Time - Never Here Nor There

I can't tell you how much I miss of Cape Verde and my time as a friend of this nation and a volunteer with PC. One of the saddest days of my life was when I packed that hiace and headed for the capital to turn in the towel and move on. If I'd had my preference, I'd still be there, nearly five years ago. I think about it daily. There never was a time when I was more myself, more comfortable with the skin I wore, the people I'd seen, the place I'd visited. I miss the smiles, the harrassment, the pure attention of being traced down the street as a foreigner. I miss the awe struck shock cape verdeans experienced when realizing my creole compared favorably with theirs - especially if i mixed in some good old colonialism. Somewhere in between being a german tourist and a portuguese history profesor were we. Grog, vinho tinto, cigaro, escrivendo, todu era boa e n'ka podi skeci nada, todu dia me lembra da todu, dea, me juda! Anyway, it's over now, many years have passed, and I still reminisce. With my BBC radio, coffee, and view of the sun rising over the horizon, in some way I take in the day with a faint remembrance of things past but never forgotten always relived. So live on my friends in Assomada, sao domingos, praia, mosteiros, mindelo. Live on! you will always be eternal to me. A memory lives forever; an experience never expires. Live on! There will never be more than this.