The news of late

I’m headed out for a small break from village life.  I’ll get some training from the PC, spend some time in Tana, and get a little breather.  A short update on what’s been going on to hold you over until I’m back…

Our new PCVs arrived safely in the region.  They have all been left to figure out what life is like out here ambanivolo (in the countryside).  It was interesting to reflect on what I was like a year ago and where I’m at right now.  I also celebrated one year at my site!  I fried soanambo (breadfruit) with a friend, while wearing a new dress she sewed for me.  Soanambo is quickly becoming one of my favorite foods and I’ll be sad when it is out of season in the near future.  I finished the day by being invited by to eat at my Malagasy mom’s house.  It felt like I came full-circle, so to speak, because she also fed me dinner on my first night in Ambohimanarina.

Cookstove interest is ramping up.  I just completed a training in Amboangibe, a village 7 km west of mine.  People seem genuinely interested in learning so I’ll be headed to a couple other villages for more trainings in the future.  Building the stoves is becoming like second nature to me, and I hope it helps save a few trees here.

The rice is ripe!  This is excellent news—the price for a cup of rice is less than half of what it was last month.  I harvested rice with my neighbor on a hillside overlooking Ambohimanarina—beautiful!And sweaty.  I’m really sorry I forgot my camera, but the day went well.  I had some flashbacks to fieldwork in Florida, but couldn’t help but smile to myself about the glaring differences in my Malagasy and American life working outdoors—especially when I ended the day carrying a basket of rice on my head.   Unfortunately my agroforestry demo plot rice is looking pretty sad.  However, in the coming weeks the SRI rice will be ready for harvest and I hear it’s looking like it will be a good yield!

I’ve left a few other things to linger in the planning stages while I’m away, and I know the few faithful English club students will be chomping at the bit when I return.  I only wish I was a better instructor.

And now, I’ll finish with a few random side notes on life in Madagascar.

Transportation:  I’ve decided that SAVA is where automobiles come to die.  They make it across the terrible road that connects the paved road to Tana to our region and stay here until they can’t run any longer.  I’ve ridden in permanently hot-wired cars, taxis where the gas is in an old water bottle up front, watched the road passing below me through the floor (when I’m not too crammed in to get a peek).  Then there are the few anomalies when I am able to hitch a ride in someone’s private vehicle.  On this trip to town I caught a ride with a local driver who often transports the local researchers.  I’m pretty sure I’ve never owned a vehicle that nice in America, and couldn’t decide if I found driving fast mildly terrifying because (a) I’m no longer accustomed to it—broken cars can’t handle those speeds, or (b) the roads are so curvy and just big enough for 2 cars, but really probably (c) all of the above.

Food:  I’m still a big fan of the coconut.  My newest coconut adventure: zucchini cooked in coconut water.  Yum!

Newest topics of conversation with Leslie in Ambohimanarina: No, I don’t know what I’m doing when I get back to America.  It will not involve marriage.  My family is very far away, so I am not likely to ask for another 2 years of service despite all the encouragement from my Malagasy friends.

The kids are currently on hiatus from playing with toys at my house.  The house next door finally gave up and fell down, which left lots of old bamboo for constructing ramps.  After the kids returned the cars but left the bamboo ramps and went home, this was not looked upon as a good idea by my other neighbors.  We’ll play again when I return.

Another PC milestone...

I’m in Sambava to welcome two new environment volunteers to my corner of Madagascar.  Having more Americans in the area is exciting.  Ultimately, it means that I’ve been a PCV for a year now.  Thursday will officially mark my one year anniversary in Ambohimanarina.

What does one year of Peace Corps service mean?  It means halfway to the end.  It means 12 months of living in the midst of a foreign culture.  Hundreds of cups of rice and dozens of new foods.A new language.Many new friends and family members.

I also now can enter my second year with some sense of what to expect.  I already know the name of that strange fruit in the market.  On vingt-six I’ll be ready with my new outfit and Malagasy flag hanging in front of my house.  I’ve gotten used to shopping in the market.  The kids have gotten used to visiting to play with my HotWheels.

My life here is one where a neighbor girl runs down the hill with a grapefruit peel hat, a sight as absurd as it is hilarious.  I stop on my walk to take a video of a chameleon slowly crossing the deserted road.  It’s normal to have a conversation about the chicken standing nearby—how it’s beg enough to eat, how you would cook it.  Somehow I don’t think I’ll every quite know what’s coming next.

Fety Be

As a PCV, I’m finding out that there are a lot of holidays out there that I’ve never celebrated before.  A while ago I heard on VOA that I missed out on peanut butter and jelly sandwich day.  Sad, because I’d probably appreciate the holiday more than many of you out there, but not a tragedy since I probably would have needed to bake the bread myself.  The plethora of new holidays is a product of living in a new culture with different traditions and with a habit of extending most holidays well beyond their typical American length (think New Years in March).  I’m also sure my altered lifestyle opens to door to formerly irrelevant holidays.  “Remember how clean you used to be?  International Take a Shower Day is next Friday.”  “Don’t forget Monday is Hug a Subsistence Farmer Day.”  “Celebrate your low latitude on Tropical Fruit Tuesday!”

All jokes aside, I looked back at my calendar for April and it seems like the month was one long holiday.  We started off with a celebration of International Women’s Day.  The regional and commune-level celebrations came first, so in true Malagasy style the village women came together about a month after the real holiday on March 8.  The women took the opportunity to parade through the village in new matching outfits, sing, dance, and of course eat lots of rice and pork.

Next came Easter and Piknik, the Monday after Easter where people head out to the countryside to picnic.  Unlike most holidays where the village fills with people who are generally living and working in the forest, this oneleft the town eerily quiet.

The Sunday after Easter was the local FJKM church’s “fetynybatisse”—aka the one day a year to get your baby baptized.  I unknowingly headed to the service to watch over 100 baptisms and pray for 6 hours.  I’m pretty sure I’ve had enough religion for the rest of my PC service.

I followed up the next Sunday with a celebration I planned for Earth Day.  We discussed the holiday Earth Day, since it’s not one they usually honor here.  Then I taught cookstove building, we ate rice, and watched some environmental films in Malagasy.  A good way to wrap up the month of endless partying.

Me with my adopted women's group.

Our parade through the rain.

Teaching cookstove building on Earth Day.

Completed cookstove!  Big credit to all the villagers who participated without concern of dirtying their fancy outfits.