Sunday, December 20, 2009:
As I write this, I’m at my new site Mahanoro. It’s much bigger than my old town, but I’m slowly adjusting. It’s hard not to compare everything to Anosibe An’Ala. Most of the local people do not understand why I’m not thrilled to be here. I’ll admit, I love that I can hear the ocean waves from my house, that the ocean is probably not even a city block away, that there is an abundance of shrimp for me to eat. But I miss my friends in AAA. I miss knowing people and people recognizing me. I guess it comes down to the fact that I don’t exactly like change…oh well.
My house is located within the compound of the middle school (C.E.G.). When school is in session, I must walk through the middle of all of the classrooms and the crowds of students in their light blue uniform blouses. Yikes! I’m getting good at walking past the stares--shoulders straight, eyes focused ahead or hidden behind my sunglasses. It doesn’t seem to matter what I do. If they greet me in English and I respond in English, they giggle because I talked to them. If they speak to me in Malagasy and I respond in Malagasy, they laugh because I can speak their language. The American tax dollars are spent sending entertainment to developing countries in the form of Peace Corps Volunteers.
Maybe now is a good time to mention that all thoughts written here are solely mine and they do not represent the ideas of the United States government or Peace Corps. Most of the time I’m just trying to make sense of what’s going on around me, laugh off the awkward moments, make light of a difficult situation. I’m sorry if I offend anyone. I do like Mahanoro and being a PCV.
Back to what I was saying. Living at the middle school is often annoying because there are always students trying to get a glance of what I’m doing, but my house is nice. Many volunteers would label it as Posh Corps. Yes, I have a toilet, but I must flush it with a bucket of water. The same bucket sits under my bathroom sink, which leaks even though the electrician/plumber has tried to fix it twice. And yes, I have a shower (our in my kitchen). Only cold water, but I’ve found no use for hot water except for cooking. It’s in the high 80s most days. And yes, I have electricity, most of the time. It worked all the time when I first arrived. Then they began shutting off the power to half the town one night, half the next to save money. At the beginning of this week it seemed to work only a few hours during the day, and now it’s still on at almost 8 p.m. Don’t ever try to gamble in Madagascar. Things that are consistent are bound to change soon. Even the water doesn’t work sometimes and then I must fetch it from across the main road. No problem. Fetching water is free exercise.
I’m teaching two sections of 2nde (10th grade) at the Lycee (high school) and two sections of 6eme (6th grade) at the C.E.G. (middle school). My 2nde classes have about 75 students in each section. They have English class twice a week for two hours each time. My 6eme classes have about 50 students in each section, and they also study twice a week but once for an hour and then for two. Since the school year began in October, I didn’t give exams at the end of this term. I did warn my high school students that we’d have an oral exam after Christmas vacation. They’re not too thrilled even though I told them what I’d ask them, questions like, “What is your name?” and “How many brothers and sister do you have?” Speaking is the hardest part for them. And it will be hard to get them to all practice speaking when I have so many students in one class. My middle school students are excited to do learn anything. They eagerly count as high as they can in English when I write numbers on the board. It’s refreshing.
I have more cock roaches here, but they seem to come out mainly at night when I’m safely tucked into my mosquito net. They don’t really bother me since they don’t bite; however, they are really dirty. They leave little dropping throughout the night, reminders the next morning that they’ve been looking for my fruit or crumbs I’ve dropped. I’d rather have cock roaches than spiders any day. Cock roaches are too loud for their own good, so you can always hear them coming. Spiders can hide anywhere. Yuck.
Yesterday (Saturday, Dec. 19), I finally found a basketball to buy and played at the court near my house. I love playing basketball in this country. Most of the time the boys are too afraid to get too close. Ha ha. And they never think I’m going to be any good at first. I love to prove them wrong. I haven’t seen any girls play here yet. Maybe I’ll encourage them. Some funny translations…when you swish the ball, they say, ‘Tsy taolana” which literally means “No bones”. And when the ball rolls around the rim before going in they say, “Manasa lovia” which means “to wash the plate”.
What else? I bought meat at the market for the first time this past week…well, I bought it meaning I handed the man the money and I made my PCV friend Megan carry it. It just grosses me out here. Flies everywhere. And the smell of meat is so strong with the cows tail draped over one end of the table, its intestines on the other end and its legs in the wheel barrow in next to the table. Doesn’t exactly make me hungry. I guess that doesn’t even bother me anymore. What does is that the man who puts your meat in the bag has meat and blood all over his hands, so it gets on the outside of the bag he hands to me. And the butcher I hand my money too gives me my change, which the woman before me paid him by laying on the hind quarter of meat. It just makes me want to Clorox everything and myself.
There is an amazing little yellow store in my town that sells baked goods and cold, homemade yogurt. I love going there on hot afternoons for a cool treat or getting what we think of as banana bread for breakfast. They call our banana bread cake banane. So every now and then I have cake for breakfast (Note: Malagasy banana bread is a peeled and fried banana, gooey on the inside). The fun part about this store is that the front and back wall are full of hardware parts and the right side and wall is a pharmacy. Evidently, they even make real cakes with frosting and everything. Most businesses in Madagascar are multi-faceted.
I went to a hotely (restaurant) in my town the other day to try out their “milk shakes”. Now, this place is special because it actually has menus and you can order whatever you want from the menu. Most hotelys here are like little sheds or hole-in-the-wall places with several side dish choices (everything is served with rice) written on a blackboard. And it’s not uncommon to ask for one of the listed items only to be told they don’t have it or “Misy fa lany” (There is but it’s gone). So I was shocked the first time I went there and was able to have anything I wanted and then shocked again when I read “Milk shakes”. So I returned for lunch and to try a milk shake justifying my outing by the fact that I needed some form of calcium for the day anyway. Unfortunately, it turned out to only be cold chocolate milk. But at least it was something cold on a hot day and at least it was chocolate.
Well, that’s all for now. More stories to follow. I’m happy to be back in Madagascar and looking forward to having something to do after vacation. It’s hard to start any other English classes or projects right before a long vacation. I’ve been reading a lot and wandering aimlessly through town (and I only got lost once).
If you write me a letter, I’ll write back!! Or I have much better cell phone reception at site, so you can call. Thanks for all of the thoughts and support. Until next time…
~Kinsey
“Each affects the other and the other affects the next, and the world is full of stories, but the stories are all one.” --Mitch Albom, The Five People You Meet in Heaven
A building in Tana, the capital.
This was taken during our Re-Instatement Workshop. The Education PCVs were finally able to do some fun cross-sectoral activities. Here we were learning how to double-dig a garden and then mix in manure. 
