I did not burn down my house with candles/stove.
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I left my house everyday and talked to people.
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"Mahay" is a word in Gasy that is really really
useful. It means either to know, as in "do you know how to cook?" "are
you mahay cooking?" or to be good at something, as in "he speaks Gasy
really well" "he is really mahay Malagasy". Also kind of can mean to
understand, as in "mahay Gasy culture".
This isn't all it is used for, but it's a start.
So, this week I have been declared mahay at the following things:
Fetching water
Playing soccer
Dancing
Saying helllo (in the local dialect)
Saturday, June 18, 2011
Friday, June 17, 2011
I have a home!
It's been just over two weeks now at my new site. I'm now near Andasibe, about 3-4 hrs east of Tana. My house is great!
It is made of wooden planks with a thatched roof. Luckily they (because Peace Corps told them to) put plastic sheeting up on the ceiling to stop leaks and keep bugs from falling on me. I am supposed to be working with a local NGO that works with community organizations to manage parts of the forest (VOIs), so the carpenter working on my house\ building my outhouse (kabone) works for them.
It is made of wooden planks with a thatched roof. Luckily they (because Peace Corps told them to) put plastic sheeting up on the ceiling to stop leaks and keep bugs from falling on me. I am supposed to be working with a local NGO that works with community organizations to manage parts of the forest (VOIs), so the carpenter working on my house\ building my outhouse (kabone) works for them.
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Apparently it wasn't quite clear what I meant...
An excerpt of a g-chat conversation with Rose:
rose: i love your blog i was laughing hysterically about your bed wetting dream
haha
brings back memories of plastic bags over the beds
me: those were the days.....
8:23 AM rose: so it was tea? still not sure what you were talking about
me: what?
rose: i love your blog i was laughing hysterically about your bed wetting dream
haha
brings back memories of plastic bags over the beds
me: those were the days.....
8:23 AM rose: so it was tea? still not sure what you were talking about
me: what?
Monday, May 16, 2011
Patience is a virtue
Arrival in Madagascar: training center to host families and back to training center. Looking forward to the May move-in to my home for the next two years! I've been collecting seeds from interesting plants to start my garden.
So, on May 8th we get to my site; it's beautiful. We get out to look at the house, to see if it's up to PC standards, and there seem to be a few details lacking. No fence. No shower. No bathroom. No one to ask about it. Hmmmm.
So, on May 8th we get to my site; it's beautiful. We get out to look at the house, to see if it's up to PC standards, and there seem to be a few details lacking. No fence. No shower. No bathroom. No one to ask about it. Hmmmm.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
New Address (and a little bit about my new site)
Observe the new address to the right -->
We are officially Peace Corps Volunteers now, no longer trainees. We had our swearing-in ceremony on Tuesday (I gave a speech in Malagasy!), and now we are scattering to the winds! I am in Tana right now, but we head out for our "installation" process as soon as I finish this and pack up. It will be one other girl, Jennifer, and I with Ursula, one of the LCFs (languag trainers). They send one of the LCFs because you have to do a bunch of courtesy visits to local authorities, so they send someone who can actually speak the language to facilitate.
We are officially Peace Corps Volunteers now, no longer trainees. We had our swearing-in ceremony on Tuesday (I gave a speech in Malagasy!), and now we are scattering to the winds! I am in Tana right now, but we head out for our "installation" process as soon as I finish this and pack up. It will be one other girl, Jennifer, and I with Ursula, one of the LCFs (languag trainers). They send one of the LCFs because you have to do a bunch of courtesy visits to local authorities, so they send someone who can actually speak the language to facilitate.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Hi everyone!
I'm currently in Fianarantsoa, south of Tana, on our Tech Trip. We're gone from the PC training center (PCTC) for a week, traveling around and learning the technical aspects of rice farming etc. The road we have been on is generally good (the national north-south highway), but there have been many a carsick traineee. This is due not exclusively to the curvy roads, but also due to the fact that the PC drivers are possibly the most aggressive in the country, and are also provided with some of the only cars that still operate on all cylinders and can have their brake pads replaced frequently.
I'm currently in Fianarantsoa, south of Tana, on our Tech Trip. We're gone from the PC training center (PCTC) for a week, traveling around and learning the technical aspects of rice farming etc. The road we have been on is generally good (the national north-south highway), but there have been many a carsick traineee. This is due not exclusively to the curvy roads, but also due to the fact that the PC drivers are possibly the most aggressive in the country, and are also provided with some of the only cars that still operate on all cylinders and can have their brake pads replaced frequently.
Some of my favorites (so far)
Malagasy saying:
"Olombelo tsy akoho." Literally meaning "People are not chickens." It is used to stop a taxi-brousse when you have to go to the bathroom, the idea being that chickens a) do not pee, but people do, and b) unlike chickens, people don't do their business in the same place they sit.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
I'm leaving, on a jet plane
Two days until I head for Philly to stay with Anandi. Then I'll meet up with my staging group (the other Peace Corps volunteers I'll be going with, 48 in total) on the 27th, icebreakers and vaccinations (woohoo) the 28th, then fly to Johannesburg and on to Madagascar!
FAQs and Communication Information
Q: What will you be doing?
A: I don't know. My assignment is in Agroforestry, but they wait to assign us a specific project until we are in country.
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