I’ve got Friends in Low Places…

My house at my training site

Sweet pic eh? It took like an hour to load... Well as promised, here are some fellow trainees’ blogsites. Special thanks to Katie for letting me use her computer to pre-type the below post. We are going to visit our sites this weekend and early next week, so I am pretty excited. Hope to post again soon. Until then, enjoy the sites on the right…

Emancipate Yourselves from Mental Slavery, None but Ourselves Can Free Our Minds…

…Redemption Songs…

(Written Sat. 3/22/08)

Aside from being an awesome lyric and something of a general encouragement to all of you reading this, what does the title above have to do with anything? Simple – this post is my redemption song. *

Why redemption? Well my last post was quite brief and sparse. It really lacked that certain “style” (or “rambling”) so many of you have come to expect from my writings. My excuse is the French keyboards that greeted me at the internet café in Tana. I was unprepared, and it took me a very long time to type out those 2 entries. So this time I am planning ahead and writing BEFORE I get to Tana. Hopefully this will expedite the process, and not rob you all of that Planicka-eccentricity,

Since my last post, we have been studying language and agricultural techniques. A couple of highlights:

-While in Tana, we visited Akany Avoko. This is a children’s home in the city that is simply amazing. They work primarily with orphaned girls, instilling in them confidence and values along with an excellent education. Also impressive were the many eco-friendly features of the school. These included solar showers, solar cookers, biofuel outhouses, rainwater collection systems… very cool stuff. Akany Avoko also produces unique handmade crafts (including beautiful recycled paper). All around, an awesome place.

-Also while in Tana, we traveled to a nearby PCV’s site. After a day of hands-on agricultural training, we had a party with the local farmers’ group. This was very fun, as we learned dances and listened to their band (consisiting of guitars, drums… and an accordion!). At one point they even played “By the rivers of Babylon,” which reminded me of Sublime/Bob Marley, even though it was quite a different style. [Speaking of, Bob Marley goes over very well here. Someone even heard a Malagasy version of Redemption Song on the radio]

-One last Tana-related story: we had a session on MAP – Madagascar Action Plan. This is a very cool and groundbreaking document. Why? Well, aside from having the same initials as my sister (who is too busy gallivanting around Europe right now to even read this!), the MAP is an ambitious set of goals for the country. It includes agricultural and environment/conservation goals (making Madagascar the first, and perhaps only, country to specifically target the environment and conservation). The MAP really is worth a look, so check it out if you have a chance.

Alright, now for some more details on training and my daily life in Madagascar. In our training group (called a “stage” – pronounced “staaj” for some reason), we have 32 total volunteers… or, trainees (we are Peace Corps Trainees, PCTs, until the end of training when we become PCVs). There are 27 environmental volunteers and 5 SED (Small Enterprise Document) volunteers. We come from all over the country, although oddly there are 4 volunteers from CA and 4 from MN. There are 3 married couples. We have 2 Brendans, 2 Julias, 2 Chris-es, 2 Cor(ie/ey)s, 2 Katherines… just to keep things confusing. All told, we are a pretty awesome group, and we will be serving all over the island so our stories will be interesting and varied. I will try to add some of their sites here to provide some further insight into Peace Corps Madagascar. Then you can see that everyone is (at least) as nutty and random as I am [meant in the best possible way] – there is even a guy from MI who picks up on my obscure Beastie Boys references (something of an alternate reality Elsen perhaps, had he stayed in Michigan?) **

The candle is dying, so it must be time to wrap it up. We are visiting our sites soon, so I am excited to see my home for 2 years. My site is in the eastern rainforest corridor, not too far from Tana. Sorry to be so vague, but Peace Corps does not want site information posted on the internet for security reasons. I can provide more details if you write me (Letters) so consider this added incentive!

* I realize certain people (Ahem-Mom) will have no idea what these titles are. Don’t worry too much about it, I just enjoy the song lyrics that somewhat fit my mood. Plus I think a select few will enjoy the references (Brent, Ryan, Mark, Doug, Mike, etc. etc. – you know who you are)

** There is also a female volunteer who has a friend in the States that is eating her weight in bacon as a tribute while she serves here. I won’t hold any of you to such a high standard, but please do indulge in such unavailable delicacies as bacon, pepperoni, salsa, cheese, ice cream, etc. for me

I just dropped in to see what condition my condition was in

I am in Tana typing on a French keyboard. It is TOUGH. I posted below my first diary entry, well most of it, to give you an idea of life here. Everything is going great. The people in ,y training group are a ton of fun. The activites we do are mostly interesting and helpful for when we go to site. My site will be Northeast of Tana, in the rainforest. Very exciting! Otherwise, not much to tell now. This keyboard is frustrating, so WRITE LETTERS and I will tell you more! Thanks to everyone.

More soon...

2/23/08

I have been here for 2 nights and a day so far, and it is impossible to accurately relay my experiences. It has all been so surreal...

After our 15 1/2 hour flight (easily one of the worst experiences ever), we landed in Johanessburg (called "Joburg" by the InCrowd) Thursday evening local time. We awoke early the next morning and made our flight to Madagascar. The plane was delayed, so after a 3 1/2 hour flight and 1 1/2 hour delay, we arrived in Antananarivo ( "Tana" for the brevity savvy) at about 330 pm local time.

We were whisked away from the airport by the Peace Corps employees in vans and Land Rovers. The drivers sped along at 60 km/hr on tight roads zith heavy traffic, passing slower cars and carts like they were standing still (some were). We got to the medical office for shots and a short list of malagasy phrases. These phrases were meant to help us communicate to our host families, whom we were meeting that night. The sheet included such useful phrases as Hello (manahoana), rice (vary) and where is the toilet (aiza ny kabone). We got back in the vans for a 2 1/2 hour ride to our training site. The countryside was absolutely beautiful, and as the ride continued ze zere treated to an amazing sunset. This was followed by a nearly-absolute darkness. No electricity means no street lights.

When we finally arrived at our training village, we had to disembark our vans and get into the Land Rovers. If Land Rover needed a new commercial, this was it. In a few trips, they carried 30 of us up steep mud hills and across an otherwise impassable road.

At our village, the families met us with flashlights. They led each of us off in different directions, as we struggled thru dark and muddy terrrain. I ate with my host parents, in there 50s, and brother, 25. We had a TON of rice, and also beans, meat and veggies. When I told the, I was full; they brought out bananas and ranonapango. This is a sort of rice tea, very good.

Saturday I awoke early to roosters. I did some hygenic processes that we definitely take for granted at home, but are quite time consuming when you dont have running water. I will spare you the details (sorry Jon, no bathroom stories...yet).

The village is full of rice paddies and surrounded by rolling hills and little cottages/houses. our home has a pig, lots of chickens, and2 cows. We then went to Peace Corps building and had language and a series of interviews to place us at our permanent site for the 2 yars here (at the end of training). I just now finished unpacking, it is 730 and time for bed inside my mosquito net. More fun in store tomorrow!

P.S. In Joburg, leaving the airport, there was a sign pointing right for Johanessburg and left for Bokesburg. Seriously.

PPS Sunday AM edition: I dont know how; but i awoke to Marvin Gaye's Sexual Healing at 430 AM. I guess a love of Marvin transcends cultures.