Hmmm…not exactly sure where to start this update as it
has been about 3 months since I have sent anything. 
We have internet access right now because we had our
first training but when we return to site, it’ll be at
least 3 months before we have access again (keep your
fingers crossed that internet arrives to our banking
town!).  But snail mail has been pretty reliable
albeit it can take up to 6 weeks to arrive.  And it
seems that padded envelopes securely taped full of
candy, seeds, oatmeal, grains and other goodies from
abroad arrive safely! (hint, hint) 

On August 13 we caught a bush taxi up to Maroantsetra.
Maroantsetra is close to one of the largest tracts of
primary rainforest on the island. The humpback whales
also migrate to this peninsula every year to calf. 
This was our first experience taking a bush taxi and
it was quite the experience.  First of all, the people
that manage the bush taxis can’t
 tell you exactly when
you will leave. It is definitely not Greyhound! 
Hopefully you will leave on the day you want to leave
but I can guarantee that it won’t leave at the hour
you wish to leave.  We were told that the taxi would
meet us at our hotel shortly.  We inquired about the
color of the truck (usually Toyotas) and were told
that it was yellow.  The truck that showed up for us
was in such bad shape that we could hardly believe it
was still running… but sure enough, it was yellow.  

So, I got the best seat in the house…NOT! I had to sit
bitch the whole way and kept getting elbowed by our
driver because there was no power steering.  But power
steering was not the only thing that car was lacking…
The entire windshield was plastic and about 3 hours
into the journey, as the sun began to set, the driver
carved out a little “window” so that he could see the
road. It was then that we learned that there were
 no
lights. We had to stop at a small village along the
way to buy batteries for the two flashlights that
would act as headlights.  Two guys riding in the bed
of the truck held the flashlights.  I couldn’t see
anything.  But when we stopped to buy batteries I
found it peculiar that the driver left the engine
running… but I suppose that is normal procedure when
there is no starter.  I think just about all the
engine except for the “vitals” were stripped.  There
was a huge hole in the radiator so whenever the driver
saw smoke coming from under the hood (yes, there was
still a hood) he would call the guy sitting in back to
add water.  There were only 2 gears, 3 if you count reverse, 
but I guess that is a good thing if you consider there were
no brakes! Oh, gasy breaks... when you put a truck in 4 
wheel drive low when going down hill...

The next morning the trip started off smoothly until,
for some reason, the
 passenger door wouldn’t close all
the way.  But have no fear because we just tied it
closed with some old rope and told Tom not to lean on
the door anymore.  It was also at this time that we
learned out driver “liked the bottle” as he was
enjoying a bottle of rum for breakfast.  And you know
when people drink, they like to smoke.  Second-hand
smoke kills.

Well, about a few hours from our destination we had a
flat tire. This was when we learned that there were
only 3 or 4 lugnuts on each tire…  Fortunately (I
think) we ran out of gas about 20 minutes before our
destination.  Another vehicle took us into town but
not without towing the yellow Toyota behind…  The next
morning we saw 2 other tourists who caught a taxi the
day after us but arrived only 2 hours after us!  When
all was said and done, it took us 18 hours.  Well,
can’t say that we didn’t learn our lesson about the
bush taxi in Madagascar and we caught our flight to
Tana with no problems

We arrived in Antananarivo (the capital of Madagascar)
on the 17th.  Training ended on the 23rd and on the
24th we flew to a town called Morondava on the West
coast.  Morondava is the famous home of the Alley of
the Baobobs and our friend, Molly,
 is part of the new
PC SED (small enterprise development) program in
Madagascar.  We borrowed Molly’s bikes (one of which
was a “gasy” bike--as this note progresses, I’ll try
to paint a picture of what it means when something is
“gasy”—oh, I already have an example…towing a truck
with no lights in the middle of the night with a piece
of rope is gasy, driving a car with no
windshield=gasy) and headed 25km out of town to set up
camp near the baobobs.  The baobobs are best seen at
sunrise and sunset.  They are pretty cool trees and
we’d love to return to see them when they have leaves.

We are heading out to another volunteers site outside
of Tana on Friday to learn about model farming.  We’d
like to start some model farms in Imorona. We have
been working with a woman building compost and
planting a variety of
 vegetables.

Speaking of site… you probably are wondering what we
do with our time.  I have started working with a woman
to improve gardening methods.  We learn more and more
about development work (a.k.a Peace Corps) everyday. 
One of the big debates going on in the rural
development field these days is whether or not
improved agricultural techniques/yields keeps people
from going into protected areas. Not sure what the
answer is but at least we can introduce new vegetables
and work on improving soil quality so that people
might be better nourished.  We are also researching
the Moringa tree (ananambo in Malagasy). It has been
heralded as “the miracle tree” as the entire plant has
medicinal properties. I have read in some accounts
that over 300 different diseases can be ameliorated by
eating ananambo.  Anyway, it grows easily in our area
so we are looking into making a supplemental powder. 
Another volunteer in the
 south is working on purifying
water with the seeds. If you look up Moringa on-line,
there are some cool websites. 

Tom built a “fatam-mititsy” which in Malagasy is a
cookstove that saves wood.  He is still working with
the clay mixture and the design as there are some huge
cracks that prevent it from working nicely.  We are
teaching English one day/week. I don’t particularly
enjoy teaching English. I would rather be studying
Malagasy but I am starting to have fun with the
classes.  The last class I taught the most famous
American joke… Why did the chicken cross the road?  
Not sure if they got it but we felt compelled to share
a bit of American joke culture. Hmmm…what else?  

I partook in a cultural ceremony called a famondrazana
recently, or turning of the bones.  Every 3-5 years
bones are taken out of the coffin and moved to a
different location. I am not entirely clear on the
reason they are moved but it is
 an important part of
the culture.  Actually there has been some friction
within Malagasy families about moving the bones as
many people here have adopted a Protestant way of life
and are moving away from some traditional practices.  
It was my first time seeing bones straight out of a
coffin. I thought I was going to be kind of grossed
out but it wasn’t weird at all.  No smell, the skin
was already gone, only a few bugs…  The skull was the
most intense part to see, of course, and they washed
it with the traditional alcoholic drink of the region,
betsa betsa.  (Betsa betsa is made from sugar cane
juice and the bark of a tree). The body is then fully
dressed (underwear and everything) and wrapped into a
lamba (cloth) and moved.  There are accompanying
speeches which are exchanged, drinking and a meal is
provided.  

Madagascar is a bit interesting because they speak
only one language (if you don’t count French) but
there are about 18 different dialects here.  The
people where we live are known as Betsimisaraka
avaratra and that is the dialect that we have been
learning. I really enjoy the greeting.  I’ll run down
a typical exchange:
Me:  Mbola tsara ….. still good?
Malagasy:  Tsara kory?  Still good and you?
Me: Anoy maivina… I wish you good health
Malagasy:  Anoy matanjaka…I wish you strength
Me:  Kabaro …kabaro is the word for speech but I am
asking if the person has anything to say
Malagasy:  Ah ha (no) tsy kabaro… I have nothing to
say
Me:  Inona no vaovao?  What’s up/new?
Malagasy: Ah ha tsy vaovao …. Nothing is new

There are several derivations of the greeting and I
really like the exchange.  People think we know
Malagasy when we greet them!

Anyway, this is already too long even
 though I feel
like I haven’t really portrayed what out life is like
here.  The weather is starting to turn warm as spring
arrives. Winter has been pretty chilly and here in the
capital, it is really cold. We are at about 4,500ft
here and believe it or not, it is chilly here now.  We
are healthy for the most part. Tom has had some bouts
with wounds on his feet and legs getting infected but
he is finally healing up nicely.  

We love hearing from everyone and think of you often.
Take care and send news…
Much love,
Faith