Hey guys.  Welcome back.  Here’s another tome.

More backtracking: After the training in August, pretty much all of us took vacations.  My group went to Ankaranfantsika (rough translation: Nail in the Skull) to see a national forest with lemurs.  The drive was about 10 hours of stuffy heat, winding roads, and passengers puking out the window, because, well, it’s pretty effective so why stop?  I may institute a “window puking” policy for road trips in the states.  Anyway, the scenery definitely made up for it.  Every 2 hours or so, the landscape changed dramatically; from jutting rocky hills, to farmland, to dry gold grasslands, to rolling green hills, to forest.  There was alleged “camping” and “hiking” at Ankaranfantsika, but that wasn’t quite true.  The “tents” were canvas boxes inside of pavilions with roofs, cement floors, electric lights, beds/mattresses inside, and showers/toilets 30 ft away.  As Don pointed out, the hiking was kind of hiking, but without an incline, it’s really just walking.  This aside, it was an enjoyable time.  The best part was our hike to the canyon.  After hiking through a deciduous forest, we suddenly came out into open prairie grassland, dotted with 3ft termite mounds and scraggly trees.  It was like walking out of New England into the Savannah; from a narrow path through dense trees into an uninterrupted expanse.  And then the canyon.  Eroded into layers of earthy colors, smooth windblown waves in the rock, and pointed turrets.  As always, check Facebook for the photos.  Oddly enough, the only lemurs we saw were in the trees over the parking lot. 

Part 2 of the vacation was in Mahajanga, a coastal city in the North West.  Beach.  That was my goal for vacation.  I went from New England winter to Madagascar fall and winter, to Mantasoa Super Winter, and my bones needed beach.  Mahajanga delivered, with coconut drinks to boot.  The second day there, we took a boat across the bay to Katsepy, hearing rumor of lemurs and nicer beaches.  We didn’t really know what we were doing and there isn’t much for organization there, but we happened upon the mayor and he personally hooked us up with transportation…which turned out to be way too expensive.  We decided screw the lemurs, let’s find some beach, and took a cheaper car out to a lighthouse.  And that is how we got the best lemur experience of all time.  The guy at the lighthouse led us behind his house to a short tree with 6 or 7 lemurs in it, just feet away from us.  As luck would have it, I bought a bunch of bananas for the road and we used them to lure the lemurs down closer.  We had lemurs eating out of our hands and licking our fingers.  Feeling the moment, I held my fist up toward one lemur and he put his little lemur paw on it.  That’s right: I fist-bumped a lemur.  Life is all downhill from there.  Speaking of, we ran out of bananas and descended down to the shore.  The whole beach was deserted except for us.  Standard beach fun ensued, but was enhanced by the rare circumstance of being outdoors without locals watching you. 

Mahajanga has great vazaha food everywhere (and less-great vazahas showing off their young Gasy girlfriends).   I experienced the Second Coming of Crust (pizza twice in one day), and got actual fast food!  Burger, fries, and a shake in under 10 mins.  ‘Merica.  Also got some street meat with a side of morning diarrhea, so the 12hr brousse ride back to Tana was SMECTA-cular.  (That’s a pun for any PCVs reading this).

A week after getting back to site, Antoinette held a soccer tournament/American-Malagasy culture exchange event for fun.  She had been planning it for months.  A bunch of PCVs came to represent U.S.A and do games/presentations on Health and Business between games.  I used a Frisbee to talk about disease transmission.  The demo was about how one sick person touching the Frisbee can get everyone else sick if they’re not washing their hands and covering their coughs.  The soccer game started late, so we kept the kids occupied playing Simon Says and Parasy, Parasy, Tazo Moka (ostensibly Duck, Duck, Goose, but translates to Parasite, Parasite, Malaria).  Thankfully, the soccer game went long too, so the Americans vs. Gasy game was only 15 minutes long.  We were terrible.  There weren’t enough of us, so some Gasy guys were on our team.  Strategy became “get the ball to the Gasy guys as quickly as possible.”  They would occasionally pause and tap the ball to one of us so we could be included, but the result was usually disastrous.  Really successful day though; everyone had a lot of fun.

                For my birthday, I took a much-needed 2 nights off from site and went to Fianar.  I was greeted by 2 big packages from my Mom and my brother Nat.  Jana retrieved them from the post office during a thunderstorm, so shout out to her.  Best gifts ever.  Nothin’ but snacks, seasonings, sauces, and beer.  I’ve adjusted fine to life here, but life is just plain better with Oreos and Sriracha hot sauce.  I should get a commission for that plug.  There was a little Halloween make-up thrown in, which sparked one of my better ideas since I’ve been here.  More on that later.  A few of us went out in Fianar that night.  Nothing crazy, but we got fantastic food, quality drinks, and played pool at a bar (‘Merica).  On my actual birthday, my hospital staff threw a small gathering for me.  Little speech, snacks, beer, toaka, and a really nice gift from all the health workers.  It’s a painting done inside of a sahafa, a large woven dish used for sifting rice.

                The day before my birthday, I taught my first English class.  Gresya, a new education PCV, came out for support and advice, which I needed that first day, and so the class went really well!  A mix of beginners, semi-experienced kids, and adults showed up for the class; about 20 in all.  We got through the ABCs, some pronunciation tricks (“th” doesn’t exist here), and simple sentences (“I am happy” etc.).  Teaching itself was really fun.  I get to be animated and interactive, acting out words rather than translating everything.  I taught mostly in Gasy too; it’s much easier to speak Gasy when I’m the only one talking and the responses are kinda in English.  (quick aside: one of my co-workers comes to class, and one day I found her drunk, singing nonsense to the tune of the Alphabet song.  Priceless.)  The students were well-behaved and motivated, which is an uncommon thing anywhere.  I think it’s because I have them pay for the class.  Keeps out the riff-raff.  I have them bring me items for building gardens as a fee for my class.  Sticks, bricks, or nails for fences, or fertilizer.  I’ve taught 3 times now; I have about 30 students, plus more listening from outside.  It’s getting pretty popular, and probably more so soon because…

Inspired by the Halloween makeup in my care package, I taught my class about Halloween and told them I was throwing a party.  The explanation was basically “wear scary clothes, try to scare people, get candy.”  Pretty easy sell.  Over the next few days, we made a bunch of masks together using some cardboard from the hospital and bug eyes with the bottoms of plastic bottles.  I taught them to say “trick or treat,” “happy Halloween,” and “I am a monster,” with mixed and adorable results. 

The day of the party, I spread hay on the floor of my spare room for the dance party.  There was makeup and markers for last-minute costumes.  I set up snacks and drinks on a table just inside my door.  Proper Halloween stuff.  But what the early attendees DIDN’T know was I was hiding under the table with an awesome rubber demon mask, and the hardest-core metal  I have (“Bambi The Hooker” by The Number 12 Looks Like You; look it up) cued up on my ipod.  While they were still distracted by the snacks, I hit play and pounced at their feet, screaming my head off.  Scared the crap out of a dozen kids and the pastor’s wife.  They returned the favor by voraciously devouring everything in front of them; I may need to do a lesson on sharing.  The party started great and got fantastic.  Started with dancing, face painting, and taking photos.  More than 50 people showed up to my tiny house.  Lots of people showed up with masks they made themselves, without any kind of input.  Creativity!  Then the sun started going down and it progressed to me trying to scare everyone around me.  My throat was sore and my face hurt the next morning from all the growling, scowling and screaming.  I chased mobs of kids up and down the street all over my town.  When I caught them, I’d haul them up over my head or carry them around upside down or spin them around in the air.  It was bonkers, and a lot of fun for everyone.  And at last, we’re in the present day!  We did it, guys.  Great job.

Ok, that’s probably enough for now.  Real quick, my garden is nearly done.  Already started planting.  I still need to sift rocks out of the land, but it keeps raining, and the ground is too wet to sift.  The SEECALINE doesn’t have any funding at the moment, so I changed my plans.  Now, the garden (first of many, hopefully) will support my CHWs, Gasy health volunteers who, unlike me, REALLY don’t get paid.  I started my second round of latrine reviews.  So far not a lot of progress, which is frustrating.  I brought in technicians to look at one of my water sources.  By next month I should have a full report and budget ready so I can start applying for funding for pumps.

                For any of you who are still reading, quick update on my sanity and such.  Doing fine, but I work too much and I don’t make enough time to stop and enjoy this place I’m in.  I’ve been pushing to get this garden together before rainy season really sets in, and my latrine review schedule keeps getting bumped by meetings, so I end up doing 3 day trips per week instead of 2.  Add to that my English class, so half my Sunday, while fun, is still work and stress.  My time off tends to be Saturdays in Fianar, which are whirlwind trips of errands and getting in some contact with the outside world (hey y’all!).  But I’m doing better with enjoying my time off.  My birthday kicked off my change in attitude.  With 2 days away from site, I got to take my time in Fianar and enjoy it.  Meander and whatnot.  Halloween was a blast; plenty of stress getting it together but the event as lots of fun and cathartic screaming/raging/pretend mauling.  Definitely made me feel more connected with my community throwing a big event, sharing something I really enjoy, and all of them getting into it too.  I’ve also implemented a policy that Sunday mornings are for cartoons and bananas with peanut butter (whaddap, Melmark!).  Once this garden is done, I can slack my pace a bit more.  And after New Years (or January at this rate) I’ll be done with this round of latrine reviews, and can plan the next round at a more manageable pace.  Best laid plans always work out, right?  In any case, I’m really looking forward to my trip home and seeing everyone.  That’s the cheese at the end of the maze for me at the moment.  ‘Til next time!