Routine

The new volunteer, Kim, has officially arrived in Matsobe. It is really weird to relinquish ownership of the house even though I’m still around. It is no longer ‘my house’; and I noticed that when I helped her move in. I was sure to stay quiet when she was setting up all of her stuff. In my own weird OCD way I just kept thinking that she was putting things in the wrong place.

However, despite the passing of the house over to the new PCV, I think Kim will do a great job for her Peace Corps service. She seems smart, nice, and capable. I think everyone involved in my work just needs to be as supportive for her as they’ve been for me.

The student visits ended in anything but a dramatic fashion. It ended on a cancellation because only 2 students would have been able to go, and they would be really late. Rabary and I just decided to call it quits as the teacher strike ruined all of the other programs and then the other schools weren’t prepared because they didn’t go through all of the prior scheduling that I did back in December. However, we were able to have about 170 students visit the Reserve. If we ever have time, I think it would be a great project to have in the future.

I was able to give a lot of the extra books to the offices in Andapa (MNP, WWF, PLAE) as well as a few individuals who I thought would find the material interesting. They seemed really happy to get the book so that was nice in itself. I still have a bunch so I’ll need to figure out something useful for the ones left.

I broadcasted a ton of seeds before I knew that the teachers were going on strike. Good ole’ Mother Nature didn’t go on strike and those trees are growing. I transferred them into simple plastic bags and they didn’t die, so I kept transferring more of the trees into the bags. I moved them all to the Reserve last week and then planted them when it rained. I’m sure I was quite the sight sticking my head and hand out the porch checking how hard it was raining; looking out in all directions to make sure that it would be a good day to plant. Sure enough, it did rain that afternoon and again at night so I think the trees should be in good shape.

I’ve been trying to get into a routine with my new house, but I feel like everything just keeps changing and I can’t just get into a regular motion. We had the new PCV and her installation, at the same time a German scientist is visiting and I’m currently hosting him in my house. With that, it seems like I can’t really get into a good flow. The new hotel down the street seems to be loving the karaoke. However, I’m not loving listening to bad singer at one in the morning while I’m trying to sleep. I’m sure I’ll eventually get use to my city sounds.

In general, life in the city is a lot different. The plus side – I can get pretty much any food I want on any given day. The down side – it is way more expensive. It’s funny how I’m so use to countryside prices that I don’t always want to buy things in town. I figure that I go into the countryside so often that I just need to be more conscious about buying produce out there. But produce aside, I’ve been very happy that I’ve been able to get milk and put it in a refrigerator. I know, I’m already a vazaha be.

I’ve continued harvesting rice. I always forget that the people who help me harvest (literally cut the rice stalks) don’t usually plant with us and so I have to point out that it is SRI rice and not traditional methods; it always surprises them. The more that I work in a rice field, the more I think that harvesting is the hardest work. It is physically difficult. You have to bend over all day cutting the rice, then you carry it to be threshed (sometimes threshing as well), which causes your skin to have superficial cuts and itch, and then, finally, you have to carry all of the rice you’ve harvested! So, you’re exhausted, itchy and then stuck carrying a bunch of rice out of the field. It’s recognizably tough. However, this last time I saw some really cool frogs and almost stepped on a boa, so it was cool in that regards. Just three fields left until this season’s harvest will be done for me.

The other thing that was cool about one of my SRI harvests is that I don’t think it was the best practice for this particular person’s rice field. However, because I had her do multiple methods, she will change in the future to putting all of her rice in lines. She thinks that if she just switches around the sections it will be better too. So, she’ll do one more year of SRI and see if it works. Regardless, she will change what she was doing before and get a lot more rice in the future.

The fish farm is finally dug! The professional rock breaker came in and broke his major rock so that we could make a proper canal at the top of the pond. We got the guard house built in about a week and it seems to be strong and in good shape. The digging, however, took one month. Part of me wonders if we were taken advantage of to a certain degree by the workers, but it is near impossible to tell. The worst part is that I really don’t trust the main technician and I can’t help but think that he’s just trying to milk this project for as much money as he can get out of it. He just seems too inconsistent. It’s weird; I’m even more frustrated when I think someone is wasting/stealing someone else’s money rather than my own; maybe because I’m physically giving the money to people even though I’m not the owner of the money. It just doesn’t seem right. There are too many good, hard working, honest, and POOR! Malagasy people that need to be given a chance to work, show their skills, and make some money. Granted, it isn’t always easy finding those people.

I’ve continued reading Les Miserables and it’s still keeping my attention. However, I find myself skimming through anything that isn’t directly related to the characters in the story. If it has to do with the history or Hugo’s personal commentary I lose interest. I think Tolstoy got it right with War and Peace when he put all of his own opinions at the end…that way I didn’t really have to read it!

Nadege has started teaching an English class. Kim or I stop in and make sure that he is teaching things correctly and we make suggestions on how to improve or how the students might be helped. It is really more of teacher training rather than teaching and I think it will be much more productive than if Kim or myself were teaching English.

I’ve been much more social now that I’m in Andapa. I know it sounds awful, but I don’t really know if I like it! I’ve gotten so used to living in my little wooden house at night and being a recluse for the night. Now, I’m around people that want to hang out and do things! I’ve made friends with the guy who sells ground beef at the market over the past two years and since our houses are far apart we’ve hung out a bit. We just walked around with his family and visited people in town. Also, one of the women that I’ve planted rice with sells dried fish in the Market. So, she taught me how to pick out the real good dried fish and how to cook it. It did taste good, but I don’t know if I’m quite ready to go down the dried fish route on a regular basis. She also taught me how to make peanut cookies; that’s much more my thing.

The commuting is starting to become more serious. I’m getting into a routine and I’m traveling on my bike ALL the time. I’ve started to notice that I’m getting even stronger on the bike and I can go pretty fast for a pretty long distance. However, with this increase of road time, I think I have an increased probability of getting in an accident. For the most part, I’m just on dirt roads without any cars. However, bikes and motorcycles can get a little tricky at times.

I honestly don’t think that a lot of Malagasy people understand the concept of a road. I think they just see an open surface to travel by and there is no correct place to be. In the middle of the road, walking like you own it and you’re the only one there, yep, that’s what they might do. I don’t know how they can have a conversation by whispering from 200 meters away, but they can’t hear me coming on my bike.

Obviously, as the above paragraph might suggest, I’ve had some frustrations with people on the road. I’ve had bike turn into me when there was no reason for them to turn at all. However, the worst was when I almost collided with a motorcycle. I was tired, making my way home, on the right side of the road, and this motorcycle comes at me (he was on my side¬¬). I tried to avoid him and it almost seemed like he was coming right at me. I really had no idea where to turn. So, I hit the breaks and turned to the wrong side of the road in order for him to pass. His bike lightly grazed my handle bar. I guess that’s a pretty close call. Maybe the teachers in school are supposed to teach students how a road functions. However, the teachers are probably on strike every time this lesson comes around.

Despite the biking and what seems like a chaotic road way, I’ve been running in the mornings. It is still dark when I start, but there isn’t really anyone out other than people who are also running or people who have to go very far to work. It’s nice to run on the pavement in the dark and not worry about puddles. There is really only one direction for me to go so the run does get boring from time to time. However, when the morning is clear and I can see the sun start to rise over the mountains before Sambava, and then return to the sun shining down on the Basin with the little valleys filled with fog and mist, I can’t think of a more beautiful morning run. I would have never guessed that I’d have to come to Madagascar in order to become a morning runner.

From Vazaha to Vazaha Be

I completed my move to Andapa. I spent one morning doing a little bit of prep for the move. Then, the morning of the move it took about one and a half hours to get all of my stuff together. In one trip, I was able to move all of the things that I’ve accumulated over two years. Not bad.

It was sad though. I really feel a connection with Matsobe after two years. The people, the house, the area, the sounds; it was hard to say goodbye to it all even if I was only moving about 7km away.

The first week and a half has been weird to say the least. Life in the city is not the same as in the countryside. First of all, I think I’m the first one to wake up in my compound. It used to be that I’d hear people walking and biking around before I got out of bed. I also have a much bigger house and so it takes me longer to do the morning sweeping; which is guess, isn’t really something I can complain about too much. However, having a nicer house means that I’m even more of a “vazaha” for a lot of people.

Battling the vazaha stereotype will be hard, but not impossible. First, I can speak Malagasy. If I moved into this house two years ago things would have been really different. Now, I can explain things to people and help them realize that just because I have a nice house, it doesn’t mean that I necessarily have money (other vazahas do). Second, I’m the first person to wake up on the compound. I’m still working on a million things. I come home in the dark covered in mud. I think I can show people that just because I have the new house doesn’t mean that I’m going to stop working. If nothing else, it just means that I should work harder. And, now that I have electricity and water it really doesn’t matter what time I eat dinner or shower. Amazing the million little things that change once plumbing and electricity are introduced. However, the power does go out from time to time. I’m still in Madagascar.

I’ve tried to buy things to get me settled into the new house. It has been one headache after the other. I’m not quite sure why everything is so difficult to come by, but it is. Something that should take me 20 minutes ends up taking 2 hours. Even the little things get annoying because I have to lock my house every time I leave. It was nice when I could just run down the street to get something and didn’t have to worry about locking my house. Maybe that’s still true, but I don’t trust it yet.

I have a new environment surrounding my house. I’m surrounded by houses and families. There are already people that I like and those that I’d rather not spend any time with. The kids are in a constant state of either being extremely cute or annoying. I said jokingly to one little girl that we should go to the market as I was leaving my house. The next thing I know I have 5 little girls following me the entire time that I bought food and then walked back with me. They seemed to love it, and I just laughed with all of the other Malagasy people that saw us. I taught a little bit of English to some kids and explained to everyone that I wasn’t French and that I’m not even close to competent in the French language. I did some back flips of course as that’s an easy way to get respect of a seven year old. I still need to meet some of the neighbors, and I know that some of them have been avoiding me a little too. I’ll just have to wait and see how it plays out. More than anything I want two things to happen: First that I actually like the people that live close to me, and second, that my house is relatively safe when I’m not there.

I’m getting a real workout with all of the biking that is tacked on because I live a little farther away. I tried to go running the other day but it was just so cold! I mentally couldn’t get prepared for it. I’ll try again later this week. Part of me thinks my decision isn’t influenced entirely by it being cold, but because I know washing the clothes will be a hassle. The one day that I did end up running it rained during my run and then my clothes, of course, didn’t dry. However, running in the rain on pavement isn’t bad compared to mud.

My camera died. Upsetting. I didn’t drop it, it didn’t get wet, and it wasn’t crushed. I have absolutely no idea why it gave up on me. I looked at it with a friend who knows a little about cameras and he told me that the pieces that are likely to be broken are so expensive that it would just make more sense to buy a new camera than to try to fix it. So that’s where I’m at. All these people ready to harvest rice, new house, changing weather, etc. and I can’t even take one picture. Sucks.

As far as rice goes we’ve had a lot of rain so the harvesting has been put on hold. I’ve had one SRI farmer harvest. Their rice was ok, but not great, so we’ll see what happens when they really count how much seeds they got for that section. The others should harvest in the next few weeks and then one person in the middle of June. I’ll be happy to have some closure with that as everything seems kind of up in the air at the moment. I should have my pink rice bought by next month. Then it just depends on transportation from Tana.

I’ve scrambled to organize more student visits to Antanetiambo. The teacher strike is still going and many CEG students don’t get to visit the Reserve. Instead, I’ve been taking private school kids, English clubs, and then private program students as well. The last day for the program to be possible will be this Friday. We’ll see how many people we can organize before then. I know that I can plant the extra trees. The notebooks can be used for other programs, but the work books were kind of a specific book for a specific occasion. I’m not really sure what we’ll do with the extra copies. If nobody wants them then I’ll give them to the people working at MNP, WWF, PLAE, and CSA offices in Andapa. They could probably benefit from the English/Malagasy translations and they might be interested in the information as well.

The fish pond is near completion. As always I’ve been checking up on everything and managing everything even though it isn’t really my project. The workers are still in high spirits, the sections are being dug at the correct angles and levels and it should be a very nice/large fish pond when it is finished. We just found a professional rock breaker and he will have about two weeks of work breaking rocks both in and out of the pond. We need to build a canal straight through a giant rock. Then we’ll just have to figure out where we will get the young fish and who will be living out there to guard everything. I had one blow up session with them because I wasn’t sure they were working very hard. I think I might have been paying them too often. Regardless, I wasn’t sure that people were showing up at the right time and that they were working hard. It really sucks that I have to be mean here in order for people to work. Maybe Machiavelli was on to something…or at least came from a similar social structure when he wrote “The Prince”. If I’m just nice all of the time then they think they can slack off.

I’ve met the new volunteers for the region. I was excited to meet my replacement as well as the replacement for the volunteer in Anjangoveratra (probably not spelled correctly). It is so crazy to think that this time two years ago I was just getting into Sambava and everything was so new. Now, it is just normal. Even crazier, I’ve been on this island for more than 26 straight months. Despite the nice house, America will be weird…if Peace Corps ever gets it together to buy my flight.

Blast Off!

Around this time last year I was chasing kids down the road wielding a machete. All because they were stealing fruit and well, I had a little free time on my hands (to be fair, I was cutting the grass, they didn’t see me, and when I caught them they started running. Naturally, I ran after them with machete in hand). This year, I still cut the grass and arrange the things that I’ve planted, but I no longer have to chase the tiny thieves because they come to our house and ask if they can take some guavas. It’s when little things like that happen that I get a good feeling about my interaction with the people in my village. But, it is short lived nonetheless. A week later I was just walking to my outhouse to go to the bathroom and I saw three people stealing guavas. They say me and then bolted. Didn’t even speak one word. I wonder what that’s all about?

The tree nursery work is really picking up. I’ve put together budgets of supplies and kept pushing on one village to get it together to meet and organize. I’ve started doing more work on seeds as well. I’ve been meeting people in the countryside to see if they can collect seeds of trees that we want to plant. I’ve been having trouble putting together a nursery in one village. I think it just comes down to the fact that they don’t really want to work or organize anything and so they’re just avoiding me. I have no problems with that. I’m happy that they are wasting my time now rather then starting a nursery and them wasting my time after we have already built a nursery.

Corn season is in full effect at the moment and I couldn’t be any happier. Either my appetite got a little healthier, I’ve been working harder, or I have worms; because I’ve been hungry all the time! However, now that everyone is cooking corn (and selling it on the side of the road) I can easily buy some corn to hold me over until another meal. I’ve also been eating a lot of voazato (custard apple?). So between the voazato and the corn my diet has been pretty consistent these past few weeks. I’ve also been eating a lot of the guavas (of course I don’t steal mine¬).

I’m trying to get some Dista rice to plant in the Andapa basin. It is a pink kind of rice that only exists in Madagascar. It supposedly has a really nice flavor and does well if it is grown with SRI. It will just take some phone calls and moving all of the pieces together so that I can get the seeds transported up to SAVA. I really wish more conservationists understood the importance of agriculture and how it related to protecting the forest. A lot of people just think it is unrelated and don’t really want anything to do with it. They just think about plant and animal diversity. No food means no money and vice versa. You give people food and money and they have no reason to cut down the forest.

I’m plowing my way through Les Miserables. I’m almost half way through and I still enjoy the story for the most part. However, I am about 500 pages in and I’m kind lacking the interest. I remember when I read War and Peace that it was basically just one long story. With Les Miserables I feel like it is a bunch of little stories that are all combined together. I know that all of the stories relate, but it seems like each new character/sections has a rather lengthy background that I don’t really care for.

After all of my searching for people to make mats to sell as souvenirs, I finally got something done. I biked out to their village a few weeks ago and met them in there house. I’ve had a lot of things go wrong over the past 6 months with people just not getting it together to get their work done or organize. I was really hoping that this time things would be different. I went into there house, do the normal say hello for 20 minutes and then asked about the mats. The lady says that it’s not done. Then she asked me when I’d be around so they could bring them. Thankfully, I didn’t get mad, but explained that I can’t just keep biking out to their village all of the time if nothing is done. She then tells me that some of the work is done. I ask how much. She tells me four mats were finished. A little confused I say, all that I ordered were 4 mats. Her only response was a huge smile.

If I didn’t enjoy messing with people, I might take offense to all of these jokes. However, I just enjoy the practical jokes as long as they don’t last too long. The mats were beautiful and just what I wanted. I paid the lady and I really hope that tourists like them. If we sell them then I will definitely order more.

My house contract is finished and my new palace will be inhabited shortly. It was a lot of work to draw up a contract, translate it, make sure that everything was accounted for and that everyone agreed with everything. I think me and the lady are pretty use to business transactions and so we were a little caught of guard when both of us got so serious about the documentation. I should move into the new house on Saturday.

The teachers went on strike in Andapa. Nope, not all of Madagascar. No, not in all of the major cities. No, not even in just the SAVA region. We’re just talking about Andapa… and just the public schools. Ridiculous. I understand that across the board teachers are overwhelmingly underpaid and probably one of the most necessary if not most necessary civil service. But to go on strike now, and in such a disorganized fashion, is absolutely sickening to me. The students just finished their spring break and are ready to learn, but the teachers aren’t ready to teach. Exams are coming up and I wouldn’t be surprised if many students fail because of the lack of time they have to study. Clearly, many teachers in the Andapa basin don’t really care about their work or the well being of their students.

I suppose the reason I’m so pissed about it is because it really screwed up the student visits to Antanetiambo and I hate having to rearrange and figure out how different students can visit the Reserve so that time and resources aren’t wasted. Also, the students really liked visiting the Reserve and now they can’t because their teachers want more money. I don’t think they’re sending a message to the government, they’re just sending a very negative message to the students and their families.

We’ve begun construction on a fish pond. We’ll see how things really play out, but we’ve already cleared the area and digging will begin in the next few days. The spot is located in a really good location and there is already a large hole so we don’t have to dig too much. I’m a little worried about the project as we get farther down the line. I’m not sure who will be the guardian, how the fish will get their food and the overall maintenance of the project. I wish we would have planned it out a bit better, but it’s already rolling so I guess I’ll just go with it.

I went back in the rice field the other day and it really kicked my butt. I do light exercises every night so I’m in somewhat decent shape. I was running, but it is getting light so late now that I’m waiting until I’m in Andapa and can take advantage of pavement that I don’t really need to see in the dark. Anyway, I harvested rice for an old woman that I taught SRI back in January of 2011. She is such a trooper. She learned SRI through other family members that I taught and she says she’ll keep planting it each season. Each time adding a little bit more. So far, she hasn’t lied to me. I didn’t have any time to plant with her. I didn’t have anytime to weed either. However, I made sure I found the time to go out to her small SRI plot and spend a few hours harvesting her rice. I think it’s those little things that allow for people to respect the work.

Finally, I’ll end on a little thought that I had the other night at dinner (of course dinner by myself, as Puppy chomped on his rice outside). I wonder if any kindergarteners say they want to work in development/volunteer/be in Peace Corps when they grow up? I know that I always hated it when teachers asked us that question. How the hell am I supposed to know? I’m five years old. I’m still shooting nerf guns and playing with G.I. Joe’s and you honestly think that I know what career path I want to follow? If it has anything to do with my interests at the time I’d clearly become a professional ninja, but we all know that no kindergarten teacher would accept that response. I know Obama supposedly wanted to be president of the United States ever since he was really young. I think that’s just coincidence though…or a good campaign strategy.

But, to get a little bit closer to back on subject, I always said that I wanted to be an astronaut. And, to be honest, should NASA ever call me up and tell me that I’m needed to go into space I wouldn’t even hesitate to say yes. I think it would be awesome. However, an astronaut that never goes into space doesn’t interest me the slightest bit. In addition, as I learned more about what it would take to become an astronaut, I don’t think I love math enough for NASA to consider me a vital resource for any space missions. Nonetheless, when confronted with the question of what I’d like to be, I always said astronaut.

I’ve come to terms with the fact that my chances of becoming an astronaut and going into space are pretty slim. Until my recent brainstorm at dinner with Puppy outside licking his bowl now that his rice is finished. We all need to support space/moon colonies. If you love me, just care about me, or, even just know that I exist then you will support this endeavor (wasn’t that the name of a shuttle?). Why? Because we need to start a new world. We will create this new world and naturally we will have all of these different social and economic classes. They will evolve and some groups will become more advanced, while others will lag behind for various reasons. That’s where I come in.

I will have all of this development experience by then (maybe¬) and be an ideal choice to help out with various development projects. I will be the perfect choice to go and work on various problems with our Space World/Moon Colony. NASA will call me up and say, “Nick, you know that picture you drew in kindergarten. Well, that’s gonna be you. You’re an astronaut for development!”

That’s when I finished my beans and rice and snapped out of the day dream. Although, I don’t really think that it could be classified as a day dream because it wasn’t during the day. But, I wasn’t sleeping either so it couldn’t have been a regular dream. It had to have been somewhere in between. A half dream as you will. So, I snapped out of this half dream. My meal was finished, Puppy had ran off to go bark at something and, taking advantage of my half dream state, a mosquito had bit my forehead. Back to reality. I bet if NASA did call the phone reception would be out and I’d never get the voicemail. Oh well.

*The rat never returned. I think I scared him too much. That doesn’t mean all is quiet in my house come nightfall. I sometimes see things moving in the shadows and hear sounds in the middle of the night. The poison is spread along the sides of the floor so let’s just hope that the shadows die outside of my house rather than inside.

Beauty and the Beast

 

 

Yet another birthday passed in Madagascar. Crazy to think that I’ve spend the last three birthdays in Madagascar, and there should be a fourth.  I got on the early flight April 1^st back to Sambava and then dealt with little meetings all day so I went to bed pretty early on the 1^st. The real fun started just as April 2^nd rolled around…

 

It was just past midnight when I woke up to a giant rat in my bed; on top of me. I had made it almost two years without having rodents IN my bed. That streak ended. The thing ran on top of me before I jolted awake and threw it against my mosquito net. My heart racing and blinded by darkness I was more than ready to get that thing out of my bed. However,  it bounced on the net and came back at me only to get rolled up in the sheets. I did another rapid shake and it flew around through the sheets and left my bed while the wooden slats on the bottom of the bed fell out and made a loud crashing noise. At this point, I decided to find my flashlight and illuminate the situation.

 

I put on my headlamp and searched around the room. I found the rat. I think I scared it pretty bad (it should never go in my bed), but I was out for vengeance. I had a broom close by and so I started my attack. Chasing it everywhere I could until it slipped through the cracks and went downstairs. Then a new noise appeared.

 

Turns out the neighbors didn’t know that I’d come home and were worried someone broke into my house. So, they came up to my door and started scratching and pulling on things to make sure that nobody had gotten into my house (I know this because they apologized the next morning).

 

When it was all done I had to struggle to lift the mattress and slide the wooden slats back into place. It took a while before I fell back asleep because I wasn’t completely convinced that I wasn’t going to have another visitor.  When it was all done, it was 12:02am. Happy birthday.

 

I think this is a good sign for 26. As long as all of my nights aren’t like this.

 

However, despite this traumatic event and surviving the evil 6am flight from Tana back to Sambava, I seem to have kept my appearances together. All the women in my village said that I’m “botra-botra” now that I came back from Tana. In other words, I put on weight, but in a good way. I think more than anything, after the extremely busy months of January-March, my body was broken down and just needed a break. I finally, got it and maybe I’m refreshed.  I just like how the vocabulary has changed over the past two years. It used to be that I’d go away for a bit, not be super skinny, and then I’d be “geda” (big/fat). But now, I’m botra, which is fat in a cute way. You know, complements are hard to come by when you get to my old age, so I’ll take what I can get.

 

I’ve become even more Malagasy lately. I had to fire the guardian for Antanetiambo. He just made too many mistakes and so I was the chosen one to send him the news. However, I had a lot of help from fate, higher powers, or just luck. The guy said there as a witch dancing around his house and that was one reason he didn’t want to stay there. I also told him that his home town was getting a new school and he should return to teaching. When I got to the firing part, he seemed more relieved than mad or sad. It went down a lot easier than I would have ever imagined!

 

With the firing done, we got the new guys in there. They are twin brothers who will switch off every two weeks. One twin is there now and the other will go in next week. They seem like a good bunch of guys and I hope things work out with them. They are more local as well, so that makes things appear a little better too. I’ll have to keep talking with them every week to see what they’re doing, but I think they should work out. More than anything, I don’t want to try and find someone new.

 

The new librarian is in the library! We have him cataloging and we are setting library hours and getting everything organized. I think he’ll work out, but once again I don’t want to get my hopes up before any real work is done. The thing I like about the librarian is how independent he is and he seems to really want to be working in the library. I think he realizes that it is a pretty good situation to be in and really not the hardest work in the world.

 

Some fellow PCV’s are putting on a presentation for green charcoal. It is really cool. You can make charcoal out of grass, cardboard, rice hulls etc. and then use it to cook. They will give a presentation and try to sign people up so I went to the PLAE and CSA offices and talked people into checking it out. Crazy to think about how many people I know and connections I’ve made over the past two years. I know a lot of PCV’s are ready to leave after 2 years, but I think a lot of good could come if people did 3 years instead. It is a long time though.

 

Rice goes on as always. Of course, this is the best time of year for working in a rice field if you’re lazy because now it is just time to wait. This is good if there is water, but not so good when there isn’t any water. If we have lots of water we just let the water sit in the field and watch it produce grains. No water, we hope it rains enough. The latter is what we’re dealing with now. However, I have one farmer who already has over 100 tillers on some of their rice plants so I don’t think we’re in horrible shape. I also learned of another farmer in Matsobe who tried SRI. Once again, the people I don’t teach are the most exciting because it shows that they are catching on, on their own, and views of farming rice are changing. Altogether, the pause in rice is good for me because I can start to plan all of the other things that will be happening in the next few months.  However, with it cooling down a bit, it’s much harder to take a bucket shower at night when I’m not covered in mud. It’s only wehn I’m absolutely filthy that I know there is no other decision than taking that icy water right down the back.

 

My new house negotiations are underway. I had the NGO who is paying for my housing look over the house and meet with the people who are responsible for taking care of the house. It went well and everyone thought that it should be a good fit (I still think the house is too nice for me, but there really wasn’t any middle ground in the housing in Andapa). I should be able to move in by the end of April, and the house in Matsobe will be ready for the new PCV starting in May.

 

The tree nursery construction plans are in full force now. I’m scrambling to meet with everyone about possible workers, schedules, trees, seeds, equipment and everything else that needs to be there for a working nursery. It is only after I go on multiple bike rides to people’s houses, where they don’t have phones and are constantly going different places that I realize that a world with internet, cell phones and automobiles really does function at a quicker pace. At times I miss it.

 

Finally, I’ve survived another Easter Monday here in Madagascar. It’s funny how the Monday after Easter is the bigger celebration here. Sure, a lot of people do go to church on Easter (a lot of people go to church here anyway) and it is regarded as a religious holiday, but the real party is on the Monday. Everyone goes out to the “forest”, which is really just some area away from town, and they have a huge picnic. It was a lot of fun last year, and this year didn’t disappoint either.

 

It’s interesting how I experience the holidays now. First off, nothing surprises me. People are killing chickens and ducks left and right, getting water from places that can only be harboring bacteria and parasites, kids are playing with machetes, and people are drinking at 10am. Before, I think that would have been a lot to take in. Now, it has just become party of my life. Second, I realize how important the holidays are to people who don’t really have many days off. Of course, some people go to church or there are days that are taboo to work, but for the most part people work everyday around here. Sure they spend more money then they should on the Holidays, but it’s nice to watch people enjoy themselves. We all need a little time off from time to time.

This Is My Life

 

The last blog was awful in my opinion. I mostly wrote it because I felt like I needed to update it, but I really didn’t have the time to think and write anything. Now I’m in Tana getting probed to make sure I’ll of my diseases are minimal or at least not contagious and that my extension is approved (my health is fine).  So I thought that I’d put some ‘thought’ into this blog.

I just need to do a small re-cap on some stuff before I share the wonderful world of the little “Gasy moments” that make my life here, even after two years, all the more fun.

The Manirihoazy tree problem got solved. Of course, the guardian of Antanetiambo was supposed to remove the trees; turns out he didn’t know which ones they were so he just removed all of them. I know. Ugh.  However, I met with the nursery again and we talked about our steps for the future. Some people will remove their trees because they don’t want them near the forest. All parties have agreed to plant the new ones in a different location near town that would never be approached by a lemur that wasn’t a complete lunatic. In addition, there might be some new live fences in the area seeing as the leaves can be toxic to cows – good protection for a garden if you ask me.  Altogether, I’ll say crisis averted…for the moment. As time goes by more and more information is coming out that the trees really weren’t that bad (not saying they are ideal). So, this new information, along with a plan for the trees makes everything much easier, and I feel slightly less stupid.

Now, I want to describe various situations over the past few months that just made me laugh and say to myself, “Only in Madagascar…”

A vulnerable situation:

As I do love to shower and shower quite often because otherwise I would have a constant layer of mud caked over my body, I was forced to repair my shower. The boards (if they can even be called boards, more like the thin pieces of wood made from a raphia tree) had become dilapidated to say the least. Half were warped or corroding. The other half were simply broken. I showered and just thought if someone walks by then they’ll walk by. The flooding made things so bad, I finally got it together to get it repaired.

However, before the construction could begin, we had to take care of the wasp nest that was about a meter away from the shower. Yes, another thing I hadn’t wanted to deal with. One would think the vulnerability of being naked and only a meter or so away from a wasp nest would prompt some action, but I guess I’m just a little to comfortable with my situation.

I don’t like wasps. They hurt. I’ve been stung/bit at least 10 times since I’ve been in Madagascar alone and it is not something I enjoy at all. So, of course, like the vazaha I am, I got RABARY to handle the situation. I was thinking there was some protocol to follow. You know, a way to remove a wasp nest safely and soundly. Turns out, some things are just done the old fashioned way.

RABARY walked up to me and simply said, “you might want to be a little farther away for this.” So I went farther away. He had a dried stick that spread into a broom like structure at the end (it was in fact their broom) and made sure he had a steady hold of the stick. He looked at the wasp nest, which was about waist height, and then swung. Yep, no prep, no way to calm the wasps, nothing magical, just a good ole swing. And that’s how it’s done. He finished the arc of his swing and ran (as one would find natural). The wasps swarmed around but didn’t chase him.

I thanked him and then asked when I might be able to shower in the area. He simply replied, “I’d wait at least 30 minutes so the wasps calm down.” I waited 2 hours.

Once shower construction began I was in a whole new world. To any visitor from the states my new shower still might appear a little “rustic”. However, I have bamboo walls that go up over the height of my head, a larger washing space, a new little stand to put things on (clothes, towel, soap, etc.), and a new bamboo door that matches the wall. One would think I’m living the good life, right? I am, except when the wind blows. That door falls down a bit too easily. I just need to shower at a different angle now.

Enhancement:

A lot of volunteers and Malagasy people say that I’m pretty integrated. In many ways I’d agree, and in many ways, I’ll always be a vazaha and never get used to some things. However, the dialogues and the things people ask me now have gotten a lot more interesting. Just the other day I was biking through Andapa doing a bunch of errands when a friend of mine stopped me and said that he needed to ask me about something at his shop (he cuts my hair).

So after meeting with some people about SRI (I can’t escape rice even if I wanted to) I went and talked to him. He has weird business ideas or personal problems from time to time so I really didn’t know what this was going to be all about.

I walk into his shop and he shows me a magazine opened to a certain page. He’s a little shy about the whole encounter, but I can tell he’s serious. The first thing he tells me, “I’m interested.”

Turns out there is an ad in this magazine (I never saw what magazine) for penis enlargement pills that apparently increase size and stamina. He wanted to know if they really exist and if they work because he wants to sell the pills in Madagascar.

I have to say everyone is scheming 24/7 here! He was trying to figure out how to contact them, how much they’d cost and then how he could get them sent to him. Oddly, he didn’t really wonder if the pills worked or not. He finally added that he didn’t want them for himself (whatever) but I think it is such an odd business endeavor.  I guess it can be hard to really pin point what is a marker of development.

Culture shock without even leaving the island:

I’m terrified of going back to the United States. Assuming everything goes as planned, it will be around 29 months in Madagascar before I go back home to California. Don’t get me wrong, I REALLY want to go home and see everyone, but there are a lot of things that I think might be a little overwhelming once I get there (nothing that I can’t handle though; let’s be clear I’m not going to have an emotional breakdown or anything. It will be more like if I went to another planet, or better yet like I’m Michael J. Fox in Back to the Future II.). A few situations from the past few weeks make me wonder a little.

I’m not use to seeing white people. There was this French guy who got on the taxi brouse to go to Andapa with me and I didn’t know how to react. Of course, they put us next to each other (they were shocked when I said we weren’t related) and we didn’t really talk. He didn’t know English, my French isn’t very good and I wasn’t really in a mood to practice and so it was silence. The weirdest part was that when he arrived at the taxi I don’t know who stared more: me or the Gasy people in the car.

This event is coupled with me looking at a possible new house just added to the worries. If someone does replace me, I will move to Andapa. In order to find a decent house in Andapa, I will undoubtedly get an upgrade in my housing. I love my current house. However, I believe my Dad likened it to a dilapidated minor cabin. So I put out the word to all of the people I knew in Andapa and the search went out. I heard about a lot of places but turned them down before I saw them because I knew the situation just wouldn’t work. That’s when I saw a real house.

This thing was like a house that you could find in the States. It had real walls, floors and rooms; a kitchen, a bathroom, and even some couches that would stay in the house if I rented it. After two years of the minor cabin, I was overwhelmed. I kept telling the lady, “I think this house is too nice for me. I’m not sure I can do this.” I guess I just keep getting more and more minimalistic as time goes by.

My real concern was paying for it. However, the lady gave a reasonable price and my extension organization said that they had a budget for it, so it looks like I’ll be stepping it up a bit in the next few months. I’m a little worried about the integration aspect and what the people from Matsobe will think about me in my new house…but I think they’ll like to have a real “vazaha” friend.

The Mi-Beep:

I don’t like buying phone credit. Partially because it is hard to get once I’m out in my village. I stock up on credit a little bit, but sometimes I do run a little low. There aren’t any monthly plans here like you might be used to. This means there is a strict phone protocol that must be followed.

When the phone rings you MUST give a “Hallo” (French sounding of course). Then the person responds and says his or her name twice. You then acknowledge that you know who you’re talking to and they give their message – loud and clear. You simply say ok, you understand and then the phone call ends. No reason to ever exceed 30 seconds.

When this protocol isn’t followed it becomes very upsetting. I also know who follows the protocol and who doesn’t. That determines who gets a call back…and who doesn’t.

And that’s what life is like in the Andapa basin. I’ve just spent the last 5 days in Tana getting medically cleared for my third year extension. My health is fine and so everything should be approved. I’m really excited to have a chance to work another year in Madagascar and I hope to be home for a while around July/August! Then after that, I’ll get back to my Gasy moments.

 

The Lemur Grim Reaper

We said goodbye to another PCV in SAVA. Her contract was up and so it was time for her to leave. It is sad anytime someone from the region leaves. We are so close here that you really feel it when the presence of someone leaves. However, the cycle is on going and we will receive two new volunteers to the area in May. The good news is that my site will get a new volunteer. The bad news is that I need to find a house in Andapa because my house will be occupied. I’m kind of excited to get a small change in scenery anyway…at least for the time being. The flooding went away without any real damage to my house. It dried up find and I can breathe again. It really destroyed some sections of our yard and there were lots of rice fields that had rice destroyed too. Obviously, the destruction to my yard wasn’t as big of a deal as people’s rice. Thankfully, none of the rice fields that I’ve been working in were damaged. However, now that 2 months have passed I can see the rice of the people who have been working hard and those who, well, haven’t really been working. All of the fields are in more or less good shape. I think I was working in some fields that were over planted and so the soil wasn’t in the greatest shape. Had I known that, I would have told them to use more manure. However, the biggest thing is that none of them seem discouraged. I even have some new farmers who are just doing it on their own, which is really exciting. That’s how it is suppose to work. They saw other people doing SRI and they decided to do a test plot of their own. In a way, those are the people that I know will change their practices because they took the initiative on their own. The student visits have continued. There have been minimal disturbances, which is nice. Each group has been completely different, which is both good and bed. As far as making a lesson it becomes difficult because I don’t really know what the students will find engaging. However, because the students are always different it doesn’t really get boring; at least not yet. The library is open and running even though we still don’t have a librarian. I’m still just spreading the word, but lots of people have started to pass through and we even have some regulars. It will be great if we can get some more books to fill the shelves, but I think we have enough for the moment. The tree nursery is going like always. I’m trying to get them onboard for next year so that they can help with a huge reforestation program for Antanetiambo. I need to figure out a way to present it so they feel like they are receiving enough and I’m not taking advantage of them. There is an NGO in Madagascar that is doing massive reforestation project in the area and they pay people to plant trees. I know this is a practice of many places in Madagascar. However, what if the funding stops? What if someone stupid breaks the rules and cuts a tree down that they weren’t suppose to cut? What if someone cuts a tree in order to feed their family? They seeds, plastic pots, and funding stop. Will they still plant trees? I don’t think so, and I think that’s the biggest issue with reforestation. On one half, there needs to be forest. The deforestation is so bad that maybe we don’t have time to wait for people’s attitudes and behaviors to change. However, on the other side, by making it purely a business, the people never realize the importance. In addition, by telling them that they can’t cut the section that they are planting seems okay now, but I think in 5 years time there will be many problems. Will they really pull the funding and the project if people break the rules? Either way, I think there will be some tough decisions to be made in the future with this NGO. I’d much rather just plant trees with people who understand the importance and therefore have ownership. They can cut the trees if they want because they’re their trees. And, I’m not worried if they cut them, because I know that they are willing to plant again. That’s where my stupidity comes in. Thankfully, someone did some research on one of the trees that we have in the nursery. Turns out that it is toxic to most mammals and especially lemurs. Obviously not the best choice to plant in a Nature Reserve or really anywhere. That’s embarrassing. So, we have only planted a hundred or so right now, but the nursery had a little over 1,000. I guess it’s time to rip up some trees. The silver lining in it all was the interaction that I had with the members of the tree nursery. Originally, I was going to tell them that they could still plant it on their hillside because they put in the work and they might not care. However, they were really concerned! They even volunteered that they should probably take out the ones that they planted and that they weren’t going to plant the ones that were still in the nursery. They totally understood the harm that the tree could do to wildlife and didn’t want to contribute to it just so they had some firewood. So, as upsetting as it is that I had a small part in destruction it was nice to know that the people who I work with get what we are all trying to do. And that’s why we aren’t merely co-workers, but friends. My finger nail on my left pinky has gotten pretty long. It is on the border of cool and disgusting. It’s starting to change color a bit because I’ll get dirt stuck in there every once in a while. I figure I’m going bald so it makes sense to mess with other parts of my body that still grow. I started running again. After my dad went back home I cut the bottom of my foot. Then the cyclone came. Then we had flooding, mud and bad weather. The days were getting a little shorter and the weather cooling down a bit. That’s when I realized that I was just giving myself too many excuses. So I set my alarm, work up earlier than I was, started my run while it still wasn’t quite clear out, and found the time. It feels good to run again. I ventured off to the countryside one day to look for the woman who can make merchandise for Antanetiambo. Of course, once I made the ride out there, in the rain, I found out she wasn’t there. However, luckily, a family member of hers found me and told me that she had already started working on it. So, I hope to go back next week and see if she has finished something. It’s nice to go for a bike ride from time to time, but an hour and a half, on a bad road, biking pretty hard, isn’t the most exciting if it becomes regular, or if they don’t work. I have built a cook stove in a while, but I visited the one guy who I taught how to make a transportable cook stove. I was so excited to hear that he’s begun to sell them! That’s just how it is suppose to happen! He’s mastered to stove and he sells them for different prices depending on whether the people supply the bananas that go into the mixture. He’s already sold about 5 of them, and I hope to get him going to make much more and possibly have a little stand. Finally, another volunteer enlightened me to the music of Santogold. If you don’t know her, you should listen to her. I know I am. I have not been sitting up straight or eating slow, so I’ll have to change that or 2012 will be an epic bust!

On the Go

 

I went to Tana for my Close of Service Conference. It was really great seeing the group of volunteers who came to Madagascar with me (and still haven’t left). It’s crazy to think that we all came here almost two years ago. We really are a Peace Corps family. I think it’s because we’ve all gone through so much stuff these past two years that we can relate to each other. The people in my stage really are a great group of people.

 

The actual conference discussed re-adjustment, resumes, job searching and all of the end of the line paper work and forms that need to be filled out. I was paying attention, but knowing that I should be extending for a year made me not really think too much about ending my service. The food was phenomenal as well. I have to say, I don’t get many taco nights in Matsobe.  I might need to talk to the mayor of my Commune about that.

 

Shortly after, my dad arrived in Tana. It was awesome to see him. I hadn’t seen him since I had left the U.S. He was pretty jet lagged, but we walked around Tana doing various sight seeing activities. We saw the main parts of downtown, the Queen’s Palace, and the man-made lake. I’m not really a fan of Tana (as I say each time) so I didn’t really want to do much either. Sadly, just arriving from the “future” my dad wasn’t really impressed with real food options.

 

The next day we flew to Fort Dauphin and then drove to Berenty Reserve. It’s hot in the south, that’s for sure. Berenty is really cool, but I’m definitely jaded from being a Peace Corps volunteer. It is the farthest thing from rugged and although it’s cool that there are lemurs all over the place, it kind of takes the fun out of “looking” for them, when they are around all of the time. Also, as happens from time to time when I travel in Mada, it was outrageously expensive. I’m sure a lot of tourists don’t even realize the prices they are paying, but after living in a village for two years and knowing what the locals pay (knowing what I get paid!) it seemed a little much. Especially when there are no other options.

 

While in Berenty Reserve, we went on a walk through the Reserve and got the usual explanations and took plenty of photos of lemurs. The crocodile that wasn’t in water (because the little amount of water that it had got too hot) was a little sad, but the lemurs jumping about seemed more or less happy. We were pretty much the only tourists there so that made the experience a little more pleasant as well.

 

The funny thing about Berenty was that it felt too much like a zoo. Seeing the tame lemurs was awesome…for the first 2 hours. After that, the excitement faded and it wasn’t as exciting as when one hikes around a forest and sees a fleeing lemur. But, that’s what we are trying for, isn’t it?

 

Berenty is an excellent example of how people and animals can coexist. It is ecotourism mixed with local appreciation and income generation (as well as sharing it with foreigners). What’s hard is that it doesn’t seem natural for the two to be living together. It doesn’t feel like I’m visiting a forest, but a zoo.  I think for my personal experience “nature” needs a wild aspect. There needs to be something exotic. Berenty was too tame for me, but nonetheless admirable.

 

Fort Dauphin was an odd beach town. Sprawling all over the bay(s) it wasn’t very friendly for foot traffic. In addition, the cyclone was passing through Madagascar at the time and so the weather than less than ideal beach weather. However, we managed to travel around and see a lot of things because we had a car. After about a day, the weather cleared up and we were back on track. And, not having the sun out was somewhat of a blessing. It is hot in the South!

 

One of the prettiest things about Fort Dauphin is the view from Pic St. Louis. From up on the hillside you can see all of the bays, the ocean sprawling out and then the long flat until it hits the dramatic green mountains (of course deforested by now, but still bright green). Also, from this view one can see the awful sight of the titanium mining that is going on in the area.

 

I’m not an advocate of mining. I know we have to get our metals somehow. It isn’t something we can avoid. Also, I understand that it can give local people jobs, at the moment. In one instance, the company relocated a village, but hey, they got a school out of it. Is that okay? I really don’t know.

 

Potentially, many more children will have the opportunity to attend primary school without needing to walk very far. I can’t really complain about that. I just can’t imagine being relocated so that someone could completely destroy the area that I once called my home, just so my children didn’t have to walk…like every other child in this country.

 

I’ll be curious to see what happens to Fort Dauphin once there is no more Titanium, no forest, and no jobs.  I’m sure that the youth will be educated enough by then to fight back with their primary school education.

 

After the South, we ventured back to the glorious Northeast of Madagascar; by far the best location in all of the island, and Andapa, being quite possibly the place to be and, for the more adventurous traveler, Matsobe-Sud (I’m not biased about where I live at all).

 

My dad and I spent a week at my house. We visited my friends and the people I work with. Saw some SRI rice fields, the tree nursery and the Reserve. We also went around Andapa. It was nice to share my place with my dad so that he could see all of the places and people that I write about.

 

The first middle school students visited the Reserve last Friday. It was a great group and it went as well as I could have hoped for. Only 15 showed up, but the 15 that were there were really great. They all planted trees, saw lots of birds, lizards, butterflies mating, frogs, bamboo lemurs and I’m sure other things that I forgot. The education part went well too. They really liked learning and I don’t think we bored them. If nothing else, we might actually have gotten to a few of them and made a difference in their lives. One can hope. It was the first lesson so I was nervous and there was no real lesson, but it finally came together. I know for the next visits it will go much smoother.

 

In my free time I finished watching up to season 4 of Jersey Shore. I take back what I said before. I really don’t know how those people can live their lives like that. It just isn’t healthy on so many levels. I finished reading “Once a Runner”, which I liked, and it made me want to run. I’ve started reading “Les Miserables”, which will take some time. It starts much easier than “War and Peace”, but the end notes are killing me! There is so much stuff I just don’t know and so I need to keep checking them. I know I’m reaching old age as well because the small print strains my eyes a little at night. Sad face.

 

My dad left once the cyclone came. The wind and rain wasn’t too bad, but it made damage nonetheless. I dropped off my dad in Sambava and then returned with my friend who was also the driver of the car. We had to move two trees as well as dodge other fallen trees. 19km out of Andapa the car broke down and we didn’t know how to fix it or have the right tools. So, after an hour and a half of standing in the rain, covered in grease, we managed to figure out the issue, got tools from a passing car, and fixed the problem. I would love to tell you the issue (I think transmission?) but I really don’t know. The funny thing is that 2 years ago I don’t think I would have handled the trip as well as I did this past Sunday. It didn’t even faze me.

 

Once the cyclone passed I thought we were in the clear. My house was surrounded by ankle deep water and the roads to the west had a lot of water, but nothing that seemed too bad. However, last night the water started to rise. I had already gone to sleep when my counterpart yelled to me that the water was rising. I got up, and, sure enough, it was rising. It wasn’t raining, but the water was rising.

There have been so many cuts in the forest this year that the land really couldn’t soak up the water. It went straight into the rivers and now those waters were rising. I moved some stuff upstairs and waited an hour. Moved stuff upstairs again; waited. Finally, around 10:45pm I heard water and decided to take a look outside.

 

The library across the street was surrounded by water and that water was crossing the street and going towards our houses. I decided to move almost everything upstairs.

 

I waited outside with people until about 12:30am to see how things were going. It was clear that the water was rising, but not very fast. I finally decided to go to sleep.

 

When I woke up I was happy to see that the water didn’t enter my house. However, I saw that at its highest point it got to about 1 inch from entering. I just hope the rains over the next few days aren’t too heavy and that the water gets down to a more manageable level.

 

The positive of all this water – pretty much every kind of frog was out hoping about. The negative – a 3ft long snake was in my house yesterday afternoon and I’m harboring pretty much every kind of rodent one can think of at the moment. I managed to kill one last night with a shovel only to realize that it’s destiny was only to be floating in the waters around my house until things dried up…It will be my 2 year mark this Saturday. Maybe that’s why none of this is really bothering me.

 

On a much nicer note I was watching dragonflies outside my front porch yesterday evening. Surprisingly, there were no mosquitoes as thestill, debris and trash filled water surrounded my house.  Kids were off by the water tap shouting, waiting for their buckets to fill. I was waiting for my beans to finish cooking. It was beautiful watching these dragonflies swerve, dive, and maneuver against the backdrop the storm clouds and mountains. There must have been at least 20 of them intertwined in the sky. It’s hard to tell whether they were flying with a purpose or just for sheer enjoyment. And, I think, that’s what I enjoyed about them most.

GTL

 

I’ve been living in a rice field. I thought that I’ve been working pretty hard and it is nice to get the positive feedback from all of my friends and people who know me. I’m constantly being asked, “Where have you been?”A lot of people thought that I left or went on vacation because they haven’t seen me. Then when I tell them I’ve been managing and working at 5 rice fields they give me the respectful response of “You can do all of that?”

 

So that’s where I’ve been. I’m in the rice field in the morning, giving advice, planting, weeding, helping people regulate the water and more than anything just motivate/give confidence only to return late afternoon (or early afternoon if the rain dictates the work). The sixth farmer bailed on me at the last second. I’m not sure if it would have happened if we didn’t have flooding, but it was extremely frustrating to have wasted so much time with them. However, working in six fields over the course of one month might have proved too strenuous.  

 

The more I work with the rice and pretty much everything it amazes me how much humans value quantity over quality. It is seen in the rice work. People don’t want to spend more time to plant and receive a quality product (i.e. more rice), but would rather plant in multiple rice fields (therefore requiring much more land) and then receive close to the same amount. By doing quality work the people wouldn’t have to plant in a lot of places. Hopefully, this thought will start to get across to farmers over time.

 

I spoke to some people from an office in Andapa about this and it amazes me how much “conservationists” totally disregard agriculture. They don’t take it into account at all as a factor that could help save the forests. If people can get enough food and money in a rice field then they don’t need to travel far distances to plant rice on a hillside or cut trees from a protected forest (assuming they save money to buy firewood or charcoal). However, those who work in the offices just think that Malagasy people don’t care about the forest and just want to destroy it (this does have partial truth).  Sadly, people teach improved agriculture techniques once and then think their job is done -Development is on the way! But that isn’t even remotely true. Chances are that they’ve taught one person/one group of people once, but never followed up on it and so the practice never catches on. In addition, people that were skeptical the first time around, but really hard workers, no longer have a chance to learn because they missed their one shot. I think a more positive approach needs to be adapted by conservationists in this country. Instead of trying to figure out ways to keep people from entering/destroying protected forests, why don’t we try to think of ways to change their lives so they don’t NEED to enter the forest?

 

But that’s too practical.

 

The tree nursery has begun to plant trees! I’m super excited because although they inform me of their plans and the number/type of trees they’re planting, they’re doing it on their own! I’m super busy and so our free time doesn’t always match up. I’ve gotten the group to split up and not be disappointed about this. If one person has time – go plant trees. If only two people are free that day, it’s okay – go plant trees. The other day, it was raining, but I had some time – I went and planted some trees. I think that by the end of this month a good portion of the 3,100 will be planted (of course saving a minimum of 290 for my CEG students to plant when they visit the Reserve). I keep telling them that I don’t care who plants the tree. Our goal is to get the trees planted. Whether it is me, someone in the group, a thief, or someone else it doesn’t matter. Even thieves need a forest to steal from.

 

The stress of the Library coming together is nearing the end. I finally got the shelves built and installed (by a carpenter). For whatever reason, nobody else could make any progress on this. I have absolutely no idea why I had to be involved in every single second of this operation, but I was. At one point it consisted of me sitting in the unfinished library and watching the carpenter finish the shelves so that it was done properly. I was just sitting, watching for a while until we both realized that it was kind of stupid. We started talking and I realized that he really did want to do a good job, but with nobody with him, he didn’t really know what we would make him do and, more than anything, it was too quiet for him to enjoy his work. So, we talked about work, education, wood work and people who could weave mats and baskets while he finished the shelves. A few days later a majority of the furniture arrived. Now it is just a matter of transferring books inside.  

 

The Ambodigavo Group who was supposed to make souvenirs for tourists fell through back in November. Sadly, the back up plans that I had also fell through (people either moved away or they didn’t actually know how to make the stuff we wanted). So, after getting the name of a person and the name of a town, I went on an adventure. It has been a long time since I’ve just gone out to uncharted areas. For the most part I don’t go to a lot of new places these days, but mostly just circulate around the areas that I know.

 

The bike ride was supposed to be around 2 hours. Because I was happy to get the exercise and left in the morning, I made it in an hour. It was kind of nice to have to stop and ask people where I was and if I was going in the right direction. Finally, I got to my destination. Of course, the person wasn’t there.

 

I had thought about that when I left, but that was a risk that I really couldn’t avoid. However, when the neighbors told me that the lady wasn’t home AND didn’t know how to write words while weaving, I was a little disheartened. But, they told me another person farther down in the village and so I went to ask them.

 

Of course, I arrived at their house and spoke with their family (the person I was told to talk to went to church and wasn’t home either). They were really nice, but they weren’t able to make anything either. The lady showed me a mat that she had made before where she had written something. The problem was that she made it about 30 years ago and in the span of things forgot how to do it. One might think how does that happen? However, when I was a kid I use to make a lot of origami boxes. Now, I can barely put together a paper airplane.

 

They gave me a new name and I walked with a man to go look for the new person. Once again, they weren’t home. However, we were told they were in the rice field and so we went to the rice field. I met the women while she was getting ready to plant and she said that she still could make a mat/basket with writing. So, in a month, I’ll go back and see if anything has developed. If nothing comes together, I will give up on trying to help the countryside and just go to Antalaha where the people really do know what they are doing, but don’t really need the money as badly.

 

Chameleon fighting season is upon us. I don’t really know how I missed it last year, but the male chameleons are really getting after it. I wished I had a working camera to document all of their epic battles. More than anything it is just cool to see all of the brilliant colors. It is kind of like watching a kung fu movie where they slow down sections of the fighting. The chameleons circle each other moving slowly and then there is a quick attack and they bite each others’ heads. The biting lasts for about 15 seconds tops and then they start circling again. I usually get bored and walk away before one could even declare a winner. I guess chameleon fighting really isn’t that exciting.

 

The guardian for Antanetiambo seems to have improved his work. I told him to start journaling all of the work he does each day and then we would talk each week. I did some surprise visits along with the scheduled visits and he was on top of things. I think I scared him with the talk that explained that it isn’t impossible to find a replacement. I really do want him to work out only because he’s been here for so long and I’ve put a lot of effort into trying to get him to understand the general idea of what we want to accomplish. I think that he’s young and inexperienced, but that could actually prove to be useful once we get a foundation built. It really does make my life easier now that I don’t have to patrol or do trail maintenance as often. His map is almost finished, trails are almost finished and I think in March he should start doing plant inventory for the Reserve.

 

I’ve always been a big eater. Not that I really cared about the quality of the food, but that I liked to eat. I didn’t have much of an appetite for about a month and the doctors weren’t quite sure what my problem was just by talking on the phone (I had loss of appetite and other issues too). Since I hadn’t been treated for worms in over a year they decided to give me that medication in case it helped. Oddly, since I’ve taken the medication I seem to be hungrier and eating more than I did before. I always thought that if I had worms, they would be the friendly ones that would just want to eat with me. Turns out I had the mean, greedy ones that wanted me to eat less. Either way, I’m putting away the plates of rice like no other. Too bad rice is super expensive now and people have no money.

 

It has been raining pretty much every afternoon. This means that outside work gets shut down for the most part. This also means that I read a lot more. I read The Gone Away World, which I liked. It was a different book than the classics I’ve been reading. It was funny because it just kept reminding me of TV or movies. I wish I could enjoy popular books, but for the most part I just think I’d rather space out and watch a movie than space out (to a different degree) for a book. I enjoyed the story, but I didn’t feel like there was enough going on with the characters themselves. That being said, it was super funny and smart and I would suggest it for anyone who likes to read; or likes ninjas and kung fu. To change things entirely, I finally got around to reading Freakonomics. Had I read it before I went to college there could have been a small possibility that I would have considered being an econ major. Like the authors, I don’t really care for math, or the economy, but people, incentives and data does interest me. 

 

But enough of the intellectual world. Before I left for Madagascar (almost 2 years ago!) I got into the MTV show Jersey Shore. It is the absolute worst show ever and that’s why I like it. There is something truly admirable about the characters of the show. There are these people that are immune to the pressures of society. They are literally just here for the party.

 

There is no pressure for these people and I am slightly envious. GTL (gym, tan, laundry) is how they live their life. Of course, to avoid monotony, they change the order of the three on a daily basis (I couldn’t help but notice that my life rotates on a similar axis. With all of the rice work, I get a lot of exercise, it’s sunny so I get some color and I come home so dirty that I have to do laundry. However, this would not be accepted as “GTL”). Skin cancer doesn’t matter, what work they really do doesn’t matter, they want a fresh shirt (if it’s t shirt time) only to take it off because they’ve been to the gym. Dinner is at nine and they arrive at the club at midnight. They wake up when morning no longer exists and repeat.

 

I know that I could never do it. Nor do I ever want to. However, there is something I really enjoy about all of them.  I don’t care if they are fake, lazy, argumentative, drunks or don’t have any class. They are what many Americans want to be and can’t be. I know that it is a bold statement, but there is some truth in it. Many people are afraid to do what they want. They only do what they think other people want or because of other environmental/societal pressures. In addition, many people are afraid to be ridiculous. There is absolutely no way I could ever say the majority of the things these people say. Some people might find it rude and appalling, but I don’t. I salute you Jersey Shore. All hale Snookie, the noble savage!

 

Now for me being weird (because we all know that I am). A few weeks back I was sitting in a taxi going to Andapa and I noticed a man who had a really long fingernail. I thought to myself: that is kind of weird/creepy/strange. However, I’ve seen a lot of people who do just have the one long pinky nail (it’s not for cocaine). So, I decided to follow suit and see what happens.

 

At first, I started growing my pinky nail on my right hand. After about two weeks I realized that I shake too many hands for me to be creepy on the right hand. So, I’ve switched to the left. I’ve heard of two reasons why a Malagasy person might have the long nail. First, that they are wealthy/educated and don’t work in the rice field. By having a long fingernail is shows that they don’t need to do physical labor (or at least don’t have the opportunity to get a bunch of dirt stuck in their nail). The second, and much more appealing, is that witches have them. The idea is that they can grab some poison with their pinky nail and then put it into someone’s food.

 

So, my nail is growing. It still isn’t at creepy length yet and I’m not sure if I’ll make it that long. I’m just curious to see if people say anything to me or if I get any looks. I’m definitely not privileged because I have to work in the rice field. As for the witch, well, there are some things I just don’t tell in my blog…

 

 

 

 

Rice

 

It didn’t rain enough in November; people didn’t plant rice. It didn’t rain enough in December; only a few people could plant rice. So, when the torrential downpours came they were a blessing at first. However, when the river started to rise, then flooded rice fields, surrounded my house with a six inch deep pond and flooded every section of a rice field that had a wall to keep water in, everyone thought it was a bit much. I thought I might have to relocate.

 

A while back my facebook status said that I was considering a rain dance. For the record, the dance never happened (at least not officially, I have danced, but it was not to my knowledge as to whether it would bring rain, let alone ask for it). We got about four days of heavy rain and everyone was talking about if another day of rain came, we would be moving to higher ground. Thankfully, the rain slowed down.

 

In its aftermath, the rice programs were certainly affected. I had to put off one person’s planting for at least two weeks, because their rice field was non-existent; there was just a river flowing in the place where their rice field once was. Another person and I scrambled around at five in the morning to find a place that we could sow some seeds because all of the other sections were flooded with too much water.

 

But, as always, things move along just not at the rate that I expect them to. I was able to plant with my first farmer of the season. It was the easiest time I’ve ever had because she has money and was just paying people to plant the rice. I showed up, worked with all of the people learning and then was done by 2pm because she had other things to do in Andapa. A bit of a change from my first test plot.

 

After that followed my second group. They were super nice and caught on quickly. The first day we planted I got stuck in a downpour of rain and was soggy for a few days. The third farmer had rice that wasn’t that great and thought that I was going to magically produce some miracle rice. However, after shifting his plans repeatedly, we got it done.

 

The fourth group was my favorite. They were already friends of mine and just really good people. They had roughly two hectares of rice field that they were going to plant (only a small portion with SRI farming methods). The lady had never known any other kind of rice planting other than the simplest form – wait until the rice is tall and just grab clumps and plant at random. I taught her (just the two of us because the paid planters didn’t show up) in one day how to do SRI. She was exhausted from the work, but not discouraged at all. She put it together in her head that if the rice produces a lot more that she doesn’t need to plant 2 hectares, but only needs to plant 2 rice sections, maybe ½ hectare at the most and still get as much rice. That’s the kind of stuff I usually have to explain. It is so nice when they people just get it on their own. Two days later I went back to her rice field and saw that all of her other rice sections were planted in straight lines (not SRI, but still straight and easier to weed). She told me that she had already learned how to plant in the straight lines with me so it didn’t make sense to go back to the simple planting. Yes.

 

The fifth group was with my counterparts. We had a bit of trouble setting up the rice field. Chickens ate all of the originally seeds we sowed as well. However, like all of the other problems this year, we worked around them. They had other rice that was still less than 2 weeks old and we were able to plant. It is nice to work in the rice field with them because I do live in their house and we do so much other work together that is was kind of weird they weren’t a part of my rice farming.

 

The 6^th farmer should have planted before everyone. However, the flood happened. Then there wasn’t enough water in another section. Then funerals happened. We will plant tomorrow if all goes well. If not tomorrow, maybe next year for them. In addition, to the 6 people I will be helping this year at least 8 of the previous 12 farmers are planting again (on their own) and so that feels rewarding. Also, at least three other people are trying SRI on their own and just asking advice from me form time to time. It shows that it is catching on and that I may not be crazy. With rice already at 450 Ariary per cup and likely to increase in the next few months, many people don’t have a choice.

 

So roughly three weeks down and I have spent the vast majority in a rice field. I’m covered in mud, walking barefoot and, at times, looking utterly exhausted. I think it shows the people in the area that I really do work and that I’m not on vacation.

 

Now for something not related to rice.

 

Sadly, the PCVs in the SAVA region had to say goodbye to two volunteers. One was leaving to go back to the US because her contract ended and the other was going to extend in Mananara. I feel like the SAVA family is so close that it really is kind of weird to not have the two volunteers in my little area. We are so hard to get to that we don’t really get a lot of volunteers just passing through.

 

The Guardian of Antanetiambo is living in the forest. This is good. However, his work has been minimal and I think the independence has proven to make him a little lazy. Obviously, this did not make me happy. I’ve started checking up on him once a week and talking about his work. He still has a long way to go before I don’t need to watch him ALL the time. He just seems to be one of those people that just don’t think about anything. Apparently, I’m not the only one that thinks he isn’t doing a particularly good job, so if he doesn’t improve soon, we will be forced to look for somebody new.

 

I have almost all of the CEG student visits scheduled. There are only two days left to schedule and they will be in April/May so it isn’t that big of a deal. The books are starting to be printed so that’s a relief as well. All that is left is for RABARY and I to organize our lesson plans.

 

The tree nursery is more or less on hold for the moment. The local group has planted some of the trees, but I haven’t had time to go with them. We maxed out at around 3,100 trees in the nursery and I think that in March we might be able to plant a last wave (1000 max). Altogether, I’ve been so busy with the rice that I haven’t had time to stress about the nursery.

 

The construction of the library is an ongoing headache that I will be SO happy to have finished in the next few weeks. We are in the process of putting together shelves, making sure the tables/chairs are finished and of course, trying to fix all of the structural issues of the building because the people who built it were lazy, greedy and didn’t really know what they were doing. However, we will be open and people will be reading (or at least staring at pictures) by February.

 

As for my new year’s resolution – I am sitting up straighter, but not all of the time. I hope to be conscious of how I’m sitting by the end of this month. By the end of February I hope to always be sitting up straight when I eat. And then, by then end of March, sitting up straight all the time. Obviously, I might make a mistake from time to time, but I think I’m already moving in the rice direction (no pun intended).

A January to Remember

It wouldn’t be the holidays if there wasn’t something to complain about. My camera broke a while back (actually, it was fixed enough to function back in March and then was slowly dying for the past 9 months) and was in the process of being fixed in Andapa. However, the date of it being repaired kept being pushed back (there’s a very fine line that seems to separate how much this repair man really knows and how much is just his being patient and trying to figure it out). So, when it wasn’t done before Christmas, I was a little upset. He had already had the camera for at least two weeks. Then, when the repair man told me that he couldn’t fix my camera (because I was upset that he constantly lied), he then told me that somebody had stolen my memory card – I was furious.

It was unbelievable. He knew that it was stolen when I passed by earlier in the day, but he neglected to tell me. Then, when I was already upset he was forced to tell the truth. I told him that he couldn’t just buy me a new one and that I wanted to find the thief, and I wanted MY card back. To be honest, it really didn’t matter to me; I had already saved all of the pictures on to my computer. I just don’t like how in Madagascar a lot of theft happens and is forgotten just because people are too lazy to deal with it. It also shows that you can’t just steal something that a Vazaha owns and then they just buy a new one.

From there we chose a time to talk to the accused thief (after a while it came out that they knew the guy who stole it) and go to the police if necessary. That’s where my counterpart, RABARY Desiré comes in. I’ve had some trouble working with Desire, even though for the most part the work has been effortless. However, I was impressed that when I asked him to go with me, he didn’t hesitate to say yes, and when we arrived there, he didn’t hesitate to take action and interrogate the thief. He ended up spending an entire morning talking with the thief and then going with me to the Chef Fokontany (someone in a village who deals with small, local disputes)to do all of the paperwork (something I probably wouldn’t have known to do or done correctly). The whole time, working through lunch. For me. The next time that I get frustrated I’ll have to remember this. He’s a good person to be working with.

The camera thing has worked out. The accused said that he didn’t steal it, but that he would buy a new memory card. So I’m cool with that. I just want my camera to be fixed soon so that I can document all of the upcoming rice. Besides, all this drama was a bit much for the day before Christmas.

I have always traveled a lot during Christmas time with my family. Not being in California for Christmas seems more normal than if I were to spend a Christmas at home. However, whenever I’m gone somewhere, I’m usually with other Americans (or at least my family). This year was the first Christmas that I was the only American.

It was great. Because of work and the transport in Madagascar being so unreliable, I decided to stay in Andapa for Christmas. There were other PCV get-togethers going on in the region, but I just didn’t want to mess with the travel hassles. I hung out with friends, spoke Gasy the entire day, and had a great time. I guess it shows that I feel pretty comfortable here if I don’t feel the need to spend time with other Americans. That being said, I still do enjoy spending time with my American Peace Corps friends! It’s just a totally different experience.

My New Years celebrations were mixed with Malagasy people and one other Peace Corps volunteer. On New Year ’s Eve we went to this big party/disco in Andapa. It was a real formal event and for a second I forgot I was in Madagascar. There were tons of people, tables all set up, crazy lights going on, and an actual program of events that weren’t formally written, but the owner of the hotel seemed to have in order. However, after about an hour I remembered that I don’t really care for formal dances and so some of us left and went to party with the hotely down the street.

The craziest thing for me is that 2011 was all Madagascar. Last year went by extremely quickly and I feel like last new years really wasn’t that long ago. I have much more friends, I’m much more comfortable with the language and this year’s celebration was all the more fun because of it. I think 2012 will be good. That is, of course, until the world ends in December.

With the New Year upon us, I have my resolutions. I did pretty good last year with my whole bucket of things to do. Of course, I never started working with WWF, I still don’t know French (the lessons stopped because I had no time, but I did plant SRI with my teacher) and I’m still not a soccer super star (there’s potential there though, or so I’m told). My resolutions for this year only consist of two things, and they kind of work together. I’ve decided that I need to improve my posture and I need to eat a little slower. So, of course, when I decided I needed to do these things in October, I decided to slouch more often and eat without taking the time to breathe just to get it all out of my system by New years. That means, pretty soon all of you will be seeing a much more civilized Nick. Well, maybe not more civilized, but a straighter spine and happier intestine.

Rice is on in full force. I had two people back out completely. I’m not sure if they lied or if things just changed. Regardless, it is probably for the best. I have five farmers for sure planting – this month! More than that is doable, but would be difficult. I have at least two more that should plant as well. Needless to say, SRI will fill my January.

It is a little stressful right now because everyone is in different stages of the process and they all need my help. I have a few days were I need to be working with two farmers on the same day. This Friday I will be dealing with three farmers on the same day (one is preparing seeds, one sowing seeds, one planting). However, I will not be planting on the same day in any two rice fields, so that should be fine, but it’s still a lot. And, as always, they seemed surprised that I am working with other people. I don’t know why it’s so hard. Everyone thinks that I’m just their own special helper/teacher/technician and that I need to be with them every second. That’s not gonna happen. However, it does show that they want to learn and that’s what is really important.

The heavy rains have arrived. It is good for planting, but not for me. Sometimes, it means I have only half days of work and then I’m confined to my closed house so that a small flood doesn’t fall through my windows. Then, my house is surrounded by a small river and various muddy embankments. I don’t think the house is going to float away any time soon, but I sure live in the rain forest. At least I should have some time to read…