Later, we returned to the hotel briefly before re-embarking on a trek back to the market to meet the man who we had commissioned to fashion a pair of pants, a skirt, and a shirt. Much of the fabric in Cape Verde is imported from the United Kingdom or India, but some of the cloth that appears ‘tie-dye’ is done locally. When we arrived at his booth nestled deep within the marketplace, he had almost completed Alain’s paints holding up a square of turquoise blue cloth patterned with offset rectangular forms framed in small fuchsia dots. While in Cape Verde and Sao Tome, we would have several opportunities to work with local craftsmen whether it was at the Brazilian School making paper and weaving or at the woodshop across the lane.
That evening, we ate dinner by the ocean, but first we stopped for refreshments overlooking a large, vacant, stretch of dry earth; Alain explained that this area was used for two major purposes: to play soccer and to defecate in at night. At this information, I was unphased for the reason that Alain had nearly been peed on by a four year old that had just stopped mid-play to attend to business.
For dinner, we had seafood caught right from outside our window: octopus, tuna, and a long yellow fish. Alain surmised the plans for the following day. After the rest of the group had turned in for the night, Alain and myself attended a musical performances consisting of traditional Cape Verdean musical primarily with the occasional song originating from Angola or Portugal.
