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| Out to dinner with my stage-mates. |
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| Visiting the Croc Farm |
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Last night out.
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Tuesday, August 27, 2013
COS Week
My final week in Tana was packed with paperwork, doctors appointments, dentist appointments, office visits and of course hanging out with some PCVs...
Saying Goodbye
After two years at site I finally had to say goodbye..
to the cutest boy in town...
and this family....
and my neighbor, the mayor's family...
and everyone who worked at the commune...
and the mayor....
and my town, Tsarasambo....
and these crazy kids...
and my house....
and my counterpart....
and Madagascar...
The Last Bit
Service after COS Conference is one big wrap-up session. It mostly involves going through the piles of stuff you've accumulated over two years and figuring out how to give stuff away without having the whole town line up at your door asking for more stuff. Between the millions of pictures drawn by my friends when they came over to color, to the loads of paperwork given at every conference, I had so much stuff! But, getting rid of stuff is hard! There's no goodwill box to put clothes in and no dumpster to throw stuff away. Trash gets thrown on the ground or (rarely) burned, so anything I threw away would be talked about and if I gave one person a shirt, 20 minutes later I'd have 20 people I'e never met asking for my clothes because the message that "the vazaha is handing out free stuff!" travels fast. So packing, repacking, organizing and giving stuff away took up a large chunk of my last two months.
What else, what else...
Party time. I will never cease to be amazed at how long it is possible to sit without accomplishing anything. During a party planning meeting, we sat for two hours and accomplished....effectively NOTHING. Regardless, the party was a success. In typical fashion, I was the "token" white person representing all things vazaha-USAID, Peace Corps and all other international NGOs. As many times as I try to explain that I am not USAID, the point never gets across. Things funded by USAID are covered with labels saying "from the American people." My town knows that I am American and therefore, I must be responsible for the food and money coming to my town. To show their thanks, they give me special seating at big events and extra food, which is incredibly awkward since I know that I had nothing to do with the food or money from USAID. Some battles you can't win. So, representing all things American, I had to sit on stage with all the important people, squeezed between two assistant mayors, one of who fell asleep during the 2 hour ceremony. The party celebrated the work of the SALOHI projects and the community health workers in my town. The project will be ending in the next few months, so this was a final good-bye.
Independence Days-Madagascar's independence day was June 26th, but many festivities actually happen before that. I use the term festivities loosely however. 90% of the action involves buying kids noise makers that last one week, a week in which I can't sleep and I want to constantly wear ear plugs to counteract the kids standing outside my door blowing their kazoos. The other 10% of festivities include walking around with your friends. I went to Vatomandry with my friend and we walked around on the beach, took pictures in a canoe, and ate cake. The next week was Fourth of July and all the volunteers in my region got together in Mahanoro! We made delicious hamburgers, walked around town dressed in red white and blue and even asked the school if we could borrow the flag pole to raise the American flag for a few minutes. They happily agreed. However, the rope got tangled and stuck and so it took us a long time for us to get it down. Meanwhile everyone at the school came outside to watch us put up a flag and then struggle to get it down. We're constantly a source of entertainment for everyone in town. The next day we went to the market and found shark for sale. Combined, two sharks cost $3, so we couldn't pass that up. None of us had every eaten shark, let alone cooked it, but we knew some restaurant owners so we brought it to a restaurant and they cooked it for us. All I'll say is that I'll probably never eat shark again.
Rice distribution gone wrong. Many people in my town participate in a work for food program run by an NGO. In exchange for manual labor on infrastructure projects, workers receive rice and oil from USAID based on how many days they worked. However, the distributions seem to come with a whole set of problems. Sometimes bags of rice get stolen, other times people are left to wait 8 hours for the truck to show up. The last distribution had a new kind of problem...not enough rice was sent, and so some people had to leave without getting their rice that day. One man went home without getting his rice and his wife assumed he sold it for liquor and lied about it. She stabbed him with a machete! He lived in a village about 8k away and so had to walk a long way to the health clinic to get treated. He's fine, but its still pretty crazy to think about.
VAC in Tamatave. Before leaving Mada I had a final regional meeting in Tamatave. With the new group of volunteers our previously tiny region grew to over 20 people all of who invaded Tamatave for a weekend. The hotel we stayed at was surprised to see so many vazaha in one place, but were thankful for our business. The first night we had brochettes on the beach and I befriended a woman and her baby who we thought was the waitress. I played with her baby for two hours and held the baby while she went to serve other people. We totally bonded. We were getting ready to leave and so we paid her and she disappeared. When we were getting ready to leave, another waitress came up to us and told us we still owed a lot of money. It turns out that the woman we paid wasn't a waitress, just a scammer who ran off with our money. Madagascar wins again. The next night there was a party for one of the COSing volunteers, so we got to go to a fancy house party with a pool and a DJ. It took me a little while to remember I was in Madagascar, but it was a fun night.
Malaria festivities in Tsivangiana. I visited a friend's site to do some malaria activities. We didn't plan ahead very much, so when I showed up at his site we decided to just walk over to the school to see if anyone wanted to learn about malaria. We walked into a classroom and asked the teacher if we could do a few small activities and she handed over her classroom to us without even a question. Only in Mada! We talked about malaria and did some activities with about 100 students. Seeing two vazaha speaking gasy in a classroom got the attention of everyone in town, so kids were climbing in through the windows and crammed in through the door to see what we were doing! We taught over 100 kids that day and played mosquito net games with many of them.
Circumcision season. Apparently winter is circumcision season. I didn't know this until one morning when I was waiting on the road for a taxi brousse and happened to witness a circumcision ceremony. A saw a lot of people standing around across the street, and when I asked what they were doing they told me "cutting!" I was far enough away so I didn't see anything too closely but there was lots of blood and crying. Then the group of danced around with the boy (about 3 years old) around singing "lahy lahy lahy" which means "man man man." It turned out to be one of the kids who plays in my house everyday! For the next few weeks he showed up at my house in a dress while the other kids explained to me what happened.
More mice adventures. I can never escape mice problems. The last few weeks at site I kept hearing mice under my bed. I never wanted to actually see the mice though, so whenever they started making noise I would just pound on my mattress and try to scare them away. Then in the morning I would look under my bed and see chunks of my mattress on the floor. One day I was feeling especially motivated and I got up the courage to look under my actual mattress. It turns out the mouse/mice had eaten through my mosquito net and then chewed a large hole in my mattress where it was planning to settle in. It had dragged paper scraps into the hole to make itself a comfy bed. RUDE! That was pretty gross. I didn't know what to do, so I just duck taped the hole closed so the mouse couldn't get in. And it seemed to work. For the last few weeks at site I didn't have any mice in my mattress! Success!
What else, what else...
Party time. I will never cease to be amazed at how long it is possible to sit without accomplishing anything. During a party planning meeting, we sat for two hours and accomplished....effectively NOTHING. Regardless, the party was a success. In typical fashion, I was the "token" white person representing all things vazaha-USAID, Peace Corps and all other international NGOs. As many times as I try to explain that I am not USAID, the point never gets across. Things funded by USAID are covered with labels saying "from the American people." My town knows that I am American and therefore, I must be responsible for the food and money coming to my town. To show their thanks, they give me special seating at big events and extra food, which is incredibly awkward since I know that I had nothing to do with the food or money from USAID. Some battles you can't win. So, representing all things American, I had to sit on stage with all the important people, squeezed between two assistant mayors, one of who fell asleep during the 2 hour ceremony. The party celebrated the work of the SALOHI projects and the community health workers in my town. The project will be ending in the next few months, so this was a final good-bye.
Independence Days-Madagascar's independence day was June 26th, but many festivities actually happen before that. I use the term festivities loosely however. 90% of the action involves buying kids noise makers that last one week, a week in which I can't sleep and I want to constantly wear ear plugs to counteract the kids standing outside my door blowing their kazoos. The other 10% of festivities include walking around with your friends. I went to Vatomandry with my friend and we walked around on the beach, took pictures in a canoe, and ate cake. The next week was Fourth of July and all the volunteers in my region got together in Mahanoro! We made delicious hamburgers, walked around town dressed in red white and blue and even asked the school if we could borrow the flag pole to raise the American flag for a few minutes. They happily agreed. However, the rope got tangled and stuck and so it took us a long time for us to get it down. Meanwhile everyone at the school came outside to watch us put up a flag and then struggle to get it down. We're constantly a source of entertainment for everyone in town. The next day we went to the market and found shark for sale. Combined, two sharks cost $3, so we couldn't pass that up. None of us had every eaten shark, let alone cooked it, but we knew some restaurant owners so we brought it to a restaurant and they cooked it for us. All I'll say is that I'll probably never eat shark again.
 |
| $3 sharks from the market. |
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| Bringing Fourth of July to Madagascar with the East Coast volunteers. |
Rice distribution gone wrong. Many people in my town participate in a work for food program run by an NGO. In exchange for manual labor on infrastructure projects, workers receive rice and oil from USAID based on how many days they worked. However, the distributions seem to come with a whole set of problems. Sometimes bags of rice get stolen, other times people are left to wait 8 hours for the truck to show up. The last distribution had a new kind of problem...not enough rice was sent, and so some people had to leave without getting their rice that day. One man went home without getting his rice and his wife assumed he sold it for liquor and lied about it. She stabbed him with a machete! He lived in a village about 8k away and so had to walk a long way to the health clinic to get treated. He's fine, but its still pretty crazy to think about.
VAC in Tamatave. Before leaving Mada I had a final regional meeting in Tamatave. With the new group of volunteers our previously tiny region grew to over 20 people all of who invaded Tamatave for a weekend. The hotel we stayed at was surprised to see so many vazaha in one place, but were thankful for our business. The first night we had brochettes on the beach and I befriended a woman and her baby who we thought was the waitress. I played with her baby for two hours and held the baby while she went to serve other people. We totally bonded. We were getting ready to leave and so we paid her and she disappeared. When we were getting ready to leave, another waitress came up to us and told us we still owed a lot of money. It turns out that the woman we paid wasn't a waitress, just a scammer who ran off with our money. Madagascar wins again. The next night there was a party for one of the COSing volunteers, so we got to go to a fancy house party with a pool and a DJ. It took me a little while to remember I was in Madagascar, but it was a fun night.
 |
| East Coast Zokys. |
Malaria festivities in Tsivangiana. I visited a friend's site to do some malaria activities. We didn't plan ahead very much, so when I showed up at his site we decided to just walk over to the school to see if anyone wanted to learn about malaria. We walked into a classroom and asked the teacher if we could do a few small activities and she handed over her classroom to us without even a question. Only in Mada! We talked about malaria and did some activities with about 100 students. Seeing two vazaha speaking gasy in a classroom got the attention of everyone in town, so kids were climbing in through the windows and crammed in through the door to see what we were doing! We taught over 100 kids that day and played mosquito net games with many of them.
 |
| Kids showing off their drawings of their goals. They take their drawings to hang in their mosquito net to serve as a reminder them to stay healthy so they can achieve their dreams. |
Circumcision season. Apparently winter is circumcision season. I didn't know this until one morning when I was waiting on the road for a taxi brousse and happened to witness a circumcision ceremony. A saw a lot of people standing around across the street, and when I asked what they were doing they told me "cutting!" I was far enough away so I didn't see anything too closely but there was lots of blood and crying. Then the group of danced around with the boy (about 3 years old) around singing "lahy lahy lahy" which means "man man man." It turned out to be one of the kids who plays in my house everyday! For the next few weeks he showed up at my house in a dress while the other kids explained to me what happened.
More mice adventures. I can never escape mice problems. The last few weeks at site I kept hearing mice under my bed. I never wanted to actually see the mice though, so whenever they started making noise I would just pound on my mattress and try to scare them away. Then in the morning I would look under my bed and see chunks of my mattress on the floor. One day I was feeling especially motivated and I got up the courage to look under my actual mattress. It turns out the mouse/mice had eaten through my mosquito net and then chewed a large hole in my mattress where it was planning to settle in. It had dragged paper scraps into the hole to make itself a comfy bed. RUDE! That was pretty gross. I didn't know what to do, so I just duck taped the hole closed so the mouse couldn't get in. And it seemed to work. For the last few weeks at site I didn't have any mice in my mattress! Success!
Saturday, June 8, 2013
Close of Service Conference
A few months before finishing our service, we have a conference with our entire group. We learn about life post-PC and exciting things like how to close your bank account. Its a great opportunity to see everyone in your stage. In my case, we came to Mada with 27 volunteers and we only lost 3 (to medical issues) in our 2 years. Saying goodbye to my stage will be hard, but I still have a few more months! I'll officially be done at the end of August. And then...who knows. Some pics from COS conference in Mantasoa:
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| Spent many weeks of training in room 9. I'll miss this place! |
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| Vanilla Stage |
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| Leaving our mark on the mural at the training center. |
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| Other volunteers in my region |
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| Vanilla stage finally got a cocktail party at our boss's house! |
One Last Vacation
A few weeks ago, I took my last vacation of my Peace Corps
service! Crazy. Since my COS (close of service) conference was at the beginning
of June, I had to use all our vacation days before that. Conveniently, one of my
best friends here had just finished her PC service and was looking to travel
before going back to America. So travel we did. We headed to Ile Sainte Marie, an
island off the East coast of Madagascar. The tourists flock here for the
beautiful deserted beaches, the seafood and the whales. Unfortunately, we
missed whale season…but there’s always next time.
We met up in Tamatave, my second home. My friend and I have
stayed in Tamatave enough where the hotel knows which room we like, the
cleaning ladies know us and our favorite restaurant changes the channel to BBC
in English when we walk in. We spent a day in Tamatave before heading off to
Ile Sainte Marie. Our tour company bused us to the port city and then took us
by boat. It was a pretty vazaha company, a charter bus with an individual seat
for everyone, a schedule and customer service! But some things in Mada never
change. Our bus broke down because something happened with the brakes. And then
it got dark and started raining. But not to fear. Our driver got out his
jumpsuit and a screwdriver (which all drivers seem to have) and before we knew
it we were on our way again. My theory is that the jumpsuit and screwdriver are
just an act and they just want to make you think they are fixing something! Luckily,
the remainder of the trip, which was on curvy roads at night in the rain, lasted
only 30 minutes.
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| On the boat to Ile Sainte Marie.
We got to the port city and someone took us to our hotel-a
dingy little bungalow that cost way more than it should have. Since the hotel
reminded us of our PC houses, and since it was probably going to rain, we
prepped our stuff for inevitable roof leaks. We put electronics in a dry sac
and covered our bags with raincoats…only later did we realize that this wasn’t
normal behavior for people at a hotel. I guess PC has changed us…in ways I
didn’t expect. I suppose that when I stay at hotels in the US I won’t have to
operate under the assumption that the roof leaks.
The next morning our boat was supposed to leave at 7, but in
typical Malagasy fashion, it showed up at 8 and left at 9. The morning started
off really sunny, but once we hit the open ocean it was like boating through
the perfect storm. No one seemed too concerned except for the woman puking
behind me…so I thought that as long as the captain kept laughing and joking
around, I didn’t need to worry. We made it through the storm and arrived on the
tropical paradise of Ile Sainte Marie. We even saw dolphins jumping out of the
water on our way.
|
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| Biking around the island. |
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Just another beautiful day in Madagascar with some lovely PCVs.  |
For the next few days we met up with the PCV who lives on
the island, and she played tour guide. We ate delicious coconut seafood, had
drinks and dinner on the beach, watched the sunset and explored some super
fancy hotels that we couldn’t afford to stay at. No complaints there. We also
rented bikes and spent a day riding around, stopping on the beach when we
needed a break or wanted to take a picture of the gorgeous blue water. The
amazing thing about the island was how undeveloped it was. Although its one of
the most visited tourist destinations in the country, the beaches were deserted
and we could stop wherever we want and see a white sand beach, beautiful blue
water, and no other tourists in site. For my last vacation in Madagascar…not
too bad!
Monday, April 29, 2013
Pictures from Operation Smile
These pictures are a little late, but I figure late is better than never! The following are from the Operation Smile mission I helped on in March 2013. (I think my internet should hold out long enough to post a few more....)
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| My favorite girl from the Operation Smile mission! |
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My other favorite girl from the mission. She thought she was in charge of the hospital ward.
|
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| Pre/Post Op Nurses and translators at the final banquet. |
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| Peace Corps translators at the final banquet. |
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Malaria Festivities
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| Teaching about malaria at Sam's English Club. |
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| Mosquito net games |
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| And another malaria pinata |
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| Malaria parade in Mantasoa. |
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