Well hello there. I have been back in the US now for about 6weeks and haven’t put up a final blog post. So here I go. My last couple months at site were great. It was very difficult saying good bye to all the people that had not only become my new friends but family as well. I made a painting where I had all my kids come into my house, after washing their hands, and trace their handprint on a piece of plywood that I had written the hand-washing song on. They then painted their handprint with one of the many colors I had. I am so happy I got this finished. It will be something that will be in my village and they can remember me by. It was hard saying good bye to my friends in the cities that I would visit to buy all my food and other necessities. Lots of tears were shed and lots of final laughs were had. I am so grateful for my two years spent in my village and all the people whose lives have touched mine and hopefully whose lives were touched by my two year stay. I had two PCVs, Raff and Brian, come stay at my house the last couple nights to help me get all my stuff together and just help keep my sanity. It was very stressful and sad and they did a fabulous job at keeping me as calm as possible and always laffing. I am forever grateful and thankful for everything they did those last few days. On my final day, MBG had their yearly celebration of the coming of the organization to Mahabo and I tied in a farewell for myself as well. There were a bunch of speeches including one by yours truly and dancing and music along with food and beverages all day long. I had 12 of my closest PCVs come down to help support me which was clearly necessary. I would go out and mingle with everyone and have to go back to the hut and cry and repeat all day. The PCVs helped with all the hugs, tears, and laffs that were provided for me all day long. One of my favorite memories from this day was one PCV bought a bunch of cookies and had myself and 2 other PCVs hand them out. The kids go WILD for these and were all grabbing for them and kept asking for more and more and more. But in the middle of handing out a package I looked up to see one of the other PCVs running from all the children that just attacked her for the cookies. I couldn’t stop laffing as she was running from one side of the compound to the other. It was so fun and so sad but exactly what I pictured and needed for closure. I left my village with the kids saying “bye bye” and felt so great about the last two years of my life spent there in that village. I will miss them dearly but no one can ever take away those memories that were formed while there and I will carry them with me in my daily life. I was lucky enough and able to fly back with 2 other PCVs…Sara Tolliver and Aaron Acosta. We flew to Paris then to Chicago, where we all went our separate ways. Of course, to be expected, all 6 of our checked bags were left in Paris, which for me was no biggie becuz that meant less to carry and nothing to go thru customs with and I got mine the day after and Sara and Aaron ended up getting theirs as well, eventually. I had been doing ok with no crying when I left the Peace Corps house where I said good bye to fellow PCVs and made it all the way to Chicago. Well Aaron’s family came to meet him there and as soon as I saw him hug his dad, the tears were a flowing. It was very emotional to see him see his family for the first time in 2 years. We all hugged and parted for I had a gate to find. I found it and had time to spare so I went to exchange some Euros that I had acquired and stopped to get a good beer. I sat down and this woman asked me where I was coming from. She said people with their hair like mine, it was all braided, were usually coming from some far away place. I smiled and told her Madagascar. She was very kind and we talked about traveling, she herself was well traveled. It was a nice conversation and good company. Well the hour long flight from Chicago to LaCrosse went by so fast. It was some of the first sleep I had gotten out of the 21hr flight. I think I slept the whole way. Getting off the plane, I knew it was going to be emotional to see my family. I walked off the plane and had to step aside before entering the airport to take a few deep breaths. I could see my cousins and aunts holding “Welcome Home” signs and cheering and clapping. Oh man before I was even thru those doors I was crying. My sister came running over and hugged me with tears and then my mom and dad and everyone else. It still brings tears to my eyes thinking of that moment. Even though it went by fast it felt like a lifetime since I had been hugged by my family and it felt great. Who knew but American Airlines fed me so much I couldn’t go get the nachos that I had wanted becuz I was still so full but we did make a stop and had the best bloodies in LaCrosse at Del’s bar. Don’t worry we picked up my older sister from the train station the next day and had them for lunch. I was pretty jet lagged for the first couple weeks and stressed with the holidays but it was so great to see all my family and I’ve been able to visit with many of my friends already including a great afternoon spent with my bffs Colleen and Dave who were in the area from Oregon and Texas. Mainly life has been uneventful but it’s just what I needed to readjust. I’ve kept in contact with some of the other RPCVs from my group and talked to my close PCVs that are still in Mada over the holidays. We had a conference call last night that I like to call “comfort call” with 5 other RPCVs from my group all on the line at the same time. It was great. But yes I think this may be my last entry. But thank you for being a friend and coming along for the ride. Take care!

Well out of the 36 of us that got off that plane Dec 2009, 23 of us gathered together this week for a Close of Service Conference. It was a 3 day long adventure that brought us all to the great Mantasoa one last time. We shared experiences, memories, plans and many other things, including sickness. Yep I’ve gotten my first taste of a stomach illness that wasn’t food poisoning since I’ve arrived here. I consider myself one of the lucky ones because I haven’t been sick and this is miserable. I’m afraid to leave our Peace Corps house for fear of not being able to find a bathroom when I’ll need one. But on a more positive note, the conference was great. We got some useful information and like I said before just being together was a great time. There are a few that are extending for another 6 months or a year and others that will travel before heading back to the states and then some, like me, that will be coming home. I’m excited to be home for Christmas. It’s been quite awhile and it’s way overdue. I’ve been enjoying my time at my village, still going out to the villages and weighing babies and talking to the mothers about lots of good stuff. A friend and I started painting or re-painting signs all over my village. Doing a little clean-up Mahabo. It’s been so good. I also found another little girl in my village who is about maybe a little over a year old and her name is Melissa. Makes me feel honored and really a part of my community. One of my friends here also had a baby at the beginning of September and when I asked what his name was she would say she was still “looking for one”. So I told her “Well he was born on the same day as my dad, Sept 2, and my dad’s name is William. If you want you could name him that.” She was very excited and immediately said yes. The kids were all saying William, William! After a few minutes, I heard her whisper to one of the kids, “what was his name again?” So I told her I’d write it down for her. The last couple months at my site will be basically me closing up everything and saying my good-byes. It’s been a hard two years but this last couple months will be the hardest. I have made new friends and family both Malagasy and American and it will be hard to say good-bye. I know I will be seeing some friends again and others I prolly won’t. That’s the hardest part of it. I am very excited to come home and see everyone, especially around the holidays. And I am SUPER excited to come home for some snow!!!! I’ve already told my parents that they better bring some warm clothes and boots or at least closed toed shoes. I have nothing warm. I am going to be walking around with the airplane blanket wrapped around me. Here, this would be considered normal, we’ll see how people in Paris and the states react. So yeah I can’t wait to see everyone when I get home..i don’t have definite plans as of now so I’m open to lots of possibilities. Hope everyone is enjoying fall! Take care and see you soon!Here are some pics from a market in a bigger city...

beans..

pumpkins, squash.....

chickens anyone?

eggs...

cabbage

some random seeds..

so i've got some salt..

lemongrass....great for tea.

These are some pics from my latest vacation... a great swimming hole..

lemurs...just roaming around.

cool little tree.

the beach in mangily....

Ok. Well.it’s been quite awhile. I have had an amazing last couple months. My site was great. A friend and I painted a world map in the middle school that was color coded by the percentage of HIV/AIDS in each country. We also painted a Madagascar map showing the different climates here in Mada. They both turned out just great and I am very proud of them. I went to another PCV’s site for a week long health camp. It would start with soccer in the morning for about an hour or so and then we would have about 2-3hrs of health/environment sessions. I am very impressed by how well everything went and her planning skills are just amazing. She is an excellent resource for other PCVs and I am honored that I was able to help participate in such a successful event. After that we headed to our regional capital to meet up with our group that was headed to the great SOUTHWEST of Madagascar! Oh my this was great. We had a 3 night stay in Isalo. Stayed at a great little hotel. Went for an all day hike the next day and sang some karaoke later that night and then walked into a jam session with some other French travelers that were staying in the same hotel. It was a great day. Then we got up early the next day and hiked up a couple mountains and just chilled up there. It was a beautiful day, a tid bit too windy but great for making home videos. We then made the trek to Toliara. This city was great. We had a sweet hotel on the beach and it was near a lot of nice restaurants so we had a lot to choose from. We headed to Mangily the next afternoon. About an hour ride on a bad road in a huge camion, but we made it. Found a really nice hotel with a family room that we stayed in for two nights. It was great. It was a 5 minute walk from the beach, which was beautiful!! We had dinner on the beach at sunset, massages, went snorkeling, and just had a blast. I had been having a slight sore throat for a few days but our last morning in Mangily I woke up and could barely breathe my throat was so swollen. Had Brittany call the doc for me cuz I surely couldn’t talk. He told me to go to the out patient clinic in Toliara. Well because I couldn’t talk Brittany, the good friend that she is, volunteered to go with me and be my voice. Turns out I had laryngitis. And oh man that’s not fun. Dr’s orders were not to talk for 48 hrs…48hrs!!!! that’s a long time for me not to talk. You have no idea how hard it is when you want to express a want or a need or just say something funny and you can’t. But I did it. And am thankful that I did it. My voice is still raspy and my throat is still sore but it’s nothing I can’t handle. We are very lucky to the Drs here that we do because they are great and can always tell you what you need to do to make it better. But yeah so I missed out on the last day of vacation because I was resting but it was much needed and I do feel better. I will be heading back to site soon and welcoming a new PCV neighbor that will live 2km away from me sometime next week. Then in less than a month we have our Close of Service (COS) conference. It’s already been 2 years! 2 years! But yes as with every start there comes a close just to open a new door and start a new adventure. I hope all is well. I love and miss you all! Take care.

Hello again!!! I just wanted to write a brief blog about my vacation out west. IT WAS AMAZING!!! Even more so than I expected. Jules’ parents, Dr. Smith and Antsy, were unbelievable. We took a private car to Miandravazo, which is about half way to Morondava. Spent the night in a nice bungalow and took off in the morning for Morondava. On the road we were like dogs thinking, SQUIRREL, every time we saw a baobab. They were all so amazing and we weren’t even to the Avenue of Baobabs yet. We kind of relaxed when we got there, watched the sunset over the Mozambique Canal, which is a first for me since I see the sunrise over the ocean, and had a good meal. It was Jaja’s birthday the next day and so Julie and I snuck off to go hunting for supplies to make a crown. That was an interesting and entertaining hunt. As we were buying her gift, Jaja walked up and we freaked out and Julie pulled her away. We were soooooooo close. The next morning we took off for Kirindy Reserve where we saw lots of lemurs, bugs and even a fosa (the largest carnivorous mammal on the island. It’s catlike and as big as a medium-sized dog maybe) in the forest while on a hike. We drove through the Avenue of Baobabs. It was breath-taking. Words really cannot describe how I felt when I saw them all. We gave Jaja her gifts and her crown along with a wand that came in handy when the electricity went out…Jaja was a natural and with a wisp of her wand…there was light! We did a market visit and lounged around with a return to the baobabs for sunset. We found a nice huge baobab to call home for the sunset and chilled out listening to the top hits of the 90s. We headed out the next morning and arrived in Tana on their Independence Day, June 26. It was crazy all around town. Overall, this has been my favorite place I’ve visited in Madagascar by far. Julie’s parents were so generous and willing to try many new things. Their company was great and much appreciated. Julie and Jaja are two of my favorite PCVs to travel with. It was a great vacation. Thank you! LUVIN’ LIFE!!PS I tried to upload some pics but it didn't work:-(

happy healthy sabrina.

this is the scariest part of my day..going into my bathroom.

one of the kids coloring a health message picture brought by one of the Wash U students.

Juliny in her Sunday best.

dinner.we figured in the states this fish would have been around $250-300.here we bought it for $4.some of the best fish i've ever had.

Well I’m off again. After just a short amount of time at my site, I am heading for another vacation. This one is the most anticipated destination in Madagascar for me…..the BAOBABS of Morondava!!!! Jewelz’s family is coming and so Jaja and I will be accompanying them out to see these magnificent trees!! After Thailand, I returned to my site to find that about half of my moringa trees (these trees are an amazing source of protein, vitamin A and C, calcium and potassium and they grow extremely fast) that I had planted before I left had sprouted and were ready to plant. So I had about 50 trees that I had to get working on getting into the ground. So I met with some of the Community Health Workers and taught them about this amazing tree and how to plant it and take care of it.

We also had some students from Washington University come to visit for about a week. That was great. I was able to go with them to many of the villages around my village. They met with fishermen and farmers and weavers (the women who weave baskets and mats etc). It was a great change to have them around. We taught some little girls in one of the villages how to play duck, duck, grey duck (or if you’re from anywhere other than Minnesota duck, duck, goose). We played soccer with the kids, went on long hikes, had nice talks and all got to see Milo’s 6 newborn puppies. It was a great time and they were all amazing young women.

We also got 2 new volunteers that bank in my same town. We welcomed them with a bonfire on the beach and grilled the fish they brought over the fire. It was one of the best installations we’ve had yet. We had a big celebration in our banking town this past weekend. I thought it went really well but I am glad it’s over. It was quite stressful for me but it all just fell right in place. There were 15 volunteers, one pcv’s sister, and a staff member. So there were 17 of us and a group of 10 people is usually too big so it was interesting but fun was had by all. The new PCV in my banking town had a dog that took a liking to her. She is the cutest thing ever. Always so happy to see us and we’ve taken her under our wing and have decided to train her. She is a great guard dog. She just follows us around like we’ve been part of her entire life.

Life has been good to me lately. I try not to take anything for granted. I am still in awe everyday by how lucky I am to have gotten this opportunity to live and work here. I am amazed everyday by the beauty that surrounds me from the scenery to the people, it’s all just unbelievable. And my kids…oh my kids. I luv those kids.

Well that’s about it. Luv you all and miss you lots. I hope all is well back home. Take care. CHEERS!

Hello my friends and family. I don’t even know if anyone reads this still but Thailand was great! It is a beautiful country with such friendly, welcoming people. We spent the first few days in Bangkok where we went to markets, MALLS, and did some shopping. Great fun for Seland (enter sarcasm), but he was a great sport about it. We ate plenty of great food including much Thai, Arabic, Indian, sushi and even a burger or two. Geoff arrived an hour early from Australia and we surprised him with a birthday cake and song. We took the train the next evening to our next destination…Chiang Mai in northwestern Thailand. It was a great ride. We had bought tickets for sleeper cars in 2nd class and it was great. We arrived in the morning and found a sweet hotel and went out to explore. Chiang Mai is a beautiful, laid back chill big town. It was a great substitution for Bangkok which has 13 million people and Chiang Mai 175,000. We rode around in tuk-tuks which are motorized bikes with some seats in the back, like a pedicab but motorized. We saw the sunset on the roof of our hotel, went on a bike tour of the surrounding area for an afternoon, stopped by some temples, went to an elephant farm where we rode elephants and saw them perform a great show, took a bamboo raft ride down a river, and hung out with tigers. Chiang Mai is also known for their Saturday and Sunday Walking Street Market. This was just around the corner from our hotel and it went on for blocks and blocks. Just little stands of clothes and little trinkets. It was an amazing experience. We had great weather almost the entire time. We met some very kind souls along the way. I was very surprised how much Thai people spoke English. We didn’t have a problem at all for not speaking the language whatsoever. We spent about a week in Chiang Mai and I’m really glad we got to spend all that time there, such a great place. We headed back by train to Bangkok to get Seland to his flight back home. We stayed at a different hotel in a completely different area of Bangkok and it was great. The vibe was great, lots of things to do and see. After Seland left, we hired a tuk-tuk driver to take us around to see some of the temples. It was our lucky day! The government was giving drivers gas that day or something strange and so we hired a driver for $1 each to just take us around all day. We saw the Lucky Buddha, the Standing Buddha, the Sitting Buddha, and one of the most moving things that has happened to me, we saw a Monk receive his colors. We were also lucky because normally on any other given day, tourists are not allowed inside the temples or to take pictures, but on this day, we were allowed. So at one of the temples a man was dedicating his life to become a monk and we were there to witness the ceremony. It was absolutely beautiful and moving and I’m so glad I was able to be there for it. We then finished up our day of touring around Bangkok with a canoe ride that went by more temples, a floating market and just through some of the more neighborhoody areas. It was an amazing trip. It went by way too fast. I would recommend visiting Thailand at least once in your life if you get the chance. I would love to go back and spend more time there sometime in the future. I am now back in the capital where tomorrow, 40 soon to be new Peace Corps Volunteers will arrive and get ready for their swear-in ceremony on Tuesday. I do miss my village and am excited to get back and play with the kids. I also received funding to start a world map project in the school and can’t wait to get the kids to help with that. I hope all is well with everyone back home and you will be enjoying some nice warm weather soon. Take care and sending love!

HELLO!!!!! I am reporting from Fianar, MADAGASCAR!!! We made some pretty strong coffee this morning and I am feeling it. I am on my way to the capital to take care of business!! I’m heading to Bangkok, Thailand on Friday and couldn’t be more excited. Two other PCVs, Jules and Esther, will be joining me. We will be greeted by my dear friend Seland at the airport as he arrives 6 hrs before us. On April 19th, Julie’s friend will be joining us from Australia. We’ve been reading a Thailand guidebook so we have an idea of what we want to do and see. One of the things I’m looking forward to is going to the Peace Corps Thailand Office. I’m excited to see their office and meet some of the staff if they’re available. I also hope we are able to visit with some current PCVs. Esther has a friend who is currently a PCV and we hope she can join us for a portion of our trip. Things have been really great at site. I have been really happy to be here. I have still been working with Nutrimad, weighing babies and talking about nutrition and family planning. I have also started going into the school and helping to teach English once a week. At first I was dreading this, but it has been a lot of fun and I’ve really enjoyed working with the students. There are a group of new Volunteers that are getting sworn-in the beginning of May and will be installed near me. The closest one is about 15miles north of me. Alison and I were asked to go visit the village and check on the status of the house. It hadn’t been started 2 months ago and installation is vastly approaching. Catching a taxi to that village is kind of hard because drivers would rather take you another 15miles to the city so sometimes they won’t pick you up if you’re just going a little ways. So we decided to bike it. We left at 6am thinking it would take us quite a few hours to make it to the new village, have a meeting with the appropriate people, visit the house and continue on our way to the city. All in all, it took us under 4hrs to bike 35miles up and down hills the majority of the way and have a quick stop to check on the house, which the frame was up! I had a conversation with another PCV the day before and thought “This is when you know you’re a Peace Corps Volunteer.” Me: So we decided to bike to Farafangana tomorrow. PCV: That’s cool. How far is it? Me: About 35 miles up and down hill. Not too bad. PCV: Yeah that’s not bad. I’ve gotten to the point where I’m thinking 35miles up and down hill isn’t bad?! I love that. I recently celebrated my birthday in my village. Thank you to all who sent love and thought of me. I had a great day. I went to visit Alison and she made me sushi….DELICIOUS!!!! She pays this woman to wash her laundry for her and she stopped by and asked me if I was Alison’s mother?! Am I really getting that old? Later that day I got my hair re-braided and I asked a little girl how old she thought I was and she responded with 100! It was a funny day. 2011 marks Peace Corps’ 50th anniversary so we are in the process of planning a big party in our banking town for mid-May. It will be an afternoon event with speeches, information booths, a raffle and some games to name some of what may be happening. We’re all excited about that. And yeah, that’s about all I can think of for the time being. I hope all is well back home and know that I love and miss you all dearly. Take care!

group pic at our mid-service conference.

me and alison made sushi!!

kids coloring.they thank you for the books and crayons!

near my site.

the kids made a fort.i told them they needed a roof to keep the rain out.creative kids.

PITA!

Today is February 16, 2011. I am waiting for my taxi to take me to Fianarantsoa. This will take me two days. Not two full days but just long enough that we can’t take it all in one days travel. In Peace Corps Madagascar we are not allowed to travel at night. There are many reasons why this is a rule. There are thieves out on the roads at night, the taxi drivers drive like there’s no tomorrow and a number of other things could happen. So we are waiting for our taxi to take off and I can’t get our tri-annual Volunteer Reporting Form to open so I thought I’d jot down a blog. Things have been good. There is a cyclone that is currently hitting parts of Madagascar. Bingiza is its name. We've had a lot of rain and wind....scary rain and wind. My house has thus far been leak free which is a huge relief. I know it’s been quiet on my end but that’s ok, no news is good news. I started working with an Organization called Nutrimad. I go with 1 or 2 other people into the villages surrounding mine and give talks on nutrition. I tend to throw in talks about anything and everything as well, hygiene, prevention of diseases, family planning, etc. After this talk, we then weigh babies one by one. Life would be easier if it was just a regular scale that we’re used to but it’s not. It’s one of those that hang from a branch or a board and a “diaper” type thing is hanging at the bottom. We put the children in this and then mark down there weight. Easy enough right? Wrong. These children, ages ranging anywhere from 3 months- 5 years, are sometimes terrified. Sometimes it’s because “there’s a crazy white person trying to strangle me” or sometimes it has nothing to do with me, they just don’t want to do it. So there is a lot of screaming and crying and yelling and whining but then there’s the few in the group that willingly climb in the shorts and have fun swinging. They always make me laugh. I’ve went to my now favorite village, Rorobe (rooroobay). It is one of the most beautiful places I think I have ever seen. There are always little gazebos that we do all the weighing and talks in and this one was right on the beach. The view was spectacular, amazing, wonderful, all those fabulous words. My breath was literally taken away by the beauty. I wrote down some things at my site that I wanted to post on here. One of them included putting on a pair of new socks on. WOW!! I forgot how wonderful this is! My foot has gotten infected…again so I cleaned it, wrapped it, and covered it with a FANTASTICALLY feeling new sock. Nice! Also, being a Peace Corps Volunteer in a country where fashion basically does not exist I tend to put on anything that is clean or rather doesn’t smell too bad. Not that I had any sense of fashion in the States but the other day I was walking when I realized what I was wearing. I had on a black and gray horizontally striped tank top with a blue and white polka-dotted skirt, a scarf with orange flowers wrapped around my head, socks and clogs. I just giggled at the thought of what I was wearing. I also started this new thing where I taught the kids in the village to say “Silly Goose.” I ask them, who am I? (in Malagasy) and they respond with “Silly Goose!” It’s so cute and makes me laugh. Also two of my biggest fears while at site have to do with my kabone or outhouse. I have always had the fear of falling in the hole and not being rescued for awhile. During the night here, I may have explained this already, it is taboo to go outside. So I have to use a little bucket if I get the urge to use the restroom. In the morning I make the trek to my outhouse to dump it in my hole and clean it out. The trek there is about 50 feet or so and the ground is quite slippery after it rains. And so, my other fear is slipping and falling dumping all the contents of my bucket all over me. Scary. Hopefully neither of these happen. Ok so I made it to Fianar. That was a journey. The road outside of Farafangana was started to flood. It took us awhile longer but we got across. Then the road was pretty good the whole way with the occasional landslide here and there but the road had already been cleared. We had to wait for a few hours at one point with 5 or 6 other taxis because the road was impassable. When we took off to brave the road, we came to a point where the road was completely covered by the overflowing, moving river. There were a couple groups that had started up a little business. They would push the taxi with no one in them across for a small price. Unfortunately, ehem enter sarcasim, I got out of walking because my foot by this time was pretty infected and swollen. I didn’t want to risk it getting worse so I comfortably rode in the taxi while all other passengers waded through mid-thigh deep water while a group of men pushed the taxi. There were a couple sections of the road where it was covered by water that was about 1 mile long in total. This was all about 30 miles or so from Fianar. We did make it. It was a huge sigh of relief to know that we were in a Peace Corps house now instead of stranded somewhere along the way, which we would have been completely fine it’s just easier because we now have internet and can cook delicious meals. Like last night for example, we made homemade pizza. So delicious. And today, we’re making a big salad for lunch and tacos for supper. Unfortunately some of the other volunteers down near Farafangana are stuck. There is a Peace Corps car with the head person of the Health sector in Farafangana but the road is completely washed out, concrete slabs washed away, about 3miles north of Fara and again 6 miles north of there. Where we were wading through water yesterday, there is no water on the road. So Alison and I are so thankful to be here. We may be here for an extra few days depending on the road condition. But things are great for me lately and I love hearing from everyone from home. I hope all is well. Love you and miss you all.

the view of a market in diego from above.

hugging one of madagascar's oldest baobab tree.

new years eve.

emerald isle.

on the way to emerald isle.

a hotel in diego.

lemurs!

Christmas tacos with friends.

some scenery.

So our training at the good ol' Mantasoa was good. I did get my first illness where I couldn't keep any food down for a few days, but am feeling completely back to normal by now. Besides that, our training went well. It was great to see everyone and catch up after 9 months! After our training we were back in the capital for a few days. On Sunday, my old Country Director from Guinea and his wife had a potluck/bbq at their house for all RPCVs and PCVs. It was really great to see them and catch up. And their dog, PITA, has gotten so big and fluffy. He reminds me of my parent's dog, Samson. We left the capital today, me, Alison, Brian and Ralf. We are in our Regional Capital, Fianarantsoa and are taking the train to our banking town on Thursday. I'm excited for that. Enuf room to get up and walk around rather than being stuffed in a seat way too small for any person taller than 5'5" to sit in.Not much more to report. I'll try to get some pictures up while I'm here. After we leave here I won't have good internet until mid-April.

Which brings me to another point. I booked my ticket to Thailand! Me and 2 other Volunteers are going over Easter for 2 weeks! We leave April 15th and fly back on April 30th. It's a 8.5hr flight so not too shabby. One of the girl's parents sent her the Lonely Planet Thailand book and we were reading thru it at our training and I absolutely cannot wait! I wish it were next week. But I'm not ready yet. I'll be back in my village and hopefully the beans and corn that we planted before I left are sprouting nicely. However, there has been talk about how late the rains are. They were supposed to start in November and have barely been falling. So this could cause a huge problem in the project but I guess I'll find out soon.

But yeah not much else new in this girl's life. I won't be able to skype until mid-April again but add me if you haven't. I think my full name is my first and last name. Otherwise my username is my first and last name backwards without a space. I luv you all and thank you so much for all your letters and packages. They all mean the world to me. I am very grateful for all the luv and support I get from all my friends and family. It helps me get thru the tough times. Sending much luv your way! LUV YOU ALL!!!!

Back in the capital again. Man has the last couple weeks been great. Me and Julie and Esther went up to visit Diego, north Madagascar. It was a long journey but well worth it. I didn't feel like I was in the same country. Became jealous of the volunteers that live around there but am happy we took vacation up there. We hung out with another volunteer that lives there and she was a great hostess....Dorothy what what!!! But we spent a little over a week up there. Went swimming in a fabulous pool with a marvelous lunch to go with it. Saw lemurs while on a walk. Met some guys from Tanzania on vacation that treated us to a few fancy meals and beverages. It was overall one of the best times I've had yet here in country. Oh saw my first Baobabs!!!! Didn't get a picture because my battery was dead but it'll be in my mind FOR-EVER!!!! We celebrated Christmas at the volunteer house in Diego by making homemad TACOS!!!! Yeah it was delicious. We had a really relaxing day and it was great and much deserved.

After a little over a week there we started the trek to Mahajanga. This is Northwest of the capital. It was HOT there. Oh my!!! I think I may have gotten heat exhaustion after a couple days. But nothing rest and relaxation couldn't cure. There was a huge baobab tree there and it was so beautiful and amazing. That's the word I've been using the most to describe my trip....amazing....it was nothing short of it! But yeah. We then made the trek down to Tana to prepare ourselves for our Mid-service conference. Whoohoooo. Yeah it's another week of training at Mantasoa. All us volunteers that were transferred from Niger will be together. It shall be a week of chaos and hopefully volleyball and chilliness. BRRRRRRRRRRRRRrrrr!!! I am never prepared for the coldness of Mantasoa. But I'll deal. It was great to be able to skype with the few of you that I was able to. So lovely to hear your voices and see some of you! But anyhoo. I hope all is well and Happy Holidays to you all! Hope they were full of luv and happiness and good food. LUV YOU ALL!!!!!

a really nice snack shop in Fianar.

The Middle School all decorated for our festival.

"What's up homeslice!"

some of my kids.

blacky walking me home.

Dec 16

So it's been awhile. I'll try to mention some of the high points of the last couple months. I have been trying to get this garden project started at my local clinic with the health volunteers in my community. This has been a very difficult task. I set up meetings with them, and no one shows up. I've even had them tell me what day and time work best for you all, and still i've had some no shows. However, we did have a few successful meetings where we re-voted for who would be President, Vice President, Secretary, Accountant, etc. We also had one successful planting day where we got half the garden prepared and planted beans and corn. The next meeting I had scheduled to finish planting, no one showed up and unfortunately it was a few days before I was leaving my village. So at least we got half of it done.

We had a great Thanksgiving spent in my banking town. There were 6 of us total. We bought a live turkey and the boys took care of killing and all that jazz when it came time for it. Our menu consisted of: Turkey, mashed sweet potatoes, turkey gravy, stuffing, a green bean casserole, biscuits and banana pudding for dessert. We had plenty to eat and plenty left over to eat for dinner. It was a feast spent in great company. Also at this time, my foot got infected and swelled up and made it very difficult to walk. I was put on antibiotics and was feeling 100% in no time.

One of my good friends from my group that went to Niger came down to visit. Every year on the 9th of Dec, my village has a big party celebrating the coming of the NGO, Missouri Botanical Garden. MBG buys a couple cows and provides a lunch and cocktail for all in attendance. There were speeches and songs and dancing all day. So my friend came down and we prepared for it all week, we had a booth set up to explain about Peace Corps and what it is that we're doing here. We ended up doing a handful of condom demonstrations for groups of men and talked about nutrition and hygiene with many of the kids and women. I even gave a speech. I was really nervous. Still not that confident in my Malagasy (the language here). It was interesting. Music and dancing went well into the early hours of the night. Fun was had by all.

We headed up toward the capital. Ventured around Fianar which is a beautiful city. From Fianar to Tana it usually takes about 8-9 hrs by taxi. We arrived in Tana about 9hrs after leaving and were 4km from the taxi station where we get out and get all our bags that are on top when we hit traffic. I mean the worse traffic I have ever seen. We finally arrived at the taxi station 4 hrs later! It took 4 hrs to go 4 km!!! A friend of mine decided to go home, and was leaving at 10pm to go to the airport. Because of the traffic, I missed him by 30mins. I did get to talk to him before he left so that makes me feel a little better but I always like hugs.

But so here I am in the capital for the weekend. I'll be heading on vacation hopefully on Monday for the holidays. I should have internet access for most of the trip, not all but a good chunk. I set up a skype account. It was so weird but amazing to be able to video chat with friends from home. I'm still a little weirded out by it but welcome all you my friends and family to add me so we can chat. I highly doubt I'll be able to use skype while I'm at site so this may be my only opportunity to use it, the next month or so. Just search my real name as the full name and you should be able to find me.

We had our mid-service conference the beginning of January. We are half way done! It's been 14 months since I left the states. It seems so long ago but just like yesterday. I hope all is well back home. I luv and miss you all a lot. Keep those letters coming. I can't express how much it means to me. Take care. over and out.

Nov 6, 2010

Today is Saturday, market day. I walk 2km to Alison’s village where there is a bigger market and a bigger variety of food but still very little. On the walk over, I mentally prepare myself for it because it is always hot, crowded and very frustrating. There are little paths between rows of venders selling things from rice and beans to new clothes and old clothes to dishes and flashlights. There are no lines going one way or the other just people pushing to try to get through with the more than occasional person stopping in the middle of the path to either ask how much something is or to start up a conversation with someone. All this causing a halt to the flow of traffic. The sun beats down making it almost too hot to handle but somehow I maneuver my way through the crowd and get what I need. I buy maybe some bread, tomatoes, rice and soap. Leaving the market is just as difficult as coming in but without as much frustration because I know I’ll be able to breathe soon enough. Walking on the outskirts of the market reminds me of a music festival. There are vendors selling food that is freshly made, mainly some sort of bread or bananas or anything of the like. It’s my little taste of home.

I haven’t been having the best of times here the last few months. It’s been difficult to find work and when I schedule to go to another village with someone to promote nutrition or hygiene or prevention of diseases, it has always failed. The person has either left without me or just didn’t stop by my house to pick me up. I need someone to go with because some of these villages are 15km away and I do not know the way. But so life has been really hard. However, I woke up this past week, still feeling groggy and unsure of what the day would bring, and later in the day a wave of sunshine came through my body. I had went to my banking town to get something off my email for PC and got an email from my mom. In it, it had said in one way or another, how proud my dad was of us kids and he wouldn’t trade us in for the world. This may have been the thing I needed to hear and from then on, it seemed as though I did a 180. Things are looking up, I feel like I’m in a better place now than I was for the past few months. Which, I know, is a long time not to feel good. There was some sort of weight on my shoulders and I felt it had been lifted. I do feel better.

Unfortunately for use, a PCV near me has decided to go home. I spent her last night with her at her site and helped get her things together and just talked. After that, I realized it was a good decision on her part to go home and she seemed happy about her decision. It wasn’t an easy one for her. She had battled a lot during her first month at site, which was clear once I spent the night with her. She will be greatly missed but know she will move on to do bigger and better things for herself.

I was planning on doing this big garden project with my community and had applied for $600 in funding. After waiting for almost 4 months I go news that it had been rejected. All projects that were submitted were rejected. I also felt like I was trying to take on too much and so I hope to decrease the size of the project and resubmit it to another funding source. Hopefully that won’t take nearly as long.

The kids are loving coloring. So thank you to those of you that have sent coloring books and crayons. I get kids at my door everyday asking if they can color. While they color, I teach them about oral hygiene, hygiene, prevention of malaria, diarrhea, and about proper nutrition. It doesn’t stick if I say it just once so we go over it every time. So yeah things are looking good for me. I hope all is well back home. Know that I think of you all very often. I miss you and wish I could teleport myself home for even just 10 minutes every once in awhile. Thank you for all your love and support. Keep the letters coming. They are always a joy to get. Take care. LOVE.

Oct 15, 2010

Well hello there. I am reporting from Farafangana, my banking town. I came in today to do some work. Get some things emailed off to Peace Corps and do some personal business. Things have been moving in my village. Slowly but surely. We had a group of visitors, Malagasy visitors, come visit my NGO, Missouri Botanical Gardens. They came from way up north near Sambava and south of Vangaindrano. They stayed for three nights. We went for a walk yesterday on the outskirts of the forest looking at the plantations of replanted trees that MBG has done over the last few years. It was beautiful. Alison accompanied us as well. We had lunch out in the forest. It consisted of rice and beans, served on banana leaves, using banana leaves as our silverware. Me and Alison were befuddled as to how to use the leaves as our silverware but then we saw one guy sitting next to use had made a spoon out of it. He saw our amazement and offered them to us. In return, we gave him our leaves and he made more spoons. We also couldn’t finish even half of the serving they gave us so we offered the rest to him, and he and a couple others gobbled it up in no time. That was interesting and fun. Something new everyday I tell ya. For the last couple months, I’ve been planting the tree Moringa, its leaves are very nutritious. I have also been handing out toothbrushes that were donated by Friends of Madagascar. The same place where the soccer jerseys for my village came from. I have been teaching the importance about oral hygiene to the kids while handing them out. Along with overall hygiene.

At the end of September, we welcomed 4 new PCVs to our banking town, including one living in the banking town. They are all great additions to our little group down here. It’s kind of weird having so many people down here. For the first three months, it was just me and Alison. Then Abe and Brian came in May and now another 4. It’s great. Shakes things up a little.

I have been walking a lot lately. At least 4km a day (2.5miles). I have taken up drinking 3L of water and day and trying to limit my salt intake. HAHA. Yeah I love salt a little too much and I already miss it but I’m in great health.

I don’t have much to say. Not a whole lot going on. Still learning the language. It’s coming along everyday. There is a big party in my village in Dec to mark the anniversary of the local NGO, MBG, and Peace Corps’ arrival. There are booths all day long with the various associations in my community that teach about what they are doing. I have decided that I’d like to have a Peace Corps booth and explain what we are and what we’re doing. I hope to have other volunteers like Alison, who is environment, hopefully Jackson, who is Small Enterprise Development, maybe an Education volunteer (if they can get out of work) and me, a health volunteer all present to describe each sector. It’s a big event in my village and people come from all over the district. So that’s something to look forward to.

Anyhoo. I miss you and all think of you often. Keep writing. Hearing from home really gives me encouragement and love. I hope all is well. It’s all good on this side of the world. Take care. And Happy Holidays if I don’t get back before then. CHEERS!

So yes here I am again...let me start off by saying.i luv you.ahhh that felt great.So the last couple months have found me wandering around Madland.Yeah so after the bike trip me and a good friend, Esther, went down to my site.Yeah she took the three-day trek with me.Wasn't impressed.no surprise there, meaning strictly the longness of it.but the beauty you know i take it in everytime I go down there so.But we hung in my village met up with Brian and Abe, banking town buddies (we have a banking town where we go in to get money and for me and Alison, buy food and everything else we just might need). There were good times had by all. It was great to back in my village after being gone for 6 weeks even though it would be short. But I felt the love of my village when I got there and it was a great feeling to be back home. We headed back to the capital after a week and decided to take the train from Manakara a city about 130km north of me to Fianara me regional capital. It was a beautiful and relaxing trip.We are considering it whenever we have to head in that direction.Got to Tana after a hop skip and a jump in a taxi brousse. I went to train the newbies. Showed them how to make a mud-stove (i've been specializing in them lately) and was just there for support and whatnot...it was a great trip back to the training site (got to the dogs). After training, I went out to the East coast to visit some Business Volunteers .Ryan, Julie and Vickie. and make the mudstoves at their sites. It is so beautiful out there and it was a great and productive trip. Everyone was very interested and motivated to watch the demonstration to the point that some of the women in Julie's site went off and made another one after we made our first one.It was great.Me and Jules sang with some kids a song about nutrition and washing your hands.it was an overall great trip and a needed escape for me.But so now here I am in the capital.We have these Volunteer houses in some of the regions here and there is one in the capital that we can stay at fully furnished and equipped with lots of good stuff, including wifi. However, the house in the capital is closing meaning that this is prolly my last time staying here and I may not have internet access for quite awhile. There is internet is my banking town but it's unreliable, slow and a little spending.So yeah I may not be back on the internet for some time.But know I luv and miss you and all and sorry this is a mess.take care and keep sending the luv.Cheers!

here are some words that i try to live by....

take time to give thanks

make time to be given

i'm gonna stop and think twice

about the way that i'm livin'

did i say a kind word

am i proud of my actions

you know a job well done

gives me satisfaction

can i earn your trust

your love and affection

just one step at a time

in the right direction

i'm gonna aim for the sky

keep my feet on the ground

raise my voice to the heavens

make a joyful sound

na na na na na na na naaaaa

make a joyful sound

na na na na na na na naaaaa

can i sing for my supper

and play for my rent

i know it sounds funny

but it's how my time's spent

greet everyday with full purpose

with passion and pride

i'm gonna follow my heart

have nothing to hide

a moment of insight

i know why i'm here

ya know the time just stops

you'll see it all real clear

i got to set an example

make some mischief and fun

do unto others

play a phat bass run

i gotta work hard everyday

and give it my best

grab hold of fear and negativity

and lay them to rest

i know my time here's important

can i do the right thing

practice patience and forgiveness

feel the joy that they bring

can i lay down tonight

without feeling regret

and know the love that i give

becomes the love that i get

well do you hear what i'm saying

making sense to you

well if you feel it in your heart

then you'll wanna sing too

na na na na na na na naaaa

make a joyful sound

na na na na na na na naaaa

it's a joyful sound

i don't want to sound preachy

make it feel all wrong

just want to write some kind a lyrics

sing a feel good song

it's kinda hard to explain

it's just a feelin i get

from makin music makin love

getting both feet wet

well every piece to the puzzle

snapped tight in the grooze

i close my eyes, breathe deeply

and let my feet move

you know i feel a little better

for speaking my mind

good vibes in circulation

and see who they find

na na na na na na na naaaa

make a joyful sound

na na na na na na na naaaa

na na na na na na na naaaa

make a joyful sound

na na na na na na na naaaa

i'm doing great. luv you all!

Well here I am again. Twice in one week. WOW.what's going on over here in the land they call Madagascar. Well not a whole lot. I spent the entire day on Sunday laying in bed, recuperating. I felt just great, until I got up and walked to the gas station like 2 blocks away. yeah.nausea hit....again. But I had the great and wonderful dentist appointment again today!!! yay!!! yeah.sarcasim there people. I've never been "scared" of the dentist or cared that I had to go, but here, it's not fun. I had a cleaning a couple weeks back and it consisted of poking the gums in front of and behind each tooth...three times. And then he says, you have good gums. It's like can you really see my gums behind all this blood. I don't get it. But so I had to go back today to get a mouth guard made, I grind my teeth at night giving me headaches and prolly reducing the size of my teeth drastically. So I go in, a little nauseous to have them put a mold of a guard too big for my mouth, full of the mold making supplies in my mouth, which then causes the mold supplies to leak out all over the inside of my mouth, down my throat making me gag. I had to coach myself through the 3 minutes of, excuse my french, HELL. I made it through with only a few gaggings. Sorry but yeah, I wouldn't suggest going to the dentist in a third world country.

I'd like to speak of more highlights of the bike trip that stumbled upon my memory yesterday and today. While we were in Girl Erin's site, we awoke before dawn, and biked 2km with no light but our headlamps and the moon to a place no one knew where we were going to, and after asking many Malagasy people where to find "Camp Andrew" and after trekking through what we discovered was a dug up field (all this on bikes) and yelling CAMP ANDREW, we finally stumbled upon our guides. We signed up to take a canoe ride out on the lake early in the morning in hopes to catch some lemurs. Well we were late, becuz we were lost, but once we got in the canoes, and they made us turn around (I was terrified of tipping the whole time, ask Stephanie, she was behind me as I was freaking out) we saw what we called a MOONBOW. It was a rainbow but was formed but the light of the moon and the mist from the lake/sky. It wasn't colorful, just one solid color. It was beautiful and I think that helped brighten all our moods once again. So we were off. As I stated earlier, I was terrified of tipping the whole time. It was scary. It was a beautiful, but cold morning. We were heading back to shore, after being out for over an hour and seeing nothing. Lemurs are nocturnal for the most part and we were too late. But as we were heading back, Mike spotted one. We took the canoes into the trees and spotted two young lemurs. OOOHHHHH they were so cute and cuddlily, made me wanna just hug em and take em to site with me. But yeah you know. Better let em be where they live. So yeah, it turned out to be pretty great.ps on this story....it was called "camp Bandro" not camp andrew.

The next day we went to Nicki's site. Me and Ryan stayed up chatting and laffing for most of the early night. We stayed in a school house maybe but none of the rooms' ceilings went to the top so each room was sort of connected. But so we stayed up chatting about this TV show we've come up with. I can't go into details for worries of copyright issues. I can tell you that it has to do with....Peanut Butter and Pickles.

Moving on. While in Tom's site, I wanted to get my hair braided. At my site I get my hair braided every week by my 12 year old best friend. It's just so much easier to manage and not as hot as if I had it down. So I asked Tom's neighbors if they could braid my hair. They said yes. They looked at my hair and gave this look. I said to them, I still need to wash it. They gave a sigh of relief and confirmed that yes I did need to wash it. So I took a shower and washed my hair. I, for the first time in years, combed my hair. Let me say that the first day of the bike trip I already had dreads forming in my hair. So it was not an easy task combing my hair out. I would estimate it took me a good 45min to an hour, not exaggerating here, to comb it all out. The lady told me she could do it after lunch. So I kept poking my head over at her house but she was still busy doing all of our laundry that we had given her. So I told her I'd get it done the next day. It was so funny because all the volunteers made comments on my hair and how different I looked when I combed my hair. I don't know if you'll find as much humor in this as I do, but I thought it was hilarious. I guess unintentionally i made myself look "pretty". So funny. I am not a pretty girl.

Ok. Well HEEEEELLLLLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! We made the trek around Mad’s largest lake…220km of biking and doing AIDs awareness along with some information on Health, Environment and Business. We did a lot of biking followed by much setting up stations and preparing for the day of partying…well partying as in singing and dancing. We had PSI come help us. A great organization that promotes health around Mad. They were our sound system and helped us make sure all our messages were clear to the people. They were great and I want to give them a good shout out cuz without them, it wouldn’t have been as big of a success. We trekked about 70km the first day and were able to relax that night. We set up camp and the next day starting off the fety (party) in a bigger town. It was a success especially for our first time. We sang songs, in Malagasy, about AIDs to the beat of some well known songs here. We made a station for the people to learn these songs throughout the day so they could sing along with us when it came time for us to perform. It was a great success, yet only day 1. We did this same thing, except without a break for the next 8 days. It was very exhausting but was all very successful. None of the other days were as far of a trek but some were about half as long and not on a paved road so they were equally as tiring. But overall, I am very glad I helped with the bike trip and was part of it. It was great to see 6 other PCVs villages and to be with 20 other PCVs for the tour. We laughed and danced and sang a lot. We also passed sicknesses from one Volunteer to the next but all made it through. It was great to sleep in a bed last night, warm and comfortable. I will be heading back down to my village on Thursday prolly along with another PCV who is going to help with my garden and start up an English Club. I will be back here at the capital the end of August to help train the newbies. So it won’t be long until I have internet again. I hope to hear from some of you in the next couple days. But yeah. That’s about it for now. Life’s great. I miss you all so much. Think of you often. I’m sorry, I am sooooo bad at writing letters. I have one that I started in June and still haven’t finished or gotten it sent. But I hope to do that here in the next couple days. It’s always great to hear from you all and I hope all is well. Take care and known you are all in my thoughts everyday! LUV YOU!

Well hello there. This is Melissa. It has been awhile. After getting back from IST, I realized I had new roommates. RATS! Not too pleasant are they. They deSTROYED my house. Ate everything and anything they could chew through. Including, but not limited to, my clothes, a soccer ball, anything plastic, some baby formula that i mistakenly bought thinking it was powdered milk...ha, my camelbak which I would be using on our bike trip, and they even ate my walls. UGH! I did laundry a day or two after getting home, and sure enuf I found 3 baby rats in my laundry basket. It took me a long time to do laundry that day. I bought some rat traps, told the neighbor kids that when I catch one, they'll have to help me get rid of it becuz "I'm scared." More like DISGUSTED. They kept me up night after night and then finally I heard a SMACK! Sure enough I think I caught the ring leader, the head hancho, ZAKA BE! I threw it outside with a ten foot pole and as some kids were on their way to school, I pointed and made a disgusted look. They were amazed at how big it was. Yeah it was HUGE! After that I made them wash their hands and we sang the washing your hands song. Not too long after that, I caught another one. Only this one's butt got stuck in the trap so it was still alive. Taking my ten foot pole I got it outside to where the kids beat it with a stick to make sure it was dead. UGH. Me and Alison had been training for our 220km bike trip this month. We were biking about 28km a few times a week. We even made it to Vangaindrano, a city near us...25km away or so. All up and down hills. Once we got into the city, a cart being pulled by a cow was coming the opposite direction and saw me and went buck WILD. It started bucking and running. I looked back to watch it and the guy "driving" it was either thrown off or bucked off. it was kinda scary. We started planting at my garden. We celebrated Madagascar's 50th year of independence on June 26. That was interesting...more like Gasy's partying for 5 days straight. But it was all good fun. I made the trek up to the capital...again. On the way up I stopped in Ranomafana with Abe and Brian (the two PCVs in my banking town area) and visited with Mike for a couple days. It was glorious....but I froze my buns off. We did some beautiful hiking, swam in a pool where the water came from the hot springs and took a bath at the hot springs baths and saw some LEMURS!! We met up with some Americans that live and work there to celebrate 4th of July. it was a blast. I headed up to the capital and now here I am. I went to the dentist this morning and let me tell you, I don't mind the dentist but that was a LOT of poking and scraping and man it hurt. But yeah next week we have training of trainers for the new group of peeps coming in. That should be exciting. Then we have a bike trip. It's around Madagascar's largest lake. 220km. We'll be stopping in villages along the way to promote awareness of AIDS and provide education for health topics and environment topics. So it should be fun. It's over the course of like 9 days. Then I'll be heading back to site for three weeks and coming back up here to actually help with the training of the new guys. So it'll be a busy next couple months. I put pics up on facebook, it should be open to the public. That's about all for now. i miss and love you all. I have all my mail on hold until I get back, but from what I hear, there should be a wave of them, so THANK YOU in advance. Well I love and miss you lots. I'll be watching the World Cup final on Sunday. I'll also be thinking of Mr Sam Gerardy on Sat for it's his bday...and Ms. Sarah Albert for it's her bday on Sunday. LUV LUV LUV YOU!!! AND hello to all my friends and relatives in CALIFORNIA....Skowronski's...High's....Klingers...all my G-15ers still out there.and anyone and everyone else around the world...thanks for the love and support.

Hello friends....I can't believe I haven't posted yet. Well shizz. We are all in the capital and have been now for about two weeks. We have what is called IST...in-service training. It was fun.Great to see everyone.And to talk English....a lot.I don't feel like much has happened in the last couple weeks.We've had good times.Lots of laughing. I like to laugh.I'll be heading back to village tomorrow morning...it will take a few days. I miss my village and all the peeps.yeah the village people.I'm excited to go back. It's been great seeing everyone.I hope all is well with you all.I'm sorry I don't have much to say.It's been a long last couple of days.I luv you.Keep in touch.Give your animals a pat on the head for me.MUAH!

aaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh.Well my time here in Tana is nearing the end. I will be heading back to my village tomorrow morning...Inshallah...It has been a successful trip. I got forms to fill out to receive funding for my garden project at the CSB. Have to get them finished and submitted. Then I got word of a guy that works with Friends of Madagascar I do believe, and I called him and set it up that I will be receiving soccer jerseys and soccer balls for the teams in my village!! They are going to be sooooo excited!! I manuevered my way around the capital. On my own, never being here before and still struggling with the language, well it's different from the language in my village...not too much but enuf for me to get confused more often than not. I met and hung out with some other PCVs. I met all the Admin from the NGO I'm working with Missouri Botanical Gardens (MBG). My are they an AWESOME bunch of people. It was a great trip. I didn't see everything I wanted to, but I'll wait until I have a companion along with me. I will be heading to Fianar tomorrow morning...9.5hrs by taxi. Spend the night in Fianar hopefully with Mike and Ashley and then head back to Farafangana, another 8hrs from Fianar. So I should be in my village by the weekend. I'm glad I got to talk to those of you that I did. I will be returning back in this area in about 3 weeks to do some more training. So I'll hopefully be able to post more and all that jazz. ANYHOO....luv and miss you all...take care...until next time..VELOMA!!!

So I have made my first trek from my site to the capital. I was lucky and was able to catch a ride with Peace Corps for the two-day trek instead of having to do it all by taxi, which is gonna be miserable. But we'll wait to talk about that until it happens. On the way here, I took lots of scenic pics somewhere around 200. I'll try to get more up while I'm here, which may be all week, it's uncertain as of today. On the way here, I saw things I hope to never see again and I saw things that made me smile. Let's go ahead and talk about the ones that made me smile. I saw a dog sun bathing with it's front paws crossed. I love seeing dogs cross their front paws. It just makes me smile. As we were going up a hill, there was a man, I would guess around 60yrs old along with a 6yr old child, coming towards us downhill on a wagon. He had this amazingly happy expression on his face I couldn't help big cheese extremely big. As we traveled, I enjoyed the fresh air blowing on my face, even though it got cold as we neared the capital. But by doing this, I experienced smells that brought me back to my time spent in Massachusetts, times spent at festivals and just some other memories. Ahhh how peaceful it is to be able to re-experience such good times in my life half-way across the world.

I am extremely happy in my village. I have had my share of ups and downs. When I'm having a down moment, I try to go for a bike ride or visit with the family that lives near me that has become my family. While on my bike ride, I try to smile and say hello to every person that I pass by. This really helps me get outta my slump. I was heading home after a frustrating day and was going downhill when a little girl was at the bottom yelling, "DONA!" (doonah) which is a fist pound that I do to everyone in my village. They love it and so do I. That made me smile so big.

I miss all you a lot. I will be able to have internet for a little while and have great reception so give me a call, drop me a line....OH right before I left to come to the capital I received my first wave of packages!!!! MOM, JULIE, LAURA T, PATTY, JESS....I got them all and as far as I know they all had their contents in them. However, since I was heading to the capital I sent them back to my village with Kabby. Didn't want to have to bring them to the capital and eat everything so I didn't actually open any of them. But they were all in tact. So yes. They were all sent to the Farafangana address. I have minimized my addresses to the two that have been working the best for us. So yeah. Thanks everyone for your love and support. I luv and miss you all....take care.

This is a common site of a woman carrying her baby with something on her head.Two of my favorite people in my village.Fiena is one of my best friends.Some of the neighbor kids.A view from me and Kabby's bike ride.7km turned into 14km one way.Me and some volunteer health workders starting the garden at my CSB.

This is me and some friends on my bday at the ocean.This is Kabby's village during the flooding. This is prolly 3-5 feet under water. Normally, this is fields.Next, Milo is one of my counterpart's dogs. She was tired and fell asleep on the shelf. So cute.She helps me keep my sanity sometimes.My house.Me and a little happy girl at my CSB.

I was so excited when i had finally bought my first avocado and then i saw this little girl and i had to hand it over. This is one of the views on the way to Ranomafana.Beautiful.

heeeeeeeeeeellllllllllllllllooooooooooooooooo...as in the Jerry Seinfeld voice...so i wasn't expecting to have internet today much less type up a blog so it will be short.today is my birthday.yes it is...i'm not one to announce that it's my birthday or that it is even coming up..but it's different here.i've been telling everyone and their mother it's my birthday...i've had such a great week.got about 10 letters that i'm so happy and grateful for..i want to rip them all open and read them now but am going to save most of them for site...i keep forgetting it's easter this weekend...happy easter!!! i am buying a chicken tomorrow and giving it to a family that has become my family to prepare and we will all eat it together.it shall be nice.i'm going to the beach today with some new found friends.Kabby is doing site development for a volunteer that is coming in may.so unfortunately she won't be there but it's ok.she made me a cake on wednesday and man was that way too much sugar.i was off the wall.but it's been great.i wish i could be on this high all the time.i really miss you all and know there are many things i want to write but just can't remember them and it's about time for me to head out into the world of madagascar.i want you all to know that all addresses have came through with some sort of mail.well.letters.but alison has received packages at the first long address with environment in the title.the CSB II address i would just send letters to.but they all go to the post office where i end up picking them up.so it's all good.i luv and miss you all.and thank you so much for keeping me in your thoughts.it means so much and i feel it greatly today.until next time....VELOMA! (goodbye!)

March 24, 2010

Greetings! It has been what seems like forever. There has been a lot going on down here in my little village. We started to get rain somewhere around the 3rd and then it finally ended around the 14th. The river that separates my village and Kabby’s (Alison’s new nickname) village had raised about 15 feet. We got I would guess about 6 feet of rain in the 10 days. During this time we had a few visitors from stateside come. First, it was Teresa. She works with the women of my village to help get them out of poverty. She is an amazing woman. The project is called Blessing Basket Project and she buys baskets that the women of my village make. She then sells them mostly at a Whole Foods store. Please check it out. Support it. The baskets are beautiful and all made by hand. I have taken on the role of being Teresa’s eyes and ears here in my village and reporting back to her of any problems or successes. I’m proud to be a part of this group. Right about the same time we had some students from Washington University in Missouri come. They were a group of 8 students and 3 faculty. HI GUYS! They were a great treat. They did some research on the headlamps that the basket weavers were using, not for long but hopefully they got some information out of it. They also went into the school and taught the students how to make a water purifier. It was good to see and interact with some Americans but it was also hard after they left. Which I was fully expecting. But I hope to see some of them again next year as this is a yearly visit. With all this rain comes the damp, moldiness that has taken over my house. There hasn’t been a day where I have been home to open my windows and let it dry out or at least air out because I’ve been either working all day or it has begun raining again. Last night I almost pissed my pants I was so scared of the thunderstorm that I was certain was taking place right above my roof. Speaking of my roof, yes it still leaks. Everywhere. I have finally gotten a bedframe so I am off the floor but now there are two leaks that touch my bed at night. Not pleasant. Yesterday I was on a mission to find people with headlamps to see if they were working properly or being used. I discovered a whole new part of my village that I didn’t know existed. I was so amazed by it that I was out well past dark, with a pack of children following me and lighting the way. Ha.

There is this food here called breadfruit. We don’t have it in the states but it’s here and I like it. It tastes like a baked potato when cooked and I just looooooooooooooove it. However, after eating it, you get a bit gassy. Not Malagasy gasy but gassy. The kids are constantly farting and last night I was talking with this older woman when all of a sudden some kid let a huge one rip. We all laugh. It’s quite entertaining.

On another note, Alison is now called Kabby. This is because her worst nightmare came true a couple weeks ago and she slipped and fell in her kabone (outhouse). I can’t stop laughing about it and use it whenever I am feeling down. We have went out clubbing a couple times and man I’ve never been clubbing in the states but it is a riot here. Lots of guys and girls dancing to older pop music. And lots of Bob Marley. Tiako i Bob Marley (I like bob Marley). They have slow dancing music on and it is hilarious when some older man grabs me to slow dance. Oh I get a chuckle out of it.

I have taught many of the children in my village to say, what’s up homeslice. It’s very comical to be anywhere in my village and hear, what’s up homeslice.

Anyhoo…that’s about all for now. I hope all is well back home. Got two letters. One each at a different address so they work. Please keep sending letters. Love and miss you all!

February 26, 2010-02-26

Ahhhhhhh. Today. What a day. Let me start off with a quote ( this quote is from my language teacher, while we were in a restaurant while being installed):

Matsubara: Make a list of ugly movie stars.

Me: You.

Matsubara: I’m not a movie star, I’m just a star.

This makes me laugh everytime I think of it, which is often. Let me tell you about an average day of mine. I am awoken at around 5am by either the cock-a-doodle-do of the roosters or the moving around of the people that live around me. I finally crawl out of bed around 6:30 or 7 on a lucky day, make some coffee and make myself a banana shake (which I have Sarah Provost to thank for that, Guinea neighbor). I head to work, by bike, at the CSB (hospital) which is about 2 km (1.5 miles about) away if it’s not raining otherwise I wait until I think the rain with subside for the ten minutes that it takes me to ride my bike to the CSB. Then I start my day at the CSB giving a speech on some subject, whether it be diarrhea, vaccines for young infants, safe motherhood (for women while they’re pregnant), malaria, or family planning. Then I bike back the 2km for lunch and bike back to the CSB for another half a day. The people usually come during the morning at least at this time of the year, or so I’ve heard. I then am done around 4 or 5 and head home to either fetch my water, which is a good 400 feet away from my house down two big hills and then I have to carry the 20lbs bucket back up that 400ft of hills to make it to my home where I am tired as shit becuz it’s a battle to come back up that hill, I have to psych myself up before heading up it everytime..telling myself, I can do it…it’s only 50 more feet until the top of the hill, or if not that I hang out and play cards, rumy is what they call it but it’s nothing close to the rumy I know from home. Then around 6ish I return to my house to cook dinner. This usually consists of potatoes and carrots or beans and onions or something of that sort. I always want to stay out of my house after dark but know that once I return to my house I have to cook and dump all my compost into my compost pile which is outside my house of course. And yes, I am scared to go outside my house at night. My doors and windows are usually closed by 7pm, which is usually when it’s dark. I love when I come home late and have to cook and after I do dishes and dump the water outside my window, I am awestruck by the number of lightning bugs that are in the small forest of trees behind my house. Which is funny becuz while being installed there was a lightning bug in our room (me and Alison, closest neighbor, only neighbor) and she was like what is that! And I was like…that’s a lightning bug silly. Being from California she had never seen one before and was grateful to be with someone who had. Anyhoo I’m usually in bed by 7pm reading and trying to fall asleep with the unfamiliar yet familiar sounds.

I have roasted my own peanuts, roasted my own coffee beans and pounded them into the delicious coffee that I enjoy every morning. I am starting to think in Malagasy. When I want to say something to myself it is usually in broken English/Malagasy. There have been times when I’ve hit my head on my door frame and cursed myself becuz the door was made for someone of size from this country….about a foot shorter than me. My bathroom is about 10 m from my house and yes I’ll admit I am scared of it. I go in, do my business as quick as possible and try to get out of there faster than I really should. There really isn’t anything scary about it except a leak in the roof, which it was pouring today and I really had to go and yep there I was going while rain was dripping on me the whole time. I’m starting to get used to it….slowly.

My house has been inhabited by ants. I don’t know where they’re coming from or where they’re going but they are there. And they’re pissing me off. I’ve stomped on them I brush them away I do everything I can think of but they are still there. Whatev…I guess I can deal with it. Things could be worse…right? One day when I went to a city to gather vegetables becuz there’s aren’t very many in our town, I was greeted upon return by a group of my villagers in an epicerie(small shop) having a dance party and calling me in. Of course I went in. We danced for awhile until I told them I was tired and had to go home. It was great. Fun times. Yep. This has been one of the things that has really made my village feel like it’s my home. It’s hard to not see my family and friends everyday but know these people appreciate me being here everyday and know I’m trying real hard to learn their language and fit in with them even though I’ll never be invincible. The language is coming along really well. I understand about half what is spoken to me and can express much of what I want. It is really starting to feel like I’m making a home here. Which is an overwhelming experience.

In about a week and a half there are some Americans coming from a University in Missouri to work with the NGO (Missouri Botanical Garndens, MBG) that I’m working with. They’ll be here for about 2-3 weeks studying in the forests and teaching in the schools I think. I’m excited to have contact with Americans becuz I miss you all. Me and my neighbor PCV Alison, helped MBG plant trees last Saturday and it was a great experience. I planted each one with love. I swear. The guy in charge at MBG, Reza, has two dogs. Yep a boy and girl and I hope that within a year they will have puppies that I will take one into my care. Ironically enuf the girl’s name is Milo…not pronounced how you think it is but like …MEELOOO….which if you know me like Nee does….i’ve always wanted my first dog to be named Milo after Milo and Oatis and now here we have it. So I hope to have one of their pups after at least a year. I have some traveling to do before I even consider getting a dog.

Every Saturday in my village there is a neighbor girl, Fiena, who braids my hair. I’ve been at site now for almost a month and have actually washed my hair about 3 times. Becuz she does a wonderful job where it keeps in the braids and doesn’t feel like I have to wash it more than that and she loves it along with the rest of my village. But everyday when I do take a shower, or I should say a bucket bath, I have psych myself up to pour the freezing cold water on me. I try to take a bucket bath after I’ve fetched water becuz I’m usually tired and hot and sweaty after that. And it isn’t too bad to take a cold shower after that. My nights consist of breadfruit, unknown to the American eye but a fruit about the size of a coconut that fall upon my roof at random times during the night and scare the shit outta me and once I had a mouse inside my mosquito net (which I sleep under religiously) jumping on my back trying to get out and once I got it out proceeded to eat my food, yeah I didn’t sleep much that night.

There is a group of women here who make baskets which are beautiful and I hope to someday set it up where you can buy them from here. They are beautiful and handcrafted and inexpensive, just have to work it out of how I’d get it mailed to the US and whatnot. But yeah I’ll try to post pictures of them and whatnot. But me and Alison have made killer burritos. Refried beans, guacamole, and cheese, oh man were they good. I’m gonna get great at making those tortillas I’m telling you.

Anyhoo…sorry so long…and prolly befuddling….but I miss you all so much. Please keep writing. It means so much. The day I receive and the many many days after I receive each letter is a touch of heaven. I love you all. LOVE YOU! Hi Grandma Albert and Grandma Dever!

Melissa

The first picture is of my teacher, matsubara, and my classroom, the porch outside my room (all in my host family) Next, my mom and sister and I went for a hike and this is what i stumbled upon. Miraso, the neighbor little girl, cute as a button. Then a picture of my host family's house. And finally, me with the Nigeriens, Tondi (our training manager in Niger and Souley, my health director in Niger) They both got to fly with us to Madagascar for two weeks. This was our good byes.

February 1, 2010

So we dropped off ashley, mike and matt the other day. Me and Alison had been just chillin, swimming in the Indian Ocean and shopping for nothing in particular. We took off for another city close to our sites to meet the authorities at the district level. Made the guy laugh when he asked me why i wasn't married. Because. Was all I said. The drive down to the other three's sites was just amazing. I mean our training site was amazing but this drive, i was fighting myself to stay awake just so i could see it. Beautiful. Today was our first day of our installation. I bought a mattress, gas, gas stove, 2 chairs, some solar charger stuff (yay!), another phone, and a shelf. I still have to buy all the little stuff but that will come with tomorrow. I got another phone and a new number i'll post on here. I don't have much time to write and this could be the last time for awhile. Pictures didn't work last time but we'll see this time.please write me. if you do, i'll have your address so then i'll send you a postcard and prolly a couple more letters. it means a lot. life is good. it's pretty humid where we are now. I'm hoping it won't be this humid where i'm going. I miss and love you all.

New number is 011261331314655

i could be getting another number cuz it's cheaper to call the states. using this company it is ridiculously expensive to call home. also note on letters and packages...you can still send them to the antananarivo address and they'll just be forwarded to my site. i don't know my address yet so i can't post it...luv you.

Jan 26, 2010

So we swore in today! I'm finally a volunteer. We head out to site tomorrow morning. I won't be actually in my site until Feb 4 because we have to drop off 3 other volunteers before we head to my site. We have to do banking, open some accounts, and shopping for our houses. I have been told that the closest place for internet to my site is about 6 hours away. So I prolly won't be using the internet much. I'm gonna try to upload some pics on here. We'll see how that goes. I love and miss you all dearly. Keep writing!

mel

Jan 24, 2010

Akory aby sa! This is hello in my dialect language of Antesaka. We have finally made it. I gave my final presentation in Malagasy to all our health host families. Part of the requirements of it was to have them ask questions at the end of the presentation and being able to answer it pretty much on the fly. Mine turned out to be ok. It wasn’t that bad. Then we had our language test on Friday. I was really nervous. For me, I have been learning a dialect but my host family didn’t speak the dialect so to be able to practice it, hasn’t really happened but it was a mixture of my dialect and Standard Malagasy, which isn’t too different but there are some differences. But the ultimate test will be once I get to site. Which speaking of that, we will be swearing in on Tuesday. We’re staying in the capital Monday and Tuesday and then heading out on Wednesday. My closest neighbor is Alison, she is anywhere from 1km-15km. Which is pretty close but I think it will be great. Speaking of swearing in, I did pass my language test and will be able to, finally, officially start my two-year service. While in the host family village, I put together a small demonstration for all the kids in my neighborhood on hand-washing. It was a great success. There is a song to sing with it as you’re washing your hands and all the kids would sing it whenever they saw me. Aaron brought his kids over and we did it for them too. I was very surprised with myself because I didn’t have to look at notes or anything. I was able to give it in Malagasy. After that, we, Health trainees, made a cook stove for the village, demonstrating how to make it and built it at the SEECALINE office where a lady does nutrition demonstrations for mothers and their children. That, too was a great success. Another strange, small world is that while I was in Guinea, right before I was medically separated we had gotten a new Country Director. His name was Dan. He was literally my CD for not even a week when I found out I was leaving but he was great and helped me as much as he possibly could. To get to the point of my story, with Guinea being evacuated last October and Madagascar not having a CD, they recruited Dan, yep the same Dan, to come and be acting CD for 6 weeks here. It was great to see him. It’s just been so weird how many times I’ve ran into something to do with Guinea either in Niger or here in Madagascar. It will take me a handful of days to get installed (moved into my village, introduced to the authorities, getting my banking set up, all that good jazz). It’s been pretty quiet on the state-side. Yep that’s all of you. But whatev, I know what it’s like. It’s really good to hear from you about everything and anything. After three months and two countries, we have finally made it. It’s amazing how close we’ve all become. We have been strong since the beginning. I do believe we are one of the first if not the first stage here in Madagascar that has made it through the whole training without having someone ET (early terminate). Alena, a part of our stage in Niger who couldn’t come to Madagascar, is starting training in South Africa at the end of January. I’m really glad that she got in so quickly. But yeah that’s about it for now. Love you all.

Jan. 6, 2010

Hey there yay! I’m gonna make this short because I don’t have much time. I have moved in with my host family and they are great. I wish I could upload some pics but the internet is being used by 35 other computers right now so it’ll be amazing if I even get this posted. I live with a mom, dad and 5 kids between the ages of 10-20. I’m giving my first presentation tomorrow in Malagasy. I’m a little nervous but it will be great experience. The weather has been rainy at night. But otherwise it’s been pleasant. My address will be changing once I get to post which will be early February. I’m not sure how it’ll work but there will be a place to mail me in my village or nearby. I’m located on the southeast, 5 miles from the Indian ocean. I’m excited and can’t wait to see it and everyone. Sorry so short but I’ve got to go. Hopefully I’ll be able to load pictures before I go to post. I love you all and miss you bunches.

Dec. 24, 2009

Hello everyone! I am reporting to you from Madagascar. It is just about as opposite as one could get from Niger. It’s rainy, cold, humid, green, and beautiful rather than hot, dry, and sandy. We are at the end of week two. We are all staying at a resort type facility for another week and then we move in with host families. Let me describe the training site a little. Our dining hall is right on a lake where we have witnessed many beautiful sunsets. There are a couple canoes that we have access to. We have bikes so we can go biking and see the beautiful scenery along with some amazing hiking. It is just breathtaking here. We are staying in a dorm type room with one to two roommates. I am housing with Devyn and Ryan but staying with Jackson and Aaron. A typical day consists of me getting up at 6am, taking a nice power walk for about 45 minutes, rinse off, have breakfast at 7am, class 8-10 language or technical, snack/coffee break 10-10:30, class 10:30-12, lunch, class 1:30-3, break, class 3:5-4:15, free time until 6 when we eat dinner and then study, read, write, play games, really anything until bedtime which is generally around 9pm for me. I feel like we have been spoiled. We have wonderful food. Rice is still served at every meal. Breakfast we’ve had anything from French toast, pancakes, hashbrowns, eggs, bread, and some sort of meat just about everyday; lunch is a lot of cooked veggies and meat; and supper is usually mac n cheese or some dish with veggies and salad along with mangoes or plums for dessert. It all has been amazing. The language is coming along. We just got site announcements this week. I will be along the southeast coast. Yep, I should be biking distance from the Indian ocean! My closest and really only neighbor volunteer is Alison. We started our dialect on Tuesday and it is very similar to the standard Malagasy language that they speak all over the country. Apparently, it’s louder, rougher and lazier than the standard Malagasy. I think it will coming along just fine. I don’t know a whole lot about my site because it was recently redeveloped but should have more information on it soon. I do know that there are many secondary projects working with the environment, which is exactly what I wanted and I never told them that. They really are great at what they do, especially placements. There is an American NGO that works with Botanical Gardens which I am super excited about. We had class Christmas morning but the afternoon off where we had a feast! Ice cream included!!!! Some other volunteers that will be somewhat in my area are Stephanie, Tatum, Mike, and Matt. Being as far south as I am will give me the opportunity to visit more volunteers, I feel, when I’m planning a trip into the capital, Tana. We are not allowed to travel at night because of safety so it’s an excuse to stop on by someone’s site. We are all getting anxious to be getting out to site but know the training is crucial. I got a new cell phone, which hopefully I remember to change on here, but will more than likely be getting a new one once I’m at post. I will also be getting a new address. I do believe I’ll still be able to get letters and things that are sent to Tana (Antanarivo) but it may take a little longer once I’m at site. This way I could possibly have it delivered to my town. I’ll get it up on here as soon as I find it out. Anyhoo, I hope all is well. Thank you for those that have written or called. I can’t stress enough how much it means. I miss you all like crazy and hope some of you are thinking of visiting because I’m already thinking of places I want to go and things I want to do with many of you. Don’t be afraid to call or write! Pictures from home, newspaper/magazine articles, really anything is great. Hope the holidays are treating you all great. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! Love always, Mel.

011261341890628 Here's my number but it will prolly be changing in a week or so.

Well hello from Paris! Yep I'm gonna make a long story short. About three weeks ago maybe, we were put on consolidation. This is where all volunteers and trainees were brought together in their regions. Us trainees were all brought up to the training site where we stayed for a long time. We couldn't leave the fenced in grounds without a staff member with us. There was an attempted kidnapping on US Embassy workers in one of the regions here in Niger. It was unsuccessful but unknown if it was a planned attack. So after the couple weeks of being all together, Mary our country director decided since we hadn't been in country for that long, we weren't able to notice if there was a difference in the atmosphere, whether a normal situation had become unsafe. So she decided to pull us. Lucky we were almost all able to go together to Madagascar where we will begin our training all over again. Unfortunately, one person wasn't able to come with us. Her name was Alena. She is a great person, always positive and will be greatly missed. I am amazed that PC was able to keep us all together and move us all to another country. I had made Niger my home in just the few weeks we were there and I will greatly miss it. We had a great Thanksgiving where the trainees put together a fabulous meal for everyone. We had PLENTY to eat. We also held a fashion show which was just great. We dressed up in Nigerien clothes, thanks to our language teachers, and modeled them off. It was a fun time. We put on an American Olympics for the teachers to participate in, which myself and JaJa put together. We did things like an obstacle course with hopscotch, frog jumps, English tunnel of greetings, and the crab walk. We also had pin the tail on the donkey, tug of war and musical chairs. It was a blast and everyone enjoyed. I am still a Health Volunteer which I'm excited about. I'm definately super excited to be heading to Madagascar, more of a vacation destination. So I hope many of you will consider coming. My new address will be posted on here. I'm gonna load some pictures and then head out to see Paris! I still can't believe this. It's so surreal. Luv you all. Thanks to those that have written and/or called. The first picture is

my language classmates, Ashely and JaJa. The second is of me and my family. Basically who they are are my mama, the daughter-in-law Ramatu, the daughter Rakia, the two grandsons Moumouni and Ousmane and me. The third one is some camels that were just wandering around down by the tabaki, a temporary lake that forms after the rainy season. Here's to the third time training!

The title of my blog is Hausa for good afternoon basically! So yeah we're just shy of three weeks in country. It's great. I'm totally loving it here. It's been hot and it's not even in the hot season yet. We are on demyst. That is where we go out into the country to stay with a current volunteer for a few nights. I went to visit a volunteer who is NRM and Zarma....I'm health and Hausa, but it was great. I want to start a garden and work i nthe fields. I feel like i've forgotten how to type, so I'm sorry in advance. A little about my training. We have class Mon-Fri 8-4ish. And Saturdays from 8-12. I sleep outside under the stars, in a mosquito net. I have a roommate, Kelly. We both luv bluegrass so we listen to it every morning while getting ready to go get breakfast...cafe au lait and bread for me...It's great sleeping outside but I tend to wake up at 5am every morning and the MOON (MOM) is so bright it seems like there is a light right above my head. But if it's not that it's either one of the three donkeys that live just on the other side of wall or one of the ten goats that also live there. So it's great. I don't mind it at all. I had an extreme calming feeling come over me as soon as I got off that plane in Niamey. So great to finally be back in Africa. The people are so kind. It is different from GUinea but you know that was to be expected. Speaking of Guinea, they did get evacuated and one of the volunteers transferred here to Niger...he has actually been to my village becuz he was only 35km away from my village. So that was nice to hear about what everyone was doing and whatnot. Anyhoo I've got to get back to the hostel....I'm starving. I luv you all....keep sending me stuff...it's so great...anything..everything..luv you all!! and miss ya a bunch.

Well I made it to Philly. I haven't been able to sleep lately becuz I've been so excited and anxious for the day....and it finally came. I flew outta LaCrosse at 7am and arrived in Philly around 12:30pm. It was good..got about an hour of sleep from chi-town to philly. Got on the shuttle to the hotel where I joined 38 other people going to Niger. I definately feel much calmer now that I'm actually here with my group. It feels more real or something. I'll be taking off early tomorrow morning and probably won't have internet access for, they say 2 months and cell service for maybe a month. So just remember....no news is good news. I hope you all are beginning to write. I'm so glad that I got to see everyone and talk to everyone that I did in the last few months. I've had a great time. I still think of you all and luv you with all my heart. Thank you for the support. Take care.

so with 11 days left before the take off for staging, i'm flooded with so many emotions. I'm very anxious and excited to get back to africa. While in Guinea, I had made myself a home (my first time living alone besides the dorm life freshman year), connected with a family that treated me as one of their own, and made many, many friends. I'd lie if I said I don't think about Guinea often because I do. Especially lately, it's been on my mind most of the day. For those of you that don't know, all the volunteers in Guinea have been evacuated to Mali this week. There has been political turmoil in the capital and Peace Corps made the decision to evacuate. They are currently evaluating the situation and making the decision whether or not it's safe to send them back into country. I feel for the volunteers for many reasons. As far as I'm aware, they did get a couple days to gather their things and say good bye...not knowing if they'd return. Some if not most were in the middle of projects that will be left unfinished, and who knows if they will be continued without the volunteer present but I hope they all do. G-15, the group I was in, would have been done with their service in February 2010, so what I have heard from some of them is that if they don't return to Guinea, they are going to COS (close of service) 4 months early. There is a mixture of emotions within the group. Some are excited that they may be able to go home for the holidays, others had plans to take the GRE within the next few months in the capital, and a handful were planning to do third years in Guinea and in different countries in West Africa. My heart goes out to them all and I hope everything works out for the best.It's hard for me not to think that if I had stayed in Guinea, my service will have been done in February-just when I'll be at IST (inservice training). This occurs three months after being at site. But I don't let it get me down. I was having mixed feelings about going back to Africa after I got my invitation, but if you look at what I've went through not only in the past 15 months but the time before I left for Guinea, I've invested A LOT of my time and energy in this and it is something I want to do. I have met a lot of people that are in my group going to Niger on facebook and it is a relief. We discuss our hopes and fears, which we share many. It's calming to know, even though I've already gone through it, that I'm not the only one feeling the way I do. I feel good that I know what to expect, to some extent. It's going to be harder, I think, for me to leave this time around for personal reasons but I know that if I don't go, I'll always feel a hole in my life. I feel fortunate enough to have had a family reunion with all the family in the midwest, including both my sisters with one coming from oregon and the other coming from New York not too long ago. It has been awhile since that has happened and probably will be awhile until it happens again. I also am so happy that I have been able to spend many of my last weeks with friends that have been a big part of my life and influenced the person I have become. I am grateful for each and every one of you. I feel lucky to have you all in my life. I will leave you with a picture of my maternal grandmother with all her grandchildren. Until next time....