Greetings from Artur – Cape Verde

•                    What is your definition of success?

I am but a simple man – and so my ideas about success are simple:

§         When I awaken every morning with a clear head – this is success.

§         When my sugar cane is growing, this tells me my irrigation is working – and this is success.

§         When my lands produce enough to feed my family and friends and leave me with enough to start the new growing year – this is success.

§         If I fiddle and my notes do not turn the ladies’ hearts against me – this, my friends – this is unquestionably success!

•                    What is your most prized possession? Why is it so important to who you are?

§         My violin Carina, she is my most prized possession and my dearest friend. She is my heart. And why is this so important to who I am? Music is my life. Carina makes everything else bearable.

•                    If you could live anywhere in the world, where would it be and why?

§         The Portuguese settled Cabo Verde in 1460. My family came here so many “greats” ago that nobody can remember without peeking into the old family bible. The peoples of Cabo Verde have been guilty of bad things in our history – it is said that the archipelago country was a major hub back in the days when traders captured native Africans and took them to the Americas in slavery. In 1975, the year my pai met my mγe, Cabo Verde split from Portugal. Her government has not been very stable since. And yet, for better or worse, this is my home. Would you move away from Paradise? Cabo Verde, she is not very wealthy. She is often … how do you say ? … cranky. Her storms can be fierce. Only the fool disregards her moods. But she is always the lady. Her smile warms the land and brings new growth. The skies and the seas are pearls surrounding her lush and naked beauty. Her gorgeous mountains and coastlines are her crown and her scepter.

•                    How do you believe your country is viewed by others in the world?

§         One cannot bomb what one does not know exists. Ah, perdoe-me. It is my poor sense of humor showing. Cabo Verde is very small but she has a big footprint on the international music world. She boasts a mix of the old and the new ranging from the folk style Morna to the more urban Angolan Kizomba. Our Coladiera and Bataque dances can heat a cold night! Tourism is growing. People come to share music, to share smiles, to see paradise.

If you wish, I will show you. See? The garden of Eden, she must have looked something like this, yes?

•                    If you could change one thing about the world or your country what would it be?

§         Most of the world, she moves too fast. All that seems to be important out there is getting more, keeping more, doing more. There is great beauty in simple things. When we rush all of the time, we lose these simple things. It is not that they no longer exist but, rather, that we become incapable of seeing them.

If I could change one thing about the world I would ask people to stop. Yes, to stop. Just for a few minutes. Stop and listen. Listen to the sound the wind makes around the corners of your house. Stop and look. Observe the passage of the seasons. Taste the fragrance of growing things that passes through the air like time sighing. Stop and learn. Life is not about getting and having, it is about learning to love what we have. Stop and live.

Cabo Verde, she knows all of this. Cabo Verde is life.