Hey all!
So im using my friends host dads comp and she left the house andi feel kinda awkward so im going to try to make this short.
This week was our lemur ecology camping trip! left on sunday and drove a brutal 6 hours to get there-the roads are all ripped up and full of puddles thanks to the cyclone. stopped iun a village for lunch and literally there was an insane mob of kids attacking us for money and candy. it was insanity and i felt so bad but i didnt have anything for them and it was just really overwhelming. its really heart wrenching too because they are soooo thin and malnourished with those big bellies that stick out. it makes me really sad but i canùt really do anything about it. anyways we got there and set up camp. went inot the forest and saw real life lemuyrs! theyre called sifaka and theyre big and white and you should look them up cuz theyre awesome! did a population density habitat and behavior study on them. it was raining a ton we were all drenched. sat out and looked at the stars one night that was incredible! theres so many stars they fill up the whold sky! sang songs and played cards actually felt like camping. on the way back stopped at berenty reserve and there were literally lemurs a foot away from us theyre totally used to humans there. also ate a rezal nice lunch so that was ecxiting. random food story: so the night i got home i was eating with my host family when my dad asked me what our topping was so i said zebu and he said ya ya tongue and then just kept eating! ah! but im so proud of myself i was just like ok wait gotta follow my dont htink just eat motto and it was only the meat and rice for dinner so i didnt have much of an option so i just got over it and ate it! it didnt taste bad i think ive eaten it like 3 times already. so go me! i would have never ever done that before haha.
anyways tomorrow we leave for a week long stay in a tiny village. im just with one other girl from SITand then a malagasy student. they speak a completely different dialect in this village so communication might be an issue. also they dance for about 4 hours every night! and their dance is basically high-knees and stomping around (chelsea its just like stomp club! ok not just but like our crazy version oif it) not reallly sure what else to expect.
its still raining tons here-walked in puddles up to my knees to get into town today. so hopefully the roads are good enough for us to get to the village.
theres a ton more i want to stay but im worried about using their computer for too long so im going to end this one here. ill try to put more detail and excitingness in my next entry. miss you all and love you!
Saturday, February 26, 2011
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Cyclone? No big deal...
Hello again everyone! Thanks for all the nice comments maybe Ill just become a freelance writer and travelt he world and tell my crazy stories. I sure have enough of them!
So to explain the title of this entry: yes ther was a cyclone. its crazy the rest of the world probably doesnt even know but it was ranked a 3 out of 5 tropical storm. yesterday was the worst of it it came clost to fort dauphin were i am but thankfully the eye of it wasnt here. it was the most intense strom ive ever seen! soooo much rain and wind. i dont know the conversion but i think winds were 60-80kilometer per hr? yea so school was canceled and there was no elecrticity so i was just home with my family and we were using candles and such. my host mom braided my hair so im pretty ghetto fabulous now. then my dad got home from work and was like oh the roof blew off at the factory where he works so thats when i was like oh dang! so we put sand bags on our roof and then kept going about our business. it really was no big deal for them so i decided just to pray a little and not freak out. it was funny though i explainded earthquakes and wildfires to them since there are those in cali and they were like OH MAN and we decided that a cyclone is much better. oh yea and the kind of pet turtle crawled into my room and hid by my bags. i was like oh the animals sense the danger! nothing bad happened to our house but one of the other kids had his roof blow away. i feel really bad for his family. and some houses dont have water but mine does. the whole city is just kind of picking up everything and working together so thats cool. so yea thats a cyclone!
so the camping trip: drove 3 very long hours to get there - once again indiana jones style BUT this time there was an edge. so there were these chickens chillin on the grass before we left. were sitting in the van when just as one of my friends say oh they wouldnt take the chickens we here a thud and turn around to see the chickens literally spread feathered sliding up the wet window getting dragged onto the roof! yea really! it was great comical timing too. those poor chickens they were probably terrified but you gotta do what you gotta do to eat i guess. i like to take the dont think just eat approach. So we drove 3 hours there only to find that the path to the national park was blocked by a RAGING river - really it was girormous there was no way to cross it we were so bummed. so what did we do? well keeping with the malagasy way of life we sat around and did nothing for no plan for a solid 2 hours until deciding to set up camp on the side of the road. and we camped there for 2 nights. we had some class in a half built concrete building and had to go to the bathroom in the bush with lots of catus (cacti?) and the whold trip was with the kids from the malagasy ecology program and theyre really um i dont know different? i cant blame them or anything its the culture but to us they are just a bit immature and rude and its difficult to talk to them so there was this awkwardness the whole time. but by the end of the trip i think the groups mesh a little bit better. we went into a different part of the forest and did a plant inventory but it was so unorganized and we were grouped with the other kids so communication was rough but it was alright. so that was that. sang some songs and plmayed some ninja and other games like that so pass the time.
tomorrow we leave to camp again for the LEMUR STUDY!!! yayyyy! oh yea! when we were camping we saw a mouse lemur! prob about the size of my fist but it was at night and hard to see. but this week we are supposed to study real live big lemurs im so excited! hopefully we can get there and theres not some other freak obstacle in our way.
besides that all is normal. thanks to my hair braids i have been deemed malagache not vazaha by my family. tought jenny my littlest sis how to play go fish she likes that a lot. ate some good cake its like banana rice cake. i like the food here a lot its just a lot of rice. but the fruit is incredible im going to miss mangos so much when i leave. fruit really makes me appreciate being here a lot cuw i know ill never taste fruit as good as this again.
my time here is already a quarter of the way done! thats insane! so im just trying to live the malagasy way and take each day as it comes and go with the flow. i think its good for me. you guys arent even going to recognize me when i get home! haha just kidding you will but i think this trip is really helping me grow as an individual so thats good.
Anyways i hope that everything is going well there for you all in the regular world! its so hard to believe that that world exists while im here! i just wish i could bring you all here to see it! hope you have a wonderful week and ill try to update after i get back from camping! hopefully ill have hugged some lemurs!
love you all! veloma!
So to explain the title of this entry: yes ther was a cyclone. its crazy the rest of the world probably doesnt even know but it was ranked a 3 out of 5 tropical storm. yesterday was the worst of it it came clost to fort dauphin were i am but thankfully the eye of it wasnt here. it was the most intense strom ive ever seen! soooo much rain and wind. i dont know the conversion but i think winds were 60-80kilometer per hr? yea so school was canceled and there was no elecrticity so i was just home with my family and we were using candles and such. my host mom braided my hair so im pretty ghetto fabulous now. then my dad got home from work and was like oh the roof blew off at the factory where he works so thats when i was like oh dang! so we put sand bags on our roof and then kept going about our business. it really was no big deal for them so i decided just to pray a little and not freak out. it was funny though i explainded earthquakes and wildfires to them since there are those in cali and they were like OH MAN and we decided that a cyclone is much better. oh yea and the kind of pet turtle crawled into my room and hid by my bags. i was like oh the animals sense the danger! nothing bad happened to our house but one of the other kids had his roof blow away. i feel really bad for his family. and some houses dont have water but mine does. the whole city is just kind of picking up everything and working together so thats cool. so yea thats a cyclone!
so the camping trip: drove 3 very long hours to get there - once again indiana jones style BUT this time there was an edge. so there were these chickens chillin on the grass before we left. were sitting in the van when just as one of my friends say oh they wouldnt take the chickens we here a thud and turn around to see the chickens literally spread feathered sliding up the wet window getting dragged onto the roof! yea really! it was great comical timing too. those poor chickens they were probably terrified but you gotta do what you gotta do to eat i guess. i like to take the dont think just eat approach. So we drove 3 hours there only to find that the path to the national park was blocked by a RAGING river - really it was girormous there was no way to cross it we were so bummed. so what did we do? well keeping with the malagasy way of life we sat around and did nothing for no plan for a solid 2 hours until deciding to set up camp on the side of the road. and we camped there for 2 nights. we had some class in a half built concrete building and had to go to the bathroom in the bush with lots of catus (cacti?) and the whold trip was with the kids from the malagasy ecology program and theyre really um i dont know different? i cant blame them or anything its the culture but to us they are just a bit immature and rude and its difficult to talk to them so there was this awkwardness the whole time. but by the end of the trip i think the groups mesh a little bit better. we went into a different part of the forest and did a plant inventory but it was so unorganized and we were grouped with the other kids so communication was rough but it was alright. so that was that. sang some songs and plmayed some ninja and other games like that so pass the time.
tomorrow we leave to camp again for the LEMUR STUDY!!! yayyyy! oh yea! when we were camping we saw a mouse lemur! prob about the size of my fist but it was at night and hard to see. but this week we are supposed to study real live big lemurs im so excited! hopefully we can get there and theres not some other freak obstacle in our way.
besides that all is normal. thanks to my hair braids i have been deemed malagache not vazaha by my family. tought jenny my littlest sis how to play go fish she likes that a lot. ate some good cake its like banana rice cake. i like the food here a lot its just a lot of rice. but the fruit is incredible im going to miss mangos so much when i leave. fruit really makes me appreciate being here a lot cuw i know ill never taste fruit as good as this again.
my time here is already a quarter of the way done! thats insane! so im just trying to live the malagasy way and take each day as it comes and go with the flow. i think its good for me. you guys arent even going to recognize me when i get home! haha just kidding you will but i think this trip is really helping me grow as an individual so thats good.
Anyways i hope that everything is going well there for you all in the regular world! its so hard to believe that that world exists while im here! i just wish i could bring you all here to see it! hope you have a wonderful week and ill try to update after i get back from camping! hopefully ill have hugged some lemurs!
love you all! veloma!
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Whats up vazahas?
Hello everyone!
Well it has been quite the week. I put a little update on my facebook but Ill give you guys the whole story here.
So birthday:
First of all thank you all so much for the birthday wishes! It was a birthday like no other thats for sure. I woke up and everyone said happy birthday and did the three kisses on the cheek thing. my host mom made a big effort to say happy birthday in english so that was nice. then i got to talk to mom and dad on the phoen before school-yay! school was a trip to this mining cite. its really terrible its ruining the environment and only helping a few already rich people and its all to mine for the stuff that makes toothpaste white. ya. bad news bears. so we toured the new port they built for it, the mining cite, and then the conservation zone that they set aside because they had to (a whomping 10 percent of the land) it was crazy cuz the mining cite was like the dessert and it used to look like the conservation cite which is rainforest. but it was very eye-opening and informational. after the tour we had lunch-there was peanut butter and laughing cow cheese we were so excited! then they brought a cake out for me and everyone sang in english and french and malagasy it was really nice. the cake was really tasty there was fruit in it. also there were some guys from BBC there filming a documentary on madagascar (if you see this on tv you should watch it i might be in the background!) and they had a super fancy lunch so i got their leftovers gifted to me too. it was something like a shrimp cocktail and little sandwiches with the crusts cut off. fancy smancy. when i got to my house it was just a normal night. my director said that they dont really celebrate birthdays here only for little kids-which is sadly probably cuz many kids dont make it past their 5th birthday :( but my little sister did sneak some cookies under my pillow and gave me a hair clip. shes my little pal here i love playing with her. the big deal rightn now is learning how to shuffle and play war. then theres always the macarena she gets a kick out of that. anyways that was my birthday. oh also some ladies on the street gave me necklaces but now i think they are going to hunt me down and make me buy more from them they already have cornered some of the other kids. the street vendors are so frustrating because theyre everywhere and i really dont need weaved hats and necklaces rightn ow but i feel bad always turning them down. also a lot of times they send the kids after you and they just pull at your heartstrings. its tough. but anyways moving on to the next day...
Wednesday night I got really sick. I think it might have been bad oil that they cooked manioc fries in? but i figure we all are going to barf here sometime or another so might as well get used to it. it was pretty dismal though and as i was barfing a centipede crawled out of a crack in the wall next to me and i was just like really this is not happening.
Then the next morning we went to a fishing village. but not just any fishing village. no it was a village 2 hours away and literally it was more intense than the indiana jones ride at disneyland. the roads are paved and theres tons of potholes and mini rivers and they still drive really fast and crazy!!! and this whole time i was still feeling sick! mayhem!! but we made it there, took a hike to the beach, then helped the fishermen pull their really heavy boats onto the beach, then interveiwed them. it was really interesting they live such a hard life but they are so happy and proud to be fishermen. after we finished talking to them we drove ON the beach-on the sand- to this AMAZING picnic spot! had a really good lunch and went swimming in the ocean! after lunch i felt a lot better but i still kind of took it easy and just waded out and literally sat in the ocean about 100 plus yards out. it was so shallow and warm and amazing like out of a movie. probably what you all have imagined me doing this whole time but it was my first experience like that and i think i really really needed it. then we had malagasy class-ive decided this language is basically insane and impossible but oh well. then for the ride home 3 other girls and i sat in the bed of the truck for awhile it was soooo awesome! so that was probably the worst and best time so far all in one day.
then on friday i lost my phone in a taxi. called my driver and the only lady who had been in the car was still there but she said she didnt see it so basically she pocketed it. i was really mad at myself for this but oh well its fifteen bucks for a phone here so i got a new one and ill be more careful. there are many worse things that could have been lost.
Anyways the weekend is pretty uneventful. Think i enjoy school more. met up with some friends today at the vazaha hotel-the only place you can really go to hang out and not feel awkward because theres lots of other vazahas there. the whold vazaha thing is getting so old. people are always talking about us and watching us and i know its not rude for their culture but itsjust really exhausting for us.
OH YEA church! went to church at 5:30 last sunday. there were prob about 800 people there and i was the only white person and people were watching me the entire time. it was lutheran but i didnt recognize anything and it was all in malagasy so i basically sat there through it for 3 hours. and before it started i had to go up to the pastor and prove that im lutheran and i cried in communion and everyone just stared at me and i was just so uncomfortable. its just so different because i feel so safe and loved and comfortable at my church so it was just rough feeling the opposite of that and missing home. going to try to make tomorrows church experience better though.
so yea ive been a bit homesick but this week flew by so im trying to just remember that and enjoy life here. its pretty rough sometimes though. it really is a third world country its unlike anything ive ever seen its so difficult to describe. but its really an experience.
For wildlife: ive seen a chemeleon, frogs, lizards, turtle, lots of stray dogs and chickens, oh and a dead shark! a normal looking one and then a little hammerhead and two sting rays that someone caught and were on the beach! it was sad cuz theyre not supposed to fish hammerheads especially babies. touched the shark it was so bizarre! a lot like a wet suit. but this upcoming week were going to a national park to camp for 3 days so were hoping to see lemurs.
Ive made some good friend sin the group theyre all really nice and we vazaha it up together.
Anyways think thats about it! I miss you guys a lot! it hard to imagine that PLU just started school and people are living normal lives in america. dont take anything there for granted-and by anything i mean ANYTHING -even toilet paper (someone gave us notebook paper to use as toilet paper this week!)
Ill try to post again soon. Thanks so much for all the thoughts and prayers you all are awesome and i love you very very much!
Well it has been quite the week. I put a little update on my facebook but Ill give you guys the whole story here.
So birthday:
First of all thank you all so much for the birthday wishes! It was a birthday like no other thats for sure. I woke up and everyone said happy birthday and did the three kisses on the cheek thing. my host mom made a big effort to say happy birthday in english so that was nice. then i got to talk to mom and dad on the phoen before school-yay! school was a trip to this mining cite. its really terrible its ruining the environment and only helping a few already rich people and its all to mine for the stuff that makes toothpaste white. ya. bad news bears. so we toured the new port they built for it, the mining cite, and then the conservation zone that they set aside because they had to (a whomping 10 percent of the land) it was crazy cuz the mining cite was like the dessert and it used to look like the conservation cite which is rainforest. but it was very eye-opening and informational. after the tour we had lunch-there was peanut butter and laughing cow cheese we were so excited! then they brought a cake out for me and everyone sang in english and french and malagasy it was really nice. the cake was really tasty there was fruit in it. also there were some guys from BBC there filming a documentary on madagascar (if you see this on tv you should watch it i might be in the background!) and they had a super fancy lunch so i got their leftovers gifted to me too. it was something like a shrimp cocktail and little sandwiches with the crusts cut off. fancy smancy. when i got to my house it was just a normal night. my director said that they dont really celebrate birthdays here only for little kids-which is sadly probably cuz many kids dont make it past their 5th birthday :( but my little sister did sneak some cookies under my pillow and gave me a hair clip. shes my little pal here i love playing with her. the big deal rightn now is learning how to shuffle and play war. then theres always the macarena she gets a kick out of that. anyways that was my birthday. oh also some ladies on the street gave me necklaces but now i think they are going to hunt me down and make me buy more from them they already have cornered some of the other kids. the street vendors are so frustrating because theyre everywhere and i really dont need weaved hats and necklaces rightn ow but i feel bad always turning them down. also a lot of times they send the kids after you and they just pull at your heartstrings. its tough. but anyways moving on to the next day...
Wednesday night I got really sick. I think it might have been bad oil that they cooked manioc fries in? but i figure we all are going to barf here sometime or another so might as well get used to it. it was pretty dismal though and as i was barfing a centipede crawled out of a crack in the wall next to me and i was just like really this is not happening.
Then the next morning we went to a fishing village. but not just any fishing village. no it was a village 2 hours away and literally it was more intense than the indiana jones ride at disneyland. the roads are paved and theres tons of potholes and mini rivers and they still drive really fast and crazy!!! and this whole time i was still feeling sick! mayhem!! but we made it there, took a hike to the beach, then helped the fishermen pull their really heavy boats onto the beach, then interveiwed them. it was really interesting they live such a hard life but they are so happy and proud to be fishermen. after we finished talking to them we drove ON the beach-on the sand- to this AMAZING picnic spot! had a really good lunch and went swimming in the ocean! after lunch i felt a lot better but i still kind of took it easy and just waded out and literally sat in the ocean about 100 plus yards out. it was so shallow and warm and amazing like out of a movie. probably what you all have imagined me doing this whole time but it was my first experience like that and i think i really really needed it. then we had malagasy class-ive decided this language is basically insane and impossible but oh well. then for the ride home 3 other girls and i sat in the bed of the truck for awhile it was soooo awesome! so that was probably the worst and best time so far all in one day.
then on friday i lost my phone in a taxi. called my driver and the only lady who had been in the car was still there but she said she didnt see it so basically she pocketed it. i was really mad at myself for this but oh well its fifteen bucks for a phone here so i got a new one and ill be more careful. there are many worse things that could have been lost.
Anyways the weekend is pretty uneventful. Think i enjoy school more. met up with some friends today at the vazaha hotel-the only place you can really go to hang out and not feel awkward because theres lots of other vazahas there. the whold vazaha thing is getting so old. people are always talking about us and watching us and i know its not rude for their culture but itsjust really exhausting for us.
OH YEA church! went to church at 5:30 last sunday. there were prob about 800 people there and i was the only white person and people were watching me the entire time. it was lutheran but i didnt recognize anything and it was all in malagasy so i basically sat there through it for 3 hours. and before it started i had to go up to the pastor and prove that im lutheran and i cried in communion and everyone just stared at me and i was just so uncomfortable. its just so different because i feel so safe and loved and comfortable at my church so it was just rough feeling the opposite of that and missing home. going to try to make tomorrows church experience better though.
so yea ive been a bit homesick but this week flew by so im trying to just remember that and enjoy life here. its pretty rough sometimes though. it really is a third world country its unlike anything ive ever seen its so difficult to describe. but its really an experience.
For wildlife: ive seen a chemeleon, frogs, lizards, turtle, lots of stray dogs and chickens, oh and a dead shark! a normal looking one and then a little hammerhead and two sting rays that someone caught and were on the beach! it was sad cuz theyre not supposed to fish hammerheads especially babies. touched the shark it was so bizarre! a lot like a wet suit. but this upcoming week were going to a national park to camp for 3 days so were hoping to see lemurs.
Ive made some good friend sin the group theyre all really nice and we vazaha it up together.
Anyways think thats about it! I miss you guys a lot! it hard to imagine that PLU just started school and people are living normal lives in america. dont take anything there for granted-and by anything i mean ANYTHING -even toilet paper (someone gave us notebook paper to use as toilet paper this week!)
Ill try to post again soon. Thanks so much for all the thoughts and prayers you all are awesome and i love you very very much!
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Salama!
Hi again everyone!
Well one week down and something like 14 more to go? It went fast so Im think Ill be home in no time so im trying not to waste my time here being homesick. its kind of difficult on days like this though because I am just with my host family and the dad is the only one who speaks good english but he isnt home so my mom and sisters just speak malagasy and i just smile and nod. too much free time to think about home...so i decided to try to find my way to internet to write to you guys so here i am!
Lets see...so this week was official orientation. which kind of went something like heres madagascar walk around and find your way to school (of course i got lost). the location of the school is awesome its on the far south peninsula so theres the ocean on all 3 sides and its nice and breezy and green. we just sit on the grass and eat lunch and can walk down to the beach. the water is soooo warm! its like a hot tub. theres stray dogs that follow us around and just walk around our classroom. took a french placement test but dont know the results yet. the professors are really nice and i think Im understanding everything enough in class. so far ive had a class on the geography of madagascar and the history of fort dauphin in french. also learning malagasy which is pretty difficult. everything is backwards so instead of saying I am full you say Full I which is zoky zaho. thats the only sentence i know because its what i have to say every night so they stp feeding me! so much food!!! always rice and usually meat and this vinigar cucumbers that you would really like mom! and breakfast is always baguette with jam. my family is very nice and hospitable. my host dad grew up with canadians so he knows what the american lifestyle is kind of like so its less intense than some of the other familys i think. their house has the most amazing view of the bay and mountains! definitely would be prime real estate in the US but its intertesting cuz they dont really caree about it they care more about what they have and their house. i have running water and electricity yayyyy!!!! but there is this evil rooster and it always screams outside my window every morning and the mom starts doing dishes at 5am and my room is right next to the kitchen so everyday so far ive been up by 6. but we go to bed early between 9 and 10. my sisters are nice Ive become closest to the youngest Jennifer who is 9. we play hand games and make card castles and do the macarena. this morning i did laundry qnd everyone laughed at me. also went into the market. man the mqrket is insane. its huge and dirty and there are people everywhere! havent seen any lemurs yet. but i did see a baby chameleon yesterday and this morning i saw a turtle in our yard. oh and saw HUGE spiders and cockroaches! but none have hissed at me yet. so thats pretty much it. im just taking everything one day at a time and trying to live it up! Miss you all hope you have a good weekend! Veloma!
Well one week down and something like 14 more to go? It went fast so Im think Ill be home in no time so im trying not to waste my time here being homesick. its kind of difficult on days like this though because I am just with my host family and the dad is the only one who speaks good english but he isnt home so my mom and sisters just speak malagasy and i just smile and nod. too much free time to think about home...so i decided to try to find my way to internet to write to you guys so here i am!
Lets see...so this week was official orientation. which kind of went something like heres madagascar walk around and find your way to school (of course i got lost). the location of the school is awesome its on the far south peninsula so theres the ocean on all 3 sides and its nice and breezy and green. we just sit on the grass and eat lunch and can walk down to the beach. the water is soooo warm! its like a hot tub. theres stray dogs that follow us around and just walk around our classroom. took a french placement test but dont know the results yet. the professors are really nice and i think Im understanding everything enough in class. so far ive had a class on the geography of madagascar and the history of fort dauphin in french. also learning malagasy which is pretty difficult. everything is backwards so instead of saying I am full you say Full I which is zoky zaho. thats the only sentence i know because its what i have to say every night so they stp feeding me! so much food!!! always rice and usually meat and this vinigar cucumbers that you would really like mom! and breakfast is always baguette with jam. my family is very nice and hospitable. my host dad grew up with canadians so he knows what the american lifestyle is kind of like so its less intense than some of the other familys i think. their house has the most amazing view of the bay and mountains! definitely would be prime real estate in the US but its intertesting cuz they dont really caree about it they care more about what they have and their house. i have running water and electricity yayyyy!!!! but there is this evil rooster and it always screams outside my window every morning and the mom starts doing dishes at 5am and my room is right next to the kitchen so everyday so far ive been up by 6. but we go to bed early between 9 and 10. my sisters are nice Ive become closest to the youngest Jennifer who is 9. we play hand games and make card castles and do the macarena. this morning i did laundry qnd everyone laughed at me. also went into the market. man the mqrket is insane. its huge and dirty and there are people everywhere! havent seen any lemurs yet. but i did see a baby chameleon yesterday and this morning i saw a turtle in our yard. oh and saw HUGE spiders and cockroaches! but none have hissed at me yet. so thats pretty much it. im just taking everything one day at a time and trying to live it up! Miss you all hope you have a good weekend! Veloma!
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
hello from madagascar
salama everyone! so just to warn you all the keyboared is real different so if i type a q its probably supposred to be an a. well im here and its really beautiful. pictures dont do it justice but hopefully i can post some soon. its really warm but its nice. lots of bug bits. i dont even know where to start with everything. my bags were lost but i got them on monday - thats my luck. but all of the kids in the program are really friendlyt and nice. im homesick but im trying just to take everything a step at a time and enjoy where i am; seeing the beach helps but i hqvent gotten to touch it yet. met my host family last night. my host dad speaks english really well but the mom didnt really talk to m"e. its definitely pqtriarchal society. they have 3 girls 18 13 and 9 years old. tonight i staart to stay with the,m. im really nervous. my french is not that good and i can only say hi bye and count to ten in malagasy. but hopefully it will improve soon. leqrned how to do the trqditional dance and tried carrying water on my head and pounding rice. the food is pretty tasty the rice is different but good. had my first shower wth running water today before its just been with buckets from a river. its a different world here for sure ill never tqke whqt i hqve in the states for granted again. anyways ive been on here for awhile hopefullly my typing will get fqster so i can write more. i love you all very very very much and hopefully i will talk to you again soon! veloma!
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