Happy camper gets shot in the heart

I'm not really updating. Not really. Just letting the world know that Cinza is missing. Going on the fourth day, and I'm pretty sure someone took her. She always stays close and comes when I call, but alas no amount of calling has made her come back yet. And every Cape Verdean I talk to says "Someone probably just took her. You should just get another one". Another one??? Unfortunately for me a cat is not like a pair of socks. I spent so much time raising her, loving her, getting her vaccinated and spayed, taking her on trips to Praia, to other islands, virtually everywhere I went. She was my companion, my friend, something irreplacable. And I'm not ready to say it's a lost cause, even if everyone else could care less and assumes her gone forever. If I knew she had been hit by a car, I could grieve and be done, but I am more angry than sad because someone had the indecency to see something they wanted (and that quite obviously belonged to someone else) and just took it. Goddamn Cape Verdeans. I am going to stop myself now before I enter into a rant on the morality of an entire culture. Wouldn't be fair.

Suffice it to say that I am not a happy camper any longer. Coming home to an empty and quiet room is like a knife in my stomach. So I haven't taken her litter box away under the assumption that she will be back. I'm sad. She is my baby.

Tell me honestly, home audience, do you think she might come back to me? Should I continue knocking on doors until I find her? Should I accept her disappearance and move on? Am I a total freak?

Talk to me, friends and family, because I miss my kitty.

Here is a picture of when she went to Maio with us:

Island by island I go...

Over the last few months I have made my way towards completing a tour of the majority of all the glorious and uniquely spunky Cape Verdean islands. All that's left: Brava and Sao Nicolau. Their day will come.

So I wanted to just post some pictures first, before I go into detail about the past several months that have eerily backed up into the recesses of my clouded cobweb-laced brain. That will come soon enough.

Okay, first up: Fogo.

This is on my way heading up to Cha das Caldeiras, in the crater of the volcano for which the island is named. I was kicking myself for not having working camera batteries, with which I would have been able to depict the drive through what felt like Mars or another completely foreign planet's terrain.

This is Sao Felipe, the main city of Fogo. I stayed here at the beginning and end of my "disappearing act", a.k.a week of no responsibilities.

This is also Sao Felipe, looking out from the balcony of a restaurant that never failed to overcharge me every time I went (verified by knowledgable volunteers).

These were taken in Mosteiros, on the northern coast of the island, the beach town. Not so bad of a place it seems--I mean, it does have the beach.

Now on to Santo Antao, where I went with my mother in mid-September. We explored the whole north-eastern side of the island, starting from Porto Novo, heading up to Ponta do Sol and Povoacao, then west to Cha di Igreja with hikes through Paul inbetween.

This was taken in Ponta do Sol, where we stayed our only night in a hotel. The rest of the time was spent in true Peace Corps style--bumming couches and extra beds from welcoming and gracious volunteers.

All the above pictures were taken on our hike through the Ribeira of Paul. We started in Vila das Pombas and hiked up through the lush green valley until we reached the quintessential pot of gold ending our rainbow: "the German guy's place" where various flavored grog and liquors are made, as well as fabulous goat and cow cheese. It was everything I hoped it would be.

This picture begins the Cha di Igreja chapter of our journey. It depicts the view from the Volunteer's rooftop, the Volunteer of which all other Volunteers are (or should be) jealous. Following is the other side of the view:
Ridiculous. The next set of pictures depicts what turned out to be our grueling hike from Cha di Igreja back to Ponta do Sol, on which our gracious host Caley accompanied us. It took us almost five hours, and at the tail end we ended up hitching a car ride into town so we didn't miss our boat back to Sao Vicente. Now, perhaps normally this might be as pleasant, if not invigorating, of a traipse as the guidebook indicated if we had, in fact, done it as the guidebook said: from Ponta do Sol to Cha di Igreja. Instead we did it in reverse, which meant that about 3 1/2-4 hours into it, right towards the end, we encountered a substantial mountain we had to climb right over. Not what you want to see when you're already weary and out of water. It was probably one of the most beautiful hikes I have ever been on, though.

This last picture is about halfway up the mountain we had to summit, looking down over the conquered terrain we claimed as ours.

Finally, this picture above was what we called "the promised land": Ponta do Sol. Quite the oasis.

The rest of these pictures were taken in Cruzinha, a town just outside of Cha di Igreja, right after which is a small, essentially private, beach Caley has claimed as his own. I would have too if I were him.

Okay, folks, that's it for now as far as pictures go. Next time I will spend time on the Maio pics from the CEJ week I spent there. Uploading takes awhile, so patience please!:)

Sorry again that I'm so delayed on the writing, it's been awhile since I've been able to just sit by myself for a few minutes. It will come soon.