Last June while in Marathon to celebrate my Grandson Shawn’s birthday, Pam and I were having lunch at the Skipjack Resort Bar when our bartender asked where we were from. We did our “Washington D.C./Southern Maryland” explanation and I made some comment about always having to explain where exactly we were from because most folks did not know where Southern Maryland is.
Our bartender Abel laughed and said “I have to do the same thing because I am from a small island off the coast of West Africa that nobody has ever heard of.” I immediately guessed “Cape Verde?” to which he responded “Wow, you are the first person to know that.”
I then told him that I not only knew where Cape Verde was, but I had been there even if it was just a stop to refuel the plane. (Buzzy and I were flying from Johannesburg to New York as we returned home from our South Africa trip. I have talked about this Cape Verde visit and the young lady we met on the plane previously (click here.)
OK, I hear you asking, so what does all this have to do with the price of tea in China? (Note – for a good explanation of how and where that expression originated (click here.) Glad you asked.
I always think of Cape Verde at this time of year when preparing for Buzzy’s New Year’s Eve “It’s Midnight Somewhere” party where we drop the 10 ounce Bud on the hour starting at 5 p,m.
Because old farts like myself cannot stay up until our EST clock hits midnight, I started celebrating NY’s Eve in Buzzy’s Country Store at 5 p.m. our time because that is when it is midnight in Athens, Greece. At 6 p.m. we do it again, because now it is midnight in Rome. Then at 7 p.m. the midnight hour goes down in London.
And, drum roll please, at 8 p.m. can you guess where it is midnight? Go to the head of the Buzzy class if you correctly said Cape Verde.
Consider this your last geography lesson for 2023. (What’s the old joke, the only reason we have world wars is so Americans can learn geography? Well, I’m trying to do my part by teaching geography sine war.)
As for Cape Verdean music, here is a look at their top ten artists (click here.) Most of them sing in their native Portuguese language, but check out this catchy tune in English from Nelson Freitas. Contains the great lyric (@ 1:00) ”You set the place on fire, Got my thing rising higher.” Remember when Ed did not want Morrison to sing “You know we couldn’t get much higher”?
This description of Nelson and his music was included in the Cape Verde Top Ten summary:
