So many things have happened over the past week, and there is no possible way that I can condense every thing into one little blog post. I last left you the day that I discovered that I was being forced to leave the country--a sad day indeed. It was then that I realized that I wouldn't be able to study the ringtails and sifakas, that I would have to leave all of my new friends, and that I would have to basically start all over again in a new country with a new language and a new culture. And here I am today, sitting for the last time at the internet cafe beside my house, waiting for Matt to pick me up in a taxi so that the two of us can begin our new adventure in Botswana! And again, I am scared, nervous, a little overwhelmed, and completely and utterly excited!
**Note: Be cautious about what you read in the news. I am not saying that what you read about Madagascar is not true, but I truly feel that it is being hyped-up. Yes, there are problems in the capital, but the United States likes to enhance the articles that they publish.
My last week here in Madagascar has been pretty much amazing. The day (actually at the exact moment) that I discovered I have to leave, our group enjoyed an extremely amazing lunch free from rice of any kind--pizza with tomatoes, lobster, and swordfish, couscous with some delicious octopus, vegetable lasagna, ravioli, and desert (apple pie, pineapple cobbler, sorbet, shortbread cookies with fresh coconut, yogurt and chocolate sauce). It was unreal...I actually think my academic advisor planned it so that I could gorge myself with delicous food after hearing the sad news! I actually surprised myself with how well I coped with the news. While I was completely heartbroken, I soon realized what a great experience it would be to study the mega-fauna of Botswana. And by soon, I mean that I had decided to continue my studies in Botswana within the hour. I will be studying in Maun, which is located in one of the most beautiful deltas in the world. Once Matt and I arrive in the country, we will be living in another village stay, with people who do not speak french or malagasy.
**Side note #2: I am leaving the rice diet. I am told in Botswana, their staple food is some sort of cornmeal something-or-other. It will be interesting to compare the two.
We spent most of the week in Tulear hanging out in the country beside the Mozambique Channel near a house that my academic director had built. The mangroves were absolutely gorgeous! We camped in our tents under the starry night sky. During our stay, we visited a sea cucumber farm, hiked a mountain, swam in a BEAUTIFUL cave, and went snorkling among the coral reefs of the Mozambique! I truly felt like I was the one on spring break! One night, we roasted two sheep over a fire and had a lovely party with the local villagers (of course with a lot of music, dancing, and Three Horses Beer).
Two days ago, Matt, Jenny (another student who decided to go back to the states), and I began our voyage back to Fort Dauphin. We were not able to catch a flight in time, so we traveled for two long days by truck across southern Madagascar. It was really great to see the countryside, but the ride was extremely long and bumpy! It was absolutely impossible to even nap on the road. On our second day of travel, around 06h30, we got the truck stuck in a huge puddle of mud. The muddy, murky, parasite ridden water was up to our thighs as we all pushed the truck out of the mud hole! Oh what an evacuation experience. Otherwise, the trip was relatively painless. We arrived in Fort Dauphin last night, where I spent my last evening with my homestay family. My father was still gone, but I was able to talk with him on the phone and say my goodbyes.
Sorry this post is relatively short, but I will soon be boarding a plane for Jo-burg, South Africa. Matt and I will then fly into Gabrione (sp?), the capitol of Botswana, where we will be spending the night. Thursday we will finally be flying into Maun, our destination. It is there that we will meet our new academic director, there that we will meet our new group of friends, and there where we will commence our new adventure in Sub-saharan Africa. I have no idea what is in store for me there, but I know that I will, indeed, have another great adventure. And what is even more exciting is that I now have a friend with whom I can share my journey.
I know you will all be excited to hear about Botswana, but I am not sure what type of communication I will have, if any, with the outside world once I am there. I will be sure to update you all as soon as possible.
**Side note #3: Just a little reminder, my address will be different. I will post my new one ASAP for those interested.
So here I am, half-way through my program, beginning a new journey (I really just wanted to make my blog interesting for all of you lovely individuals :). When life hands you Botswana, one must seize the giraffe!
until then,
erin elizabeth
ps: thanks to all of my friends and family who have been sending me messages and letters of encouragement! i will need every bit of it!
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Friday, March 13, 2009
life most definitely does through you curve balls
The last couple of days have had its ups and its downs. I currently have a lot on my mind, and I am in a situation that I never ever thought I would ever be in.
First of all, I have been told that I have amoebic dysentery. If you would like further details on the ins and outs of this lovely gastro-intestinal disorder, feel free to google it.
Second of all, the country has risen its security level, and the lovely University of North Carolina has decided that it is not safe for me to be in this beautiful, amazing country any longer. I have just discovered this a little over an hour ago. And I am completely and utterly upset. The rest of my lovely little group gets to stay, except for my friend Matt, who also attends a large, public university.
Plans are up in the air. I am supposed to be gone within a week. I haven't yet discussed this with the family, and I am actually about to call them. But I have been told that Matt and I can possibly continue our study abroad experience with another ecology group in another country. With a whole new group of people. In a whole new culture. This is insanity. And I am strongly considering gathering my wits and all of the courage left in my body, and voyaging off to this whole new world, hopefully with my lovely friend Matt.
And this country is Botswana.
First of all, I have been told that I have amoebic dysentery. If you would like further details on the ins and outs of this lovely gastro-intestinal disorder, feel free to google it.
Second of all, the country has risen its security level, and the lovely University of North Carolina has decided that it is not safe for me to be in this beautiful, amazing country any longer. I have just discovered this a little over an hour ago. And I am completely and utterly upset. The rest of my lovely little group gets to stay, except for my friend Matt, who also attends a large, public university.
Plans are up in the air. I am supposed to be gone within a week. I haven't yet discussed this with the family, and I am actually about to call them. But I have been told that Matt and I can possibly continue our study abroad experience with another ecology group in another country. With a whole new group of people. In a whole new culture. This is insanity. And I am strongly considering gathering my wits and all of the courage left in my body, and voyaging off to this whole new world, hopefully with my lovely friend Matt.
And this country is Botswana.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
lost in translation, or lack thereof
I am feeling much better today! Thank goodness for crazy antibiotic medication!
So, I now have more things to check off of my life to-do (or as my dear friend Lindsay likes to refer to it) bucket list:
1) live for a week in a rural african village in southern Madagascar
2) do traditional Androy dances with villagers under the beautiful African moon and stars
3) eat a ton of raketa (the malagasy term for prickly pear)--this is their famine food
4) get hair traditionally braided by the women of a rural African village
5) take part in a dance competition among all of the other tribes in the Faux Cap commune
6) know how to truly appreciate verbal communication
I feel that this post is going to be the most difficult for me to write. I am sitting here trying to sum up all of my experiences and emotions from the past week in my rural village stay. And as hard as I try, I'm not quite sure that I will be able to articulate exactly what I experienced in the middle of drought stricken southern Madagascar, where the people have no clean water (if any water at all), very limited medical assistance, and barely enough food to keep the families fed. If you want to remove yourself from everything familiar, everything comfortable, and place yourself in a truly humbling situation, I advise you to live for a week in a rural African village. There were indeed children with swollen bellies--with crusty eyes covered in flies. Anyways, let me start from the beginning...
It all began two Mondays ago. We had travelled to Faux Cap the night before and camped on a beautiful beach. Monday morning, all of the students voyaged to the little market in Faux Cap to buy some lambas (the wraps people wear here) and waste some time. The Malagasy students bought a goat to eat later on that evening. Little did we know, we were all soon about to partake on an interesting and extremely difficult adventure.
All of the SIT students were divided into pairs among the villages, and I was paired with a lovely girl from Georgia, named Catherine. (We have been labeled the southern girls, yet I, supposedly, have the most southern accent of us all!) Later that afternoon, our homestay father and his son came to Faux Cap to pick us up. The adrenaline in my blood was pumping. As we rode in the back of our instructors truck to the village, all I could do was laugh outloud (literally) because I knew I was getting myself into something extremely crazy. I was wide eyed.
I experienced so many emotions that first evening, just Catherine and I among probably 50 rural Malagasy villagers who we could not understand at all. People came from other villages close by, and the night proceeded with them all shouting and staring at us. I think that they thought that if they spoke loud enough, Catherine and I might understand what they were saying. Just imagine me sitting on a mat, outside a tiny hut, with a ton of Malagasy villagers shouting in my face. My emotions were all over the place. In the beginning, I was excited. And as the night ended, I was completely overwhelmed and frustrated.
The next morning, the Malagasy students came to the village. Each village of two SIT students were also paired with two CEL students to facilitate discussion, etc. And boy were we relieved to be able to communicate with someone! That morning, we went to our father's fields, where he grew corn, watermelon, and several different types of manioc. We helped weed a bit, and afterwards ate a lot of watermelon (which is white here, not pink). Along the walk back to the village, we identified various medicinal plants and learned their usage among the villagers. It was so wonderful to have the CEL students there to be able to translate actual sentences for us.
The afternoon consisted of (as most of the time in our village did) sitting around. We did a lot of nothing while we were there, and that fact bothered me immensly. I like to believe that the villagers don't always sit around like that, that they were altering their everyday habits because they had foreigners in their village. But I just could not understand how so many people could just sit around all day. Why weren't they off tending their crops. Why weren't they washing clothes, or looking for water, or doing something productive?
Late afternoons were usually filled by a lot of dancing. And when I say a lot of dancing, I mean hours of dancing. We would gather around in a circle, stomp our feet, raise our arms, shake our hands, etc. A woman would most often be chanting somewhere in the background. The dancing was one of my favorite activities. Not only do I enjoy dancing, but I was one of the few activities that we could share together across cultures. It brought smiles and laughter. It lessened the stressful situations a bit, and for a while, we could experience a little bit of Androy culture without the constant bother of verbal communication.
The meals were interesting. Because we were living is such a destitute area, and because the family didn't even have enough food to feed themselves, we brought our own food stocks and provisions for our mother to prepare for us. About 95% of our diet consited of rice. For each meal, we would go to a little hut at the end of the village, and sit with our father (and sometimes brothers), who would share our meal. Breakfast: rice with honey. Lunch: rice with a little bit of white beans. Dinner: Rice with more beans. Rice rice rice rice rice. The women never ate with us, and I don't believe the men even shared any of our leftovers. Only our father and the elder brothers were allowed to dine with us. This was another problem I had with the culture (even though I had expected to experience this during my stay).
My last issue with my time in the village stay was concerning the issue of gifts. Catherine and I had brought adequate presents for our family. We gave them honey, candy, pens, paper, and the family was free to keep all of the leftover food, water, and other provisions we had left over at the end of our stay. We brought stickers, balloons, and glow sticks for the children. Yet at the end of our stay, our father demanded more gifts from us. He demanded them from us at least 5 or 6 times, in many different ways. Now, I am completely understanding and sympathetic to the fact that these people have very little, and are living in poor conditions. But frankly, I felt like a tool. The only reason my father agreed to have us stay was because he thought we would come bearing tons and tons of things for him. That we were going to give away all of our possessions to him. He didn't care about us, about our culture, about where we came from, about our thoughts and our views and our families. We were not individuals, we were an icon. We were rich foreigners and we were supposed to give him things. This was, in fact, the most difficult thing for me to deal with. And it wasn't even the fact that our father wanted these things, but he was hoarding them. He would not share them with the others.
example: After we finished our long dance treck to Faux Cap and danced all afternoon, our group was given 5 or 6 bottles of juice and soda to share. I grabbed a bottle to share with Catherine, and assumed the others would partake in the celebration. But our father took them all for himself and would not give them to any of the others. By this time I was quite frustrated with them, and I walked away. When my thirst had been quenched I passed the bottle on to one of the women in the group who had danced with us (and who had actually braided my hair earlier that day). And at that moment, my father ran over, snatched the bottle from her had, and took it to the other males of the group. Needless to say, this did not improve my impression of the culture.
**Side note: I am fully aware that my culture is completely different than the culture of this village. I have access to a lot of things. I have never gone hungry. I have been expose to other cultures. I have travelled. I have had more opportunities. I knew going into the stay in the village, there would be many many many cultural and personal differences. But knowing this fact and actually experiencing it are two completely different things. It is much harder to deal with these situations first hand than to just know that they exist. (I apoligize if my angry rambling has become incoherent).
Good points about my village stay:
1) Getting my hair traditionally braided: I love having my hair played with, and to have it done by the lovely women of the village was a completely amazing experience. It was funny to see how they reacted to my soft blonde hair, and it was, in a way, a sort of bonding experience.
2) I learned to appreciate my homestay family in Fort Dauphin: While I was already completely happy with my family, just staying in the rural village made me appreciate the fact that I could communicate with my family here in Fort Dauphin, even if it is at times difficult to speak in French all of the time. Also, when I returned home, Jean, my homestay father, had prepared photos and Malagasy songs for me, which we listened to, sang, and translated together. We also had some lovely conversation about my life back home, my frustration with the village stay, and my hopes, dreams, and aspirations for the future. (although I will have you know this was super difficult to do in french!!!)
3) The weather was not normal while we were there. It was actually quite cool most days, and in fact it rained or drizzled each day! But I did get pretty sunburnt the last day...
4) I got to eat a coconut freshly plucked from our families coconut tree! yum yum yum
Bad things about the village stay:
1) Prickly pear spines hurt! The village was surrounded with these cacti and we had to use the bathroom quite close to them. My village stay counterpart (Catherine) had an unfortunate incident with this!
2) We got fleas. Quite uncomfortable when trying to sleep.
3) The people don't stop staring and yelling at you. 5 days of people staring and yelling at you is indeed quite draining.
Today I am leaving Fort Dauphin. We are boarding a plane for Tulear where we will begin our Marine Studies unit and then head out on our cross country road trip to visit various national parks and protected areas!! Hooray for snorkling and swimming in natural pools! Due to the political situation, we will probably not be going to Tana :( but will instead be staying in a town just outside. Bummer.
But, on a rather exciting note, I have secured an academic advisor for my independent studies project on the lemurs in Berenty! I will be working with a lady by the name of Josia, who is getting her Ph.D. in the UK and is studing lemurs. And she speaks English! Woot!
I am not quite sure how much internet time I will be getting in the next couple of weeks, but I will try to post as much as possible. I hope you are all doing well back home in the states!
loves of happy lovin' and sunshine from Madagascar!
erin elizabeth
ps: i tried to upload some crazy crazy village stay pictures, but the internet just wont let me today!
So, I now have more things to check off of my life to-do (or as my dear friend Lindsay likes to refer to it) bucket list:
1) live for a week in a rural african village in southern Madagascar
2) do traditional Androy dances with villagers under the beautiful African moon and stars
3) eat a ton of raketa (the malagasy term for prickly pear)--this is their famine food
4) get hair traditionally braided by the women of a rural African village
5) take part in a dance competition among all of the other tribes in the Faux Cap commune
6) know how to truly appreciate verbal communication
I feel that this post is going to be the most difficult for me to write. I am sitting here trying to sum up all of my experiences and emotions from the past week in my rural village stay. And as hard as I try, I'm not quite sure that I will be able to articulate exactly what I experienced in the middle of drought stricken southern Madagascar, where the people have no clean water (if any water at all), very limited medical assistance, and barely enough food to keep the families fed. If you want to remove yourself from everything familiar, everything comfortable, and place yourself in a truly humbling situation, I advise you to live for a week in a rural African village. There were indeed children with swollen bellies--with crusty eyes covered in flies. Anyways, let me start from the beginning...
It all began two Mondays ago. We had travelled to Faux Cap the night before and camped on a beautiful beach. Monday morning, all of the students voyaged to the little market in Faux Cap to buy some lambas (the wraps people wear here) and waste some time. The Malagasy students bought a goat to eat later on that evening. Little did we know, we were all soon about to partake on an interesting and extremely difficult adventure.
All of the SIT students were divided into pairs among the villages, and I was paired with a lovely girl from Georgia, named Catherine. (We have been labeled the southern girls, yet I, supposedly, have the most southern accent of us all!) Later that afternoon, our homestay father and his son came to Faux Cap to pick us up. The adrenaline in my blood was pumping. As we rode in the back of our instructors truck to the village, all I could do was laugh outloud (literally) because I knew I was getting myself into something extremely crazy. I was wide eyed.
I experienced so many emotions that first evening, just Catherine and I among probably 50 rural Malagasy villagers who we could not understand at all. People came from other villages close by, and the night proceeded with them all shouting and staring at us. I think that they thought that if they spoke loud enough, Catherine and I might understand what they were saying. Just imagine me sitting on a mat, outside a tiny hut, with a ton of Malagasy villagers shouting in my face. My emotions were all over the place. In the beginning, I was excited. And as the night ended, I was completely overwhelmed and frustrated.
The next morning, the Malagasy students came to the village. Each village of two SIT students were also paired with two CEL students to facilitate discussion, etc. And boy were we relieved to be able to communicate with someone! That morning, we went to our father's fields, where he grew corn, watermelon, and several different types of manioc. We helped weed a bit, and afterwards ate a lot of watermelon (which is white here, not pink). Along the walk back to the village, we identified various medicinal plants and learned their usage among the villagers. It was so wonderful to have the CEL students there to be able to translate actual sentences for us.
The afternoon consisted of (as most of the time in our village did) sitting around. We did a lot of nothing while we were there, and that fact bothered me immensly. I like to believe that the villagers don't always sit around like that, that they were altering their everyday habits because they had foreigners in their village. But I just could not understand how so many people could just sit around all day. Why weren't they off tending their crops. Why weren't they washing clothes, or looking for water, or doing something productive?
Late afternoons were usually filled by a lot of dancing. And when I say a lot of dancing, I mean hours of dancing. We would gather around in a circle, stomp our feet, raise our arms, shake our hands, etc. A woman would most often be chanting somewhere in the background. The dancing was one of my favorite activities. Not only do I enjoy dancing, but I was one of the few activities that we could share together across cultures. It brought smiles and laughter. It lessened the stressful situations a bit, and for a while, we could experience a little bit of Androy culture without the constant bother of verbal communication.
The meals were interesting. Because we were living is such a destitute area, and because the family didn't even have enough food to feed themselves, we brought our own food stocks and provisions for our mother to prepare for us. About 95% of our diet consited of rice. For each meal, we would go to a little hut at the end of the village, and sit with our father (and sometimes brothers), who would share our meal. Breakfast: rice with honey. Lunch: rice with a little bit of white beans. Dinner: Rice with more beans. Rice rice rice rice rice. The women never ate with us, and I don't believe the men even shared any of our leftovers. Only our father and the elder brothers were allowed to dine with us. This was another problem I had with the culture (even though I had expected to experience this during my stay).
My last issue with my time in the village stay was concerning the issue of gifts. Catherine and I had brought adequate presents for our family. We gave them honey, candy, pens, paper, and the family was free to keep all of the leftover food, water, and other provisions we had left over at the end of our stay. We brought stickers, balloons, and glow sticks for the children. Yet at the end of our stay, our father demanded more gifts from us. He demanded them from us at least 5 or 6 times, in many different ways. Now, I am completely understanding and sympathetic to the fact that these people have very little, and are living in poor conditions. But frankly, I felt like a tool. The only reason my father agreed to have us stay was because he thought we would come bearing tons and tons of things for him. That we were going to give away all of our possessions to him. He didn't care about us, about our culture, about where we came from, about our thoughts and our views and our families. We were not individuals, we were an icon. We were rich foreigners and we were supposed to give him things. This was, in fact, the most difficult thing for me to deal with. And it wasn't even the fact that our father wanted these things, but he was hoarding them. He would not share them with the others.
example: After we finished our long dance treck to Faux Cap and danced all afternoon, our group was given 5 or 6 bottles of juice and soda to share. I grabbed a bottle to share with Catherine, and assumed the others would partake in the celebration. But our father took them all for himself and would not give them to any of the others. By this time I was quite frustrated with them, and I walked away. When my thirst had been quenched I passed the bottle on to one of the women in the group who had danced with us (and who had actually braided my hair earlier that day). And at that moment, my father ran over, snatched the bottle from her had, and took it to the other males of the group. Needless to say, this did not improve my impression of the culture.
**Side note: I am fully aware that my culture is completely different than the culture of this village. I have access to a lot of things. I have never gone hungry. I have been expose to other cultures. I have travelled. I have had more opportunities. I knew going into the stay in the village, there would be many many many cultural and personal differences. But knowing this fact and actually experiencing it are two completely different things. It is much harder to deal with these situations first hand than to just know that they exist. (I apoligize if my angry rambling has become incoherent).
Good points about my village stay:
1) Getting my hair traditionally braided: I love having my hair played with, and to have it done by the lovely women of the village was a completely amazing experience. It was funny to see how they reacted to my soft blonde hair, and it was, in a way, a sort of bonding experience.
2) I learned to appreciate my homestay family in Fort Dauphin: While I was already completely happy with my family, just staying in the rural village made me appreciate the fact that I could communicate with my family here in Fort Dauphin, even if it is at times difficult to speak in French all of the time. Also, when I returned home, Jean, my homestay father, had prepared photos and Malagasy songs for me, which we listened to, sang, and translated together. We also had some lovely conversation about my life back home, my frustration with the village stay, and my hopes, dreams, and aspirations for the future. (although I will have you know this was super difficult to do in french!!!)
3) The weather was not normal while we were there. It was actually quite cool most days, and in fact it rained or drizzled each day! But I did get pretty sunburnt the last day...
4) I got to eat a coconut freshly plucked from our families coconut tree! yum yum yum
Bad things about the village stay:
1) Prickly pear spines hurt! The village was surrounded with these cacti and we had to use the bathroom quite close to them. My village stay counterpart (Catherine) had an unfortunate incident with this!
2) We got fleas. Quite uncomfortable when trying to sleep.
3) The people don't stop staring and yelling at you. 5 days of people staring and yelling at you is indeed quite draining.
Today I am leaving Fort Dauphin. We are boarding a plane for Tulear where we will begin our Marine Studies unit and then head out on our cross country road trip to visit various national parks and protected areas!! Hooray for snorkling and swimming in natural pools! Due to the political situation, we will probably not be going to Tana :( but will instead be staying in a town just outside. Bummer.
But, on a rather exciting note, I have secured an academic advisor for my independent studies project on the lemurs in Berenty! I will be working with a lady by the name of Josia, who is getting her Ph.D. in the UK and is studing lemurs. And she speaks English! Woot!
I am not quite sure how much internet time I will be getting in the next couple of weeks, but I will try to post as much as possible. I hope you are all doing well back home in the states!
loves of happy lovin' and sunshine from Madagascar!
erin elizabeth
ps: i tried to upload some crazy crazy village stay pictures, but the internet just wont let me today!
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
under the weather
I had alotted my time this morning to sit and write a long post from the past week. Unfortunately that is not going to happen at this moment. I've been pretty sick over the past day...fever of 101.4, chills, and gastrointestinal distress of which shouldn't be mentioned here. I am feeling a little bit better this morning, but not much. I will try to find some time to sit and write a long post in the next day.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
One Month Gone
It is official. I have been in Madagascar for an entire month. And yet it seems like just yesterday that I was sitting at home, watching Wallace and Gromit with my brother for the 123,210th time. Even though I have been so far away from the people I love for a month, I feel as though you all have been right here beside me the entire time. And I love knowing that I have such an amazing group of people back home thinking about me just as much.
So, anyways, enough with the sappy stuff...
The thurday after our lovely stay with the lemurs, we began studying ethnobotany. This topic mainly covers every way in which the Malagasy people use plants in their daily lives (from medicinal plants to weaving mats and baskets from reeds). After a short lecture, our group travelled to a little village called Mandromondromoto, which stood at the base of the mountains beside Fort Dauphin.
**It is this aspect of studying abroad that I think I enjoy the most. Not only do we learn in a classroom setting, but we also go out into the "field"--if you can call it that--and actually see first hand the things we discuss during lecture.
In Mandromondromoto, we talked with an association of women about their "mat weaving enterprise." Basically, the local mining company, QMM, has helped these women to set up an organization to weave mats, baskets, etc. that they can sell in the market in Fort Dauphin. The association is composed entirely of women from this village, and their craftwork allows them to make a couple of extra dollars throughout the year. We learned the intricate process of gathering the reeds, drying them (and sometimes dying them), and the assembly of the final product.
Afterwards, we walked a little farther into the village to speak with the village's traditional healer. This was one of the most interesting interviews we have had so far. We learned, through a short interview, that the healer learned all of his healing practices through spirits that come to him in his dreams. These spirits tell him what medicinal plants to use, when to perform specific healing rituals, etc. Here are some things that I learned from him:
1) He uses a certain type of seed to identify a person's illness. During the interview, he laid them out in a strategic manner, and proceeded to tell us what each row of seeds signified.
2) He believes that there is a "natural sickness" which can be cured at the hospital. Otherwise, maladies that are "placed" on an individual (perhaps by a curse, demon, or spirit) must be treated traditionally through his practices. (But he did state that he could cure the natural sicknesses as well).
3) The three most prominent illnesses that he treats include 1. mental sickness, 2. seizures and epilepsy, and 3. paralysis (and before treatment, the patient must pay 40,000 ariary--roughly equivalent to $20--and after he is healed, he must give the healer a zebu)
4) Illnesses that are the hardest for him to treat: 1. mental sickness, 2. paralysis, 3. Amboamainty (an STD of sorts--probably herpes).
5) Pregnent women must rub the blood of a black chicken on her stomach to protect her unborn child.
I was so intrigued by the fact that these practices were in no way a joke to the people living in the village. This healer was well respected, and some people had travelled across the country to seek his healing powers. It is interesting to think of how his practices would be received in the states. I plan on independently researching traditional medicine and healers more in the coming weeks.
Friday was mainly a laid back day at Libanona. We had 4 lectures in the morning before lunch, but the main topic of discussion was our upcoming stay in a rural village of southwestern Madagascar. It has been stated by numerous individuals that this village homestay is one of the most challenging parts of the entire semester. Here is a little overview of what is to be expected:
We leave Fort Dauphin Sunday morning for our 9 hour bus ride to Faux Cap, a commune of villages in the southwest. We will spend the night in Faux Cap, and on Monday, we will be "picked up" by our village families. I am staying in the small village of Anjahamboanio, which is about 3km north of Faux Cap. We are split up into groups of two, and I will be sharing my village stay with a girl named Katherine. Two other Malagasy students will join us during the day to facilitate the Malagasy language barrier (although I know our time will mainly consist of a lot of awkward hand motions). Katherine and I will be spending four days and four nights in this village, where we will be assisting in the daily life of the villagers--cultivating the crops, fetching water, killing chickens, etc.
**Most of these villagers have never before seen a white foreigner. Therefore, we will be stared at. A LOT.
I can't lie. I am apprehensive about this rural homestay. It will be difficult to spend four days with people who don't speak my language, with no running water, and where the temperature gets into the hundreds every day. But, it will be an experience that I will NEVER forget, I'm sure. I am looking forward to making the crazy memories! At the end of the stay, we will be dancing (yes dancing) all the way back to Faux Cap for the final feast. Our program, SIT, is going to sacrifice a zebu to show our appreciation for the village homestay. Fun Fun Fun!
**The rural malagasy people regard a lot of things as fady (taboo). Ex: The eastern side of the village is sacred (ie. there is no using the bathroom on the eastern side...too bad I don't have a compass!). I am most nervous about doing something taboo. Because then I will have to pay the villagers with a zebu. I am not joking one bit.
Random Side Note # 1: As I sit here in the internet café, a stike is going on outside. A large procession of Malagasy people are walking down the street in protest of the political problems in the country. The president and the mayor of Tana are still unable to work anything out, and I hope that this situation does not interfere with our upcoming travel plans to Tulear (where we do our marine sciences unit!) and Tana.
Random Side Note #2: Last night was my first experience of being sick in a foreign country. I would have to say that it was my worst experience here so far. I must have eaten something that did not agree with my stomach. I will not go into detail, but just know that I am feeling much better this morning. Oh the benefits of having a doctor for a homestay mother!
So, with all of that being said, I will not be able to check the internet for the next week or so. But, I'm sure I will return with some pretty amazing tails of village life in Madagascar.
until then,
erin elizabeth
So, anyways, enough with the sappy stuff...
The thurday after our lovely stay with the lemurs, we began studying ethnobotany. This topic mainly covers every way in which the Malagasy people use plants in their daily lives (from medicinal plants to weaving mats and baskets from reeds). After a short lecture, our group travelled to a little village called Mandromondromoto, which stood at the base of the mountains beside Fort Dauphin.
**It is this aspect of studying abroad that I think I enjoy the most. Not only do we learn in a classroom setting, but we also go out into the "field"--if you can call it that--and actually see first hand the things we discuss during lecture.
In Mandromondromoto, we talked with an association of women about their "mat weaving enterprise." Basically, the local mining company, QMM, has helped these women to set up an organization to weave mats, baskets, etc. that they can sell in the market in Fort Dauphin. The association is composed entirely of women from this village, and their craftwork allows them to make a couple of extra dollars throughout the year. We learned the intricate process of gathering the reeds, drying them (and sometimes dying them), and the assembly of the final product.
Afterwards, we walked a little farther into the village to speak with the village's traditional healer. This was one of the most interesting interviews we have had so far. We learned, through a short interview, that the healer learned all of his healing practices through spirits that come to him in his dreams. These spirits tell him what medicinal plants to use, when to perform specific healing rituals, etc. Here are some things that I learned from him:
1) He uses a certain type of seed to identify a person's illness. During the interview, he laid them out in a strategic manner, and proceeded to tell us what each row of seeds signified.
2) He believes that there is a "natural sickness" which can be cured at the hospital. Otherwise, maladies that are "placed" on an individual (perhaps by a curse, demon, or spirit) must be treated traditionally through his practices. (But he did state that he could cure the natural sicknesses as well).
3) The three most prominent illnesses that he treats include 1. mental sickness, 2. seizures and epilepsy, and 3. paralysis (and before treatment, the patient must pay 40,000 ariary--roughly equivalent to $20--and after he is healed, he must give the healer a zebu)
4) Illnesses that are the hardest for him to treat: 1. mental sickness, 2. paralysis, 3. Amboamainty (an STD of sorts--probably herpes).
5) Pregnent women must rub the blood of a black chicken on her stomach to protect her unborn child.
I was so intrigued by the fact that these practices were in no way a joke to the people living in the village. This healer was well respected, and some people had travelled across the country to seek his healing powers. It is interesting to think of how his practices would be received in the states. I plan on independently researching traditional medicine and healers more in the coming weeks.
Friday was mainly a laid back day at Libanona. We had 4 lectures in the morning before lunch, but the main topic of discussion was our upcoming stay in a rural village of southwestern Madagascar. It has been stated by numerous individuals that this village homestay is one of the most challenging parts of the entire semester. Here is a little overview of what is to be expected:
We leave Fort Dauphin Sunday morning for our 9 hour bus ride to Faux Cap, a commune of villages in the southwest. We will spend the night in Faux Cap, and on Monday, we will be "picked up" by our village families. I am staying in the small village of Anjahamboanio, which is about 3km north of Faux Cap. We are split up into groups of two, and I will be sharing my village stay with a girl named Katherine. Two other Malagasy students will join us during the day to facilitate the Malagasy language barrier (although I know our time will mainly consist of a lot of awkward hand motions). Katherine and I will be spending four days and four nights in this village, where we will be assisting in the daily life of the villagers--cultivating the crops, fetching water, killing chickens, etc.
**Most of these villagers have never before seen a white foreigner. Therefore, we will be stared at. A LOT.
I can't lie. I am apprehensive about this rural homestay. It will be difficult to spend four days with people who don't speak my language, with no running water, and where the temperature gets into the hundreds every day. But, it will be an experience that I will NEVER forget, I'm sure. I am looking forward to making the crazy memories! At the end of the stay, we will be dancing (yes dancing) all the way back to Faux Cap for the final feast. Our program, SIT, is going to sacrifice a zebu to show our appreciation for the village homestay. Fun Fun Fun!
**The rural malagasy people regard a lot of things as fady (taboo). Ex: The eastern side of the village is sacred (ie. there is no using the bathroom on the eastern side...too bad I don't have a compass!). I am most nervous about doing something taboo. Because then I will have to pay the villagers with a zebu. I am not joking one bit.
Random Side Note # 1: As I sit here in the internet café, a stike is going on outside. A large procession of Malagasy people are walking down the street in protest of the political problems in the country. The president and the mayor of Tana are still unable to work anything out, and I hope that this situation does not interfere with our upcoming travel plans to Tulear (where we do our marine sciences unit!) and Tana.
Random Side Note #2: Last night was my first experience of being sick in a foreign country. I would have to say that it was my worst experience here so far. I must have eaten something that did not agree with my stomach. I will not go into detail, but just know that I am feeling much better this morning. Oh the benefits of having a doctor for a homestay mother!
So, with all of that being said, I will not be able to check the internet for the next week or so. But, I'm sure I will return with some pretty amazing tails of village life in Madagascar.
until then,
erin elizabeth
Thursday, February 26, 2009
walking in a lemur wonderland
I am not on regular time here in Madagascar. The time passes before I have the ability to process what is happening around me; and before I know it, I am sitting back in the little cyber café near my house trying to remember every little detail of my past week. It is quite a difficult task, I must say.
This past week has been mind-blowing. I know you are all getting tired of my constant explinations of extreme excitement, but each week just seems to get better and better. So, you will just have to deal with it ;).
Saturday morning marked the beginning of our Lemur Ecology study--one of the coolest "courses" we have had here in Madagascar--not that I can really compare what I am doing here to any classes I have had in the states. In the states I would sit in class and hear about the people doing the studies. Here I actually get to do them.
We left Fort Dauphin around 7:30 am, and we spent most of the day traversing the extremely bumpy roads of Madagascar. About halfway through the trip, we stopped off in a little village called Ranomainty ("black water" in english) to see some rare aloe plants and to discuss the effects of a Japanese NGO project in the area. We arrived in Ifotaka (our destination) in the late afternoon--hot, tired, and dirty (which didn't change the entire span of our stay). Ifotaka is a town located in the Antandroy region of southern Madagascar...this is close to where I will be living for my village stay next week!
**Side note: The Antandroy region is well known for it's extremely hot weather, dusty terrain, and spiny forests. Temperatures got up to about 41°C during the middle of the day. I have never been so hot in my life. The terrian is mainly sandy, dusty dirt and rocks. I stayed covered in a layer of dust the entire trip. Yet even though I was extremely dusty, dirty, and hot for the majority of the stay, it was completely worth it to be able to study the lemurs in their natural habitat!
The next morning, we drove down to a smaller village (Zanavo) just outside of Ifotaka, where we actually performed our studies. Our tents were pitched under a canopy of Euphorbia trees, which provided a lovely source of shade for us during our stay. We spent two days in Zanavo, performing three studies of Propithecus verreauxi verreauxi, more commonly known as a Sifaka lemur. These guys life in the Didieraceae trees of the spiny forest.
**Side note #2: The weren't kidding when they decided to call the forests in Southwest Madagascar "spiny." Almost each and every species of plant growing in these forests are covered in spines. It was super hard to walk through the forest without getting pricked, poked, and stabbed by hundreds of sharp-pointed endemic flora. I was actually able to make it out with only one large cut on my leg!
Through three different experiments, we studied the population density, habitat, and behavior of these crazy little creatures. My favorite of the three was the lemur behavior study--for approximately two hours in the early morning, we sat around in the forest and observed the lemurs in their habitat, taking note of their actions every five minutes. While it seems like a simple task, studing lemurs in the wild is actually quite difficult. We spent most of our time actually walking through the spiny forest trying to locate the sneaky little guys. Overall, I think we walked around in the forest for about 7 hours total. It was amazing :).
Our last night in Zanavo, a couple of us went on a night walk to spot tiny little mouse lemurs. They are the smallest type of lemurs alive, and they are nocturnal. And adorable.
On our last day, we voyaged to Berenty to see even more lemurs!! For those of you who didn't already know, Berenty is a private reserve owned by a french family, the DeHaulmes, for the past two generations. Most behavioral research that has been done on lemurs has taken place in Berenty because the lemurs are habituated to humans and it is much easier to conduct a behavioral study on lemurs that do not run away from you! And the most exciting part: I am most likely going to do a behavioral study on the Ring-Tailed lemurs and Sifakas at Berenty for my ISP!! Oh man, my insides got all tingly walking through Berenty with the lemurs. In no way can I exibit my excitement through this blog.
By the time we returned home, I was in desperate need of a shower. Seriously. I had bathed a couple of times in the Mandrare river, but I still had layers of dust caked to my body. The shower I took when I got back to my house was the most amazing shower I have taken here in Madagascar. It was cold. And I loved it.
It was also great returning home to my homestay family. They were all really excited to see me when I got back home! The whole family rushed out to see me, and it was really nice to feel like I was back home (a little bit). It was really amazing that I felt like I was returning home, even though I have only been calling that house, this town, this coutry my home for a couple of weeks.
So, I do not have enough time to finish, but I will finish my post either tomorrow or Saturday. But, I will leave you with one last comment:
I have received a ton of mail in the past two days: two letters, a card, two picture postcards, and a package. I cannot express how happy it has made me to read the letters from friends and family back home. You guys rock. I just want you to know that. Keep it up ;)
erin elizabeth
This past week has been mind-blowing. I know you are all getting tired of my constant explinations of extreme excitement, but each week just seems to get better and better. So, you will just have to deal with it ;).
Saturday morning marked the beginning of our Lemur Ecology study--one of the coolest "courses" we have had here in Madagascar--not that I can really compare what I am doing here to any classes I have had in the states. In the states I would sit in class and hear about the people doing the studies. Here I actually get to do them.
We left Fort Dauphin around 7:30 am, and we spent most of the day traversing the extremely bumpy roads of Madagascar. About halfway through the trip, we stopped off in a little village called Ranomainty ("black water" in english) to see some rare aloe plants and to discuss the effects of a Japanese NGO project in the area. We arrived in Ifotaka (our destination) in the late afternoon--hot, tired, and dirty (which didn't change the entire span of our stay). Ifotaka is a town located in the Antandroy region of southern Madagascar...this is close to where I will be living for my village stay next week!
**Side note: The Antandroy region is well known for it's extremely hot weather, dusty terrain, and spiny forests. Temperatures got up to about 41°C during the middle of the day. I have never been so hot in my life. The terrian is mainly sandy, dusty dirt and rocks. I stayed covered in a layer of dust the entire trip. Yet even though I was extremely dusty, dirty, and hot for the majority of the stay, it was completely worth it to be able to study the lemurs in their natural habitat!
The next morning, we drove down to a smaller village (Zanavo) just outside of Ifotaka, where we actually performed our studies. Our tents were pitched under a canopy of Euphorbia trees, which provided a lovely source of shade for us during our stay. We spent two days in Zanavo, performing three studies of Propithecus verreauxi verreauxi, more commonly known as a Sifaka lemur. These guys life in the Didieraceae trees of the spiny forest.
**Side note #2: The weren't kidding when they decided to call the forests in Southwest Madagascar "spiny." Almost each and every species of plant growing in these forests are covered in spines. It was super hard to walk through the forest without getting pricked, poked, and stabbed by hundreds of sharp-pointed endemic flora. I was actually able to make it out with only one large cut on my leg!
Through three different experiments, we studied the population density, habitat, and behavior of these crazy little creatures. My favorite of the three was the lemur behavior study--for approximately two hours in the early morning, we sat around in the forest and observed the lemurs in their habitat, taking note of their actions every five minutes. While it seems like a simple task, studing lemurs in the wild is actually quite difficult. We spent most of our time actually walking through the spiny forest trying to locate the sneaky little guys. Overall, I think we walked around in the forest for about 7 hours total. It was amazing :).
Our last night in Zanavo, a couple of us went on a night walk to spot tiny little mouse lemurs. They are the smallest type of lemurs alive, and they are nocturnal. And adorable.
On our last day, we voyaged to Berenty to see even more lemurs!! For those of you who didn't already know, Berenty is a private reserve owned by a french family, the DeHaulmes, for the past two generations. Most behavioral research that has been done on lemurs has taken place in Berenty because the lemurs are habituated to humans and it is much easier to conduct a behavioral study on lemurs that do not run away from you! And the most exciting part: I am most likely going to do a behavioral study on the Ring-Tailed lemurs and Sifakas at Berenty for my ISP!! Oh man, my insides got all tingly walking through Berenty with the lemurs. In no way can I exibit my excitement through this blog.
By the time we returned home, I was in desperate need of a shower. Seriously. I had bathed a couple of times in the Mandrare river, but I still had layers of dust caked to my body. The shower I took when I got back to my house was the most amazing shower I have taken here in Madagascar. It was cold. And I loved it.
It was also great returning home to my homestay family. They were all really excited to see me when I got back home! The whole family rushed out to see me, and it was really nice to feel like I was back home (a little bit). It was really amazing that I felt like I was returning home, even though I have only been calling that house, this town, this coutry my home for a couple of weeks.
So, I do not have enough time to finish, but I will finish my post either tomorrow or Saturday. But, I will leave you with one last comment:
I have received a ton of mail in the past two days: two letters, a card, two picture postcards, and a package. I cannot express how happy it has made me to read the letters from friends and family back home. You guys rock. I just want you to know that. Keep it up ;)
erin elizabeth
Friday, February 20, 2009
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
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
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