A lot has happened since I last blogged so this could take awhil. Then again, I am feeling really lazy right now so I might not be able to make it that far. Here I go!
I got to Tana on Dec 9th, where I stayed in a hotel for 2 days cause there wasn't enough room in the MEVA. I ate a lot of hamburgers, at a place called Speedy burger, which is like burger King. it was so good. Well not really, if I compare it to America, but I try not to do that cause then everything is worse. I also went to the Cookie Shop, which is the American bakery here in Tana. They have bomb brownie sundeas. i get one everytime, though they are really expensive. good thing I dont make it Tana that much, otherwise I would be broke. We also all went out to the club in Tana, called Le Bus, which looks like an American club in Seattle. There was virtually no one there but PCV's, which was fun. The few Malagasy people who were there all crowded around the mirror, watching themselves dance. It was funny to watch them, watching themselves. I got a hoot out of it.
We left Sunday morn for IST (In-service Training). It was 6ish days long. There were a lot of seminars, half of which I didn't go to (dont worry we weren't required to) and lots of eating to be had. It was great to get some pseudo american food, but it made a lot of tummies a little rumbly. There was a lot of reading/hanging out to do, since I hadn't seen all my friends since Sept. There were a lot of stories to catch up on, a lot of horror stories to here. IST pretty much ended on Thursday night, since Friday morn we headed out to Tana to take a tour of teh Embassy. Its brand new and looks like America. It was so exciting to see it and hear different speeched from the different departments. All the embassy people were really cool and they all want to help us out however they can. I got all the info I need to take the State dept exam next summer. well this summer, since its now 2011. (PS Happy New Year!). and the best part? we got to swim in the Embassy pool! It was so nice. I actually felt like I was back home at an outdoor swimming pool (though technically the embassy is america so i was there).
Sat morn a group of 10 of us headed out for our vaca/biz trip. We hired a private taxi brousse to take us to Fianar, which is about 9 hours south of tana. Private is the way to go. you can have them make stops whereever you want, or not have them make stops (regular taxi Bs stop all the time. drives me nuts). you have way more room and you dont have to worry about anyone stealing anything. its magaical. so we spent the night in fianar and then headed to ranomafana, to hit up a rainforest. We meet up with another PCV who lives in ranomafana and he took us to this awesome waterfall. we hiked up onto the actually waterfall and it was so beautiful. then, since its was raining and actually a trifle cold, we went to the hot springs, which is somthing else Ranomafana is known for. it was nice and toasty and we stayed for about an hour. then it was off to dinner and then bed, cause we had an early morning wake up call to go to the rainforest where we ended up seeing.....
LEMURS! yes ladies and gentleman, i finally saw a lemur. more then one, actually, and 2 different types, the golden bamboo lemur and another one that was red/brown. we had to hike up far and wide to see them, but it was worth it. we also had a lemur spotter, as well as a guide, who ran ahead to try and spot the lemurs. hence the name lemur spotter. it was so exciting to finally see a lemur. I felt like my experience wasn't complete/official till I saw one. we were in teh park for about 2 hours cause we though thats how long we had, cause our brousse to farafangana was supposed to come pick us up. 2 hours after the car was supposed to come it finally showed up. this one wasnt a private brousse, but it was mostly us so thats nice. Though no space since we were all squished. thast ok though. i did feel a little bad for the people around us, since we probably smelled from our trek through the jungle. oh well what can you do.
we finally made it to farafangana, where we had our biz. we got in late, so we went straight to the bungalows to stay. now my friend James, who lives in farafangana, told us they were nice and that everyone stayed there when they came. we should have known not to listen to a boy. They were fine bungalows, if i was only staying there one night, but we were going to be there 7 and this place was not acceptable. there was no running water, which wasn't that big of a deal, but the bathrooms were gross and really far away, the mosquito net did not cover the bed, it was dirty, you couldn't hang out there, and there were no outlets. now i know that last sentence may make me sound really prissy, but i would have stayed there if i was only there a night. one night vs 7 is a big difference. oh and there was no fan and its hot hot hot in farafangana. so us girls made an executive decision the next morning to change hotels so off we went (this decision didn't sit too well with teh boys, but they were staying at James house, where there was a fan, outlets, running water, and a decent bathroom). the reason this was a tiny issues was the new place was more expensive but like $10usd more expensive. a fan is worth that to me.
We had monday to relax and hang out in farafangana and then tuesday-thursday we had english club. not as many people came as James had expected (he set it up, what with it being his town and all) so we were able to do individual lessons. it was fun. my girl who I tutored the whole time was the most mahay (best, knowledgeable etc), though she wasnt that good. I'd liek to think I helped her out, at least a little. the boys went up to another PCV's site about 2 hours away for a night to install handwashing stations and give health presentations. since english club was in teh evening we had all day to tan and hang out, which was nice and fun to do. I did get a sunburn, even though i was real good about putting on sunscreen. probably the best I have ever been about it. the sun is just so strong here. on the plus side I am now real tan, which I like because I no longer have funky tan lines. we had a lot of good meals (though the buirgers we had were not tasty and did not sit well), a few laughs, and lots of sleep. 2 of the days we didn't even leave our hotel room to go to teh beach, since we were so burned and hot.
On christmas, which we called Day X since we were all sad panda bears, was ok. definitely very different then being in the states. that was one of the days we didn't leave the hotel, since we know that that night we were going to have a bonfire on the beach. we ate at the hotel as a xmas treat (which then turned into eating our breakfast there every morning) and read in our rooms. I also opened presents from my mom that she had sent, that i had carted all the way from my site just so I could have something to open on Day X. that night we did go and have a bonfire. Abe, the PCv whose site people had gone too, had come down the day before so he hung out with us too. my friend shayla and i left at about 2 but everyone else stayed to watch the sunrise (when they came back they said it wasn't that good so im glad i missed it).
we headed out of farafangana on teh 28th to go to montakara, another beach town about 3 hours north. we spent the night there and then caught the train to fianar. that train is the only passenger train in MAD and it was really fun to take it. It took us about 12 hours to get to Fianar (and if we had broussed it would have only taken us 5-6hours), but it was so much better. we had tons of space, food we could buy at every stop, a bathroom on the train (which is just like Indias system where you do your biz on the tracks) and a beer guy who would bring us cold beers when we wanted them. it was the life. i will never take a brouse back that way. i will always train it, though the chances of me coming back down this way aren't the highest, since there are a lot of other places to see.
so right now I am in fianar, which is where I spent new years. A lot of the poeple I went to the beach went actually headed back to tana early. 2 b/cthey had to fly back to their site, one b/c her house got broken into and all her stuff stolen so she has to deal with that (I feel really bad for her cause she had xmas packages waiting for her at her house. PC should be moving her though, cause who would want to stay there after all the stuff gets stolen), 1 had a med thing and 1 was already supossed to be going. the group quickly dwindledm but thats ok cause other people showed up. there were about 12 people together for new years. we went to a brothel for samosas and brochettes, which are little meat sticks. the brothel is the only place close by to go so off we went. I was back at the MEVA, where I am staying, by like 1130 cause we want to put our pjs on and countdown to the new year with youtubed music videos. i know i am so hardcore. things werent that hoppin here so it was no loss. the last 2 days i have been reading, using the internet and watching season 3 of true blood (everyone in that show has lost their minds. ppl be nuts).
I leave tomorrow to head back to site. I do and dont want to go back to site. I do cause i want to cook for myself and have my own space and not live out of a bag. I eat way healthier at site, cause i actually eat fruits and veggies there and i haven't been walking as much, what with all the sitting around and poor eating. i dont want to go back cause i will be alone at site again, and i will have to teach. My one class is about to get a rude awakening if they dont shape up. should be fun. my english club is going to start this month too and I need to find a malagasy tutor. I have realized that my malagasy is not up to par, which is probably b/c i haven't been studying. that all has to change. i need to step it up. well thats been my last month. next month I will have more stuff and hopefully I will have some good stories from class. I miss everyone and keep sending me things/letter! Mail makes my week!
and the title of this blog? totally true
