First one in a long time...

Soooo it's been a while. Sorry for that. Internet is hard to come by here and I've been super busy. But of course it's mostly just that I'm lazy. But I have a few things I wrote a long time ago and I promise to be more on top of it in the future. Maybe.

Here's one I wrote about the awkwardness here:

For those who haven't experienced it, there is nothing quite like the awkwardness that is trying to communicate with someone who speaks a completely different language than you. Add to that that the first time I heard Malagasy was in Madagascar. So it has been difficult. There is a lot of gesturing, laughter, and silence. Like charades with strangers. However, it is great motivation to study. There is also an oft repeated phrase here, “Embrace the awkwardness”. It is supposed to be weird and difficult. If it's not you're doing something wrong. All of that is part of the learning process. At least that's what I keep telling myself.

Even know that I've been here long enough to know a small amount of language every conversation is an adventure. Assuming the person I am talking to speaks slowly enough to understand, I am in constant fear they will use a word I haven't learned yet. Which happens in 99% of my conversations. I carry a notebook at all times so I can write down the new stuff or I'd never remember it. Thankfully the Malagasy are a very patient and forgiving people.

I am also more than a foot taller than the average person here. All doorways must be ducked. I learned that the hard way. Myself and another volunteer, who is actually an inch taller than me, are known around town as “volontera lava” or the “tall volunteers”. We're celebrities! There is definitely a lot of staring but you get used to it. I like to stare back. It breaks the tension. Being tall also makes using the kabone (toilet...sort of) and ladosy (shower...sort of) an adventure. Thankfully a lot of kabone time is in the squatting position because there is no standing up in there. The ladosy was also a back breaker but they actually raised the height for me. My host family is awesome. But that's the next post. It should be said for the record that you don't have to be an ogre like me to not fit places hear. Pretty much anyone 5'10” and over has some struggles.

And here is my host family:

My host family is amazing. I have a host mom, dad, and brother but my brother lives in Tana so it's like I'm a host only child. I haven't actually met him yet but hopefully he will be able to make it here soon. My host mom and dad tale great care of me. I have never eaten so much in my life. And I used to be 300 lbs. Fun fact, the Malagasy consume the most rice (called vary here) per capita of any one in the world at ½ a pound a day of uncooked rice per person. They love their rice here. So, if anyone is coming to visit, make sure to hold of on eating your rice. Anyways...host family. They are great. I am their 6^th host child from Peace Corps so they have it down pat.

As I've gotten to know them and the language better we've developed some recurring jokes. My host mom loves sweet food and doesn't like spicy things so my host dad and I are always jokingly trying to slip some sakay (crushed hot peppers) on to her desert. It's a lot funnier to do than to read. By the way, desert here is always fruit and we have it with every meal, even breakfast. We laugh a lot together, mostly at me saying words wrong or that mean the wrong thing.

They have also been very accommodating in regards to my size. They are both around 5'3” so most of the house just doesn't fit me. They did make the ladosy taller as I mentioned last post. They did it completely on their own too. After I had been here about a week my mom announced one day that they were going to fix it and when I came home my dad, who is a carpenter, was just finishing up. I think they thought I didn't use it much because it was too small for me and not because of my general indifference to showering and my not wanting to pour a bucket cold water over my head every morning.

We have a ton of animals. Here we go: 2 dogs, 2 cats (one of which is on loan to another volunteer's family to help them with their rat problem), a pig, 4 ducks, and 39 chickens. Yes, 39 chickens. About half of them are babies or young, as are 2 of the ducks, one of the cats, and one of the dogs. It is really fun to help round them all up at night. I feel like Rocky chasing the chickens around. It's great agility work. Almost everyone has at least one chicken and they roam freely during the day. And everyone knows their chickens by sight. It's pretty amazing.

The house is 3 rooms. My room, their room, and the kitchen. My room it actually quite big. There is enough room for bed and a table and chair. The house is really a perfect size. Except the doorways of course. We don't have electricity but that is not a huge deal. We are in bed by about 8 and up around 430am or so. Anything that needs to happen after dark is done by candle light or with a flashlight. There is something fun about reading and writing by candlelight. But it is a shame that so many people live with out electricity which we consider to be a bare essential in the US. To think of all the lost productive hours and the chance to use them to improve one's life. And imagine not being able to refrigerate food. The lack of electricity in the developing world is a huge issue in keeping people and places down, although the problem is far outside the scope of a Peace Corps volunteer's job description. Maybe someday I can help with it.

The Malagasy are a wonderful people who I love being around. I'm excited to spend the next 2 years working with them. But I am really going to miss my host family and the chickens.

And here's the food:

Malagasy love rice. Tena tia vary ny olona Malagasy. Rice is eaten at almost every meal here. And a drink called ranon'ampango is drank at every meal. Ranon'ampango is basically rice water. After cooking a pot of rice you put water in the pot with the rice that is stuck to the side and boil it. Then serve hot. Now you have ranon'ampango.

My host family actually hasn't been eating rice for breakfast most of the time. I'm not sure if that is because they normally don't or if they have adjusted for the huge American living with them. Instead we eat some form of fried bread or pancakes every morning with honey and peanut butter. I'm not complaining. So far I have avoided any really bad stomach issues (knock on wood). Other than a few sporadic sprints to the kabone I have been lucky. Others have not been. I know my time is coming so I try not to laugh too hard when I hear the stories. Side note, when living in Madagascar discussing bowel movements (among many other things) with people who were strangers 2 months is very normal .

I really love the food here. I am a fan of rice so that helps. There is also a great selection of fresh, in season fruits and veggies available all the time. We have a dessert of fresh fruit with every meal. Even breakfast. Maybe the only issue I have had with the food is that I am eating so much of it. My host mom is a great cook who also has some portion control issues. She makes the amount of food you expect to feed 6+ people for the 3 of us. And often it falls on me to eat as much as possible. If we can't finish, which happens always, the cats, dog, and pig reap the spoils.

We've had an amazing assortment of foods too. Even though we only eat meat a couple times a week we've eaten: a whole chicken (including the feet and head), cow liver, entire little fish (bones and all), and many parts of a pig to name a few. That doesn't include the delicacies we tried on our tech trip and there will be a longgggg post on the tech trip. I love it all but it is not for everyone. I also participated in my first chicken killing here. The first of many I expect. Again, definitely not for everyone but I kind of liked it in a completing the cycle of life kind of way.

So far so good for my stomach and insides. No sudden issues or long term blockages. But, the longer I am here the more adventurous I get so we shall see.

There is so much more that has happened here but I've been terrible at keeping up with it. Obviously the long post on tech trip didn't happen. I'm at my site now. It's called Ankazambo Atsimo. It is in the north central part of the island. The biggest city close to it is called Antsohihy. It's beautiful. There is an amazing mountain range surrounding the area. And the people at my site are the best. They are super into helping their village and making changes for the better. I am so excited to work with them. We are starting a garden next week on Wednesday or Thursday. I also am working with a blacksmith's co-op in the village. They want to expand to new markets and tighten up their supply lines.

The move to the new site was definitely hard and awesome at the same time. I am so excited to be here but I also miss my PCV friends. It's hard being away from everyone but it will be great to hear about everyone's sites when I can. I made some good friends over the last 10 weeks. Way more than I thought I would. I hadn't really thought I would become close with people but I have. And of course I miss everyone in the States. But it's so good to be here. I am so excited to be doing this.