The Last Month and a Bit

I promised myself I would make a good effort to keep this updated. I have failed so far this year.

Azafady!

Sitting on a bag of charcoal. The look on the woman's face beside me says it all.


Last weekend, I went out to the bush to take part in a tree planting event. It was quite impressive to see the vast number of villagers from the surrounding areas who came out to join in the work. About 1000 people turned up, all dressed in their best, and most colorful outfits. Although the truck carrying the 4000 tree seedlings broke down not too far outside of Fort Dauphin, there were enough already on site to go through with the ceremony.

I ran into a bit of a moral dilemma while we were there. There were some VIPs from Tana and the multinational mining corporation in FD who came for the ceremony. When lunchtime rolled around, they brought out coolers full of sandwiches for their people. The folks from my organization were also provided with large sandwiches. I made my sandwich in a small hut and couldn't bring myself to leave the hut and eat in front of 1000 hungry villagers. Some of them could see inside. I felt guilty as I ate that sandwich. But what could I do? If you share it, who do you share it with? If you choose someone to share it with, you will likely start a fight. So we sat there eating our sandwiches. Feeling guilty.

In additional bush news, I talked for a few minutes with a man from Beandry (the village where I helped build a school a year ago) and found out that their school has never gotten a teacher and has been shut since we were there. I'm hoping to visit in the next month, so maybe I can find out what happened.

As for life in Fort Dauphin....

I'm still learning Malagasy, which I find is rewarding and frustrating at the same time. I can say quite a lot, but understanding is very difficult. But it always feels good to have someone say "Mahay miteny Malagasy" (You speak Malagasy well). One of my students from the high school has made it a habit to stop by once or twice a week to teach me a few words and phrases. Actually, often he writes up entire pages of vocab. Thanks, Skar!

I was excited to hear that lobster season had begun. I was then as equally as disappointed to find out that almost all of the lobster is exported to foreign markets, and you can't actually buy it here. Lucky for me, a friend of a gasy friend decided to turn his vehicle into a lobster car, which means that the freezer at his family's shop will often be well stocked with tasty lobster. Two days ago, I bought six lobster for 2000 Ariary. A dollar!!

Dinner

It has rained for the past three days straight, which might normally be a bit depressing, but this time has obvious upsides. I have water again! Before the rain, I was averaging about 1.5 hours per day of water flow to my house from about 5:30 to 7:00 am. It was a small window of opportunity to shower, use the toilet, do laundry, and fill up enough buckets and bottles to last me for a day of cooking, washing, etc. I've had water ALL day today.

I also bought an umbrella at the market today. It is my new favorite thing as now I can leave my house at any time instead of having to wait for a break in the rain to sprint wherever I'm going. I wonder why I didn't spend the $2 on one four months ago. Speaking of umbrellas, I had a humorous moment yesterday when one of my students showed up for class holding one of those huge umbrellas that come with an outdoor patio set. I'm pretty sure he doesn't have the rest of the set at home:) Right behind him, another student came in wearing the hood of a rain coat. Yes, just the hood. The rest of the coat was nowhere to be seen. It's little things like this that make me love Madagascar.