I finally have some time to sit down at a computer and tell you all a little bit about what we're doing and how we're doing!
We can't believe we've already been in Madagascar for over 7 months – the time is just flying by! A good part of our daily routine is taken up by cooking; because we have no electricity or running water we have no way to really keep leftovers. So we are always cooking 3 times a day. The Malagasy people eat a lot of rice – with every meal including breakfast. Dave and I definitely eat more rice than in the States – we usually eat rice once a day, sometimes twice, and on the rare occasion 3 times. We also make a lot of pasta and bread baked in our “Peace Corps” oven, a pot with an inch of sand in the bottom and empty tin cans to set the baking dish on. This works great and we're able to make breads, biscuits, and cakes! We also eat a lot of fruits and veggies – especially tomatoes, bananas, carrots, and whatever else happens to be in season. The mangoes area coming into season now and I love the mangoes here! A Malagasy friend also taught me how to make a cold salad using
un-ripe papaya! We also eat a lot of eggs, fish (we are only a few miles from the coast), and zebu (the kind of cattle raised here). Needless to say we eat well and are staying healthy!
As I've said before, the organization that requested us is the national park service of Madagascar (
ANGAP – Association
Nationale pour
le Gestion des Aires Protegees). In July we helped them put together a grant proposal for a rather large reforestation project in the park, and word is it was accepted and the money will be disbursed soon by UNESCO. This project will probably take up a lot of our time, as well as helping to prepare the park for tourists – it is a new park and mostly those who visit now are researchers. We have already made friends with research students from France, Germany, and Belgium. We are also working with a very “
mazoto,” or motivated, farmer that approached us about compost and gardening intensification techniques. He will be planting a large tomato field in November and has offered us a small section to plant as well. Another project we expect to spend a good amount of time on are the fuel saving cook stoves, of which there is a picture posted on the blog. One of the main pressures on the park is deforestation, often for cooking purposes. The cook stoves are made of all locally available materials, and decrease the amount of wood needed to cook. We expect to soon be traveling to smaller villages on the periphery of the park to teach them about the impacts of deforestation and how the cook stoves can help relieve these pressures.
As if that's not enough to keep us busy, we often let the neighbor kids come over and play on our porch – we have a box of toys and games that they love (especially the matchbox cars and the wooden tops that my dad sent us!).
As for the weather – well, it's really hot and only getting hotter, but I'm starting to get used to it. People here say the hottest months are October, November, and December. The rainiest months are January and February. It apparently rains a lot – we'll keep you updated as we make our way through our first rainy season here. Like I said I'm getting used to being sweaty all the time – the only time it really drives me crazy is at night (however, we did have a nice rain yesterday evening and it was actually cool enough all night to use a thin blanket!).
As for world events – well, we're very uninformed at the moment – we have a shortwave radio and can sometimes get the BBC or VOA for about 15 minutes in the evening before we lose the signal. We sometimes catch the summary of the news and know that the race is down to McCain and
Obama and we also know their running mates. We also know gas is ridiculously expensive but we don't know how much (it's still costs more here...about $6 - $7 a gallon). A volunteer friend of mine was sent a bunch of newspaper sports pages about the Olympics, so I'm catching up on those – I guess that only makes me about a month behind!
As for mail – thanks a bunch to those who have sent letters and/or packages! It's great to read about how you all are doing...unfortunately mail at our site seems at times to be very slow. Just today I finally received 2 packages that took 3 months to get here...while we've received letters in about 2-3 weeks! We've been sent both first class mail and priority mail and first class takes about twice as long. Some people had emailed me and asked what would be good to send – so here are some things that we can just never have too much of :
1 – LETTERS! (cheap and easy – and we love to read about you – but don't send postcards, apparently those get stolen and stuck on the wall of a post office somewhere)
2 – popcorn (not microwave popcorn – duh!)
3 – oatmeal/granola/other breakfast type goodies (rice for breakfast really sucks!)
4 – newspapers or clippings on local/US/world goings on
5 – CHEESE (any non-perishable, i.e.
velveeta, canned cheese, dry Parmesan, etc.)
6 – crystal light type drink mixes – we drink a lot of water!!!
7 – magazines (hunting/guns, science, news, even gossip...anything BUT Newsweek)
8 – any good '
ol American snack food – candy,
trailmix, you name it, we'll eat it!
Okay, what else can I say? There is so much – this country is so beautiful and the people are so unique and vary so much depending on the part of the country you are in. People on the plateau (central Madagascar) are more Asian looking, the people here on the coast more African looking. The cultures and dialects vary just as much, and Dave and I really enjoy the
Sakalava people and culture. We are integrating well and people have been very accepting – many have never seen a white person that (a) doesn't speak French and (b) speaks Malagasy! The pace of life is slower here, but again, the time is flying by.
We plan to be in the capitol again and will have access to
internet early November (3rd - 7
th). I get to see the dentist (an American dentist) for my routine cleaning on my birthday! Hopefully my b-day present will be no cavities! Will write again then – take care everyone!
Jen and Dave
ps – In the next couple of weeks I am getting a pet duck! It's still too young yet to take from it's mother...which is a chicken. Long story...but this is Madagascar and crazier things have happened! Someday I'll elaborate...
Baby sifaka just hanging out.
Baby sifaka just hanging out.
Me in the forests of Berenty.
Red fronted brown lemur
Mother and baby ringtail lemur in the spiny forest.
Sifaka crossing a road in Berenty.
Ringtail lemur warming himself up in the sun after a cool night.
Dave and a Baobab tree.
Synchronized sifakas!
Us, our friend Nancy, and some of the Berenty staff members
