27 November 2008

Today is Thanksgiving, but here in Madagascar, it's just a regular Thursday.  I am certainly thankful that I have my fellow trainees around me to help celebrate, but I'm realizing quickly that once I'm alone at site, I'll have to find a way to keep homesickness at bay.  And finally I have a glimpse of what life in Ampasimadinika will be like; I just got back yesterday from site visit, which was definitely wild.  We left Alarobia for lake Montasoa (the old Peace Corps training site, which is a lot like a summer camp on a lake) on the weekend of the 15th where we met our site counterparts.  My counterpart is Dr. Vololona, a woman from Tamatave.  I first realized what a struggle my first months at site are going to be once I began speaking with her.  Having never worked with a volunteer before, she doesn't realize that she has to speak simply and with active verbs... none of the complex grammar makes sense in my mind yet.  However, we managed to make a schedule of what we were going to do during site visit.

The following Wednesday, I left for site accompanied by Dr. Vololona, Kanto, Brad, and their counterparts.  We crammed into the taxi brousse for our 8 hour ride, and being that Americans are generally at least 6 inches taller than Malagasy, the taxi brousses are not made for American comfort.  Regardless, we made it to Tamatave that evening, stayed in a hotel, and woke up the next morning to explore Tamatave – our banking town – with our counterparts as our guides.  I immediately fell in love with Tamatave; it's not as crowded and harried as Tana, meaning it actually has sidewalks more often than not.  They also have pousee-pousses (rickshaws) in Tamatave, meaning there are less cars, less traffic, and besides, it's way more fun to travel around by pousse-pousse than by broken down taxis.  Tamatave is right on the Indian Ocean which is accompanied by a nice ocean breeze throughout the day, with temperatures around 80 degrees.  Beautiful.

The next morning, Dr. Vololona and I took a taxi brousse to Ampasimadinika.  Being only and hour's drive, we arrived in no time at all, and before I knew it we were stepping off the brousse and onto the streets of Ampasimadinika.  I must admit, my first ten minutes in Amp/dinika were pure panic.  All at once I realized that for the next two years I will be living alone in a house without electricity, and that I am going to be the only vazaha in town, meaning everyone will be curious about me, but no one will really be able to relate my old life.  I felt like hopping right back on that taxi-brousse and finding the next plane to America, but then I realized life in America wasn't so carefree and easy.  In fact, it was often more stressful than life has been here so far!  Slowly the terror gave way to curiosity and excitement as I saw my new house, met the rasazy (midwife), the mayor adjoint, the pharmacist, and a whole slew of neighbors, all of whom were complementary of my Malagasy and eager to make me feel at home.  Within the first hour, I learned the word “tamana,” which means – to be used to a place, to be comfortable.  Everyone asked me, “Efa tamana anao?” - Are you already comfortable here?

Later in the afternoon, Dr. Vololona, the rasazy (Holida), and I walked up the RN2 – the national highway that runs through Amp/dinika – talking to local vendors and neighbors along the way.  It's leche season right now, meaning the streets are covered with leche skins and seeds, and the harvestors are quickly picking the leches and getting them into trucks along the RN2.  For me, that meant that every new person I met insisted on giving me a handful of leches, which are possibly the most delicious fruits I have ever eaten.  After our excursion on the RN2, I definitely felt tamana.

The next day I returned to Tamatave where I met up with Brad and Kanto at our beach bungalow hotel (20,000 Ar a night = $13.30), fully equipped with running water, a sit down toilet, a hot shower, and a beach.  We were in heaven.  That evening we met up with other Peace Corps volunteers, some of whom have extended their stay in Madagascar, and some who have returned to Madagascar to work outside of Peace Corps.  A group of 8 of us went out on the town (safely of course – don't worry mom and pop).  It was really good to make some new connections, especially since our training group is getting split up all over the country.

All in all, the trip renewed my motivation to work on my Malagasy, prepared me for life as the only vazaha in town, and helped me realize that when the going gets really tough, I always have Tamatave to escape to for a weekend if I need it.  The time is drawing ever nearer to when I'll be living the real Peace Corps experience, and I'm nervously ready for it.

Ino vaovao any Etazonia?  -  What's new in the U.S.?

 

 

22 Decembre 2008

Today is Monday, and I've been at site for one week now.  I can't believe it's only been one week!  Adjusting to life in Ampasimadinika has been going pretty well, but I still have quite a long way to go.  Learning how to cook for myself with limited resources, being comfortable with only speaking at an intermediate level, not having electricity, being stared at everywhere I go... they're all things that take some getting used to!

Monday through Friday I work at the Centre de Sante de Base (CSB), which is a little concrete, four-room clinic located a mere 30 second walk from my house.  I arrive around 8 or 8:30 and work until all the patients have been seen, which can be 10:00am or noon.  Tuesdays and Thursdays are the busiest days, and already last Thursday I gave my first kabary (presentation) on Malaria prevention and detection.  The kabary went really well, and everyone present was extremely excited that a white girl was “mahay teny Gasy!!!” - can speak Malagasy.  If nothing else, I get a little boost every day by how astonished people are that I can speak Malagasy.

My doctor and rasazy (midwife) and pharmacist all live right next to me and are very supportive, inviting me to mitsangitsangana (take walks) and chat about whatever I'm capable of chatting about.  Fortunately, I've also made some friends on my own, which happen to all be teenage girls.  They come and find me every day to talk, and walk around, and laugh, and watch me cook pitifully.  I'm amazed at how hospitable and patient these girls are at ages 14-16.  When I was that age, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't have befriended a foreigner so quickly, nor taken the time to help her learn new words or clean house or wash clothes.  Every day these girls amaze me with their patience and maturity!

Well my battery is about to die on my computer, so I'll have to put it away until I reach the big city for New Year's!

I missed you, dear internet.

11 October 2008

It's Saturday in Alarobia, and I've officially been in Madagascar for a week. It feels more like a month. I can't believe how quickly our group has picked up the language, and yet, I can't believe how much more we have to learn. Learning Malagasy is very frustrating at times. The grammatical structure is all switched around : verb + object + adjective + subject. "I want to go to the market." = "Te handory amy tsena zaho" or "Want to go to market I." Maybe? I'm not sure if that's right or not. Regardless, putting sentences together is difficult, and comprehension is darn near impossible. My host family has to repeat questions three or four times before I finally get it, or finally give up.
My host family is awesome. My host father, Guillaume, is 29, and his wife, Sylvie, is 20. Guillaume's younger brother, William (14), is living with them so he can continue going to school. They feed me well, and are very encouraging with my language. Last night, I found out that my permanent site will be Ampasimadinika, where they speak the Betsimasarika dialect. Coincidently, Guillaume speaks the Betsimasarika dialect, which makes me think that my directors knew my permanent site long before they let on.
Ampasimadinika is on the east coast of Madagascar, 48K west of Tamatave(Taomasina) & located right on the RN2, the best road in Madagascar... which isn't necessarily saying much. I'll be in a 2 room house right behind the Centre de Sante de Base (CSB), which is essentially my main workplace. I'll be working alongside a midwife and a doctor, helping with family planning, prenatal care, child vaccinations, nutrition, etc. I'm supposed to analyze the community and see what health information will be most useful for improving the health status of the town.
As far as adjusting to Malagasy life goes, I think I'm still in culture shock. The first night with my host family, I knew absolutely no Malagasy words beyond "I want to sleep," and "thank you." Turns out, it gets dark here at around 6:30, after which we have dinner and then go to bed around 8pm. Very refreshing, except that the bathroom (kabone) is a stand-up outhouse outside, and the Malagasy people refuse to leave their houses after dark (they're afraid of witches)... this means that after dark, I get to go to the bathroom in the "po," which is a nice little plastic bucket with a lid, located in the corner of my room. Besides the bathroom situation, life here is very simple. Peace Corps training keeps us all busy from 8am till 4:30, which leaves us little time to explore. Tomorrow we're going to take a hike and check out the mountains surrounding our village. Beyond that, I don't really know what else to do. I study, practice Malagasy, listen to music, and read books. Often after our training classes are over, my fellow volunteers and I will try out our language skills at the general stores where we buy sokolat & cracky (chocolate & crackers).
My training group is awesome. There are twenty of us right now, and hopefully no one decides to ET (early termination). I'm already very attached to the idea of all of us being here for the long haul. My permanent site is relatively close to Brad's site and Jessica's site (Jessica was the first person I met from our group... interestingly enough), so I'm very happy about my proximity to them and to Tamatave, Madagascar's second major city.
Every day I go from being extremely excited about living the Malagasy life and working as a health volunteer, to being homesick for the comforts of the American lifestyle. It's refreshing to be away from phones and internet, away from being imminently reachable, but the novelty will wear off soon I think. The more we talk about the responsibilities of health volunteers, the more I realize how overwhelming the job is going to be. On the one hand, there is plenty to do. I will be responsible for spreading information about proper nutrition, STI's, family planning, diarrhea prevention and treatment, upper respiratory infections, malaria, and water safety. All of these things are difficult problems to fix, considering they each require an entire change of behavior in the community I'm teaching. It's going to be up to me to be persistent in delivering information about vaccinations, nutrition, prenatal care, etc. Two years seems like a long time, but I also realize that two years in the life of my new community is very small. I have a huge task in front of me... but Peace Corps' support network is awesome. I am still thinking this was a great idea.



22 Oktobra 2008
Wednesdays in Alarobia are eventful; the name Alarobia means “Wednesday” in Malagasy, named as such because today is market day. At 8 this morning, Kanto, Brad, and I met our language teacher, Peta, at my house for two hours of language lessons, followed by a delicious snacky, followed by an hour of free roaming around the market place. I've become decent at bargaining with the vendors, although they automatically assume they need to use French since I'm a “vazah,” or foreigner.
Being vazah in Madagascar is going to be one of the biggest challenges, I think. Although I've been living in Alarobia for three weeks now, I'm stared at the entire way to the language center and back, which is the equivalent of two city blocks away. The Malagasy townspeople are super friendly, and the store owners are oh-so-patient when us Americans come in and stumble through some Malagasy to buy snacks. Regardless, being white and blond automatically draws insane amounts of attention. The other day I said hello to my neighbor (who I'm guessing is about 7 years old), and he just grabbed my hand and bashfully started petting my skin, like it was the craziest stuff he'd ever seen. What boggles me is that we aren't the first group of PCV's to come through this town. The education group stayed here for 10 weeks during June and July! I can't imagine what site is going to be like, seeing as I'll probably be the only vazah for miles...
I'm having a great time with my group, and I feel like I'm learning rapidly. There's still so far to go though. We visit our sites four weeks from now! It seems so far away, and yet so soon at the same time. Talking to current PCV's both excites me and scares me; integrating into a brand new community with a brand new language and trying to change unhealthy behaviors is a challenge I'm ready to tackle, but at the same time, it's so overwhelming. The depth of challenges I'm going to face here are infinite, and I think I would need way more than two years to actually make a sustainable impact. Our training staff is doing an awesome job of preparing us for the next two years of our lives, while at the same time, slowly easing us into living the Malagasy life. It's a change for sure!

1 Novembra 2008
It's been over a month since I've left the United States, and Madagascar is starting to feel like home. Last night we had a Halloween party at the learning center until, get this, 9 PM! Wowie wow wow was it a late night! After class got out at 3, we had an hour to get into costume (I went as Minnie Mouse), and then we began our festivities which included pumpkin carving, a delicious rum-cider punch, awesome dinner, and kareoke accompanied by some much needed THB (Three Horse Beer). It was great to have a night of relaxation and fun, and the townspeople certainly enjoyed staring at us crazy Americans dressed up in ridiculous costumes. People were honestly crowding around the entrance of the learning center just to peek in and see what we were up to... a little awkward to say the least.
Since our training is so scheduled Monday through Saturday morning, I feel like the weekends are the only real taste of what life in Madagascar is actually going to be like. I finally bought a phone in Antananarivo (Tana) this past week, so I was able to text my friend Kelly and hang out with her this afternoon. Today is definitely one of those days where I ask myself, “What on Earth am I going to do with myself for two years?” Life is so much slower here. I can't just hop in a car and drive to the Twin Cities and go shopping or plop in front of the TV or sit in front of my computer for hours, which is certainly a great thing. However, figuring out how to entertain myself during my downtime (which I think I'll have plenty of) is going to be a real challenge. The prospect of learning how to live simply and sustainably is exciting, in theory, but staying sane is going to be the real kicker. :)
After lunch I went down to the river with Sylvie to manasa lamba (wash clothes). I take my basket of dirty clothes, a bar of soap, and some powder detergent, and wash each item by hand. There's no washboard or anything, just my soap, my clothing, and my hands. Honestly, I feel like my clothes have never been cleaner, but I think they're also going to be destroyed within 6 months since handwashing is so hard on them. Good thing you can buy secondhand clothes at market for next to nothing! Get this: I bought my phone for $10. I can buy a pineapple for a quarter. A 40 oz beer is a dollar. In Ambatomanga, the town neighboring Alarobia, you can get excellent cheeze for $2.50. Life here is cheap! And pretty much all of the food comes from area farmers, except for the precessed foods you can get at the little shops in town. I'm hoping that my house will have an area for me to start my own garden, since Eastern Madagascar is rainy and hot and just about anything grows like weeds. I'm imagining insane amounts of delicious vegetables and tropical fruits, and of course rice, you can't forget rice (for breakfast lunch and dinner...).
Language is coming along nicely, but I think I'm hitting the plateau phase of my learning curve. Now I need to focus on getting the words I know to come out of my mouth properly. On Thursday, our training group was split up into three groups, and my group was assigned to the CSB here in Alarobia. Each of us had to pick a topic and give a kabary (speech) to whomever was at the clinic. Well, when we got there, we found each of our host-mothers lined up outside, waiting with breath abated for our first kabary. Now these speeches were essentially a joke, since our language skills are nowhere near allowing us to communicate effectively with a participating crowd, however, having our host-mothers/sisters/brothers etc. there was great. When I was done giving my talk on vaccinations, I asked if there were any questions and willed strongly that there would be none. But my host mom raised her hand and asked very slowly, pronouncing each word carefully, “What is the vaccine ATR for?” And I was able to tell her that it was for mumps, and the crowd was wowed that I was able to understand and reply properly to a question. Man, is certainly is the little things that can make or break your day here in Madagascar...
Well, if you're still reading this post, congrats to you. I miss you all very much. Let me know if you want to come visit me in this wild country! I promise it will be a vacation you won't easily forget! Remember to bring toilet paper and.... that's about it.... just toilet paper.

peace corps-in' out!

I leave tomorrow for Philadelphia where I will be attending orientation events and meeting my fellow Peace Corps volunteers. There are times when I still can't believe that I'm actually doing this, calling myself crazy for leaving my family and friends for so long; most of the time, however, I can barely wait to arrive in Madagascar and begin my new existence as a PCV.

Once in Madagascar, I will begin training, which involves living with a host family and attending language lessons. On December 10th I have my swearing-in ceremony, and then it's off to my village/town/hut, wherever the Peace Corps decides I will be most effective. Regardless, I will be working as a health care educator, assessing the needs of my community and presenting health information to my community members. It should be a wild ride!

Please send me letters of love. I am going to miss you all so so much!

Wish me luck!