About Cape Verde
John Santos paid tribute to all his family in 2009, through emails he sent out to anyone who would listen. I was soooo fascinated by his stories (they were eyewitness-living history in my opinion) that I reached out to him through correspondence.
Her Home - Faja de Baixo
Sao Nicolau, Faja de Baixo
Danita,
Please notice that Sao Nicolau is shaped, somewhat like a hammer.
Within the hammer head portion, Faja de Baixo, Mom's home town, is located about midway between Tarrafal and Preguica. pronounced tah-rah-fal & prray-gwee-sah.
My Dad was from Lomba Pilado Faja which is north of that, near the red dot at R Brava. Ribeiro Brava is where he went to school. But, as I told you they did not meet there, they met in the U.S.
Now I know that Mom partied in Tarrafal & Preguica. I do not know much about Dad's social life. But considering their proximity to one another and the partying life in Sao Nicolau, well, I find that amazing, that they did not meet prior to coming to the U.S.
The towns you see listed on the map are the more populous hamlets and they were both from very small hamlets.
View on Praia Frances Sao Nicolau
Believe me, there are many more small towns that are not listed on this map. If you drew a line from the center bottom, straight up to Estancia Bras, I swear it would run through both their home towns.
That area is known as the Faja region, thus the name Faja in both of their hometowns. As you can see from the map that is mountainous region.
I am adding some site addresses below the map.
Now if you click on the You Tube site you can see a singer who appears to be White, but she is a Cape Verdean. You will also see Miss Cabo Verde who is much darker and she is Cape Verdean also.
But, first, let me tell you a story about my Cousin, Beatrice Ramos, who now lives in Virginia Beach, Va. Beatrice moved to Sao Vincente several years ago and lived there for about 3 years.
Joaquim Santos (far left, Margarita’s second husband), Margarita (second from left), Aunt Margie and Uncle John (far right).
Uncle John (far right) with his wife, Aunt Margie, and two other people (I am not sure who they are, yet).
She took her Granddaughter Brianna with her, so that she would learn what Cape Verdeans are all about.
Of course, at that time, Brianna was still in school, so she sent her to a Cape Verdean School. At first, Brianna had a tough time, because she could not speak Krioulo and the C.V. kids use to make fun of her. To make a long story short, I spoke to Brianna at the last Soares Family Reunion in Bridgeport, Ct in August of 2006. She now speaks expertly, Cape Verdean Krioulo, and Bea speaks it well now also, despite the fact that she never learned it from her Parents.
They rented a 4 bedroom apartment, on the beach, in Mindelo, Sao Vincente, the most partying place in the Islands-for the equivalent of $350.00 American dollars per month. Those kind of prices may be the reason why so many White Europeans are buying up beach property in Cape Verde when they retire. These are true facts.
Have fun, enjoy the sites.
I will bet you dollars to doughnuts that this will even heighten your interest in the Cape Verde Islands.
Uncle John,
