The Weeks Fly By

It took me until today to realize that it has almost been a week since I have submitted a post. The schedule is getting so busy here, and it has been hard trying to find any free time at all. So, just for the record, I will be posting as often as I can, even if it isn't a lot.

So here begins the account of my past week...so much has happened!!

After I left you last Saturday, I headed out to Libanona and actually had the most lovely, relaxing day alone. It is almost impossible to get any free time here in Fort Dauphin, and I cherish every moment I can find. I spent most of the afternoon, sitting in a Sky chair on the peninsula of Libanona which overlooks the Indian Ocean. I have started a book entitled "A Walk in the Woods" about a man who hiked the Appalacian trail (a pretty good, easy read...nice for a lazy Saturday). After a couple of hours of snoozing and reading under the pine trees (which I will have you know are not endemic to the island, but provide completely amazing shade), I joined Shoshi and Nick on the beach, where we talked with an Australian (not from Victoria, thank goodness) who is a volunteer for the NGO Azafady (of which I have previously referred). There was a lovely sunset, and we spent most of the evening having random discussions about cultural immersion, the issues with the Malagasy government, and issues of our own.

Monday was a relatively normal (if I can use the word normal here) day. Class was quite long, lasting from 8am until around 5ish.

Tuesday morning, we left Fort Dauphin for our first excursion--a trip to Andohahela National Park. The park is divided into three existing parcels: Parcel 1 (Rainforest), Parcel 2 (Transitional Forest), and Parcel 3 (Dry, Spiny Forest). We travelled to Parcel 2, where we studied the surrounding flora. The Malagasy CEL (centre d'écologie à Libanona) students joined us on our trip! We split up half and half among the vehicles, and I ended up riding with a Malagasy student named Alden. He was a little shy, but we ended up talking for a bit. After a couple of hours of bouncing around in an SUV of sorts, we arrived at our camp. Later in the afternoon, we were split up into groups (again half Malagasy, half SIT) and voyaged into the transitional forest to survey the surrounding vegetation. We were to mark off a 10x10 meter area and basically do an inventory of the flora in our space--identify species type, how many, what size, etc. Long story short, I ran back and forth in a 100 square meter parcel identifing awesome endemic trees, shrubs, and vines. It was really great (and at first difficult) identifying trees and shrubs that have adapted to live in a transitional climate in Madagascar. One species that we identified was known as the Vazaha tree (foreigner tree) because the trunk was white and it's bark peeled off like sunburnt skin (and of course, I was standing there with my peeling sunburn as I was finding out this tid-bit of information).

The evening at Andohahela was lovely, and I got to used my amazing new tent for the very first time. The weather was nice (hot but not rainy), and so I went to sleep watching the stars. The stars here are incredibly awesome. I actually was able to see the milky way and Orien's belt (or Arthur's arrow ;), except it was all upside down!

The next morning, we went on an "eco-tour" of the Parcel and discussed more of the flora and fauna--don't worry, I won't bore you non-nerdy people with more tree talk. At the end of the hike, we went swimming in an awesome natural pool with a large waterfall. It was so hot, and a nice dip in the water was quite refreshing. Although, I was a little worried about the possiblity of parasites.

The next day, back at Libanona, we had to give a presentation of our findings at Andohahela. In french. I must say, it was a little rough, but lunch made it all better! We had spaghetti with red sauce containing squash and zucchini. I have never in my life been so excited about pasta. It was so amazing to eat something other than rice for once!!

After class, a bunch of the SIT students and CEL students met up at a bar for drinks and mingling. If you saw this bar anywhere in the states, it would in no way have met building code. The whole back of the building was non-existant, but look out over the beach and the Indian Ocean. It was so awesome to be sharing a beer with the Malagasy students, looking out over the bright blue sea. It was also really great to spend some time with the students out of class, talking to them about their daily lives. Most of the students have only a year or two left of school. Some of them are already married. It is highly common for people to get married at a young age here in Madagascar. One of the students that I talked to had been married for two years, and her husband works here, in Fort Dauphin, catching lobster. She had to be about 21 years old. It is kind of crazy.

Today has been chill and lovely. We were lectured on Lemur Ecology this morning, had Malagasy class, and were done around 11am. A bunch of us walked down to the beach and ate lunch at a cute little tropical restaurant right on the sand (where I again ate spaghetti and veggies....yum yum yum). It really is amazing how often we discuss food here on this trip. It is a little obsession of ours (if you cannot already tell). I have already decided that when I get home, we will have some sort of fire at the lake, where marshmellows will be roasted, placed on melting chocolate, and smushed between two lovely graham crakers. I think I have a real problem!

There were demonstrations and strikes going on here in Fort Dauphin today, concerning the political situation. Shops were closed and people were standing in the streets. We have been informed that everything is ok, and that it is very unlikely to get out of hand. The mayor of Tana is still in the process of trying to get rid of the President, and he is trying to rally people throughout the country. The president is not doing/saying much at the moment. It will be interesting to see how things turn out.

But on a good note, I am heading out on our second excursion for our Lemur ecology unit!! Woot Woot!! We are travelling to a couple of places, but in particular, we are going to be stopping in Berenty (a private reserve in southern Madagascar known for its lemur populations, and probably the site of my independent research project)! I am SO excited to begin working with the little guys!!

...So I hope I covered the high points. It is so hard to recount everything from the past week! But overall, I am staying busy, eating a lot, filling my little brain with lots of knowledge, and having a blast.

off to hand wash some more clothes,

erin elizabeth