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!