Day 33 - Batate, Ruiche and Arena Blanca

I know that this isn't true for everyone, but some of the people I talked to about studying abroad here back in November before I actually left thought I was going to be  living in the stereotypical huts.  Well, I must say that even though I knew I would be living in an actual house, I didn't really know what to expect before I got here.  Then once I got to Malabo I realized that it has some really nice areas...and by nice I mean with electricity, tiled floors, running water, all of that...not like nice would be considered in the US.  But anyways, today we went to two small Bubi villages near Luba that had some nice houses and buildings, but mainly huts.

The first place we went to was the village called Batate and this reminded me more of Luba than it did of a hut-style village.  There were several huts, but mainly regular buildings there.  It was really cool because the oldest church on the island is located in Batate and so we got to see all of the people heading there and we even got to walk all the way to the top of the steeple.  I was going to wait for the worker to ring the bell once the priest got there, but I am a bit afraid of heights, so I headed back down after a few pictures.  The church had really cool architecture and was build sometime in the late 1800s.  The walls were purposely built on a slant outwards as they go up.  There are only three churches in the whole world built like this and I tried to get a good picture, but it is a bit hard to tell.

There is an all girls school here and they all were sitting in the church waiting for the priest when I walked over to the window.  They all were waving and smiling at me...so cute! All the little kids kept saying "hola amiga!" It was the sweetest thing ever.

Prospero has family in Batate and so after walking around the church, we went to his grandmother's house and ate lunch. She was so kind! She was telling us about the history of the village and about her family.  Prospero's brother Paco lives there with their grandmother and he gave us this fruit called a longthroat...or at least that is what they said...it could be a nickname of some sort.  But it looked like a really big green bean and you crack it open to get to these seeds covered in the fruit pulp...it was good!!

On our way out, they all said we should come back and visit soon.  Prospero's grandmother held my hand all the way to the bus...so precious!  

View of Batate

Batate church steeple

You can kind of see that the walls go outwards

Top of the steeple

View from the church's steeple

Steeple again

Longthroat fruit!

Seeds of the longthroat fruit

Longthroat fruit

David talking with the kids waiting outside of church

Prospero's grandmother and I

After leaving Batate, we went to Ruiche, the village where Prospero grew up.  It was cute and up this long road that is barely paved.  To get to this road, we had to travel through Las Almas, a neighborhood where they are currently building a new road to Ureka...which is very detrimental to the biodiversity on the island.

Prospero and Pastor told us that the reason the Bubi's built their villages very far up the mountains is because when the Spaniards and Fangs started coming to the island, they didn't want to be pillaged or bothered at all.  Prospero has a lot of family living here and he took us around to meet them all.  Everyone is so nice!! I must say that natives living outside of Malabo are a lot more open and nice to people they meet.

His one aunt gave us papayas and pineapples and his grandfather living there has a little bar and he gave us some vive soy!  This village was definitely more poverty stricken than any other area I've seen on the island thus far.  There were some normal houses and they were in the middle of building a new church and they just built a new primary school...but most of the homes had dirt floors, no doors, and a kitchen that was outside of the home with a straw roof and wooden frame.  I can't say this for everyone, but it made me very thankful for what I have at home and what I grew up with.

Before leaving, I saw that some of the kids were playing soccer and so I asked them if I could, too.  They said yes and when I scored a goal they all yelled "GOALLLLLL" and ran around. It was cute...like in the Africa Cup of Nations games they watch! haha It was really cool experiencing this side of the island that I haven't yet.

When we were leaving, all of the kids we made friends with were waving bye...it made me smile.  Prospero said they were excited because not many foreigners come to the village since it isn't the easiest to get to.  I'm glad Prospero was willing to show us around.

Ruiche

The road being built to Ureka from Las Almas, right above Luba

You can see a little bit of the Caldera in the very back if you look closely

There was one bush that had these pretty little flowers growing

Example of a living room.

Prospero's Grandfather's house

The floor of the bar...I thought all the bottle caps looked cool

Prospero's Grandfather's bar

This little boy was building a toy car

Part of the road to Ruiche

There were a lot of goats everywhere...so cute!

Playing soccer!

After leaving Ruiche, we headed to our last destination for the day...Arena Blanca!!  It is the only natural white sand beach on the island and it more of a touristy spot than the beach at Sipopo.  There is even a little residential area right at the beach, which I wasn't expecting.  It was very pretty and relaxing...the biggest waves I've seen so far have been at Muraka Playa and so it was very relaxing to just float around!  The water was very clear, too.

David knew this Argentinian man, Martin whom is a chef at the restaurant called Imagine here in Malabo, who was at the beach.  The restaurant usually serves free paella to anyone who comes to Imagine on Sundays, but today all of the workers came to the beach and had a little picnic with it! They let us have some...it was very delicious.

Although it does suck that I can't watch the Super Bowl, I'd say today was a Sunday Funday for sure.  Plus, last night we got to watch a little bit of the Mali v. South Africa men's soccer game for the Africa Cup of Nations on Adama's TV...Mali won!! What an upset.  Speaking of that, last year the Africa Cup of Nations was here...I know I said that in a previous post, but I am so bummed!! I would have loved to watch a game.  But on the way back to the student house from the beach, I tried to get some pictures of the arena that they were held at last year, but I couldn't get one of the whole complex because it is governmental property and I had to sneak the shots I did get.  Better than nothing!

Tomorrow...back to classes.

Hasta luego,
Lindsey