Page 20 - 2003 - Atlantic Islands

than a million dispersed around the world, particularly in New England, Germany and

Holland. Historically the menfolk would leave the island seeking work on the docks of

the world. The whaling trade brought many to New England and there are about

400,000 US citizens with Cape Verdean ancestry.

Cape Verde became an independent country on July 5, 1975, when along with

Guinea-Bissau, it attained its separation from Portugal. There were some hopes that

the Cape Verdes and Guinea-Bissau would form a single country but differences in

philosophy and hopes for the future kept that from happening. Therefore, this lonely

Atlantic archipelago is an independent country.

Our lunch today was delightful since we sat on the aft deck enjoying the sunshine

and breezes while we indulged in our delicious if sparing, buffet meal. Salad and soup

were the fare for us with a tiny touch of fruit for dessert - pretty darned good too.

Between lunch & our next activity, we went to the Computer Lounge and were able

to send our first group e-mail out into the ether & for free this time.

The second sketching class was held at 2 PM and this time Kay was able to attend -

and, she became the star of the class almost immediately with her “reverse” sketch

of the piano bench in the Galaxy Lounge. But are we surprised - certainly not! We

had been using our “squares” to sketch clouds, sea, and sky using the method of

dark, medium and white to create the impressions. Kay got “lost in the details” so to

speak and was getting frustrated. MJ the teacher came over and decided that she

was the perfect candidate to use the reverse method: after Kay created the general

shape of the object, MJ totally blacked it in and then asked Kay to erase the

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