Tourism

Dear beloved readers,

hope you've spent a nice weekend! Mine was not that extatic, considering I still don't know many people around here, so my amusement options are relatively limited (read: the highlight of my weekend was when I went to the store to buy vinegar). No need to pity me, I'm getting there, slowly but surely... Damn language barrier! Though I have less and less problems with Portuguese (which means the line on my resume stating I speak fluently will no longer be a massive lie) – and living with Cape Verdean people surely helps me get more and more of the Cape Verdean Creole.

Actually, the linguists among you should not get too excited, as this post is not about the lame differences between Creole and Portuguese (BORING!), but about what I'm doing here – before I post anything racist and derogatory, I feel I should set the frame here, and especially tell you why the hell I've moved from an industrialised nation to a third world country.

I'm doing an internship at a small and local sustainable tourism agency. Don't really know if I should mention its name, as this blog is certainly not a good marketing option... (Besides, I doubt they'll keep me in the team if they somehow find out about this blog) So let's keep it private. What should I say about this job? Any questions in the audience? Yes, you in the back.

What do you do?

You mean, besides serving coffee and making photocopies of my genitals when everybody's home? Let me think... Right now I'm translating stuff and getting to learn how to manage bookings – this is what I'll be doing „for real“. I also offered to write some articles to add content to their website (you know me, some Wikipedia infos, some patronising clichés about how we white help the poor black, and there you go), an offer that my bosses gladly accepted (but then again, they don't know about this blog).

You're an intern, are you exploited?

No, actually I left Germany because I didn't want to be doing an internship where I'd be exploited - I'm receiving a salary here, which is more than enough for daily life and a few bottles of grogue here and there. I work 40 hours per week (19 of which are spent on FB), for which I get more than 3 times minimum wage, not bad for a beginner, ey? Of course, it's better if I forget to mention the local minimum monthly salary is 100€. But ey, more than enough, as my monthly rent is less than 60€... No it's not a typo. Anywho, I could have done such an internship in Berlin for... 150€ per month. Nice vision of sustainable tourism, bro! If everything goes fine (read: if my bosses don't find out about this blog), they will hire me – the „might“ turned into a „will“. So no, I'm not exploited.

You work in tourism, do you exploit people?

No, I'm not Chinese. I see tourism as a way to develop a country and its society, while preserving local ressources. Sustainable, eco, green, responsible, call it as you wish! Unfortunately, tourism often overuses natural ressources, and does not necessarily mean that the profits will equally be distributed among all the actors. This sad situation is not as bas in Cape Verde as it is in Tanzania (by the way, if you're looking for a GREAT local tourism agency in Tanzania, check out www.fairtravel.com – them I dare mention, I don't work for them anymore (they already fired me) – I couldn't say why, possibly because the Cape Verdean government quickly gave tourism a legal framework in order to prevent exploitation. Anyway, bottom line: I want the locals to benefit from tourism – as long as I can keep my bank account in Lichtenstein.

Why did you have to leave, couldn't you have worked in tourism in Europe?

Well, I wanted to leave for a while, to check out other places, other cultures – in order to make fun of them on this blog – and also, because I was sick of the cold weather in Europe. I thought about Brasil, but it didn't work out that great (not that easy to get a long-term visa), I thought about New Zealand (NOT as a tribute to the Hobbit), on a working holiday visa, but I was too scared to undertake such a long journey alone. I don't mean the plane ride – I mean, the whole thing. Yep, I'm a sissy. Cape Verde always sounded nice, and I needed to brush up my non-existing Portuguese knowledge... So that's what!

Wait, you said you could have a long-term job if you wanted – so you're not coming back?

Wait, are your tears of despair or of relief? Anyway, ask me this one a little bit later. Too soon to know if I can make it that far away from loved ones...

Claire