Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Counting Down the Days....

Although I am not guaranteed access to internet nor electricity, I will try my best to keep in touch when I do have access to the internet.
If you would like to send me mail (which I'm sure you most likely would like to do!) my address during training will be:

Cathryn Duffy, Peace Corps Volunteer
A/C Corpo da Paz
C.P. 373-Praia
Republic of Cape Verde
In order to make sure that mail gets to me you need to write "air mail/par avion" AND "via Portugal". They also suggessted asking the post office to make sure the mail gets routed though Boston because they are more familiar with mail going to Cape Verde (due to the large population of Cape Verdeans in the Boston area), but I really have no idea how much of a difference that really makes.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Where in the World is Cape Verde?


The Republic of Cape Verde is an archipelago ( a chain or cluster of islands) located in the Atlantic Ocean about 310 miles off the coast of Western Africa. Cape Verde consists of ten islands which are divided into two groups, the Barlavento (the Windward Northern islands) and the Sotavento (the Southern islands).

Cape Verde is a former Portuguse colony and gained independence in 1975 after being ruled over for over 500 years (since 1460). The official language is Portuguese but most Cape Verdeans speak Cape Verdean Creole which varies island to island, I will be learning both.

Temperatures range from 75 °F in January and February to 85 °F in September. The average annual rainfall for Cape Verde is only 2.7 in with September being the wettest month with 1.3 in.