Today I
turned 31 in Madagascar. This is my second birthday here in country
and although I did not turn over a new decade in my life, like I did with the
last one, it was no less well spent.
There was no party or large group of friends gathering to celebrate as
there was last year, but there was a gathering of a few close friends. Having been in Antananarivo
for the National VAC (Volunteer Advisory Committee) meeting and hearing of the upcoming World Cup
Qualifying game, that Friday, between Madagascar
and Senegal, I
decided to stick around and treat myself to an early birthday present and
attend the game.
VAC Nosy Varika
It is that
time of the year again; time for another VAC (Volunteer Advisory Committee). This was my second VAC to plan and was, out
of the two, the hardest. Since our VAC
meeting had never been in the northern part of our region I decided to have the
VAC in Nosy Varika, a small island in the Pangalanes Canal 100 km north of
Mananjary. What made it the hardest for
me to plan was that it is in the north of the Sud Est, 370 km from my site, and there being no one still
in country having ever been there. The limited
conversations over e-mail, Facebook, and phone calls that I was able to make gave
me but little information on what to expect.
Planning for a more ‘chill’ VAC than normal; I reserved the hotel, a
ferry to get us there, food for our first night, and had everyone meet in
Mananjary the day before leaving to make sure that we would make the
ferry.
Labels:
Peace Corps Journal,
Peace Corps Service,
Travel
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