Hiking in Andringitra

-->It seems like every time I go to write a blog post, I’m at a loss. Things here have become so “normal” for me that I find myself unable to express how different things actually are from that on the other side of the world. I’m looking forward to my family coming in a few weeks so that they are able to experience the madness that is Madagascar.

Thanksgiving was a few weeks ago and I went down to a city called Fianarantsoa to celebrate with some other volunteers. Afterwards, some of us continued further south to hike in a national park called Andringitra. The landscape changed immensely as we worked our way towards the park – the entrance is located a several hour hike from where the taxi-brousse dropped us off, which gives some indication of the level of isolation of the park, named for the mountain range that runs through it, as well as of the surrounding villages and people that live nearby. I have to admit; we didn’t really know what we were getting ourselves into, which in hindsight was probably a good thing. After staying at a campsite outside the park on our first day, we set out on a three-day trek to climb the highest accessible peak in Madagascar, Pic Boby.

The different landscapes as we made our way up the mountain were absolutely incredible. I think the pictures tell the story better than I can. The hike ended up being a stair climb for the most part, literally climbing up a mountain within a mountain range and then back down again which hurt even more. It was exhausting, and my body still felt the effects days later, but I can honestly say it was the most awe-inspiring hike I have ever experienced. One of the things that amazed me the most was how variable the landscape was, from what is called the “moonscape” to a green valley dotted with grazing cows that somehow climbed the mountain to sheer rock cliffs, which we zig-zagged our way up as we approached the peak. The climate got considerably colder as we made our way up the mountain, and the cool breeze was very welcome during the hot afternoons. We seemed to follow a mountain stream all the way up that was chillingly cold but incredibly refreshing after a few long days of hiking.

At the peak

Once we reached the top, we were at over 2500 meters, well above the clouds. Other than a few lizards, we were the only living creatures in sight. Supposedly, on a clear day, you can see all the way to the Indian Ocean. The way down was considerably quicker, and upon arrival at the base camp we collapsed in accomplished exhaustion. A few days of travel later and I found myself back in Ampefy, as if the whole thing had been a dream if it weren’t for the stress that persisted in my knees.

I’ve now been back for almost a week and my mango addiction has officially been reignited with a vengeance. Peaches are also in season, but nothing quite compares to the lychee – they are everywhere, including in my backyard, and are so sweet and absolutely delicious. I’m discovering the perks of living in a tropical climate during the rainy season.

Lunch with the President

It’s been a busy past few weeks. I feel my work and my life here beginning to clarify as I become more comfortable with the culture and the language and begin to develop more meaningful friendships. A few weeks ago was the first annual Festival de Barohoah in Ampefy, a celebration of a type of fish that is famous in my region and throughout all of Madagascar. It was quite an event – on the first day of the festival, the President of Madagascar, Andry Rajoelina, arrived and gave a speech. It was very interesting to hear what he had to say, especially with elections scheduled for next May, and then to hear the responses of people in town to his words and ideas. I was even invited to have lunch with him, granted amongst nearly 100 other people, but I was very clearly the only non-Malagasy in the crowd and for that reason certainly stuck out. It was a tasty fish lunch at a beautiful hotel in Ampefy, and luckily a good friend of mine who speaks English was invited as well so we sat together and were able to chat about politics and the food so that no one else could understand.

That same weekend, I went to my first concert here in Madagascar of a group called Mahaleo that has been around since the 1970s. It was really neat to see Malagasy people of all ages at the concert – older people who knew the group from their early days, but also a fair number of younger people who nevertheless knew every word to every song. I promised myself to learn the lyrics before the next concert so that I can sing along with them. It was a great time, largely because many of my Prosperer co-workers also attended and they are a really fun group, dancing and singing the entire time. Since the concert, I have had many people in town compliment my dancing skills – for better or worse, it’s impossible to be invisible here!

Today, I biked out to a neighboring town called Ambatomboro where I have been spending quite a bit of time lately. It’s about 7 or 8 km outside of Ampefy and is located right on Lac Itasy. It’s a beautiful place and I really enjoy spending time with the people that live there, including a women’s association of basket weavers and the Directrice of the local elementary school and her husband. Every time I go out there, I inevitably return home with bags full of fresh green beans, tomatoes, and cucumbers. I anticipate continuing to spend quite a bit of time out there; not only is it a beautiful bike ride along the lake, but it’s a town where I see a lot of potential to develop and really improve the lives of the people that live there. Additionally, it’s the place here where I feel the most at home – it’s hard for me to describe exactly how but I feel that my sense of connection to other people is the strongest when I’m there, perhaps because it is more rural (about 300 people) and they are very open and kind to me. Regardless, it’s a place I think will stay with me for a long time.

On my bike ride home, an older man insisted on walking back with me for the part of the journey. He’s a funny man who I’ve befriended through my visits to Ambatomboro and from seeing him from time to time in Ampefy. Inevitably, on the ride home, there are little children who say to me, “Bonjour Vazaha!” which means “Hi there, foreigner!” Every time, this man yelled back at them “Tsy Vazaha fa Gasy!” which translates as, “She’s not a foreigner, she’s Malagasy!” I was not only honored to be considered Malagasy, but got a kick out of how offended and quick to defend me he was. These outbursts were peppered with comments about the inefficiencies of the Malagasy government and further animated by the occasional spitting out of remnants of chewing tobacco. So, perhaps he’s just a bitter old man, but I hope that I was able to brighten his day or at least provide some comfort by listening to his ramblings.

Finally, just a few quick snippets of life here. I have recently been conspiring with one of my neighbors to steal guavas from her neighbor (not really stealing, we have permission to take them, but still it’s fun to pretend) and goodness are they delicious. Also, one of my closest friends and I joke that when we have children, my son and her daughter will get married, a prospect which never ceases to be entertaining. Another friend of mine left yesterday for a 3-month Prosperer training about farming that I helped him sign up for, walking for over 12km to get there and carrying enough rice on his head to last him two weeks. There is a little crew of 8 and 9-year-old boys with whom I create all sorts of secret handshakes and whose faces light up whenever I see them. And of course the little girls that are too young to really speak Malagasy but are able to yell my name when I walk past (thank you to my parents for giving me a name that is easy to say, in any language). Above all, I feel like I am finally starting to break through the barrier that people here have put up regarding foreigners and although I recognize that can’t change that overall perception, I think we are making progress in that direction.

Party with the Ancestors

Last week, I went to a famadihana or the “turning of the bones” ceremony that is widely practiced in Madagascar. Every year during the dry season, certain Malagasy families dig up their ancestors from the family tomb, wrap them in new fabric, and return the remains to their “eternal” resting place. Though the practice certainly varies from region to region, I experienced what seemed to be a particularly large ceremony. Led by my dancing neighbors and a traveling brass band, over 100 community members paraded through the streets of Ampefy and then up a mountain overlooking Lake Itasy to collect the remains of two individuals – the great-grandmother (buried in 1944) and great uncle (buried in 1980) of one of my neighbors. Upon arrival, the two graves had already been unearthed by family members who then removed the remains of their ancestors from the tomb, placed the mixture of decomposed bone and dirt into the fresh fabric, and tightly wrapped them to be moved to the newly built family tomb. It appeared to be a very joyous occasion, with music playing and people dancing all the way up and back down the mountain. The only difference on the way down were the new partiers in our midst – the two ancestors in whose honor the ceremony was held; perhaps because they were getting cold.

Upon return to Ampefy that evening, the party really started. Music and dancing went all night long and throughout the next morning. Though I did not attend the morning festivities, that afternoon the procession started up again – this time, in the opposite direction towards the newly built family tomb. This time, I was accompanied by my friend Mamisoa and her husband. They were re-burying their nephew who died when he was very young – just two years old. Though I felt a certain level of joy the day before in dancing with the remains of those who lived a full life, I couldn’t help but feel a pang of sadness at seeing the wrapped up remains of a two-year old child. And as I walked with Mamisoa to the new tomb, she spoke to me about how the famadihana is a celebration of the dead filled with dancing and music however it does remind and in a way cause one to relive the sadness felt at the loss of a loved one. This sentiment really struck me when I was told the child died twenty years ago – which means he would have been about my age if still alive today.

To me, the famadihana at first seemed a joyous celebration, representing an occasion to remember and prolong the party with those who died decades ago. However, upon further talking to friends in town and experiencing the ceremony, it seemed more tragic than joyous, uprooting ancestors and never really allowing the feeling of loss to fade. These perceptions are of course influenced by my culture and our attitudes towards death, always considered a very solemn occasion. There is also another underlying implication of the famadihana ceremony – as a display of status and wealth in a time of the year when many families are running out of money to buy necessities such as food, medicine or school supplies. Several of my Malagasy friends expressed dissatisfaction with the practice as an unnecessary expense in a time when many families are struggling to make ends meet. However, it is a custom and clearly one that holds great importance for the Malagasy people to an extent that a foreigner like me cannot really comprehend. All that can really be concluded is that the Malagasy people have developed very unique traditions for coping with the phenomenon of death and loss, but one that will likely evolve and adapt to meet the changing demands of life, as all traditions eventually do.

Six months in Mada

I apologize that it has been so long since I have updated. I will try to be better about it from now on. Things have been a bit crazy the past few weeks and I feel like I am finally able to slow down, take a breath and process all that has been going on. In the beginning of August, I had a week of Peace Corps in-service training. It was great to see my fellow volunteers, share stories and hear about what they have been up to for the past several months. Afterwards, I went on a little vacation with some friends to the east coast of Madagascar to a town called Foulpointe. It was my first time seeing the ocean after 5 months of living on an island – long overdue, but well worth it! The beach was absolutely beautiful, white sand beaches and clear water. While I had a great time with my fellow volunteers doing nothing but swimming, exploring and eating, I found myself feeling a bit anxious to get back to Ampefy.

I have been back in Ampefy for about 3 weeks now, and I am beginning to see some projects come together. I have been talking a lot with farmers about ways to improve production and access to markets, as farming is one of the main livelihoods of people in town. In addition, I hope to get involved with youth in town to empower and inspire them by working with various youth institutions in town, including schools and scout groups.

Several big events are coming up in Ampefy – tomorrow is the international day of literacy which is to be celebrated here, and next week is something called Pelerinage. Though I’m not sure exactly what this event is, I do know military and policemen will arrive from all over the country for two days of prayer. The population will essentially double over two days next week. These kinds of events do provide great opportunities for the town to gain publicity and community members to gain a little extra income from the influx of people. It’s one of my goals to help people take advantage of such opportunities, as they happen fairly often in Ampefy. Next week, I plan on spending a day or two helping a Scout group prepare food for some of the visitors. It will be a lot of rice!

This past Tuesday, I visited a few agricultural NGOs and an agricultural training center with the President of the Fokontany of Ampefy. It was great for him to see all of the resources that are available in the area for farmers, and a group of 10 or so traveled yesterday to the training center to learn about compost. I plan to make the trip with him and any interested farmers next week to learn about rice farming. There is so much potential to improve the livelihoods of farmers here – through trainings about methods to increase production or organizing farmers to sell their products together to increase market power and improve access to markets, among other strategies. Although it would be a lofty goal to try and help the farmers implement these strategies in my short time here, I hope to at least plant the seeds of potential ideas for improvement.

Well, that’s all for now. If you want to read a good book about a Peace Corps experience, check out Living Poor by Moritz Thomsen. It is about one volunteer’s experience in Ecuador in the 1960s, and although it was clearly a very different time and place than Madagascar in 2012, I couldn’t help but draw several parallels with my experience here so far.

A Trip Up North

It is crazy that it is already July! The second half of June was filled with traveling which made it absolutely fly by. The first trip came as a surprise – my counterpart organization, Prosperer, informed me and the two other volunteers in my region with three days notice about a business trip to visit Prosperer offices and co-workers up north to promote cooperation and communication between regions. I was unsure if I wanted to go at first at such short notice, having planned other activities for that week and worried about language and community integration. However, I decided to go and am so glad that I did. The north is like another world from the highlands. I am beginning to learn why some people call Madagascar “the eighth continent”. It was not only interesting to see how the landscape changed during the 700km trip to Antsohihy, but also to see how different the culture seemed once we arrived. Not only is the language different, as the people speak a different dialect of Malagasy, but I couldn’t help but notice the culture felt much more African. I found myself being reminded of my time in Senegal – something I had experienced living in the highlands but to a much lesser extent as the culture reflects a more Asian influence.

The “business” part of the trip was great. It consisted of visiting various MERs, or Micro-Entreprises Rurales (Rural Micro-Enterprises), who are the primary beneficiaries of Prosperer activities and include blacksmiths, basket weavers, beekeepers, and seamstresses among others. It was interesting to see other projects and get some ideas for projects I can try to incorporate in my work in Ampefy. I also loved getting to know my Malagasy co-workers and counterparts. Nothing like long car rides and late nights singing Malagasy songs (or listening, in my case) to bring people closer together. Many times I found myself thinking, this would never happen on a business trip in the states! Though I have to say, one of the highlights of our time in Antsohihy was the coconut sauce. Coconuts abound up north, and they make an absolutely delicious sauce that is even better when paired with freshly caught ocean fish in which I indulged several times over a 24-hour period.

On the way back down south, we stopped in a town called Port-Bergé for some more visits. We had a bit more time to wander and explore the town, which was a nice respite from sitting in a car all day. It was interesting to chat with people from the town, both to hear just how different the language is (and see just how little I could understand) and to learn a bit about culture in the north. Every evening for the two weeks leading up to the fetim-pirenena (independence day) in Madagascar, which was on June 26^th, there is a type of boxing called Morengy (sp?) that takes place in the town center of Port-Bergé. Men, women and children alike seek out opponents by strutting around the makeshift arena, sizing up their competition until they find a suitable match. While the fighting is normally a form of good fun and healthy competition, it did occasionally turn ugly prompting the local police to get involved and break it up. I have posted some pictures that only begin to capture the atmosphere of the event, but at least do justice to its scale.

I think the fighting was a good example of just how diverse Malagasy culture is. It reflects a much more intense energy and vibrant culture up north, while the highlands are much more conservative and relaxed. I have to say, while it was great to see the differences in the north and I am definitely motivated to discover other parts of the country, I was happy and relieved to return to my quiet town of Ampefy. A big part of Malagasy culture is the giving of voandalanas, literally translated as “fruit of the road” and a gift that you share with your friends and family upon return from a trip. So, upon my return, I not only shared stories from the trip but also northern specialties such as coconuts and siramamy gasy – Malagasy sugar made out of sugar cane and pounded in the shape of a brick – with my friends back in Ampefy. I spent a great evening upon my arrival celebrating the birthday of a friend with her family in which I experimented with my own coconut sauce. It turned out quite tasty, I must say.

Photos of Ampefy

Welcome to Ampefy! Posing with my friend, Florence.

La Chute de la Lille - a waterfall about 7km away from Ampefy.

I took the walk with a cohort of Malagasy friends - making the walk quite enjoyable though still exhausting!

Lac Itasy at dawn. The fishermen will soon return with their catch.

Chameleon!

A Month in Ampefy

June 4^th, 2012

It has now been a full month living in Ampefy. It has been a month of many ups and downs, but I have landed in a good place – becoming more and more integrated day by day and beginning to find a sense of purpose in my life and work here. My Malagasy, while far from perfect, has gotten to the point where I am comfortable chatting with people – and an increasing number of friends – in town. With each day, I learn more about life and the people here and about myself. I think I have finally accepted my limits in terms of what exactly I am capable of accomplishing in two years. I felt quite overwhelmed these past few weeks – with learning a new language, integrating into a new culture, and trying to figure out my work here. During that time, I thought long and hard about many things ranging from the nature of development work to the most important things in life. While at times I doubted myself and my decisions, I can honestly say that this is the place where I belong at this moment.

I need to constantly remind myself that Peace Corps just expects us to learn for the first 3 months of service, because my brain is working all the time thinking about the extent and gravity of the problems that affect the people in my town as well as looking for ways to help. The challenges are exacerbated by the fact that the national government is essentially nonexistent and provides little to no support to the population. There has been a transitional government in power since the overthrow of the previous president in 2009, and the country has been in a political crisis ever since – marked by rising prices, growing unemployment and lack of international recognition (and foreign investment). Certain things are clearly beyond my control – I usually bring myself back to earth by thinking about all the kids in town and the potential they hold. Additionally, as I continue to chat with people and learn about my town, I am realizing that people here are very eager to improve their own lives and I am starting to find ways to help them do so.

One of the most exciting but also challenging aspects of my work and life here is the extreme flexibility of it all. While I do have a counterpart and partner organization, they are located in a larger city 20km away. I have yet to have contact with anyone at Peace Corps. For all they know, I could be treating my time here as vacation (and there are stories of volunteers doing just that). Each day, I just have to walk out my door, chat with people, learn about Ampefy and make connections. While in the beginning this was pretty difficult, especially with my lack of language skills, I have begun to establish more of a routine and have started to realize just how lucky I am to be given the opportunity to do something I so believe in – community development. I am also so fortunate to be living in a town with many people that are committed to improving their own lives and the well-being of their community. Not to paint it all as perfect – there are certainly people that might not have the interests of the greater good at heart. But I am doing my best to seek out the ones that do and capitalize on their knowledge, ideas and connections. My role here is really that of a catalyst to motivate action and link to bring people together.

The large majority of the residents of Ampefy farm and/or raise livestock. Therefore, I will likely be working with mpamboly (farmers) and mpiompy (those that raise livestock – is there a word for this in English that I don’t know?). This morning I held a meeting of farmers, mostly of peanuts and beans, and began to learn a little bit about their lives. I have some powerful allies in the President and Vice President of the Fokontany (the name of the smallest political unit in Madagascar, the Fokontany of Ampefy has approximately 3,000 residents) and one of the more respected farmers. They are very mazoto and kind and helped me organize the meeting and get the word out there – I was surprised by a fairly large turnout of over 20 farmers. Next time, there are sure to be more especially once the word gets out that refreshments were provided (some incentives work in any culture). With everyday and each additional interaction, my work here seems slightly more manageable. It’s a roller coaster though – sometimes it all seems possible and sometimes I wonder how a single person can possibly make a difference. But then I think about the 13 year old girl I chatted with last week when her friends were refusing to talk to her (oh, middle school drama – also universal). Or the woman I harvested beans with whom I shed a tear, or the kids that chant my name outside my gate until I go outside and play with them.

Yesterday I took a long walk to the Chute de la Lille (google it!), a waterfall about 8km outside of Ampefy. I was planning to just go with a friend of mine, Hortensia, but we ended up being accompanied by 10 of her family members – ranging from Narissa, the adorable 9-year old who will surely break hearts, to Michel, your typical teenage boy (though typical for Malagasy – chatty and great at harmonizing). It was an absolute blast. The waterfall was beautiful of course, but the company was even better. Sometimes it’s great hanging out with kids because they are so non-judgmental and extremely patient with my language skills. The walk was marked by singing, dancing and just general silliness as well as a very entertaining Photo Chute (I’m very proud of that pun) upon arrival at the waterfall. I’ve posted some highlights here. Upon return to Ampefy, I went to church with my adopted host family and then celebrated Mother’s Day with them (it was on Sunday in Madagascar). They make me feel so welcome and I now have an open invitation to hang out or have dinner with them anytime.

Well, that’s all for now. I’m going to try to be better about writing a blog every week or so and then posting when I get fast enough internet access. I love and miss you all very much!

I wrote this post a few weeks ago.

May 13^th, 2012

As of last Tuesday, I now call Ampefy my home. I keep thinking that I must have done something right in a past life to be living in such an amazing place for the next two years. After four full days here I have already met some amazing and mazoto (Malagasy for hard-working and motivated) people as well as potential life-long friends. Of course the past few days have been filled with ups and downs – that is life as a Peace Corps volunteer – and I don’t want to paint everything as rosy but so far I find myself feeling overall optimistic and tamana (Gasy for well-settled and comfortable). I could go on attempting to explain my state of mind at this moment; however perhaps my experience so far is best told through an anecdote.

            I will start with this morning, as it is fresh in my mind. Though, to bring me to the events of today, I must begin with yesterday. I finally had time to accept a mandroso (it will be hard not to sprinkle Gasy words in here…this one essentially means come on in to my house and let me shower you with hospitality) from a woman with whom I had spoken briefly the day before. She showed me pictures of her family and we discussed religion over a bottle of Fanta and a pack of Saltos, all the while inducing stares and giggles from Malagasy children playing outside. I quickly became aware that religion, and specifically Christianity, is one of the strongest social institutions here in Ampefy and could not refuse an invitation to attend church the next day at Jesosy Mamonjy (‘Jesus Saves’).

            So this morning, I went to church with my newest community mother and her adorable 6-year-old daughter. It was quite a different experience than my previous time going to church here in Madagascar, in Mantasoa with my host family, and overall left me with a much more positive and communal feeling. After about an hour of singing hymns, the pastor gave a sermon (I apologize for my lack of proper religious terminology here) at the end of which he personally singled me out as the only “vahiny” in the crowd (the kinder term for foreigner in Mada) and as far as I could understand, publicly acknowledged and appreciated my attempts at integrating in the community and understanding Malagasy. All of this in front of probably about 100 adults and children, who promptly all turned and looked at me. It was only slightly terrifying but talk about a good introduction to my community! If I continue at this rate at every church in town – I believe there are seven – the entire population of Ampefy will know my face in seven weeks.

            And that brings me to the nature of the situation here in Ampefy. Every weekend, many tourists – both Malagasy and from abroad – visit the town and surrounding areas, which is known for its beautiful scenery, waterfalls and delicious fish. Needless to say, most of these short-term visitors take little interest in the local people, culture or language. I soon discovered that simply by saying, “Manahoana! Inona no vaovao?” (kind of like, Hey, What’s new? In gasy) evokes shock and awe among the people in town. So the fact that I went to church and sat through a 3-hour service and had apparent connections to fellow churchgoers was miles ahead of what the people of Ampefy have experienced with foreigners previously. Such low expectations have made my transition smooth and peoples’ overall perception of me positive.

            In terms of work, I have already met several fishermen (and women!) as well as fish sellers in addition to representatives of other associations and cooperatives that I would love to work with. Today I met informally with a woman who is the secretary of a newly formed cooperative of coffee growers and sellers interested in exporting abroad. I wish I could fast forward in my Malagasy language skills to be able to jump right in and start with projects. Peace Corps expects us to spend the first three months at site to learn about our community and work on language skills, which is both very necessary and ideal for integration, but I’m not sure the people in my community will let things move that slowly. And I can’t help but let their enthusiasm rub off on me.

And Here I Am

[Disclaimer: This is a blog post I wrote a week ago. We are currently on our technical trip for Community Economic Development, visiting current volunteers at their sites. It has been great to see the country and learn about the projects volunteers are working on.]

I have been in Madagascar for nearly a month now. The days have been flying by. Peace Corps keeps us very busy with training 6 days a week, including 4 hours of Malagasy language training in the mornings and a combination of technical, cultural and administrative trainings in the afternoons. This schedule leaves very little time to think about and process all of the changes and adjustments happening in life at the moment. Overall though, things are incredible. The landscape of the country is absolutely beautiful, dotted by forests, rice fields, colorful houses, mountains and plateaus. We are currently living in the highlands a few hours east of the capital in a town called Mantasoa where most individuals make their living rice farming or fishing. The town is located on the largest man-made lake in Madagascar, Lac Mantasoa. Malagasy people are incredibly friendly and curious, but also come across as very relaxed and low key – just my type of people. Though the language barrier is still pretty significant, I feel very at home and comfortable within the culture and with the people I interact with on a daily basis.

About a week ago all of the Peace Corps trainees moved back to the training center after living with host families in the town of Mantasoa for the past month. I absolutely loved my host family and had a great time getting to know them as well as learning about Malagasy language and culture. I spent much of my time at home with my host mother Eliane, chatting and cooking Malagasy food which always consists of rice and a side dish of vegetables, pasta, beans or meat. I also played a lot of Go Fish and dominoes with my host siblings Haingo (10) and Kelly (6), while the youngest Christianon (2) generally wreaked havoc around the house. At various times he was found playing with giant knives, eating pig feed or hitting anyone around him with sticks. By the end of homestay, I was able to hold basic conversations with my host family in Malagasy and was even told by my host mom that she would miss my company. I already feel nostalgic thinking about my time there.

The biggest news however is that I found out my site placement last week! I am officially going to the town of Ampefy, located a few hours west of Antananarivo. It is a pretty large tourist destination as it is the geographical center of Madagascar and is located on one of the largest lakes in the country, Lake Itasy. It is known for its delicious fish, and just as I was hoping, one of my primary projects will be working with a fisherwoman who runs her own fishery just outside of town! Additional projects that I hope to get involved with include work at a fruit and vegetable drying center and with local artisans such as woodcarvers and basket weavers.

Departing in 32 hours!

Hello everyone! This will be my blog during my 27-month stint with the Peace Corps in Madagascar. For those of you who are still confused about what exactly I will be doing there, do not fear - so am I! My assignment is in Small Enterprise Development, and specifically small business advising, and I find out my exact duties about a month into training.

A brief schedule of events for the next month or so is as follows. I am currently in Washington, DC for staging, which begins in approximately two hours. Tomorrow, my flight departs at 5:40 from Dulles airport and we arrive in Antananarivo, Madagascar at 2pm on Thursday after a layover in Johannesburg. The first few months in country are filled with hours of language, technical, and cultural training before I am transported to my actual site. I hope to have internet within the first few weeks of my arrival to let everyone know how I am doing. Until then, be well!

That's all for now, just wanted to get this thing up and running. Miss you all already and wish me luck!