"Forget About It!"

Thursday, October 28, 2010

The Giants are in the World Series! Maybe I should join the Peace Corps more often…

Teaching has been going very well. This week I taught “Apologizing,” as per the national curriculum. I wrote a dialogue where Georges has to apologize for bumping into Hoby. Now, I’m no expert, but some of these kids are natural-born actors. Great performances, all around.

They also got a huge kick out of an exercise where James had to apologize for killing Hoby’s chicken with a motorcycle and Cristophe had to apologize for dropping Hoby’s keys in the kabone. Their favorite choice for Hoby’s response: “forget about it!”

Today was the first day I’ve been without another PCV here in Ambanja in a week.

Last Wednesday Jonathan arrived to take care of some business before going on vacation on Nosy Be this past Monday. He and I hung out and watched a lot of Curb Your Enthusiasm until Saturday, when we had major errands to run.

Mama Peace Corps created a big list of things to purchase for Katie M.’s birthday party. We were making three cakes, a giant pizza, and chocolate-coconut-vanilla rum punch. Flour, eggs, cheese, and butter add up pretty quick around here, but it was worth it. We brought all the materials to Mama Peace Corps’ house and helped make the rum punch.

The next day (Sunday), Jason, Katie M., Katie B., and Vanessa (all the other PCV’s in close proximity to Ambanja) arrived. Throughout the day we snacked on Oreos sent by my parents and peanut butter sent by Katie B.’s parents (extremely valuable commodities).

In the late afternoon we went to a morengy (boxing) match. We took pousse-pousse’s (bicycle taxis) a few km down the main road and came to a big grass field in a concrete wall. Several hundred people lined the perimeter of the field, while shirtless Malagasy men strutted around the center in a ridiculous fashion with one arm extended.

Apparently, based on size, mutual willingness, and other unknown factors, the men were paired up with one another by officials. When the fighting finally began, it resembled more of a slap fest than a boxing match. Occasionally one guy would get a few good swings in, but usually both fighters would just end up grappling and the fight would immediately be broken up and restarted. If there were winners and losers, I couldn’t tell. We left after about an hour.


We pousse-pousse’d back into town and relaxed before going over to Mama Peace Corps’ for Katie M.’s birthday dinner. Mama Peace Corps went all out. She had a neighbor build a wooden, three-tiered platform, upon which sat three beautiful cakes. There was also a giant meat, cheese, and green pepper pizza. We ate heartily and drank merrily.

Friday, October 29, 2010

I fell asleep while typing last night. It’s pretty darn hot here. I was woken up early this morning via text message from my Dad: Giants take game 2! It’s great to wake up to good news…

Where was I? Oh yes, Katie’s birthday. Great time. The next day (Monday), Jonathan and Vanessa left for vacation on Nosy Be. I taught during the day, Jason and Katie M. prepared a presentation for a U.S. study-abroad group here in Madagascar, and Katie B. returned to her site in the afternoon.

Tuesday evening, after more teaching, I accompanied Jason and Katie M. to dinner with the study-abroad group. Katie had actually participated in the same study-abroad program, and thus knew the director and had some great insight to share. There were eight students with varying degrees of interest in the Peace Corps, so we gave our two-cents and talked about Madagascar for a few hours. I never thought simply speaking in English with native English speakers could be so fun.

Jason and Katie left for Diego Wednesday, and I went through the recurring shock of being left alone in Ambanja again. Like I mentioned in a previous post, I’m having a very different experience from most of the volunteers here in Madagascar: most PCV’s go weeks on end without seeing another American. I think I’ve spent more time at site with Americans than without them.

However, I’ve been making a real effort to integrate into the community, and my Malagasy has been improving. Every afternoon and evening I go over to Mama Peace Corps’ to chat. I also try to start up conversations with the women I buy bread from every morning (and of course with the women in the market). And the teachers at the Lycee are always keeping me on my toes, testing my Malagasy abilities in the Salle du Profs (teacher’s lounge). They’ve had a fair number of Peace Corps Education volunteers come through Ambanja, so as per Malagasy culture, they like to compare me to my predecessors.

I’ve been very happy at my site. While no day is ever perfect, and I have my share of hardships and pangs of loneliness, I have a lot to be thankful for: I’ve been healthy and enjoy a relatively balanced diet; thus far I’ve had a rat- and ant-free room (knock on wood); school has already been rewarding and fun; riding my bike on the trails here has been amazing; and most importantly, I have great friends here in country (both Malagasy and American) and loving support from friends and family back home (and in Benin :)). And the coffee’s really good too.