A Day in The Life.....

(typed on a french keyboard)

A glimpse into what my days look like during PC training.

My day usually begins at 5am, sometimes earlier depending on when the family gets up. I start by getting dressed, opening my shutters (all windows and doors are closed tight at night...has to do with a taboo about going out at night). My first trip is to the kabone (like an out-house, but with just a hole in the ground and two bricks for your feet) so I can empty my Po (a bucket with a lid used as a bathroom at night b/c I can\t leave my room). After I empty the Po in the Kobone, I go and grab my Tako (bucket) and make the 200m walk down a usually wet and slippery hill to the water hole, if my family has a Tako avalible I go with tow and save them one trip out of the 4 they make every morning. Going down is easy, its walking back up with two full buckets that always makes it interesting. When I get back, I re-fill my water filter and nalgene (nalgene gets two drops of Sur'Rue-Clorine). I gather my soap, bucket with the little water left, and towel and make way to the labozy (an enclosed structure for showering), stoping and picking up some left over hot water (sometimes rice water). Taking a bucket bath wasn't hard to get use to, the hard part is doing it efficiently. I think I have it down now....whcih brings up another point- Everything seems smaller in Mad-Car (chairs, doorways, all spaces really). Its not uncommon for me to hit my head 4-5 times a day, you would think I would learn. After The shower, I grab some food usually mofo vo ronono (bread and milk-fresh every morning form outback) finished with some sweet kafe. Classes run form 8am-12pm and 2-5pm covering everthing from gardening in the tropics, composting, green leguimes, agro-forestry techniques, Malagasy culture, and lanuage-and much, much more. Everthing is experiential based, which means we see it, we talk about it, and we do it. Classes usually run over in the morning and including the walk back home, usually only leaved an hour to eat rick with sometype of veg./bean before going back in the afternoon. After five, I have a little extra time with the language instructor. Im the only one learning the Atonosy dialect and my language time is split between another person-so i get half the time, but its one on one. It can also be nich after class to hand around an indulge in a conversation in english. It get frusterating only having a Malagasy vocab of a small child. Home by 6pm for dinner (rice, veg./bean again). The time spent during the meals usually consist on me pointing at things multiple times and sating "Inon ny" (What is...) My family doesn\t mind it now, but its only a matter of time until that gets real annoying. After dinner I practice vocab, sometimes we play a game-my family created a version of Uno, i think i\ll call it gasy-uno. I'm in bet by 8pm and do it all overagain....

Its still hard to grasp the idea that I\m in Madagascar, my focus has only been day to day, but it is without doubt a beautiful place!
Till Next time. I have about 20 PCVT waiting for this comp.

Velom eh!
-Brendan