tank. It works well but gets a little crowded over in the corner of the tub. The plumbing is something else. Wehave started to see some cockroaches, Sister Waller is not happy about that, so I have been doing some spraying with premetherin, they seem to like the stuff.

We are getting use to the daily routine and have started holding FHE with the Branch Presidents families, as a way to introduce ourselves. The people are really very nice and in general the area fairly clean.

Mindelo Chapel:

Well I will close for now and add a few pictures.