My Home
Here is a video of my house in Vondrozo. Enjoy!!!
Labels:
Peace Corps Journal,
Peace Corps Service,
Video
Playing with Lemurs (Andasibe)
Having a
few days to spend before my national VAC (Volunteer Advisory Committee) meeting I decided to go visit Andasibe, a
small town to the east of Tana that is the home of the Indri, the largest lemur
in Madagascar. So leaving shortly after lunch on Monday I broussed from Tana to Andasibe and then walked
the one kilometer to the hotel I would be staying in. The town itself, like many small Malagasy
towns, does not have much to offer but also does not have that touristy feel
like you would expect with so many tourist coming through it. The town is surrounded by rainforest that is
made up of the national forest and a few smaller NGO protectorates. It was on the edge of the national forest
that my hotel was
They Call Me ‘The Mpanjaka’
This
weekend was my third VAC (Volunteer Advisory Committee) meeting in country, but my very first to fully
plan and lead as my regions new VAC leader.
This was also the first VAC for our new Health Volunteers that had just
recently installed in their sites. We
also had a special guest in attendance, Brian, the first volunteer in my town,
Vondrozo, who had returned to Madagascar
to do research for his Ph.D. It was
great to have him there to see that all the Sud Est traditions were still being upheld. I scheduled this VAC to coincide with the 4th
of July so that we could all be together for both occasions. Overall the weekend was a great success,
though everything did not work out the way I had planned.
The Brain
What
follows is the story of ‘The Brain’ (a rat) and our endless battle for control
of my house. It was written one night
while in a stupor of sleeplessness, sickness, and delirium of medicine. I read it a few days later and got a laugh
out of it, so I thought I would share it with you.
This story
begins about six months ago when I returned to my house after Christmas. Upon returning to Vondrozo I found that three
rats had taken up occupation of my house and were living in a little hole under
my gas tank. This was first realized on
the first night back when the rats began to get in a fight with each other in
their new home. This waking me up, I got
out of bed with the intent
Everything Seems Normal
I have
become accustomed to all the quirks and differences in the life and culture
here in Madagascar. Not only have I become accustomed but I have
adopted many of them myself. And it
seems everything is normal to me now. I
did not realize this till I was informed of it by a friend. We were in a brusse on our way to Tana when
we crossed a river and there were a few people on the river banks bathing. She asked if I said seen them and when I
answered that I had, but in a very nonchalant manner (a mannerism that has
become indicative of my personality I have been told) she responded,
astonished, ‘How does that not shock you?’
I did not have an answer for this and I am not
A Day in My Shoes
What
follows is an excerpt from my journal, with a few amendments where needed,
about a normal day in my life. It should
be known before reading that almost everyday is different in one way or
another, but this gives a fairly good example of the happenings of them; at
least as pertains to days I teach. Even
these can change if there is an event like an assembly (Monday mornings) or a
meeting. There are days I am constantly
busy with work in both primary and secondary projects and days that I spend
with only my hobbies; days I have company all day, others that I am the company
of
others, and even some where I see not another soul all day; days of work, play, and/or rest. Majotoa! (Enjoy!)
others, and even some where I see not another soul all day; days of work, play, and/or rest. Majotoa! (Enjoy!)
Labels:
Culture,
Peace Corps Journal,
Peace Corps Service
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)