Fix-it-Felix Ain't Got Nothin' on Me

Another month has come and gone. As always there has been much to do, but I feel a slight change of order is necessary, so let's start with the animals first.

The puppies have had their last few weeks with mom. The last three pictured above have all been carted off to their forever homes and it's back to just me and momma hanging out around my house. It'll be quiet again until she has her next litter, but I'm ok with the slightly reduced company for a few months.

I saw this guy sitting on my window sill the other day and couldn't get my camera out in time to snap a shot while he was so close, but he did pose in a nearby bush for a few quick pictures. I really liked his bright yellow head. The birds here can be quite stunning, but they are very camera shy.

And of course the ever present lizards. This pair of antsatsaka (this specific type of gecko in Malagasy) was hanging out on my kabone one afternoon so I decided to get as close as I could and grab some pictures. They were cooperative for far longer than I imagined they would be.

As mentioned last month, I needed to evict the puppies for flea issues, and this was the result of that decision. Chicken netting on my fence. It also has the added advantage of keeping out chickens and cats too, which should also help my gardens keep their seedlings from getting mowed down.

Speaking of seedlings, I have green beans growing! I'm super excited for them and they sprouted very fast and tall. I'm away for a weekend as I write this, and my biggest fear is that they won't make it through my absence, but barring that, they should be ready for an early February harvest!

Other green things have been popping up around my place too, like this curtain that I bought. I made the curtain rod and put the cover up over this and one other window to allow me a little more privacy if I should so desire it while still allowing in the much needed cross breezes. It is the HOT season right now!

Also sprouting up is a new house a little walk down the road from mine. I've been eagerly following the progress of this house because its intended recipient is a new Peace Corps Volunteer! As long as the house is finished in time, I will be getting a new friend just a couple hundred meters down the road in a few months time, and I am super excited!

This was the latest picture of the house with about half the walls put in place. They are currently looking for the materials they need to make the roof, and once that's done it's just some minor touching up and then it'll be ready!

That's not the only project that's been going on in town, I've also finally had some big progress on my grant project! Here we see a student from the elementary school helping move some of the wood to the work stations.

And here are a bunch of the community members who came out to help one fine afternoon. Each day is a different set of people showing up which is sometimes frustrating, but also encouraging because so many people are involved and learning. Also, we're making desks for the kids which is a great and rewarding goal.

Everyone who comes brings tools they have to help out, and every once in a while a gem like this joiner plane shows up. It's a beautiful tool and I was able to help the owner out by showing him how to sharpen his blade and keep it straight at the same time.

We've had quite a few women show up to help as well, and they love to jump right in and show up the men whenever they get the chance! These two sisters-in-law showed up a few times and were a great help with cutting out the pieces for assembly.

Here's our storage room at the school where we leave our supplies and stockpile the cut boards for assembly. On the left is a stack of left and right feet, while on the left and behind the table are piles of benches, tables, and support beams. I still haven't gotten a picture of a finished desk, because as soon as we finish them, they rush them off to the classrooms for use!

Of course all this work can be harsh on the tools. I've had two casualties since beginning. First was this clamp. A small foundry error was compounded over time and it just fell apart while I was tightening it down on a glue seam. Thankfully I had enough clamps to work around the failure, but it was a sad day for a tool lover.

The next hit was my saw, but this was more of a flesh wound. The handle fell apart! "I can fix that." I said. So I did. Here is the rough cut out of the handle. From here I sanded it, whittled down the edges to make it more comfortable, and cut out a slot for the blade.

Finally, the blade installed, and the saw is now back in operation, and better than ever. Good old American persistence and Malagasy perspiration combined to make a great and lasting tool!

This is my constant reminder of why I'm doing this. Just before delivering a desk, I popped into a classroom and took a picture of the kids studying. This is how they were, sitting on the floor and shoved 4 or 5 to a desk elsewhere. Not a good situation, but slowly improving with each desk we're able to deliver!

All this desk building can make a volunteer hungry, so I've been back in the kitchen experimenting and this time I've come up with two great new recipes. First is tomato coconut egg drop soup! Sounds involved, but is actually fairly simple and very delicious. First sauté onions and tomato with some salt added for flavor. When its starting to form a sauce, add in the coconut milk and bring to a boil. Next crack in as many eggs as you want and stir vigorously for a few minutes until they're fully cooked and that's it. Delicious and easy.

My other inspired meal, beans in a tomato pepper sauce with grits. For the sauce, sauté onion tomato and peppers for a few minutes until tender then add salt and cover. After a few minutes remove the lid and add cooked beans with a little of the bean liquid to the sauce and simmer uncovered until the sauce reaches the desired consistency. Make a small pot of grits on the side and your done!

Not every meal can be simple though. Sometimes its Thanksgiving Day and you need to go all out! Here was the spread this year from Thanksgiving Diego Suarez. From left to right we have collared greens, coconut chicken, cranberry sauce, two more roast chickens, mashed potatoes, bread, cheese grits, dirty rice, green bean casserole, two more roast chickens. Not pictured was the wine and gravy. A fine and most delicious spread indeed!

And to top it off was the desert course. Chocolate cake with buttercream frosting, vanilla ice cream and chocolate peanut butter oatmeal no bake cookies. Suffice it to say I was thankful for food comas afterward.

With all this food talk I couldn't help but finish up with a picture of some of the delicious exotic fruit I get to eat. Litchis! or lychee depending on your preference. These prickly red skinned guys are amazing and really don't have any equivalents in the US. Plus they look really cool too. Unfortunately their season lasts about a month. I could really get into a full 2-3 month litchi season like all other fruits, but alas it is not to be.

Another wonderful month, and I can't wait for the next with some guaranteed excitement, action, and adventure! Be sure to keep your dials tuned to the right blog so you can see all when I report back then!

Welcome to Ghetto Jamaica

My work moves along sometimes, and other times not so much. It can seem interminably slow, and then rushed to an extreme. Why such a dichotomy when it should just be an even progression of forward moving actions? There's always more than meets the eye when you work at the grassroots level in struggling communities, and sometimes its not always pretty. Let's explore some of the reasons why with this months photos and anecdotes.

Mango season is back, and I'd be a lot more excited about it if I wasn't allergic. There are literally so many mangoes that the people can't eat them as fast as they ripen.

Here is a mango tree with the ground underneath littered with mangoes that fell and will rot where they lie because who can eat that many mangoes? There is no system in place to ship these anywhere, and there's so many that you can't sell them where they grow. An unfortunate waste.

But at least I can do something with the mango trees. This is a cutting board that I helped another volunteer make from the stump of a mango tree that someone else had already cut down. He opted to leave the bark on for its decorative appeal.

The door to my bathroom was starting to sag over time. It got to the point where it was dragging on the ground, and I got tired of it, so I added some braces. I glued and nailed them in place so that the door can no longer sag out of place, and it also doesn't drag on the ground anymore.

Of course, now that the door is back in alignment it also closes fully again, and I'd forgotten how hard it was to open before, so I also added a new door handle. A simple construction, but effective none the less, and now I can get into my bathroom in style and ease.

Not all projects are about my comfort, here is a swing that I put together for some of the neighboring kids. They often run around and play with sticks and whatever else they can find on the ground, so I thought, why not give them an actual toy designed for their entertainment.

I bought some rope and used scrap wood I had laying around to make a nice sturdy swing under a nearby mango tree. After a little experimenting, I was able to find some really secure knots that are capable of holding even myself on the swing at full speed!

Not a day has gone by since I installed the swing without some or all of the nearby kids having a go. I am now constantly asked for a push whenever they see me in the vicinity. Here's one of the kids putting the swing to use while getting a push from his friends.

While I do admit to being a little handy, I definitely don't claim the level of ingenuity that some Malagasy people have. I have seen many impressive and sometimes frightening repairs in this country, but this one is probably one of my favorites. The rear wheel sprocket became unattached on my neighbor's motorcycle, so he repaired it as seen above, with a length of parachute cord. He now drives around on the bumpy dusty backroads with this, proving that he is far more brave than I. Even if I was allowed to ride a motorcycle (Peace Corps regulations prevent volunteers riding motorcycles) I'm pretty sure this one would be a pass for me!

That's not to say that I haven't already taken some rides in some pretty questionable vehicles, but I always make it a point to leave when I fear for my safety. Which brings me to my next story. I'll admit its a long one, but stick with it. I think its a great example of working in this country.

It finally was time to go and get the wood that I ordered to do the woodworking project that was so graciously funded by you. I had my partner help me secure the use of a vehicle to bring the wood back to my town and he came up with a tractor and flatbed capable of transporting all the wood. I was excited for many reasons, finally moving forward with the project, a tractor ride into the country, the chance to do something more than my normal teaching and sitting around!

The expedition was delayed slightly by the funeral of my partner's father, but it also helped us along as well because he was buried in the town we bought the wood, and the culture here requires that you revisit the grave one week after burial to perform a ceremony. It was for this ceremony that we traveled out in the tractor and planned to return the next day with the wood. On a Thursday evening we loaded a large group of family members into the trailer around 5:30pm and set out into the wilds for a 15 kilometer ride.

I had no delusions of this being an amazingly quick process, or even a comfortable one, but I'll admit that I did at least have my breath held for some fun, if not to prevent the massive amounts of dust and dirt from entering my lungs. But as the sun sank the horizon around 6pm I became nervous. They strapped a headlamp to the grill of the tractor because the headlights no longer function and kept on going. It was around this time that we first lost the path of the road, but a short deliberation put us back on track. Not 10 minutes later we wound up again at a dead end, this time in a farmer's field. Thankfully the farmer himself noticed us, came over, and directed us back to the correct path. From this point on I decided to pay a little more attention to the driver and how he was making decisions on where to steer.

It was also at this time that I noticed him polishing off at least his second plastic flask of whiskey. About ten minutes later, when he again had us off-roading through a field I became suspicious of his continued ability to perform in his allotted task of chauffeur. All the Malagasy people were calm and smiling though so I put it out of my mind as me being overly concerned because I'm a crazy foreigner. Thankfully we found the main road in about another ten or fifteen minutes, and while it had turned into a three-hour tour to arrive at our destination, we made it in one slightly bumped and bruised piece.

The tractor itself immediately turned around and went to pick up some more mourners from a farm a few kilometers away. While they went to retrieve the others, we settled to the task of preparing dinner as most of us were quite famished. We got the fires going, cut the meat up, prepped the veggies, and started the rice. In about an hour we had a suitable feast for the assembled, and the tractor pulled back in with the latest arrivals. After eating, I consulted my partner for the schedule the following day and was reassured that we would witness the ceremony in the morning and then pick up the wood and be pulling out by 9am. I was happy for a successful end to the day, and retired to my hammock for the night.

This is the sight that greeted me in the morning when I came out of my slumber. Apparently the tractor had a flat from the night before, and they were patching it. As the picture demonstrates this is at least a three person operation where it takes two to find the leak and plug it, while one sits in the tire and makes sure it doesn't fly off. Also, take a moment to note our chariot. A mid-70's Massey Ferguson 158. I'm sure its seen better days, but apart from the tire, and a small engine part that they tied back on with some string, it got us there and back in one piece.

While they repaired the tire, I went off and found some breakfast and my partner to ask what the status of everything was. When I found him and got the update for the day I was informed that they were beginning the preparation for the ceremony and afterwards we would get the wood and pull out. I was then directed to look at the preparations where I saw a pile of uncut firewood and a few empty pots. I asked exactly what the ceremony involved and was told that we would eat food and then have a meeting by the grave. I began to be suspicious of the 9am departure estimate. Ultimately I was proved correct when I heard it said that it would be a post lunch meeting.

Despair not, I decided. We can go get the wood while they make their preparations. Yes, a solid plan, and after the ceremony we have only to get in the tractor and head off in the direction of home. I asked my partner if this was a possibility, and received my next bit of fun news; the wood wasn't finished being cut yet. Also, we couldn't take all of it. When I questioned further exactly what he meant by we can't take all of it, I was informed that the tractor tire that popped and was recently repaired couldn't handle the wait until it had been properly repaired back in town.

To take my frustrations off my mind I went for a walk to one of the areas where the lumberjacks work. Here you can see a tree that they fell and off to the right the pit where they re-saw the tree into planks. I was hoping to find them working at this site so I could watch them using the big three-person handsaw, but unfortunately they were off at a different site.

I then walked back to the town and decided to explore there while I waited for lunchtime to roll around. I found this interesting work of graffiti on the front of someones house. It is a little difficult to make out, but says "WELCOME To GHETTO JAMAICA" and then to the side is tagged by "JOYA BADMAN". With the exception of the name and Jamaica, I doubted most of the locals understanding of the text, and was confirmed of this when I asked people if they knew what it meant.

After finishing my walking tour of Ghetto Jamaica I returned for lunch. From this point on things were pretty smooth moving. We had lunch, went to the ceremony, afterward retrieved about 80 of the 200 boards that were ordered (all the tractor could handle) and made plans to return and pick up the rest. At about 2pm we had all the wood and people reloaded in the trailer, and we started off again for home. I was a little miffed to not have all the wood, and to be so far behind schedule, but we were moving in the right direction both figuratively and literally so I put on a smile and let it go.

As we made our way out of the wilds and back to the comforts of home, we had a new and very capable driver at the helm. He lead us about a third of the way down the road and suddenly pulled over and turned to the original driver who was sitting in the trailer and working on either his third or fourth bottle of whiskey for the day. Then he did something I hope I never understand. He asked this massively inebriated, and proven incompetent, driver to step behind the wheel and take us the rest of the way home. I was worried, but a little calmed by the fact that he pulled it off once before in the dark, how much harder could it be in the daytime?

A lot harder, apparently. He gunned the tractor for about a quarter kilometer, and then pulled a 90 degree turn off the road into someones rice paddy. All the while the women in the trailer began screaming at him to slow down, stop, leave, or worse. As soon as someone finally got through to him that he needed to pause for a moment everyone of the women in the trailer and I leapt from the trailer and announced our intention to walk. The remainder of the men caught the hint and promptly removed the drunkard from the pilot's seat and restored the original driver. After a tense standoff the drunk man was given some bus money and pointed to the nearest place to catch one while everybody else resumed positions in the trailer.

We kept on keeping on for another third or so of the trip when we encountered our next hiccup in the form of a loud hiss. The tractor tire that was repaired the day before was leaking again.

We pulled up a little way further down the road near some huts where the ladies immediately took shelter from the sun. The menfolk convened around the tire and began to discuss the finer points of life while two of them at a time worked to affect a new repair to the overworked tire. After a quite long period of work the tire was patched and ready to be re-inflated and reinstalled for departure. It was at this time I saw the pump. A foot high bike tire hand pump that looked to have seen better days. We were going to be a while. Everyone in the circle took a turn at the pump to keep it moving along, and after about 45 minutes we had the tire ready to go. We pulled back into town around 7pm and unloaded the wood. I said prayer to whatever deity would listen and retired to my house for the night, ready to forget as much as I could and look on the bright side of life!

We unfortunately couldn't start work right away as the wood was still very wet with sap, so I laid all the planks we had out on some drying racks. It was at this point that rainy season decided to kick in and drench us, and our wood, each day. This is the current status of the project, and I hope in the next month to either get a better drying system built, or benefit from some sunshine. Either way, expect more progress next time.

After that mess I needed a little getaway. It came in the form of VAC, the tri-annual meeting of volunteers in each region. This time we decided to meet on the every lovely Nosy Be. We conducted our business at the poolside of the wonderful Palm Beach Resort where we also dined for the afternoon. Altogether a relaxing day.

A nice walk on the beach was also in order. While it is beautiful, a walk on the beach here will also invariably entail being propositioned by knick-knack vendors, masseurs, and those offering other services. It can seem quaint and fun at first, but when you see the other side effects it can sometimes be a little seedy.

This is a common site in places like Nosy Be and other large tourist destinations. The decal says "Don't sexually exploit children". It is an unfortunate state of affairs that the sign needs to exist at all, but I'd rather have the reminders around for whatever good they might do than have to see other evidence of the practice. I'm not going to delve deep into this problem here, but it is always disconcerting to be reminded of its existence and prevalence in this country I'm calling home for two years.

What say we have a dose of cute to rinse out the stale taste of other previously discussed issues! Here are the puppies! They've started wandering around and sleeping at my house. They like it at my place because no one comes in my fence to bother them.

They also enjoy getting pettings from me. Unfortunately, they also enjoy sharing their fleas too. This cute girl is one of my favorites because of her beautiful color scheme and precocious character.

I laid down to get some shots on their level and was almost immediately attacked by this little boy. Here he moves in for the face lick.

And lastly the group of them assembled for a nap next to my door. These guys are super fun to play with, but unfortunately I need to kick them out in the next few days so I can try to get the flea situation back under control. It would be a much easier eviction if they weren't so much fun to have around.

Look forward to eviction pictures, more woodworking, and even a holiday in the coming month. Hopefully it'll be just as eventful and interesting as all the previous months thus far!

New AND Improved!

And so it has come to pass, another month in Madagascar. I have returned to my wonderful little sleepy rural town of Sadjoavato, and now I get to buckle down for the last year of work in my community.

I was hoping to share with you the wonderful pictures of the woodworking club that you helped fund this month, but due to some minor, and most unfortunate, setbacks that will have to wait until next month, so instead let's go back to school.

 Every year the teachers gather on the first day of classes to figure out the schedule for classes. It can sometimes be a little hectic, but it always gets sorted, and here is the final schedule for the first trimester at the Sadjoavato Middle School for the 2015-16 school year!

Being back in town means getting back to my market too. I enjoy my market and finding great food to prepare for myself. Here is my haul from this past week: hena'omby (beef), baranjely (eggplant), karoty (carrots), tongolo vert (green onion), tomaty (tomatoes), zariko vert (green beans), poivron (peppers), and savony poudre (laundry soap). All told this ran me about 5000 Ar, or approximately $1.66. That seems cheap to American ears, and it is, but that's about a third of what I spend each week on food at my site!

 Of course, I don't just eat it whole, and here was a tasty new dish I made for myself. Beef with tomato onion sauce and carrot salad. Delicious and filling.

Being back at site now, I couldn't just stop at making food though, I've also gotten back to making other things as well, like this new cutting board. I salvaged a piece of wood from a tree that someone had cut most of down already and took it home. A little sanding and oiling later and voila, a new cutting board. The wood came from a custard apple tree, and I will definitely try to find some more for projects in the future as it finished very nicely.

I have also put in some work on my chairs to make them a little more comfortable. Here we see the first step, I glued a second slat across the back.

Then I cut it into an arc for improved sitting comfort. Still haven't quite finished sanding and shaping this one yet, and eventually I plan to hack off the back rest entirely and reattach it at an angle, but those projects will just have to wait a little while.

 I haven't been the only one busy building, my neighbors have started construction on a new house! I haven't had a chance yet to get in on the construction, but when I have free time over the next month I really want to assist as much as possible.

They've been moving quick on the frame, and with good reason. When the house is finished, they will prep it for a new Peace Corps volunteer to move in. I'm gonna have a site mate!

That won't be for a while of course, but I'm already excited. First they'll have to go through training just like I did, and that means they get to see Stuffy!

I saw him too at the beginning of the month as we had a brief training and here he was being a ham and soaking up the attention.

 Continuing on with the animal report for the month, here's Poppa! He stopped by for a quick nap and some behind the ear scratchings, and then he was off on his important dog business again.

Mamma had puppies! Again! This litter started out at 8, but has unfortunately already shrunk to 7. Momma takes very good care of her babies though, and she kept them out only for a day, until it was safe to move them.

Which she did. Right under a house. They still haven't opened their eyes; only about a week old in this picture, but I look forward to getting to play with some puppies in the coming weeks.

Now for a sad tale I like to call "All Chickens are Assholes, or How I Almost Adopted Two Kittens"

 I was sitting with a neighbor the other day when they brought over a yellow bucket and said to look inside. I saw what you see above, two week old kittens. I asked why they had two week old kittens in a bucket as I picked one up and began to pet it. They informed me that not long before they had three kittens, and that a chicken had come along and killed one. With some disbelief I inquired as to the mothers whereabouts and was informed that the chicken drove the mother away. Trepidation filled my next question; when did this happen? Three days ago.

I put the kitten back down, said goodbye, and excused myself. I could hear them mewling as I walked away. I would have loved to have two little kittens to nurse to health over the next few weeks, but unfortunately I don't have the time or resources to dedicate to said project to make it feasible. So I had to put them out of my mind and remember that all chickens are assholes. And that's how I almost adopted two kittens.

In a little more lighthearted news, I saw a pack of lemurs. Understandably not shocking given my current country, but these guys were hanging out in Diego Suarez. In the middle of the city, jumping around on apartment balconies! At first I thought I'd just seen a cat on the wall near me, but a quick double take proved it was indeed a lemur. I then proceeded to watch as the gang came out to play.

There were at least 7 or 8 of them jumping around. They moved from the balcony into the trees and from there who knows, but see if you can spot the three in this picture*. It was a nice surprise on an evening walk through Diego and I believe a nice way to cap off another month here, living the Peace Corps life.

*One in the air, one on the balcony, and the last on the power line between the telephone pole and trees.