Puppies and Kitties and Fishes, Oh My!

So many animal encounters this past month. I traveled around quite a bit, and got to see new places and more of the wonders that are Madagascar. As I'm on the road back home this post will come out for you all to see and you can commiserate with my 24 hours on a bush taxi!

Let's start at the end with this cute little fluff ball. My latest stint at the training center got me a glimpse of Killer and Stuffy's latest kids. They were very skittish around people, so this is about as close of a picture as I could get, but they were super cute! I'll be back in a little while though and hopefully they will be more receptive to petting then.

This little cutie is definitely a snuggler though. Meet Socks. Last month she lacked a name, but Ashley has decided to adopt her and as such gave her a moniker. This is the first meeting of Ashley and her girl. She has to finish weening, but then its off to Ashley's house for good.

I'll miss her for sure! She likes to come over and lay on my lap, and who am I to turn her down?

Also, if you don't pay enough attention to her she barks at you! It's super cute and her whole butt wiggles as she does it. I wish her lots of luck and fun at her new house in Anivorano.

I also made a little detour to Mahajanga on the west coast for a few days before I made it to the training center. My breakfast companion was this beautiful girl. She was very insistent about the head scratching when I was eating. As soon as I finished eating and had time to spend on petting her, she would lay down and look at me from a distance. Crazy cat!

This is a neighbor's addition to my monthly tally of animals. She loves fried bread balls! We were making some on their porch and sitting around having a chat when he decided to show us how much she likes them. He would pull off a small piece and hold it over her until she stood up to try and get it. She was on her hind legs for minutes at a time trying to get the bread, and eventually she realized that all she had to do was claw his hand and the bread dropped! Cute and smart.

As I passed the two years in country mark this month, I also celebrated my birthday. A friend decided to make me a present of a pipe-cleaner fish! It's kind of an angler/parrot fish. Either way I was very pleased with my gift, and I've been carrying it with me for the past couple of days.

Speaking of fish, fish tacos! My most recent culinary expedition came in Diego when I got inspired to do some cooking. Here's the result, lemon pepper fish filets with papaya lime salsa on home-made tortillas with hand squeezed lemonade. A very delicious adventure if I do say so myself.

That's a lot of animals, living or otherwise, so let's get back to school!

 This past month saw the annual sports competition. It was hosted by my school this year which was very exciting. The kids from all the schools in the district came to my town to participate and cheer each other on. Here's a group of kids watching the handball match from a tree to get better views.

The handball match was Sadjoavato, my school in yellow, versus Bobasakoa. We won! The girls were very intense and showed a great drive to win.

Here's a shot on goal from after the half when they switched sides. I sat next to a crazy mom the whole match, and I learned that sports parents exist across the world. She kept shouting strategy and attack hints at them the entire match at the top of her lungs. I was doubly entertained by the girls and the mother!

Then it was back to the classroom. Here are my sixieme (6th grade) students taking a test. I don't have much time left with them, so I wanted to get at least a few pictures of them behaving in their seats!

The same goes for my cinquieme (7th grade) students. At least they have a nicer classroom to work in. I won't really miss the teaching itself, but the kids could be nice to work with from time to time and that will be something to look back on fondly.

After school I was back to working on Alyssa's new house, and here's the finished product. I forgot to get a picture with Alyssa actually in it, but maybe I'll remember this coming month. Still a little bit of work to go, but its all little things like shelving and the like, so welcome to town and hope you enjoy the house Alyssa!

Of course I couldn't stay too long, so here's so more pictures from Mahajanga. The port at low tide when all the boats were resting on the bottom. The fishing fleet was refitting for the flood tide to come so they could get back out to the fishing grounds. I sat and watched them for quite some time as they worked. It was relaxing and interesting to see.

Just a short walk from the port is the boardwalk, Mahajanga's beach side walkway and hangout destination. This is the end of the walk with a cool little lighthouse. It wasn't actually functional at night, but looked neat anyway.

Here's a picture looking over the boardwalk and out to the ocean. I liked walking the boardwalk at night to see all the street vendors and food trucks. I did get to do some fishing here too, but nothing to show for it beyond a few good pictures. Overall it was a very pretty city with great water access, and if I had the time to return I'd definitely try to get out on one of the fishing fleet boats to try my luck.

 Let's end this post with a profile of two of my favorite neighbors, Silvio and Anifa. They were both around 6-8 months when I arrive in Sadjoavato, and now they walk and talk and stare at me to no end. Anifa in particular has taken a liking to me. She enjoys walking up to me and standing on my feet then taking my hands so we can dance! Shortly before I left for Mahajanga she was in my house asking me the name of everything. When she saw a bag of candies I bought as a reward for my students she asked if she could have some. I had to say no so I would have enough for my students, and she ran out of my house! A few minutes later she returned and walked right to the bag on my table and slapped down a few hundred ariary and looked at me. I tried my hardest to contain my laughter as I opened the bag to give her some candies. I also returned the money because anything that precocious deserves a few candies for free!

It'll be hard saying goodbye to all of that in just a little while, but I'm looking forward to getting back to the US too. Look for more next month as I wrap up my last little bits of work and start getting ready to take a little international vacation before returning to the States!

Fluffy Puppy and a Lame Duck

I do believe that I mentioned puppies last time, so lets see what we can do to satisfy that requirement.

Here is the newest puppy from Mama dog! She had a litter of three this time around, but unfortunately two were lost in birth, so she's focusing on this one cute little fluff ball. The kids were taking turns passing her around and trying to get her to eat avocado, hence the green smudge on her nose.

She's already out and walking around. Because it's just her, she doesn't have competition for Mama's milk and has plumped up accordingly. I like seeing her around and giving her lots of love whenever I get the chance. I'll post more pics as she gets bigger, and maybe I'll even think of a name for her too.

Of course there were other animal sightings this month, like these ducks above. The ducks are tied by the foot to the bamboo pole, as are the chickens off to the side, and then carted around to different people's houses to be sold. These ducks were around 60,000 Ariary or approximately $20. I thought the mallard was particularly good looking, even if a little inconvenienced by his situation, so I took a quick shot of his sale and inspection before heading off to do some work.

While this isn't an animal, its become a sort of Rorschach test amongst me and my fellow volunteers. I have come up with unicorn-rabbit, but let me know if you see something different. Either way, the grain pattern in the piece of mango wood is stunning. I helped a fellow volunteer out to make some cutting boards, and this was lurking under the bark for us to find.

Here's an overview of the pair of cutting boards. The one on the right had already been sanded on top while the one on the left is still rough cut as it came off the tree. They will make a lovely pair when finished, and I can't wait to see how great they come out when she's done sanding and finishing them.

Here she is sawing the boards out of the tree. The limb was already cut off from someone who used it to make charcoal, so we just harvested a few inches more to do our project while leaving the tree intact and ready to keep growing.

I also decided to add a fence to my kitchen shelf. It's been a while since I made the shelf, and originally I had intended to just put some banding around the edge to create a small lip, but recently I had some glass jars decide to leap to their fates after conversing with some subversive snails... This was most inconveniencing, and as I didn't want to go the Foxconn route, I added a fence. It was a fun afternoon project, and it adds much peace of mind and a nice touch of security to my kitchen.

I was also back at Alyssa's house for many hours this past month. We had a lot to do, and we buckled down and got it done so she can install in just a few days! Here's an interior shot right after we ripped out a large section of the flooring and replaced it as it had rotted out in the rainy season.

This was taken on a day when the middle school sent over a bunch of students to help build the fence for her yard. You can see the house and unfinished bathroom in the background. The kids were a big help, and we got the whole fence done in two days thanks to their hard work.

Here a neighbor is finishing the walls on the bathroom with a little supervision from an eager helper. She was very vocal as he put each raffia slat into place and nailed them down; telling him to "move it to the left more!" or "you made a hole, fix it!" and "the nail's already in, stop hammering!" I took a break to watch and enjoyed her antagonizing him greatly. I don't have any finished pictures of the house, because I was too busy building to remember to take any, but when Alyssa moves in, I'll be there and take pictures to show you next month of the final product and new homeowner.

I also had a chance this month to help out at a conference for English teachers in Diego Suarez. I taught a session on diversifying reading and listening examples for students, and helped out with the panel discussion at the end as well. The conference was a lot of fun, and the Malagasy teachers were very enthusiastic and eager to participate. It was a short, two-day affair and the volunteers seen above with me all contributed to make it a success.

I also got to help out the teachers at my school too. I'm going home soon, and I can say for sure that I will miss this group of people very much. From the left we have Clovis the disciplinarian and PE teacher, Ursula the Malagasy teacher, Barthelemy the assistant principal and science teacher, Eliane the history and geography teacher, Angela the French teacher, Pierre the principal, and our newest teacher Patrick the English teacher. I took this picture when I distributed LuminAid solar lights to all the teachers that were graciously donated by LuminAid! We had two teachers miss the meeting, so I got Francklin the physics teacher and Maurice the math teacher the next day. I can't express how grateful I am, or the teachers are to get these lights, and it was in large part due to the wonderful people at LuminAid. Please check out their work, and support what they do in any way you can because they are a great, socially-minded business.

The three ladies on the faculty wanted to get a picture with me, so after I took everyone's photo, we took a shot of the four of us. Every time I show up to the school, or pass by one of them on the street, they ask me when I'm leaving and make a big deal about how much they will miss me. They've been very welcoming and warm-hearted to me and I will miss them greatly.

A new NGO has started operating around my town too, and they recently put up this new sign to advertise their work. Jardins du Monde is a French group that works to promote the use of medicinal plants in areas where other options are hard to find, expensive, or unavailable. I've seen them driving through town many times now, and I hope they can make a positive lasting influence.

  Another new sign got put up this past month too. This one is advertising the arrival of the annual sports competition for the greater Diego region. My school is hosting the event this year, so I'll have some great things to report next month hopefully. Either way, the mayor and principal of the school are expecting around 1500 students to come to the town for the week, so it'll be interesting to see how it all turns out.

Ashley and I decided to partake in some sport as well with a nice hike to the top of the hill nearby. She had never seen the view before and we needed an afternoon activity to get the blood pumping after working on her cutting boards in the morning. I will definitely be missing this view when its gone too, and that's in just three months!

I'm ready but anxious for the next chapter in my life. I can't wait to leave and begin working on my next steps, but I also have some things I still want to accomplish here too. Stay tuned and find out how it all turns out as I wrap up my service in style!

Hinge - 1, Hammer - 0

Another month has come and gone and the rains have started to taper off. But as I recall, last month we left off with my sign finished, but not yet in place, so let's take up with that...

My house now has a name! Like any good boat, your estate should have a name. Mine is now officially christened Lizard Palace. This was a fun project, and I had a great time making and hanging my sign.

 I've hung up another new addition in my house too. A friend departed for America and left me his solar light as he went. I decided to rig it up in my kitchen as a more permanent option than my handheld solar lights. I bought some eye screws and used some rope I had leftover from hanging my sign. When you want to turn the light on, you lower it down and hit the button, then raise it back up. It is also capable of charging things via USB port on the back, so it was very important that it be able to be raised and lowered easily.

 I also helped fix a neighbor's shower. This was good because it gave them a more private place to get clean, but it was also important because they were hosting the new volunteer who was visiting for a week to check out the town.

Speaking of the new volunteer, we've been very hard at work getting her house ready for her permanent arrival in just a month. Here is the roofer hard at work lining up the palm fronds to make a nice watertight roof. He was very adamant that I get his picture in this exact pose, and he made me take multiple pictures until we got the right one. He also gave me a few cucumbers from his garden, so I was more than willing to take his picture as many times as he wanted!

Heres the inside of the house with the roof still unfinished. The floor will need to be replaced too due to rain damage before the roof was finished, but those pictures will have to wait, because I've been focusing on a different part of the house.

The bathroom. I've spent three full days digging that hole so far, and it's getting close to being done. Currently it's about two meters deep, but the hard part is getting around the rocks you encounter when digging. When we hit 3 meters, it'll be done and then we can finish off the hut around the hole.

All this construction can be hard on your tools though, as evidenced by my hammer. I was trying to pull out a nail holding down a hinge we intended to repurpose and I accidentally pulled my hammer into two. It was a nice fiberglass shaft, and I was fairly upset, but I already have a new hammer ready to replace it, and I donated the head from this one to a friend who can knock out the remains of the fiberglass shaft and make his own wooden one.

There's been more creativity than just with the building going on, and here's some of the evidence. Spicy guacamole with grits and limeade. I was trying to use up the last of the food in my house before I went away for a few days, and this was the result. Very tasty, and filling.

On a trip to Diego I got inspired to hit the kitchen and made this wonderful concoction; Shrimp in an orange honey hot sauce with couscous. It was a very big hit with the three other volunteers who ate with me and I had fun cooking it too.

The kids that live near me know that I love fishing, and they've been bugging me to go with them for the past few months. I finally relented and we took a walk to a small stream that runs through the village and tried our luck. We were able to haul in 6 fish by the time we called it quits, but the biggest was about half the size of my palm, so I let the kids take them to cook as they saw fit. I'll definitely try to go with them again at some point, so look forward to more pictures soon.

The kids aren't the only ones I hang out with, I also got invited to a party for teachers. Here was the setup, and shortly it was filled with all the teachers from the region celebrating the New Year... only a few weeks late.

I hung out with the teachers from my school and got to meet some new ones from around the area too. Ursula, the Malagasy teacher at my school, insisted that we take a picture together, and I think it came out really well. I had a great time at the party, enjoying food and drinks while meeting lots of great teachers.

I also got to meet a very new friend, Jonathan! Here is Ashley holding Jonathan who is only 11 days old. He was having nap time when we visited, but he was cute and didn't mind being passed around for photos.

But eventually he made his way back to his dad, Kamar. Kamar is an employee of the Peace Corps here in Diego Suarez and I am lucky to get to work with him and learn from him over my two years here. I am overjoyed that he has a healthy and happy son to share his amazing personality with. I wish Jonathan and Kamar the best and I will truly miss him when I leave in a few months!

I've been feeling the need to connect with the other volunteers here more as my time draws near to leaving, and so we took some time out to celebrate Jackie's birthday with a night out dancing. It was a great night and everyone had fun, including the random Malagasy man that we met who joined us in our evening of dance. I don't go out very often, but this was a great night on the town, and I'm glad that I got to help congratulate a friend and fellow volunteer on another year of life in this wonderful island.

The last connection I made this month was with Alyssa. Alyssa is the new volunteer that is headed to the wonderful town of Sadjoavato. Here we are getting ready to head off to Diego. She's currently finishing up her training and will be back to stay in just under a month. I can't wait to have a site mate and to help her out with the undoubtedly great projects that she will attempt here. It's always inspiring to meet new volunteers and I look forward to working with her when she gets in.

Thats wraps up another month of fun in the sun, and I'll be sure to post again next month and there might even be a new load of puppies to look forward to by then!