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Sunday, March 25, 2012

A Couple of Pictures


The first picture is of Lake Mantasoa from the PC Training Center, where I'll be living for a month starting later this week with all the other volunteers in my stage. This is looking to the east, where all the rain comes from.  The second is of me on the trail towards my home-stay (where I've lived for the past 3 weeks). My house is the one behind me on the far left. My room is the upstairs loft. There is electricity but no running water. The well is about 100 meters down the hill. The other two houses behind me are where Gabby and Nick (two other ENV volunteers) live. To my right are mangahazo plants (cassava). Both of these pictures were taken the first weekend I was here. It rained like crazy. Since then, we've had a lot of sunshine, a good bit of rain at night, and just a couple of other rainy days.

Saturday, March 24, 2012

A bit more details

I've been here for almost a month now. The first two weeks seemed like 2 months. But with a routine gradually setting in (which is for sure to get wiped out very soon again), a month doesn't really seem very long at all. I've been living with a Malagasy host family now for 3 weeks. They've been very hospitable and patient with the language barrier. We eat rice 3 times every day. You may read that the Malagasy eat rice with 2 meals every day. Mine does 3. Fact: The Malagasy eat more rice per capita than any other country in the world; so much that they don't grow enough here on the island to meet the demand for it, they have to import it from Pakistan, India, etc. What makes this even more interesting is that around 80% of the population works in the subsistence agriculture sector.
PC also does a great job with helping the blow of culture shock not be so, well, shocking. Giving us a solid routine helps a lot. Language, X-culture, health, and safety classes throughout the week keep us all pretty busy. I'll be moving out of my home-stay on Thursday to go back to the training center with all 28 other volunteers in my stage (should be 29 but one of the volunteers left the first weekend). Quite excited for that. My host family has been great, but I'm ready to get back to deciding when I'm tired and what I wanna eat.
Next week is going to be fairly busy. Site placement announcements are tomorrow, bank accounts are opened on Tuesday, first language proficiency interview is Wednesday, then the move back to the PCTC on Thursday. Saturday begins the ENV tech trip to the east coast (Moramanga, Toamasina, Tamatave) which will last until next Friday (?). Heading off the mountain, as we say in NC, down to the rainforest. Should be a fun trip.
THB is a pilsner made here in Madagascar by Star breweries. I'm yet to drink it cold, but it's not half bad when it's warm so I guess it can only get better. The pineapples here are some of the best I've ever had. Ranon'apango (burnt rice water) isn't so bad either. The more burnt, the better it tastes. Actually, it tastes a bit like those Quaker rice cakes if you were to toast them and then throw into boiling water.
Until next time,
J

Wednesday, March 21, 2012

I'm alive and well!


I'm doing great! Just got online for the first time today since I left the states. For now send letters here:
James Shelton, PCT Peace Corps
Corps de la Paix
B.P. 12091 Poste Zoom Ankorondrano
101 Antananarivo
Madagascar
I'll have a new address in a month. I'll post that to my "About" section on here where my current address is posted.
The adrenaline has worn off a bit, but is till going strong. I finally have a regular sleeping pattern (up at 6am, asleep around 9pm everyday). Language class for four hours every morning, heaps of rice at every meal (3 times a day), the people are great (both the PC folks and the Malagasy), 4 hours of tech training every afternoon, I'll have my site placement this Monday so I'll get to know where I'll be and what I'll be doing for the next two years. Internet connection is very slow where I am now but I'll post more (and pictures!) when I get some decent bandwidth. For now, just know I'm doing fine, learning a lot, staying busy, and haven't gotten sick yet. Lots to be thankful for!
J