Bright Lights, Big City, Bad Cabs

The last two weeks have been quite a journey and all that remains before I get back to work is a day’s train ride to Manakara and 100K brousse ride back to Ambalona. It was only last Thursday that I embarked on a two day journey to the nation's capital Anatananarivo (Tana). The first leg brought me to Fianar in about 6 hours while the second spanned over 12 hours. Fortunately when traveling far by brousse you have the option of going national, where there are restrictions on the number of passengers and the seats have more padding, headrests, but still no seatbelts. We managed to reserve a brousse with some other volunteers, so I can't say it was bad ride. In the stupor that crystallizes after living on a brousse all day, we pulled into the station in Tana. Pure chaos, from the pos-pos (rickshaw) drivers to the mpivaratras (merchants), everyone was looking for some good ol' western cash. We managed to convince the driver to drop us and all of gear off at the MEVA (PC's transit house) for less than the price of several tin can cabs.  

Squash Update

Now a little word about the cabs. Madagascar has the fine privilege of hosting a collection of some of France's finest automobiles and Tana's is by far the most extensive. There's the new age Peugeot 205, 405, and 505; there are Renault 4s with the most innovative or obtuse gear lever ever produced; and there's the legendary Citroën 2CV which is quite possibly the worst car ever produced, and the setting for one of the most entertaining cab rides yet. It was a Saturday afternoon, and the thick petrol laden air was just getting up to operating temperature in the big city. We descended into the bajary without any specific needs, but merely to try and grasp the controlled chaos that is everyday life. We haggled with the mpivaratras over dominoes, batteries, fruit, and anything else that caught our eye; we took rain checks on street meat, street tattoos, and street names. After nearly two hours we found ourselves in need of ride back to the hotel. After browsing the line of cabs, we based our decision, not on the quality of the car but on the car we most wanted to ride in. Until this moment I had still been denied the pleasure of riding in a Citroën 2CV. This legendary automobile has even rallied across Europe's worst roads; only unlike our cab it featured a second 25HP engine to solely drive the second axel. Our first discovery was that the driver's side rear door was inoperable, and we thus proceeded to the other side. The driver pressed the starter button, then pressed the starter button, and finally pressed the starter button and the Craftsmen lawnmower came to life. The two speed transmission harnessed nearly half of the engines HP and we limped onto the main drag; our destination, the Hotel Zenith. As the 2CV wiggled along the cobble stone streets, our driver informed us that he didn't know where the Zenith hotel was. We quickly determined that this could very well become a bad situation; almost like driving a 2CV through Nazi occupied France. We proceeded to stop and ask every legitimate citizen for directions, however due to the variety of pronunciations for Zenith, it was to no avail. At this point while we tried to communicate our basic understanding of the cities geography our driver informed us that this was "Tena taybe!" that no one knew where the hotel was. Luckily with the aid of a few landmarks our trusty steed crawled up to the curb of the Hotel Zenith.  

This is Eloi, he's about 2 backpacks tall

After a week of training up in Montasoa, where we learned how to farm chickens, access PC funding, and remedy any language woes; we returned to the Zenith in order to regroup for the next day’s journey home. We hailed a Renault 4 and headed to the brousse station with a bit too much luggage. We lugged our baggage over to our brousse and threw it up on the roof where it combined with everything from sacks of rice to chickens. Out of the corner of my eye I witnessed a portly Gasy man who had a strange resemblance to Jon Lovitz. We crammed in the brousse and so did this man, only in the driver's seat. We worked our way out of the city and were once again southbound on the RN7. At this point Jon Lovitz engaged his clubbing sunglasses, his top 40 aftermarket stereo, and his high center of gravity hyperdrive. I can say that we made Fianar in record time but I can also say that I'm quite familiar with the smell burning brakes and rubber.

Above the Fianar's Crowded Streets

Yesterday we found a little free time in Fianar to enjoy a favorite Gasy pastime, music. Just down the road from the Fianar MEVA, Oladad played to a growing crowd over the course of the afternoon. They warmed up with some Marley standards then bust out into their own Gasy infused reggae derivative. The music and dance more than warranted my attendance but I can't say that I would have run into my new friend Vincent if I hadn't gone.

This is Vincent, he retired from the VTSP a few years ago

Tomorrow I head south via rail, the train runs every other day and should take anywhere from 8 to 20 hours to arrive in Manakara. I anticipating something similar to the The Darjeeling Limited but we'll have to wait and see.

Salama

Nick

Vingt Seis. It's like Christmas, Easter, and The Fourth of July all rolled up into one!

As we Americans celebrate that special day when we eat too much potato salad, have a few too many chardonnays, and set off a few next month's rent in Chinese fireworks; the Malagasy in my neck of the woods are still celebrating their independence which officially began on the 26th of June. I can't say that I saw much potato salad going around, but there were definitely some fireworks and I think their technicians may have over imbibed. Today, however a few local volunteers and myself are fashioning the best fourth yet most atypical that Madagascar can offer.

Ambalona's School Gardens

When the festivities come to a close I will return to Ambalona and break ground on some new beds for the school garden. I have outlined the gardening space and taken an inventory of the current vegetables being grown, and it's with this information that I am working together with the people of Ambalona and my counterpart in order to determine: the prime growing season for each vegetable, which vegetables should be grown in succession, and how we can manage their production with minimal inputs. I'm very fortunate that a majority of the infrastructure and interest is already present in my community thanks in part to Fidy, but there's plenty of tuning required and that's where I lend my green thumb. I've managed to fence out the curious chickens from my yard in which I have constructed to date three 2x8 raised beds out of bamboo. Everyday as people pass by they often stop and to see what I've actually got growing and we end up chatting about vegetables how it's actually possible to grow them with ease. It's in these beds that I'm doing some preliminary testing of bio-intensive technique that I hope to apply on larger scale within the community. The children are among the most interested, whether I'm transplanting seedlings or they're sneaking into my compost pile. One of my little buddies Eloi has really taken to it and we planted some zucchini in a garden he built, I'll update you in a month.

So this is my yard, I'm puting in the lawn next week

Apart from gardening I've had the opportunity to connect with some highly valuable resources in my region. Recently I tracked down a pepinaire (tree nursery) in Mananjary with whom I can see my village developing a strong customer relationship. Together with a CRS (Catholic Relief Services) lead reforestation effort, there's plenty work to be done and a surprisingly large amount of people that want to help do it.

Gaspar my Chef du Fokontany and I discuss how to make Parker House Rolls from rice 

On the home front I've managed to build myself a table which enables me to prepare, cook, and eat my food at an elevation 32" above the floor; the previous location of my stove. I still have plans for a second table, but I'm still living in high life from the first upgrade. I've installed bamboo gutters on the back of my house, which await the installation of a rain barrel that I have yet to procure. My gardens has become rather thirsty over the past month, and an alternative water source is definitely necessary to keep up. I'll keep you'll posted as the squash takes over my garden.

Salama

Nick

A Green Thumb

After experiencing some unexpected technical difficulties last month, I am proud to finally bring all of you an update on the happenings of my life. Over the course of the last two months I have been fortunate enough to work with some amazing individuals, and they're are still many that I'm eager to work with in the future. Currently I am overseeing the development and care of a newly constructed vegetable garden for my community's EPP (primary school). We are currently building and sowing new garden beds in preparation for the kick off of the EPP's new school lunch program. Not only will the garden provide vegetables that are typically absent from the students diets but it also provides a learning environment for the students. Just this past week I led a session on composting, and with the help of 12 students was able to construct a pile in record time. So far the garden's become a big hit and it's also an alternative for those students that are a little too distracted in the average classroom setting.

Many Hands Make Light Work

On the home front, I've just started to enjoy the fruits of my labor; green beans are coming in, and I've got some squash around the corner. My personal garden's the test bed for some of new planting techniques we're working on, this way we can keep our eggs in in few different baskets. Construction wise I managed to finish building a wooden wheel for one of our communities wheelbarrows and it can dance with True Temper's best. It's constructed from eucalyptus and finished with the remains of used moto tire; don't have to worry about any punctures on this baby. Two weeks ago I traveled to my counterparts forge and while there I first ran the bellows then tried my hand at nails and finally learned how to make a hax-saw from some old rebar. Then this last week I managed to take part on a concrete pour, the old fashioned way with bags of portland cements, aggregate, sand, and plenty of hand mixing. I couldn't tell you what the slump was, but I did manage to leave a quality finish with the only float available, a trowel.

 

Fidy's Forge

I've got to run to catch my brousse back Ambalona but I be back with pictures and news next week when I head back up to Montasoa for training with the other new volunteers.

Salama

Nick

Efa Tamana

Well I'm writing to you'll now from Mananjary, my banking town; where apart from stocking up on all things not beans and rice, I have been also getting seeds together for my garden and looking for materials to repair my community wheelbarrow.  I was welcomed immediately to Ambalona, located within the commune of Sandrohy by the majority of its able bodied residents fast at work repairing its washed out road.  The road which has still yet to recover from the cyclone, gives Vermont's mud season a run for it's money; and while back home there isn't much a dump truck and grader can't do, their isn't much a spade toting village can't do either.  We rolled up to my house and the initial shock took hold, but thinking quickly as half the village gathered round the PC truck, I started dishing out pound-its to all the kids.  My house which had been kind of a mystery, soon had swarm of workers making last minute repairs and even starting my fence; which is still incomplete.  I met with my counterpart Fidy hopeformadagascar.org  and Gaspar the Chef du Fokotany of Ambalona, essentially a Malagasy Mayor.  This was followed by a village tour, and a complementary meal of rice and beans served with coffee.  After a surreal first day I went off into that dark first night.

Dishing out Dunas

There have been many surreal days and dark nights since that first one, but while there have been ups and downs I've learned a lot about myself, my community, and just how different life is on the other side of the world.  I've spent the first two weeks making friends over small engine repair, washing my laundry by the river's edge and scanning for crocs all the while, fashioning my own tool handles in the vein of Alone in The Wilderness, dawning my village colors on the football pitch, building raised bed gardens out of bamboo, smuggling pork into my village, helping with the care of the school's gardens, fetching water from a pump 1/4 mile away from my home, training for the Tour du France, making the best fish'n'chips the bush can offer, and above all carving out that little place where I can be home away from home.

Salama

Nick

Sworn In and Site Bound

Well it's been over a month since my last post but much has happened in April alone.  When we last left off, I was awaiting my site anouncement; which I have since received and as I write this am en route to.  I will working in the Fokotany of Ambalona which is located in bertween the coastal cities of Mankara and Mananjary, the latter being my banking town which is about a 90 minute journey by taxi-brousse.  I will be starting a brand new site and will be partnered with Hope for Madagascar (HFM). HFM is an NGO that was started by Malagasy-Americans, and is based currently headquatered in Boulder, CO.  They working a variety of sectors, but the majority of work centeres around evironmental education and construction projects.  There will be many oppourtunities to work along side them on existing projects, but also the freedom to develop projects pertinent to my community's needs.

Following the anouncement our sites, each sector of our Peace Corps Stage headed on technical field trip.  As a member of the environment sector I travelled to Andasibe, where we hiked through a section of VOI managed rain forest; then a brief stay in Tamatave, where we visited the lemurs at neighboring Ivolina park; after that we headed to Foulpointe, a small coastal town with sandy beaches, and a neighboring protected area managed by Missouri Botanical Gardens.  We returned to the training center with a new zeal for our service and made the final push through language and technical training.

Mornings in Foulpointe are about as rough as the surf

As I write this it's hard to believe that the first itiminating 9 weeks of training have come to a close and that I am now finally on the way to my site, which I will call home for the next 2 years.  The first chapter of my adventure has come to a close and it's time to start writing the pages I've been waiting for.  I'll be spending tonight in Fianar and tomorrow we will make the push to Mananjary, where'll try to get my hands on all the bear-necessities: hammer & nails, pots & pans, rice & beans, and of course dines.  As for my house, it's a fixer-upper, and I'm not sure if I'll even be able to move into it by the end of this week; we'll leave it on that cliffhanger for now.

Salama

Nick

Manahoana!

Manahoana (Malagasy for hello) everyone thanks again for all the wishes, and thanks to them I have arrived safely in Madagascar after nearly three days of travel, which seems so distant now.  I arrived in Antananarivo on Thursday March 1st sand was welcomed by the most recent cyclones trailing rains.  We met up with our PC contacts at the airport: John Reddy, Country Director; Dr. Chad, PCMO; PC corps staff drivers; and some current volunteers.  We loaded our gear into some military grade Toyota Landcruisers, and began our journey to the PC training center in Montasoa (some 2 1/2 hours away).  We scurried along twisting roads up into the highland, passing buses, cattle and other hazards along the way.  We arrived at the training center, where we would catch a well deserved meal and rest.  We would spend the next few days at the training center preparing for our home-stay in the neighboring villages of Montasoa and Anjozoro.

Since Sunday March 4th I have had privilege of  living in Anjozoro with a host family beyond my expectations.  The mother, Lova was the only member present when I arrived, but since then I have met her husband Regis, a carpenter in Tana, and her son Dieu Donne, an engineering student in Tana.  There was a initial shock moving to a village where most of the days hours are spent preparing dinner, but after nearly a month it all seems familar; the rooster crows, I wake up, go to the well and get my first bucket of water, heat some of it up and take a fairly brisk shower.  Food has been a bit of an adjustment.  Rice is eaten at least twice a day and that alone takes some getting used to, but on the other hand pineapples are currently in season and we eat them for dessert everyday.  Today however was an exception, because for the first time, the volunteers got together and cooked meals for their families; we made a chile and my neighboring volunteer showed her expertise by making some apple crisp.

In short, it's already been a month and I've learned and experienced so much.  For those of you waiting on pictures I have some but they'll have to wait because the internet a bit too moramora (slow) here to post them.  Oh and this coming Monday we get our site assignments, so I'll finally know what I'll be doing and where!

Salama

Nick

Welcome

Hello, if you're reading this, you've discovered what will become a window to another world.  On February 28th 2012 I will depart for Peace Corps service in Madagascar, and it is through this blog that I hope to share my adventure with all of you.  See you in February.