The rains have been coming down hard for a while now and
it’s been great for the greenery. It has also led to some wonderful mudslides
on my walks around town!
This is what it means
to be in the rainy season on a tropical island. The rains roll in daily and
chase out the beauty of the sun to bring the life giving liquid. This was taken
from the roof of a Diego hotel looking over the market before a soaking.
Because of all the
rain my house is now in the middle of a mud pit. To be able to get around I
bought myself some new boots that have already been a great help. I’m now able
to get to school and work on other projects without covering myself in mud.
When you can get out
you find some amazing new things, like this sign at my school. It says CEG
(middle school in French) then a bowl (sadjo in Malagasy) and finally vato or
rock. All told that is Middle School Sadjoavato, where I teach!
I’ve also been able
to work on the new volunteer house because I’m no longer trapped in my own.
Here we took some raffia palm fronds and drilled through them to make panels
for the walls of the house. It’s been really great to learn how to build a
house in the traditional Malagasy way.
Of course I’ve also
been building some things myself, like this new cutting board. My old one has
started to smell like a rotting animal because of the type of wood, so I made
sure to get some nice palisander for the new one. I glued it up on some
little feet to keep it off the table.
Here it is after the
glue dried. I still have some sanding and oiling to do, but I’m already excited
to have the old one out of my house.
I’ve been
working on a sign for my house as well. Here are the initial drawings. I’ve
got a lot of the materials together and have already made some great progress,
so expect to see more pictures next month.
I’ve also been
creative in the kitchen again making a peanut ginger stir-fry. The idea came
from a friend, but the cooking was by my hand. It was tasty going down and now
I have another great recipe to bring back home.
Sometimes just
getting the food can be an issue, but every once in a while life throws you a
couple pounds of bananas… literally. I had a friend who wanted to help me
search for bananas one day, and at the end of our successful trip he told me “I
have bananas, you should take some of mine.” “Ok,” I replied, “but I already have bananas.” Needless to say,
this conversation continued with very similar statements on both sides, and
eventually ended with me receiving another four or so pounds of banana. It was very tasty, and I was very grateful, but that was so much banana!
Other food I’ve
gotten this month was some green beans. From my garden! I was super excited to
see that they were ready for picking. I still haven't decided what to make with them yet, but I know I'll get at least a few more batches of beans to try out some new recipes with.
I know that they'll keep producing for a while because they're still huge. Look at those vines! I even had to drag a chair out to pluck the beans out of the tops. What a great plant with such minimal maintenance and a good yield.
The cilantro I've been looking for has finally started sprouting too. I have tried so many times to get cilantro to grow only to have it eaten by bugs, so I'm really excited for this to be going as well as it is. When the plants get large enough I plan to transplant them to a garden bed and then I'll be able to make some fresh salsa to amaze the locals with!
Of course I could also throw some corn in that salsa if my corn's ready in time too. I do have quite the garden going now if I do say so myself. I enjoy it, but definitely understand how this could become an all consuming project if you tried to raise it to a level that would sustain yourself or your family.
Thankfully, I don't yet have a family to support from my gardens, but that doesn't mean they're only supporting me...
Here we see a snail hanging around my green beans. These guys love the leaves, and there's probably about 25-30 at any given time hanging around on my fence. If the green beans weren't already doing so well, I'd be a little more concerned with the amount of leaves that they eat, but I figure they aren't hurting anybody, so might as well let them go.
I also had a new arrival in my house. I caught this little feller running across the top of my water bottles one afternoon and tried to get a close up. He was a little camera shy, but that's to be expected. After harassing him with a few pictures I let him return to his very important lizard business of, I assume, eating bugs. A chore for which I am very grateful.
Alas, the month ends. With a pretty pink and purple sunset from a walk at the end of the road in my town, at that. I'm ready to keep working on my gardens and my projects, and I hope I'll even get a trip or two in before the next month rolls around, but I guess that'll have to wait and be seen. I've been in this country for quite a while now, and it definitely starts to feel like home at times, so I'm looking for something to help keep it fresh and exciting. Views like this definitely help.
