training update....

Hi everyone! I have been in Madagascar for a little over a month now. The whole time I have been here I have been in pre-service training (PST). During PST we learn all the things we need to survive in-county. We are learning Malagasy language, Malagasy culture, technical skills in the environment, medical training, and about general Peace Corps policies. It’s been pretty busy. Every Monday through Friday we have class between 8 and noon, then again from 2 to 5 PM. It’s pretty stressful but I am definitely learning a lot.

For the first month of PST I lived in Anjozoro with a host family. I lived with my host mom, a 2 year old sister, a 13 year old cousin, and my uncle. I learned a lot about Malagasy culture from them, everything from Malagasy games to doing laundry without a washing machine to Malagasy foods. The Malagasy eat A LOT of rice. Think like 2 or 3 times what you would probably eat at a meal. There is actually a special Malagasy word for anything that you eat with rice (loaka). There are tons of rice fields around and Madagascar still imports rice!

This week we are travelling through the country as part of our technical training. We will visit a few volunteers and learn about the things they are working on here in Madagascar. Environment volunteers in Mada do a lot of different things. Some work with rice farmers on increasing yields, some teach permaculture to encourage more sustainable agriculture, some create fruit tree nurseries, some work with the national parks. There are people who work with village groups, women’s groups, and NGOs. It’s exciting because there is a lot of opportunity to work on things but it also means that I am still not totally sure what I’ll be doing when I get to my site.

We visited Andasibe and saw lemurs in the rainforest! Finally saw lemurs after about a month and a half in Mada! We saw the indry, bamboo lemurs, mouse lemur, and some golden lemurs! Some pictures to come…

My site is in Maroambihy. It’s a village in the of Madagascar, between the larger towns Sambava and Andapa. I will be living right at the entrance to Maronjejy National Park. According to my guide book it’s an incredible rainforest, so hopefully I will get to check it out and possibly do some work with them. There is a women’s group in my village already and the last time a Peace Corps volunteer (PCV) lived there was back in 2000.

I hope everyone back in the U.S. is doing well. I have been enjoying getting letters and hearing bits and pieces about what’s going on. I don’t need anything right now, I still don’t really know what my house looks like. If you feel incredibly motivated to send a package I would love food (granola bars, fruit leather, candy, tea, etc.) and books. Padded envelopes are superior to boxes! But really letters or emails are awesome. Love you all!