July, 2010

It has been a month since our last blog post. Sorry about that. Really, there has not been too much to report on. In the last month, we rented a car again and our friend Beth joined us on our trip. Beth is from Washington D.C. and works with Waveplace, a non-profit that picks up with programming where One Laptop Per Child has left off. She came to Sao Tome last year for 2 months to start a program in a school here and came back for a month this summer to check on the progress. Her arrival brought about Polly's departure, which was really sad, but Beth was fun to hang out with, so that was cool. And, she introduced us to some people on the island, which has proven to be useful.

So, the rent-a-car trip...Jared needed to get pictures of various monuments, statues, and the like in several places on the north and west of the island, so this was the direction we set out. We hit Guadelupe, the 5th largest city on the island (not that big of a deal seeing as how there are only like 7 cities total). Then we went to Augustino Neto Roca, the largest one on the island. THis one was quite impressive, as it had a beautiful, maintained garden to visit as well as a hospital (no longer in use) and a church that happened to be decorated for a wedding the next day. Most of the items in the National Museum are from this roca and it is a big tourist attraction, if you want to go so far as to say there are tourist attractions here. After this, we drove to Neves, the 3rd largest city where the Rosema brewery is, and then on to the landing cite of the Portuguese nearly 400 years earlier. We are lunch at the lighthouse above Lagua Azul and I have to say, it was one of the nicest moments of our time here. The dry season had taken its toll on the long grasses around the inlets and everything was golden like hay and the waters around were dark blue, the sky was bright crystal blue and in the distance, you could see huge Baoba trees with their empty short and twisted limbs framed in the blue above. It was so peaceful! Also, along our way, we had picked up sugar cane and cocoa to try, so after lunch, we munched on some fresh sugar cane - so hard to rip apart with your teeth, but super good - and then we cracked open a cocoa pod and sucked on the beans inside. It was awesome!

After that break, we went to Fernad Dias, a north point on the island that where the horrible Batepa Massacre ended. A deep water port is in the slow, African process of being built, and so the monument that once stood there in memory of the massacre has been destroyed. Not moved, but demolished!!

*Interesting side note here - the port right now is in the city, very near our apartment. This has been the port since the city was born. However, the water in the bay is very shallow (and as a result, cluttered with lots of decaying and rusting boats and ships) which causes container ships and all other vessels to anchor out in the ocean. Then, little tug boats with small barges go out, load or unload, 3-4 containers at a time and then chug its way back to the port. The whole process is very slow and ships will be out in the sea for a week waiting to unload and reload. The new deep water port would be twice as fast if not more! Its amazing it hasn't been done yet!

So that was our rent-a-car day number 2 and our last trip around the island before we go home Now we have done and seen everything outside of the city that was on our list!

And now, Polly and Beth have been added to the list of people who have gone. Our friend pool now consists of Doug and Amanda, Baptist missionaries from the states, and their two girls - we have dinner with them about once a week or so. They lived here for 4 years, left for a year to raise funds and are now back for 4 more years. Their youngest girl was born in Sao Tome and has dual citizenship. We also met a guy from Sweden, Freddy, who is here building a hotel. He has traveled everywhere, speaks English, and is bored just like everyone else here. So, we get together with him once a week to have a drink and talk about the few things that actually happened that week. Then, there are Allen, Nilton, and Reggie. All Sao Tomeans and all really nice guys. We were introduced to them through Beth and now that she is gone, we see them every once and awhile, which is really nice. There are also Pastor Milton and Pastor Marquez, who Jared taught English too, and of course, the people we see everyday on our walks that we stop and say hi to, discuss the weather, and chat about whatever is happening that day. These people are the kids in the park who wash the cars during lunchtime, the guards of all the important buildings, and the workers of the cafes and such that we visit regularly.