On the home stretch

I've been struggling a lot lately trying to pick material to post here for those of you who are following along with my PC service.  When Peace Corps guarantees "the hardest job you'll ever love" they may sound cliche but they've pretty much hit the nail right on the head.

I've been in Ambohimanarina for a year and a half now.  This means a lot of things.  I've watched one neighbor's house disintegrate into a pile of old, grey bamboo and a brand new wooden house spring up across the way.  I've made some great friends; we've laughed together, worked together, eaten together, mourned together.  I can cook bananas and cassava, I can plant rice.  I've finally found environmental work to do.

It's easy to feel like I don't just live on the other side of the world from home but on a different planet.  I'm experiencing all kinds of new things, oblivious to what's happening in the daily lives of my American family and friends.  What better snack is there than a bunch of ripe, juicy litchis?  I feel like I am walking through some sort of litchi wasteland with discarded peels and seeds scattered all along the path as I fetch water.  What can be more devastating than watching a man who welcomed you into his family get sick and die?  I've been thinking a lot about how much of our self-expression and the way we voice (or contain) our emotions is innate and how much of it is influenced by culture.  And I've gained a greater appreciation for friendship and the various places it can be found.

I don't exactly miss the stresses of the modern world with its phones and computers and all, but I am missing things.  No, I haven't seen the new Batman movie or the latest episode of Big Bang Theory (if it's even still running).  I've never seen my sisters' houses.  I've lost count of the weddings, graduations, births, and housewarmings that have passed as I consumed yet another bowl of rice.

The scariest part of it all is that it means I'll only be living here for 6 more months.  Yes, I'm excited to get back to my family, friends, refrigeration, toilets, cell phone reception, and washing machines.  But it also means finding a job, a place to live, and re-adjusting to an American way of life.  Eventually it'll mean leaving my Malagasy friends, family, and home.  How am I supposed to split my time now so I can enjoy my time in Madagascar and prepare for life off the island?  How do I connect my Malagasy and American lives when they seem to be so isolated from one another?

Long time no reseau...

My apologies for my long absence from the blogosphere (or whatever you call this place).  A number of confounding circumstances have kept me from modern means of communication lately, and frankly technology is becoming more and more daunting.  Anyhow, I promise a more in depth post ASAP, but for now here’s the brief version of what’s been going on for the past month or so.  Also, my thoughts go out to all of you affected by Hurricane Sandy.

The women’s sewing group here is finally getting their act together.  They are a boisterous bunch, but we arranged and carried out a funded training and they are meeting weekly to sew.  They’ve also started learning a little bit of English to help them sell to “vazaha.”  Turns out my handwriting (not the same cursive as every person who ever went to a school in Madagascar) is somewhat of a hindrance to the learning process, but otherwise things are moving along.

Things in my garden are growing.  I may have summer squash and lettuce soon, along with the possibility of maize, peanuts, melon, and pumpkin in the coming months.  The compost is decomposing and the rains should come in December, so I’m mostly holding out until then to try anything new.  I was hoping to do a school garden but those plans fell through.   However, I have finally managed to find someone in town who is interested in learning environmental things from me.  He has plans to work on a pepiniere (tree nursery) and demonstration garden and starting in the next couple of weeks I’ll be dedicating a lot more of my time to working with him.

There are so many bananas here.  Also the cockroaches are out of control.  Probably unrelated.

English club is out of control—a beginner and advanced class in Ambohimanarina and also in Manantenina once I week.  I maintain that I am NOT an English teacher.

New vazaha in the area!  There is an anthropology researcher from Finland working in Manantenina now (1 km from my village).  I thought my life was hard, but she’s here with a 1 ½ year old daughter and living with a Malagasy family.  We have been having what I call “no-rice-lunch” weekly to relieve her from the thrice daily rice she’s been having otherwise.  Talking in English and about life in the outside world is a refreshing change.

Two of my good friends died within a week of each other.  Needless to say it kind of sucked, but it’s also been a big learning experience for me both culturally and personally (more in another post).  Sometimes I feel like Peace Corps allows 2 years of my life to pass by while I only get the highlights, but clearly there are still some low points to be had as well.

The days are getting longer and summer’s coming.  This means 4:30 AM morning runs and hotter weather, but also that the litchis, pineapples, and mangoes will be ripe any day now!

That’s the low-down, more later or feel free to send me an email/letter/brousse note and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.

Help me share American culture!

Can you please send me photos of your cooking pots?

Alright I know this is kind of a weird request to make but let me eplain.  I have a friend named Cyril (photo to come later).  Cyril is from a town near Tana but lives in Ambohimanarina with Angeline, his girlfriend/wife (there's kind of no distinction in Malagasy culture).  Cyril and Angeline are probably my only friends who are peers, as opposed to being closer to parent age.  Cyril does what I consider the "market circuit" where he travels along the road from market to market every day.  Cyril sells pots.  About once a week he goes to Sambava to get more pots.  Almost everyone here uses the same metal pots that come in various sizes.  They melt down the metal or old pots and pour it into molds to make the pots.  These pots are sturdy-people cook rice in them 3 times a day then scrub the hell out of them with steel wool or sand to get off the char from the fire.  Anyhow, Cyril asked what pots are like in the U.S. and all I could say was there are lots of types.  So could you help me out and send some photos?  Thanks a bunch!

Reinvigorated

In case you didn't read the last post, I'm relaxing in Tana after a visit from Mom and Meredith.  Tomorrow I'll hop a plane back to Sambava and return to Ambohimanarina, where it's quite possible they'll be surprised to see me.  There were definitely some people that saw our luggage and thought I had packed up to go home.  Today I marked the occasion, possibly my last time in Tana for about 5 more months, by eating a hamburger and some ice cream.  Not bad.

I'll be back in my village cleaning up my house and enjoying my new American things.  I've got new(!) Time magazines to get me a little bit up to speed and a Kindle full of books, plus so many other goodies that I couldn't be more appreciative of!

I've been a bit uninspired with the blog lately, so post a comment or email me if there's something you'd really like to hear about.  For now I'll add a few photos for your enjoyment...

Photo from a bike ride near my village.  There's a small house wherre I would totally live if it was a few thousand miles closer to my family.

Vingt-six family lunch this year.  Yes, I'm huge.  They tell me all the time.

Morning rainbow!  It was a full rainbow but I couldn't capture it all.

Relaxing on the beautiful beach in St. Marie.

Relaxing.

Oh My God! There's WHALES!

Hiking queens.

Check out the cassava.  And yes, I'm so cool.

Waterfront dinner.

Pousse-pousse.

Supermarket in St. Marie.  Yes, we have a few "vazaha" style supermarkets on this island.

Beach breakfast!

Whales!

Is that a rooster or a really tall chicken?  You decide.