Milestones- Beth
It’s noon and I’ve been working for hours at my kitchen table. It’s a bright table – I purchased the fabric from a market in São Tomé e Príncipe this past summer and when I sit there, a little bit of my beloved São Tomé is with me, too. I work from home with Waveplace [...]
Makeup
Faia comes up behind me, close. You can smell the cologne he’s wearing. It’s an athlete’s cologne, a small spritz and it’s like he’s freshly showered. A cologne of physical power and sexual success, or perhaps it’s the way he wears it that pronounces these two qualities. He plays ever-so-lightly with my hair. “You’re beautiful, [...]
On Returning
There are three people waiting for me when I get off the plane at the airport in São Tomé e Príncipe: Dany, the driver for Ned (the director of STeP UP, the organization I’m volunteering with); Miguel, the head computer teacher at the São João School; and my now ex-boyfriend, Kilson. Much is the same [...]
A Tourist…by Accident(s) (Part 2 of 2)
Continued from A Tourist…by Accident(s) (September 7, 2010) About two hours later I found myself in a five-star hotel in Lisbon, drinking Super Bock (Portugal’s finest) at the hotel bar with three campaigners that were en route to help with the presidential campaign in São Tomé who took me under their wing. I had felt [...]
A Tourist…by Accident(s) (Part 1 of 2)
It’s midnight on the morning of Friday, June 25. I’m in the airport in Lisbon, ready for my 12:15am flight to São Tomé e Príncipe. It took some time (and effort) to get here- I had left on Wednesday afternoon from the comfort of my dad’s cute apartment in Newburyport, Massachusetts, and now it was [...]
Bridging Worlds
At the hotel, Kevin sits alone at the dinner table for six. He’s from Scotland and he’s never been to São Tomé before. We don’t know this, though, when we first sit down with him- four of us to fill the table up better. He is quiet, he eats quickly but at the same time [...]
Bonus Day
Last year, around spring break time, I was getting ready for a trip to the Keys to visit Grandpa and enjoy a vacation away from Boston’s grey skies. Sun, relaxation, and an inexpensive visit were all necessary, so staying with Grandpa and Annie (his lovely lady friend) made perfect sense for the boy and I. [...]
To Portugal
By Beth It’s about 8:30am and it’s still quite dark. It’s also absolutely freezing. Here I am, laying in bed. I am wearing: Two tank tops, a short-sleeved shirt, a long-sleeved shirt and a sweater; as well as two layers of pants, socks and slippers. And I have…six heavy blankets on top of me. You guessed [...]
Saying Goodbye
By Beth December 17, 2009 On my last full day in São Tomé, the sun is blazing. My boyfriend, Kilson, and I spend the day at the beach, swimming off Ned’s dock, taking pictures, dancing in the street to neighbors’ loud music, sipping beers at a cafe strung with Christmas lights. From Ned’s dock, sopping [...]
35,000 Dobras
By Beth “35,000 dobras????” Kilson looks at me in disgust. “Can you believe that?” I’m out getting beers with Kilson and his cousin and they are in absolute shock over the check. The beers at this restaurant in the small oceanside city of Pantufo, in São Tomé, are almost three times the cost of other [...]
