Home is Where I Find Myself

           I have always found myself at home where ever I am.  The fact that it is now in Madagascar makes no difference to me.  Home here is much more different than what I was used to in the States though.  For instance I only have electricity at my house for four hours a day, in the evening.  This makes things a bit more interesting.  I can not just plug in something to charge, turn on the air conditioner when it is hot (and oh does it get hot here!), turn on a microwave to heat up my food, or keep perishable foods in a refrigerator.  Instead I must prepare food for each meal with fresh foods bought at the market each day.  Also, none of the houses here in my town have running water either,
so I must walk to a pump to collect any water that I may need for my house.  Life here is simpler, it is more interesting, it is in some ways better.  Life is different, home is home!

            In Madagascar, Volunteers live in an array of different types of housing.  Some live in old offices, school buildings, or classrooms.  This is the case for me.  I live in an old office on the High School grounds (seen in the first video).  Others live in traditional houses, found mostly in the coastal regions of Madagascar, made from the ravinala tree.  The second video, an example of this, is of my friend’s house that also lives in the same region as I do; the southeast of Madagascar.  Finally, there are the more western houses that are found mostly in the highland regions of Madagascar.  The third video, an example of this, is of my host family’s house when I was training in Mantasoa.

My House

            My Friend's House

My Host Family's House

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