I've been busy running around this past month, so I decided to try something different with my post. I am putting these pictures up in order of the date taken. Most of the time I arrange the pictures to create a narrative or some form of continuity, but I want to see if I can try to put in perspective how I actually went through a month here in Madagascar.
It all started at the CSB (local hospital). I distributed the last of the LuminAIDs that I got to the doctor and nurses to help them with their work. The hospital in my town is known for quite a ways as being the place to go if you are having a baby. As such there are always people coming to give birth and also get other basic care and checkups from the doctor. I visited with my neighbor at night when his niece tripped while playing soccer and split her lip open. The doctor had to wait five minutes to get batteries for his lamp before he could help her and look at her lip. It was then that I decided they need the lamps. While the CSB in my town is not an ER, if you have no other options, their care can be life saving. If they need to wait five minutes to get a battery, you might be out of luck. The doctor even told me that this could be the difference between saving a life or planning a funeral. I was very glad to help them out and get them the lights that can make their job that much easier.
The doctor insisted that we take an action shot too, so we pulled in the next lady in line and he had the nurses pose for a picture. After I took the picture the doctor and nurses all crowded around my camera to look at the result while the lady was left in the chair with the blood pressure cuff still attached to her arm! I was very happy to be able to provide them with another tool to do their job, and hopefully they will use it with success, even if they leave you sitting in a chair to check out their picture every now and again.
I've also been helping Alyssa out a bit to get settled and happy in her new home. I told her that I still didn't have a good picture of her in her new house and here was the result. She was cooking beans for lunch on her new gas stove and I was working on some new shelving for her. The shelves took a little while longer than planned, but it was also a teaching project, so now she can build her own after I go if she needs more!
You might recognize this dirty dog. It's Stuffy! I was back in Mantasoa again for a training event and of course Stuffy was there too. He'd been sleeping in the fireplaces to keep warm and as such was covered in ash as you can see. They also got him a collar recently which is a nice touch. The training was nice and much like Stuffy, we were all huddled around the fires all week to keep warm.
Then it was time to get back to Diego and try out the new Carousel! A fun new neon-covered addition to our city, the Carousel is open to children of all ages and also has a churro stand out front. To make the ride even more magical, they started playing I Believe I Can Fly as we were going around. I can honestly say that this was one of the true highlights of my time in the Peace Corps thus far.
Although views like this don't hurt either. This was taken in Ankify, the port city that leads to Nosy Be, where we had our VAC meeting. The hotel we stayed at overlooks the Mozambique Channel and it was a pretty spectacular view if I do say so myself.
I decided to do some fishing in the early morning, and I didn't catch any fish, but I did see some beautiful things, like this boat headed out to the fishing grounds for the day. It almost makes up for the lack of catching anything.
Same with this view of the sunrise coming over the rest of the island. But not catching anything makes it hard to justify being out for too long. Also, we had a fourth of July party to get to, so I came in from fishing and got into my patriotic get-up.
Head-to-toe America. Our goal was to come up with the best American themed outfit, so I had a "1776-USA" hat, American flag sunglasses, red white and blue glitter makeup, a red white and blue dress, American flag air freshener necklace, American flag tote bag, American flag Engrish swim trunks and American flag flip-flops. I am happy to report that I won the contest. Still no word on what I won, but that's really beside the point isn't it?
Here is the group picture from our VAC meeting with us all decked out in our America gear. This was my last VAC and it was lots of fun and a little sad to think I'll be leaving these guys so soon!
And of course no VAC would be complete without the stop at the beach too. We played frisbee and Wiffle-ball at the beach because 2nd goal.
And of course no 4th of July celebration would be complete without some fireworks too. We launched off a bunch of bottle rockets and had fun running around with sparklers too. Here's Darcy having some fun.
And me having entirely too much fun! It was a great weekend at Ankify, but then it was time to return to site.
Hanging out at Alyssa's house and helping her with her shelf some more got tiring so I decided to take a break and pet the kitty. She laid on my lap for about 10 minutes purring away contentedly when I decided to try and Lion King her. Needless to say, she was not impressed.
Then it was back to shelf time, and I am proud to report that we finished one! Here Alyssa is proudly Vanna White-ing her first new shelf. Now we just need to finish the second one we started and she'll be on her way to having too much storage space to handle.
Speaking of storage space, I've been freeing mine up. Getting ready to leave in a little while has made me clean out the clutter from my own shelves, and I've found a lot of unused wood scraps and Peace Corps manuals that gave me a great idea. The nights in town are at their coldest and so I decided to have a bonfire for warmth and enjoyment. Also catharsis. Here was the second nights fire blazing away and keeping me warm in the process.
Also, the neighbor's new kitten, Mimette, decided to stop by and check out the fire too. She's a tiny little bugger and she meows all the time, but she makes up for it by being unbelievably cute and cuddly. She's taken to exploring my house which is fine by me, because maybe she can help with the rat population.
I finished what will most likely be my last project at site this month too. A new wind chime made from scrap metal and a spare chunk of wood. It turned out really well, and I'm very happy with the sounds that it makes. It hangs on my porch, and will hopefully be there for some time to come.
Speaking of noise makers, here is the neighbors Vasa Parrot. I've been trying for months to get a picture of this guy, but he is as camera shy as he is loud. I saw him hanging out on their porch the other day and was able to get close enough for a few snapshots by whistling to keep him interested without running away.
But why run away when you have places like this in your own town? One last trip to the grotto was in order as we are out of the rainy season now, and its once again possible to get there. The waterfall was in good form and it was a relaxing short hike.
I hope that you enjoyed my month as it happened to me. It was quite fun and I can't wait for the next month and a half so I can finish out strong and get back home to my family!
