For those of you not on my e-mail list, Peace Corps Madagascar has been suspended. The country's stability has deteriorated. Tanks in the capital, military divided and defecting, two presidents still not negotiating.
This means I am going to South Africa soon, where I will learn about what my options are for the future. Right now I know only vague details, and I still have trouble thinking about leaving, let alone what to do after. I will have better internet access from SA and will try to keep new info posted. For now I am safe, but in shock. Thanks for all your love and support. Maybe I will see some of you sooner than we thought.
Friday, March 13, 2009
And Life Goes On
I am living through a coup d’ etat. It is less exciting than it sounds. There are rallies most every day, police shutting down large parts of cities, deploying tear gas and breaking up protests every day. Whole cities are shutting down in protests called ‘une ville mort’ (dead city), and roads have been blocked.
This is all happening in the capital and regional capitals, out here in the country side, you’d barely know anything is happening. We get daily reports from PC about the happenings around the country, but since the news is controlled by the president, most people here don’t really know what is happening on a day-to-day basis. Let me reiterate that I am safe.
There are heated discussions around town, rumors about protests and clashes with the police, but no rallies, ville mort or even police presence. The police just get drunk all day anyway, and the national military was all called to the capital. What people do know and agree on is that we need a new president. He went one step too far by buying a $60 million presidential jet, and now there is a general call for him to be ousted. It is just happening slowly.
I began working with an NGO called CARE and mentioned to them the ‘political crisis’ and they said ‘No Gordon, it is not a crisis, it is just part of life here in Madagascar. It is the way we do things.’
It was difficult to be pulled from site to consolidation, but I returned and restarted my normal routine and was soon settled. Everything is normal here, and life is as it was, but I am waiting (we all are) for something to happen. Regional capitals are restricted areas. We are on the first level of security alert (standfast) indefinitely. Every time the phone rings I think ‘this could be it, please let me stay!’. However, aside from that mild anxiety, life goes on.
7 Mars, 2009
This is all happening in the capital and regional capitals, out here in the country side, you’d barely know anything is happening. We get daily reports from PC about the happenings around the country, but since the news is controlled by the president, most people here don’t really know what is happening on a day-to-day basis. Let me reiterate that I am safe.
There are heated discussions around town, rumors about protests and clashes with the police, but no rallies, ville mort or even police presence. The police just get drunk all day anyway, and the national military was all called to the capital. What people do know and agree on is that we need a new president. He went one step too far by buying a $60 million presidential jet, and now there is a general call for him to be ousted. It is just happening slowly.
I began working with an NGO called CARE and mentioned to them the ‘political crisis’ and they said ‘No Gordon, it is not a crisis, it is just part of life here in Madagascar. It is the way we do things.’
It was difficult to be pulled from site to consolidation, but I returned and restarted my normal routine and was soon settled. Everything is normal here, and life is as it was, but I am waiting (we all are) for something to happen. Regional capitals are restricted areas. We are on the first level of security alert (standfast) indefinitely. Every time the phone rings I think ‘this could be it, please let me stay!’. However, aside from that mild anxiety, life goes on.
7 Mars, 2009
But...
The President’s blunder does have immediate and lasting consequences for the country. The UN has estimated that it will take at least 7 years for the country to recover from the looting, burning and protesting. The lost harvest and burned goods could cause a food shortage in the near future. This is compounded by the fact that the World Bank, and many other aid groups have pulled funding to the country since President Ravalomanana cannot exactly say where he got the $60 mill for the jet.
A very close to home effect of this loss was explained to me by my landlord. He is a contractor and builder. He is about to finish building a school, dormitory and sanitation project in the countryside about 50 km away. He took out a loan to do this, and now the government can’t pay for it. They owe him money for the project and he is very worried that he will never get it. The bank is harassing him and the government is telling him just to wait. He cannot work on other projects until this one pays and he has money for more materials and labor.
Part of the problem is the lack of liquid capital in the market, it is sort of always like this, waiting for money to come. Part of the problem is that the government has no more money to pay for the public works it needs. This is not to say that the government would pay promptly if there was money, but they would pay eventually. Now, Mr. Calixte may never see that money again.
A very close to home effect of this loss was explained to me by my landlord. He is a contractor and builder. He is about to finish building a school, dormitory and sanitation project in the countryside about 50 km away. He took out a loan to do this, and now the government can’t pay for it. They owe him money for the project and he is very worried that he will never get it. The bank is harassing him and the government is telling him just to wait. He cannot work on other projects until this one pays and he has money for more materials and labor.
Part of the problem is the lack of liquid capital in the market, it is sort of always like this, waiting for money to come. Part of the problem is that the government has no more money to pay for the public works it needs. This is not to say that the government would pay promptly if there was money, but they would pay eventually. Now, Mr. Calixte may never see that money again.
Malagasy Politics:
There is a pitch-black, fork-tailed flycatcer called a Drongo here. This is the story of how it became the king of the birds:
Once upon a time there was a great fire in the forest. God called all of the birds to him and said “whoever put this fire out will forever be the king of the birds.” All of the birds rushed out to put out the fire, and the Mynah actually succeeded. He used coconuts from the trees where he lives to put out the flames.
Before he went back to see God, he wanted to take a bath. While he was bathing, the drongo, who had watched the whole thing from a distance, flew down and rolled in the ashes. He went to God and told him “I have put out the fire.” Then and there, God anointed the drongo with the ashes and made him king of the birds, which he remains to be even today.
9 Mars, 2009
Once upon a time there was a great fire in the forest. God called all of the birds to him and said “whoever put this fire out will forever be the king of the birds.” All of the birds rushed out to put out the fire, and the Mynah actually succeeded. He used coconuts from the trees where he lives to put out the flames.
Before he went back to see God, he wanted to take a bath. While he was bathing, the drongo, who had watched the whole thing from a distance, flew down and rolled in the ashes. He went to God and told him “I have put out the fire.” Then and there, God anointed the drongo with the ashes and made him king of the birds, which he remains to be even today.
9 Mars, 2009
Ambohibe, The Village High Up on the Hill:
I took a trip to Ambohibe with my friend Claude Amie yesterday. It is 18km away from Vavatenina down a really bad road. I didn’t expect much, but it is a really nice little village. I commented to Claude that for a town it’s size, it should have a road. He explained to me that in 1987 the government gave the Mayor a lot of money to build a road, and she built a big house instead. Now she is in jail, the house is unused and the town barely has a road.
It was a really nice trip. Claude is from the deep countryside (35 km from Ambohibe) and went there for middle school. He showed me around, the school is nicer than the one in Vavaten, and there is a nice soccer field down by the river; and introduced me to his friends.
While we were there, they were celebrating Women’s Rights Day. The Mayor made a speech and a group of girls sang and danced. Then a group of older women sang and danced to. I told Claude it made me really happy to see a cultural event like that; I ahad been dismayed at the lack of culture in Vavaten. He explained to me that there are lots of such events in the countryside. Dances, songs, celebrations (the day before they killed a cow in the town square), story telling acted out with masks, all these things happen here, but not in Vavaten. People don’t do them in the city because they think it is uncivilized. They hide their culture in the boonies so that the foreigners like me don’t judge them.
This idea made me really sad. Hide your culture? We are not the same, and you don’t have to be ashamed of that, but they are. I now remember a few times that very Catholic people in town, the same ones who told me never to go to a tomb-turning ceremony, disappeared for a day or two into the forest or country. Mostly near holidays. They all just told me they went to see family, but now I suspect there were alterior motives for their trips.
The upside is that now I know where to find such experiences, and Claude knows I am looking for them so he will keep me informed.
9 Mars, 2009
It was a really nice trip. Claude is from the deep countryside (35 km from Ambohibe) and went there for middle school. He showed me around, the school is nicer than the one in Vavaten, and there is a nice soccer field down by the river; and introduced me to his friends.
While we were there, they were celebrating Women’s Rights Day. The Mayor made a speech and a group of girls sang and danced. Then a group of older women sang and danced to. I told Claude it made me really happy to see a cultural event like that; I ahad been dismayed at the lack of culture in Vavaten. He explained to me that there are lots of such events in the countryside. Dances, songs, celebrations (the day before they killed a cow in the town square), story telling acted out with masks, all these things happen here, but not in Vavaten. People don’t do them in the city because they think it is uncivilized. They hide their culture in the boonies so that the foreigners like me don’t judge them.
This idea made me really sad. Hide your culture? We are not the same, and you don’t have to be ashamed of that, but they are. I now remember a few times that very Catholic people in town, the same ones who told me never to go to a tomb-turning ceremony, disappeared for a day or two into the forest or country. Mostly near holidays. They all just told me they went to see family, but now I suspect there were alterior motives for their trips.
The upside is that now I know where to find such experiences, and Claude knows I am looking for them so he will keep me informed.
9 Mars, 2009
So when is the rainy season?
This is a question that I have asked many people, in many forms, in 3 different languages and still have not received a solid answer for. But now people are just talking about it. I haven’t asked in a while because I thought it had just passed. If that was it I will be disappointed, but I think that was cyclone season and the rainy season is now upon us. that’s what people are saying when they aren’t talking about politics or money.
It occurred to me that the problem may not have been my language skills. but just a deeper disconnect. Then I ask people “when is the rainy season?” or “will it rain more in March?”, they understand the words, but don’t understand what I am asking. They don’t understand how I could not know when the rainy season is. Never mind that I grew up halfway around the world, everyone knows when the rainy season is. What is this crazy white guy asking?
Anyway, it is cooling off (thankfully) and the rain is coming more frequently. The threat of cyclones is almost passed without a major one hitting the East coast this year.
I guess this is just going be the way it is, communication wise. Even if I can coherently speak in Malagasy and French, I will still have a lot of trouble communicating. It is frustrating, but I will just keep trying. So far, some misinformation has caused misadventures, but no major problems. I am working hard to keep it that way, but my luck is bound to run out sometime.
8 Mars, 2009
It occurred to me that the problem may not have been my language skills. but just a deeper disconnect. Then I ask people “when is the rainy season?” or “will it rain more in March?”, they understand the words, but don’t understand what I am asking. They don’t understand how I could not know when the rainy season is. Never mind that I grew up halfway around the world, everyone knows when the rainy season is. What is this crazy white guy asking?
Anyway, it is cooling off (thankfully) and the rain is coming more frequently. The threat of cyclones is almost passed without a major one hitting the East coast this year.
I guess this is just going be the way it is, communication wise. Even if I can coherently speak in Malagasy and French, I will still have a lot of trouble communicating. It is frustrating, but I will just keep trying. So far, some misinformation has caused misadventures, but no major problems. I am working hard to keep it that way, but my luck is bound to run out sometime.
8 Mars, 2009
Friday, January 23, 2009
Compare and contrast:
I assume that many of you watched President Obama’s Inauguration, and I thought this would be a good time to compare experiences. So think back on it, remember where you were, what you were doing, what else was going on...got it? Now, let me tell you what I was doing.
On the day before there was a huge tropical storm here. It rained all day and I was basically stuck in my house. On Inauguration Day, the storm broke in the morning, but we did not have school since it rained so hard yesterday. The morning was beautiful, and I went for a run in the cloudy late morning heat. I cooked and ate lunch with Brad, we played guitar and then tried to figure out what time the Inauguration would happen. My mom said 9:30, is that Pacific time (11 hours different) or Eastern? What time is that here? What did the radio say this morning?
By the time we had it figured out (turns out we were wrong anyway), it looked like rain again. Brad has the working radio and we have to cross town to get to his house. We left just in time to get caught in a tropical deluge. It then rained as it only can in the tropics, for the next two hours. We found a BBC station on the short-wave that promised coverage. Then the station moved. So we found its new frequency, got beers and waited.
For the speech and ceremony, it was 7:30 pm. The rain had stopped, but we were still wet, eating rice, sitting close to the radio with a dubious connection and picking fleas off of our legs as fast as we could find them. We were able to make out the speech, and it was definitely a memorable experience.
On the day before there was a huge tropical storm here. It rained all day and I was basically stuck in my house. On Inauguration Day, the storm broke in the morning, but we did not have school since it rained so hard yesterday. The morning was beautiful, and I went for a run in the cloudy late morning heat. I cooked and ate lunch with Brad, we played guitar and then tried to figure out what time the Inauguration would happen. My mom said 9:30, is that Pacific time (11 hours different) or Eastern? What time is that here? What did the radio say this morning?
By the time we had it figured out (turns out we were wrong anyway), it looked like rain again. Brad has the working radio and we have to cross town to get to his house. We left just in time to get caught in a tropical deluge. It then rained as it only can in the tropics, for the next two hours. We found a BBC station on the short-wave that promised coverage. Then the station moved. So we found its new frequency, got beers and waited.
For the speech and ceremony, it was 7:30 pm. The rain had stopped, but we were still wet, eating rice, sitting close to the radio with a dubious connection and picking fleas off of our legs as fast as we could find them. We were able to make out the speech, and it was definitely a memorable experience.
Natural Disaster days.
This time of year you at home may be missing school or work because of snow. Today I did not teach because of a tropical storm that is slamming into the East coast of the Island. Peace Corps issued a warning, retracted it, then told us to stock up on food and prepare for power and cell phone outages because the storm was coming.
It was easy to tell something was up: Yesterday from my window I could see 6 people repairing their roofs and throwind sandbags on them to keep them from blowing away. Th National Radio was issuing some kind of warning, and even though I couldn’t understand it all, I could hear ‘Warning (Tendremo)’ and ‘Vavatenina’. My landlord told me to stock up on food.
So it was windy and rained all day. It was exciting, but relatively un-eventful. For all the talk about the storm, this one turned out to be minor, just a tropical depression. There is a real cyclone on the West coast right now, and who knows where that will go? And there are 3 more months of cyclone season, so there is plenty of time for the weather to pick up the slack and send us something more exciting.
It was easy to tell something was up: Yesterday from my window I could see 6 people repairing their roofs and throwind sandbags on them to keep them from blowing away. Th National Radio was issuing some kind of warning, and even though I couldn’t understand it all, I could hear ‘Warning (Tendremo)’ and ‘Vavatenina’. My landlord told me to stock up on food.
So it was windy and rained all day. It was exciting, but relatively un-eventful. For all the talk about the storm, this one turned out to be minor, just a tropical depression. There is a real cyclone on the West coast right now, and who knows where that will go? And there are 3 more months of cyclone season, so there is plenty of time for the weather to pick up the slack and send us something more exciting.
The New Work-out Plan:
For me to stay sane and in good spirits, it has always been important for me to stay in shape. I never was much of a long distance runner, but due to limited resources, I am now. At least 3 times a week I run about 10km into the ‘ambabivolo’ (counrtyside). Last weekend I topped 24km running, and the Monday before that I biked 42km with my site partner Brad.
It is an interesting experience to go into the ambanivolo. I am already stared at in town, but when I run through some of the small villages it might be their excitement for the week. It is harder for me to communicate with people farther out of town, as they are less educated and speak with more slang and improper grammar. I am not one to be picky about their grammar, I’m sure mine is terrible, but it makes them much more difficult to comprehend. I barely have a grasp on the language as it is.
They also all think I am crazy for working out. This is a cultural difference. They lead such active lives anyway that the thought that someone might want to exercise is very foreign. To them, fat is also a sign of prosperity and health. If you don’t have to sweat in the fields all day, you have enough to eat and time to relax, you want to get fat so everyone knows how good you’ve got it.
I am hoping to send these posts from Fenerieve Est. If you are reading it, it means that I have biked the 46km there to visit my friend Michelle with the two other volunteers from out here in the countryside. It is a struggle to stay healthy here, fighting all the tropical diseases, lack of nutrition, heat and plain laziness, but I am managing. I will be sleeping on Michelle’s floor this weekend. She has rats (as do most volunteers) and some of the rats here carry the bubonic plague. Yes, also known as the Black Plague. If I get it, I promise I’ll let you know what it is like.
21 janvier 2009
It is an interesting experience to go into the ambanivolo. I am already stared at in town, but when I run through some of the small villages it might be their excitement for the week. It is harder for me to communicate with people farther out of town, as they are less educated and speak with more slang and improper grammar. I am not one to be picky about their grammar, I’m sure mine is terrible, but it makes them much more difficult to comprehend. I barely have a grasp on the language as it is.
They also all think I am crazy for working out. This is a cultural difference. They lead such active lives anyway that the thought that someone might want to exercise is very foreign. To them, fat is also a sign of prosperity and health. If you don’t have to sweat in the fields all day, you have enough to eat and time to relax, you want to get fat so everyone knows how good you’ve got it.
I am hoping to send these posts from Fenerieve Est. If you are reading it, it means that I have biked the 46km there to visit my friend Michelle with the two other volunteers from out here in the countryside. It is a struggle to stay healthy here, fighting all the tropical diseases, lack of nutrition, heat and plain laziness, but I am managing. I will be sleeping on Michelle’s floor this weekend. She has rats (as do most volunteers) and some of the rats here carry the bubonic plague. Yes, also known as the Black Plague. If I get it, I promise I’ll let you know what it is like.
21 janvier 2009
Who needs a TV?
I’ve found a new way to kill time. At dusk the bugs come out and stay for the night, so I leave my windows and drapes open and lure them in with my light. At seven I usually have a handful of flies and moths, harmless insects just unable to stop flying around the light. Then at 7:30 or 8, the fun begins.
My collection of small bugs is usually enough to attract a large predatory bug who comes in and cleans up. Usually it is a praying mantis (who knew they could fly?), but I have had plenty that I’ve never seen before. Some are so freakishly outlandish I couldn’t begin to describe them. Brown, green, red, purple with two wings, four wings antenna longer than their bodies, pincers, claws, big eyes, they’re amazing.
Last night I had the most impressive one yet. He came in looking lost and hit the wall 4 or 5 times, but then he got to business. He ate 6 moths and all the flies in about 2 minutes, then landed and scrambled under my bed where I could hear him wreaking havoc on all the poor bugs that live there. He was about 6 cm long, brown with short wings and a huge head. By far the most impressive insectivore I have seen at work.
My hope is that once I lure them in, they stay for a while and help me keep things in check. I’ve got a few resident spiders and some lizards too, but they apparently could use a little help. My house really isn’t that bad now. If I keep clean the ants and cockroaches raid my neighbors instead. Occasionally a scorpion still shows up, but I am hoping that they will be out competed by the lizards soon. Whoever wins out, I definitely have a healthy ecosystem and endless entertainment watching the battles and feasting play out.
7 janvier 2009
My collection of small bugs is usually enough to attract a large predatory bug who comes in and cleans up. Usually it is a praying mantis (who knew they could fly?), but I have had plenty that I’ve never seen before. Some are so freakishly outlandish I couldn’t begin to describe them. Brown, green, red, purple with two wings, four wings antenna longer than their bodies, pincers, claws, big eyes, they’re amazing.
Last night I had the most impressive one yet. He came in looking lost and hit the wall 4 or 5 times, but then he got to business. He ate 6 moths and all the flies in about 2 minutes, then landed and scrambled under my bed where I could hear him wreaking havoc on all the poor bugs that live there. He was about 6 cm long, brown with short wings and a huge head. By far the most impressive insectivore I have seen at work.
My hope is that once I lure them in, they stay for a while and help me keep things in check. I’ve got a few resident spiders and some lizards too, but they apparently could use a little help. My house really isn’t that bad now. If I keep clean the ants and cockroaches raid my neighbors instead. Occasionally a scorpion still shows up, but I am hoping that they will be out competed by the lizards soon. Whoever wins out, I definitely have a healthy ecosystem and endless entertainment watching the battles and feasting play out.
7 janvier 2009
Suddenly it’s HOT.
I guess it kind of crept up on me. It has been hot for months now, hardly a day goes by without someone pointing that out. We all say it, we all agree. Mafana be ny andro. But now it’s HOT.
I don’t know quite when it happened, but we have turned a corner. It hasn’t been below 32 degrees in my house since mid-December. I sleep with the window open and fan on, if I can sleep at all. I sweat, non-stop, and the only thing I can eat for lunch is fruit. I try not to leave my house between the hours of 11 and 3 but I have class some days at 2, so I walk and sweat and suffer.
The nights are nice to be out in. The town cools to about 30 by 10pm and I don’t have to worry about hiding in the shade. I have early classes during the week though, so I try to not enjoy the night for too long. It is a struggle to get into bed. It is hotter in my house than outside, hotter in the mosquito net than in the house, and the foam mattress that has been killing my back also gets hot really quick.
What I am hoping for now is that when the rains come, they will cool us down and bring wind too. Swarms of mosquitoes may be more enjoyable than the heat, at least I can hide from them.
5 janvier, 2009
My hopes have come true, sort of. The rainy season is starting, but so far it means hard rain for two or three hours around sunset. This means (inconveniently) that it is still scorching hot during the day, but some of the nicest hours of the cool evening are taken up by sitting out the rain. I do sometimes go out in it at my own peril. The mud keeps my sandals stuck to the ground when I try to pick them up, but refuses to let my foot stay in one place when I step down. The roads are disintegrating under my feet. It is cooler at night though, so I have been able to sleep. You win some and you lose some. C’est la vie.
17 janvier 2009
I don’t know quite when it happened, but we have turned a corner. It hasn’t been below 32 degrees in my house since mid-December. I sleep with the window open and fan on, if I can sleep at all. I sweat, non-stop, and the only thing I can eat for lunch is fruit. I try not to leave my house between the hours of 11 and 3 but I have class some days at 2, so I walk and sweat and suffer.
The nights are nice to be out in. The town cools to about 30 by 10pm and I don’t have to worry about hiding in the shade. I have early classes during the week though, so I try to not enjoy the night for too long. It is a struggle to get into bed. It is hotter in my house than outside, hotter in the mosquito net than in the house, and the foam mattress that has been killing my back also gets hot really quick.
What I am hoping for now is that when the rains come, they will cool us down and bring wind too. Swarms of mosquitoes may be more enjoyable than the heat, at least I can hide from them.
5 janvier, 2009
My hopes have come true, sort of. The rainy season is starting, but so far it means hard rain for two or three hours around sunset. This means (inconveniently) that it is still scorching hot during the day, but some of the nicest hours of the cool evening are taken up by sitting out the rain. I do sometimes go out in it at my own peril. The mud keeps my sandals stuck to the ground when I try to pick them up, but refuses to let my foot stay in one place when I step down. The roads are disintegrating under my feet. It is cooler at night though, so I have been able to sleep. You win some and you lose some. C’est la vie.
17 janvier 2009
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