life in madagascar

First let me apologize for not updating sooner...good internet is hard to find in this country. I have 40 prepaid minutes right now so i'll do my best!

I know you all probably have many questions for us so hopefully you get some answers here!

Many of you know where we are in madagascar...I can't say more here other than that we are in the northwest of the country...PC doesn't like any specific information on blogs for everyone to see, but if you're on our email list you already know! We live in a house with 2 rooms, it's very large for PC standards! We have no running water or electricity...but a kabone (like an outhouse but no seat, you have to squat) and shower which is just a slab of concrete with walls. At first we were showering using a bucket but someone gave us a coleman solar shower that we use now (sometimes we still use the bucket so we don't get too spoiled!)

We are still learning the language, and get a little smarter each day...here's what it looks like:

Mbola mianatra teny Malagasy zahay. Isan-andro, apres nifoha zahay mansaka bok'io mandoky.

So that basically means we're still learning Malagasy, and that each day after we wake up we get water then cook breakfast.

We are slowly starting to figure out what our projects here might be. Our main partner is the Malagasy National Park Service (right now we are working with some guides teaching them what to expect from tourists as well as practicing english with them). We have also been working on a garden and teaching gardening techniques to people in our town. They have been pretty amazed by what we are growing here. The soil at our house is practically pure clay and we've used a technique called double-digging that they are unfamiliar with. Also been teaching about composting techniques. We have a week long PC training coming up in the capitol where we will probably be learning more about how to help finance the projects, so we'll have a better idea after that!

Right now we are in Diego which is in the north...we came to celebrate the 4th of July and a friend's 30th birthday! We were invited over to a house of some Americans that live here right now, and had hamburgers and potato salad and chicken breasts...it was amazing and a great break from "gasy food!" We are headed back to site tomorrow but will probably have internet again in about a month when we have training. I'll try my best to update this again...but no promises!

Hope everyone is well and feel free to email us even though it takes us a long time to get back to you. We also have cell phones and I won't put my number on the blog but will try to email it out...we can send texts for pretty cheap here!

Veloma!

Finally have internet!!!

Okay...so I know you've all been wondering about us! Yes we are alive and well and having a great time. I only have a little bit of time on the internet right now, so I wanted to leave a post for all of you wondering. We have about three more weeks of training left and it is very intense and we actually have little time to ourselves, but once at site we'll have more time to write letters, etc. I don't have my camera right now so can't post any pictures (didn't know we'd have access to internet for a few minutes!)

ANYWAY...Madagascar is amazing! It's so hard to describe this experience in a few sentences, but it's just great!

Hopefully we'll have some time in about 3 weeks to get back on and post some pictures. Hope everyone is well in the state - again, we are doing great even though a lot of you haven't heard from us!

Farewell to Minnesota...for now

Packing Away

Those of you who voted that Jen would hate the spiders most are correct. She is actually looking forward to seeing the Giant Jumping Rat.

Packing is going smooth.......almost done. We have been on a whirlwind tour visiting people these last couple of days. There are way too many people to say goodbye to....so, a bunch have been missed on the tour. Please don't take it the wrong way if we didn't get a chance to stop by, we just ran out of time. Our adventure begins on Monday, February 18th with a flight from Minneapolis to Washington DC. Wednesday, February 20th is when we leave DC for Johannesburg, South Africa. After a layover in Johannesburg we land in Antananarivo on February 22nd.

After we land it will be 3-4 weeks until we will be anywhere near a telephone or computer. So, all of you repeat after me.......NO News is Good News! Letters sent AIR MAIL will be the best way to communicate with us.

More Soon,
Dave

Flight Arrangements

Just an update...on Monday, February 18th we will fly to Washington, D.C. where we will spend two days before we take a more than 15 hour flight (non-stop) to Johannesburg, South Africa! We hope to see many of you before we leave the country! And thanks to all that voted in the last poll...anyone who knows me well know that SPIDERS was the correct answer!!

Learn Malagasy!

We have been learning a little bit of Malagasy in preparation for our journey! We have a pdf and multiple mp3 files from the PC. If anyone is interested in learning some, I can send you a zip file. Just email us or post a comment and let us know.

Here are some common words and phrases:

Manahoana - Hello!

Veloma - Bye!

Avy any Etazonia aho. - I am from USA.

Noana aho. - I am hungry.

Voky aho. - I am full.


We should be getting our itinerary very soon. More posts to come.

Welcome to our blog!

Well, after a year and a half of applications, interviews, nominations, medical clearances, invitations (and did I mention the paperwork?), here we are. We will be leaving in 6 short weeks for the island of Madagascar! Now starts the packing conundrum of what to bring for 27 months. Luckily we've gotten a lot of advice from current and returned volunteers. Our actual date of departure is February 19th. Keep checking for updated information as we get it!