Hey guys,

I'm ready to go home, I think. I'm tired, I'm kind of sick again (it's Tana's pollution, I swear), I'm frustrated with ignorant people...I need to sleep in the same bed for at least 1 month. I'm looking forward to seeing all of you so much, you have no idea! I'm also looking forward to Boulder's clean, crisp air! Mmmmm.
I got back from Morondava today. It was founded by a moron called Dave way back when who left it after he founded it and now it's just a little dusty hole, it really is! If it weren't for the baobobs, I don't know why anyone would want to be there. The taxi brousse (bush taxi) there took a hefty 19 and a half hours, which is really good since they may often take more than 27 hours due to vehicle mishaps. We left Tana at 2pm and got to Morondava at around 11am the next morning. We had reserved the best seats, which are behind the driver, because of the leg room, but when we got to the taxi brousse station we were told that there had been an emergency in the morning and our original taxi had been used to transport a body. I don't know if I believe that but because of that we were put in another taxi and weren't able to get the good seats. We were put in the second row with barely any leg room. Those may have been the most uncomfortable 19 hours of my life.
After being in Madagascar this past semester, nothing really surprises me anymore. So when the taxi stopped at 2am in the middle of nowhere and we were told to get out and walk for 20 minutes, I just sighed and did what I was told. What am I talking about, we weren't even told, we just followed the other people! We had to get out because it was a section in the route that would have been impossible had the taxi been bogged down by the 15 - 20 people. I can't imagine how we would have made it to Morondava if it had rained. The road, at some points, was literally just a big hole (ooo, lavaka be!). The truck bottomed out numerous times and a tire gave out (but that was on my way back), but those were really the only big problems we encountered.
When we arrived at Morondava we were covered in a film of dust and had probably aged a couple of years because of the car fumes. We went to the Hotel Continental showered, slept for a few hours, had lunch, then got a taxi to the baobobs to catch the sunset. We saw the forest of the baobobs, the hugging baobob and the avenue of the baobobs. They're amazing trees and if it werent for them the whole area would really just be a shrubby, dusty place. They stick out in the horizon and remind me of the ents in Lord of the Rings. The story behind them, according to the Malagasy, is that when God created them, they were so beautiful that they became too proud and thought themselves better than the other plants and trees. God therefore punished them by uprooting them and planting them upside down with their roots in the air. That's why they look the way they do and never really flower.
Nothing eventful happened that night, we went to a restaurant on the beach then went back to the hotel to catch up on our sleep. We had decided to go all out and see the sunrise the next morning at the avenue of the baobobs. We're only gonna be here once in our lives so why not? We got up the next morning at 4:45 am and went down there and saw a magnificent sunrise. I have at least 100 pictures of those trees and me pretending to look like them. Then we went to the airport where Josh and his sister got on a plane to Tulear (south), but not before eating a delicious tuna sandwich on the hood of the taxi. I went back to the hotel and slept till 1 pm then went back to the taxi brousse station and waited around until we left at 3. This time the trip was 21 hours and I was sitting up front with the driver. I had more legroom, but the music was terribly loud (to keep the driver awake) and I was sharing the seat with a man and his 5 year old son. It seemed much longer than the first trip because I was alone.
So I got in this morning and slept for about 4 hours and I can't wait to go to bed tonight. I have a few things to get done before leaving on Tuesday, but I feel like if my flight were tomorrow, I could easily pack up and leave. A 20 hour plane ride home sounds like the most comfortable thing in the world right now, after the taxi brousse.
I forgot to mention, one of the other students got Malaria before leaving on Tuesday! Sucks for him.
I should get home for dinner soon, my family probably thinks I've been avoiding them. Love you guys,

Sandra

Hey friends. I'm just going to post some pictures. I'm back in Tana and it's COLD. It's like Costa Rica in the winter. But this Sunday we travel to Fort Dauphin to present our projects and get some counter culture shock lectures, bla bla.

My question is, How do you get rid of pushy Pakistani men who buy you drinks like Papaya juice and tea? I even tried to by gross by saying I can't drink Papaya juice because it makes me have diarrea. Diarrea? Yeah, you know, why you're peeing from your butthole? Didn't work, I guess.

The pictures aren't working either, I'll have to try tomorrow! So sorry! God bless you all and merry christmas or something,

Sandra

Howdy doo,
I have neglected my blogsite, I know. I am a failure. But in all honesty I have been drowning in work and I barely get anything done because we never have power. It's all good. I'm pretty much done at this point, though I can't say I'm not going to burn my paper when I leave because it's really not very good. Ohhhhwell...
The other day I paid a hefty 25 buckaroonies to go to Nosy Tanikely and Nosy Komba on a tour boat. I figured since it'll be my last outing on Nosy Be, I might as well go somewhere nice and pay a bit more. Komba was a dissapointment. It's a beautiful island but the part we were in is far too touristy for my taste. We went to the pathetic Lemur Parc and then headed towards Tanikely. As soon as I got off the boat I trudged into the water with my snorkel and flippers 5and socks because of my blisters). I spent a good 2 hours out in the water and saw incredible things. It was as if it were my first time again, I was so amazed by the colrs and the creatures. Isaw a beautiful HUGE puffer fish and was very tempted to annoy it till it puffed, but then I decided against it and just watched the incredible fish. I saw several marine turtles, but they were all very suspicious of me. I be the other turtles I had seen my first time in Tanikely told these guys how I grabbed their shells and swam with them, so now these guys have been keeping an eye outfor me. I hung out with one turtle for so long he had to come up for air. I floated so that my mask was partially inundated and I could see his head pop out of the water and hear a couple of gasps as he refilled his lungs. Then he went under again into that miraculous submerged world. I saw some huge triggerfish; who are really intimidating, and some a barracuda who wouldn't move when I swam near him. So I didn't cus he has big teeth.
The current was relatively strong on my way back so I got to lunch late, but it wasstill soooo yummy. We had barracuda, shrimp, crab (mmm), safron rice, potato salad, bread, papaya, bananas and oranges...ooo it was so good. That meal alone would have cost 100 plus dollars in the US, no doubt.
Anyway, it was a good trip if you dismiss the horribleguides (i'll mention them some other time). Tomorrow afternoon we head back to Tana and have a few days before going down to Fort Dauphin. Time is quickly running out...
Speaking of time, I have to get going and finish a few things. Love you all,

Sandra

Fishermen with their morning catch at Ramena beach near Diego Suarez (it is squid).

Hello friends,

I've been lazy lately by posting copies of group emails, I know, I just haven't found the time to write up a blog entry.

My travel plans have changed a bit. We're no longer taking the pura aventura route and taxi-broussing/cargoshipping to Nosy Be. The taxi brousse would have been fine, but we couldn't find a reliable boat to take us to Nosy Be in less than 72 hours. We instead bought 1 way plane tickets and plan to return by boat and car, as originally planned.

My topic for the ISP has also changed a bit. I am currently studying the changes in traditional fishing practices since the political and economic crisis of 1991 when President Ratsiraka was deposed. Madagascar changed into a free market economy and this caused a bunch of changes like large scale/ industrial fishing (Japanese) fleets being allowed to fish MDG's waters, toursim and development, just to name a few. this has affected local traditional fishermen a lot so that's what I'm going to be focusing on. It's still really interesting to me, but a bit more on the economic side than I'd prefer.

Anyways, I will be spending most of my time in a little village on the west side of Nosy Be called Djamandzary. I will be staying at the house of a couple of missionaries I was put in contact through from Tana. Their names are Lynette and Dries (from South Africa) and they're very sweet. They don't live walking distance from Djamandzary so I plan to rent/buy a bike and use that as my mode of transportation. Hopefully this will give me a little daily exercise too and keep me in shape. I should say GET me in shape since I am, by no means, close to being in shape at this point. Lemur on the "tsingy" (rare sight)

My health is much better, I just may have a few friends in my belly (intestinal parasites...) so I tend to hang out near toilets.

Me (with my eyes closed) on the "tsingy"

This last week was hectic. We had important assignments due every other day and we all could barely keep up. Not to mention there was some sort of computer shortage in Tana this last week and you had to fight to use one at the internet cafe. I managed to get everything turned in on time (with some very close ones) and am entirely exhausted at this point. I just need a very good nights rest.

Yesterday, Josh and I went Shelly and Hennie's house to have a BBQ and it was really nice to get away and do something different and get our minds off the last week of work. I ended up sleeping there after watching an american movie "Hitch" and I was given a VERY comfortable queen sized bed all to myself. It had a REAL mattress and I was in heaven. Ironically, I couldn't sleep well because I wasn't used to the comfort. That was really the reason! because otherwise I was ready to pass out. I'm feeling about the same right not so I don't think I am going to write much more.

Actually, I'm going to stop here and add some pics. Love you all,

Sandra

Fisherman in his pirogue at sunrise from across Nosy Be, Tanikely and Komba

My host family in Diego Suarez

COPY OF GROUP EMAIL SENT OUT:

Dudes and Dudettes,

How are you? I hate that question.
We are finally back in Tana. Diego Suarez, as you already know, BARF. Nosy Be, WOW! I mean, really, wow... From Diego Suarez we drove down several hours south west to a national park where we saw the "tsingy", huge (and very sharp) limestone formations rising from the dense deciduous canopy, it was more than impressive. We also had the rare opportunity to view lemurs on the tsingy, nimbly jumping from stone to stone. Don't worry, I got pictures. Then we explored a huge cave where we could see fruit bats and insect bats, but we mostly just smelled their poop and watched out heads. Due to a local fady, you're not allowed to walk in with your head covered, so no helmets or hats...I don't really mind the no helmet thing, but a hat would have been nice. :) Another interesting fady is that ethnic groups other than the one of the region (Antakarana) and especially the Merina (found in the highlands, Tana area) aren't allowed to enter the caves. This is because, way back when, the Merina had used the caves to hold Antakarana prisoners. Some Malagasy fadys seem ridiculous to me, but this one I could respect to a certain degree.

We camped near the park for 2 nights and then travelled a few more hours to the coast where we took several speedboats to a peninsula across from Nosy Be. The ocean was about 5 steps from our tents, at high tide and at sunrise and sunset you could see the silhouettes of all the surrounding islands, like Nosy Be, Nosy Komba, Nosy Tanikely, to name a few. It was spectacular, except for the first afternoon when I had a high fever and could only lie down. Eventually I threw up and that felt a lot better. To escape the sand fleas and the heat we would take a dip in the ocean or the mangroves (crystal clear water) on the other side of the peninsula. The next morning we travelled an hour to Nosy Iranja (i-ran-za) which is actually two islands connected by a coral-made sandbank.That is, a REALLY white beach. We did a bit of snorkeling as a practice for those who had never tried, had lunch, and then had a lecture on the beach about marine ecology, I think. The truth is I was really distracted by the hermit crabs.

Okay, the next day was the best part. We went to Nosy Tanikely in the morning and snorkeled for hours. Tanikely is a reserve and there is so much to see. There was live coral EVERYWHERE and I couldn't help but touch some of it and sea cucumbers, tons and tons of fish like trigger fish, parrot fish, barracuda, rays, butterfly fish, clowns, needle fish, gobies...wow, it was an overload. I almost bumped into a small squid about the size of my hand. He was sitting there staring at me and if I came too close it would back away a bit but still stay relatively close. When I would back away, it would follow me, haha. A cute and curious creature. There were also green sea turtles and olive ridley turtles, I saw at least six and would swim down along with them. I also got a bit daring and held onto their shells as they swam, though if my hands were in reach of their mouths they could have snapped them off. This email is going to be all about snorkeling if I don't stop now.

After Tanikely, we travelled to Nosy Be, known for "normal" tourism and sex tourism. It's a very dark island, spiritually speaking, and I would despise it if it weren't so darn beautiful. We had lunch with a South African missionary couple and that was really nice to have fellowship in such a random place. They were fighting chicongoonia (I'm totally spelling that wrong), which is a virus like malaria. There has been an epidemic, I think I may have already mentioned it, that started in Reunion and the Comoros. It must have reached Nosy Be a while ago because about 60 % of the population (so, every other person) has already had it. It is only really dangerous to older people and to infants, but there is no treatment for it and there is no way to prevent getting it. Anyways, who cares, I got Malaria.

Yeah, I did. I probably contracted it in Diego Suarez, that filthy mosquito ridden unearthly and depressing city. The afternoon I had the high fever on the beach was probably related, but the malaria really kicked in our last night in Nosy Be. I was out having dinner and I got really really tired and dizzy and sweaty and had a terrific headache. When I went back to our hotel room I checked my temperature and I had a 103.4 or .5. I took a cold shower and passed out until the next morning. I still had a fever when I woke up and I was covered in sweat, I could barely walk to the bathroom (where I would pee poo, sorry guys). We were travelling back to Tana that day and my academic director was asking me if I wanted to stay an extra night in Nosy Be until I felt I could travel. I chose not to so we left and I made it back to Tana fine, though I only remember bits of the trip. I had a fever throughout the flight also. We talked to a doctor and she recommended I take Cuartem which would deal with the malaria within a few days. I'm feeling much better today, but it's still a relatively constant state of delirium and fatigue. I'm eating a sandwich as we speak, which would be my first "real" food in 2 days, let's hope it goes down well. Also, I'm returning to Nosy Be on Saturday for my ISP, I would appreciate prayer that I be 100% or close to that before then. Speaking of which, I have a ton of work to get done so I better get to that before another bout of fever smashes me. Mom, I'm doing much better, don't worry, malaria runs in the family...Har har, malarious...

Love you all!

-send Ray 10 Zebras.

Here is a pic and map of some of the islands we will be visiting soon:

Hell-Ville, the main city of Nosy Be (which means "big island"), is a little West of Ampasindava. For my project I'm thinking of going to Ambatozavavy and 2 other villages on the round island south of Nosy Be, Nosy Komba. Nosy Tanikely, where we wil be snorkeling, is that little green dot on the left of the A of Antrema (Nosy Komba).
Another map, though not so clear.
Aerial view of Nosy Be looking towards Nosy Komba, Tanikely and the Madagascar mainland that you can't really see. You can rent a mountain bike and go all over the place!
Limestone formations at Ankarana that we will also see (none of these are my pics).

I just pasted my last group email, sorry, me lazy right now.
By the way, the song I learned is called AFINDRAFINDRAO (bouge).
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Hello my friends,

We're finally leaving Diego Suarez, I'm so relieved! Vanee has already heard my complaints, but this last week and a half has been unbearable; I really don't like this city. My impressions may be completely off, but everything here, in comparison to Tana, just isn't as pleasant, and I am usually very eager to leave Tana because of its size and pollution.

The people I have encountered in Diego Suarez have been, for the most part, much less friendly than in other parts of Madagascar. In Tana or Fianarantsoa you can smile at someone on the street and they will automatically give you a large toothless smile in return. Here, they only frown and walk quicker. Forget trying to take pictures of people at the market, they just yell at you to put it away unless you offer them money. Everything here is for the purpose of tourism and the people are only interested in business.

If you're a girl, almost every man on the street has a reaction to you as you walk by. It's either cat calls or shouts. Some of the bolder ones will follow you and grab you arm or try to pinch your side! They only want a reaction and because of my time in latin america I'm quite used to this, but there's so much of it here it's hard not to get frustrated and bitter first thing in the morning walking to school. The first afternoon I walked home I was almost kissed! A lot of the men here are also "high" on a plant called Khat. It's a stimulant and they have to chew on the leaves for an hour or so before they get an effect from the juices.

The city is right by the water, but there's isn't any access to it because we're basically on a cliff. The nearest nice beach is called Ramena and that's an hour away on a terrible road. It is, however, beautiful and was very easily the highlight of our stay here.

I'm almost done with talking about Diego... ;)

Tonight I decided to rent a hotel room. I don't think I'm supposed to and I felt rather guilty about it, but I couldn't imagine making it through another night at my house. My family is fine, that wasn't the problem. They were helpful and inviting, although they didn't talk very much or seem interested in sharing with me. It was the sleeping situation that was nightmarish. After convincing them to leave the window open just a tad, I though the heat would be bearable, but I forgot about the insects. I would have swarms of mosquitos around me during the nights. They're really persistant little buggers. Around 3 AM I would shine my flashlight on my arm or leg only to find bite after bite with a dead mosquito here and there. Barf. But what can I say, I signed up for it, right? One good thing. I got tons of reading done! I read till 4AM last night and then slept for 40 mins, took a long bucket bath and went to a hotel to have an expresso with two other exhausted students.

Tomorrow we finally leave Diego and head South but car. We'll be camping for about 4 nights first in a park (Ankarana, known for the "tsingy" or limestone formations supposedly millions of years old) and then on the beach for the other 2 nights. During the day we'll either be exploring the park or taking boats to small islands known for incredible snorkeling. We should have a chance to see sea turtles and they say there are often whale sharksthere also! How SWEET would that be! We'll stay in Nosy Be for the weekend (hotel) and then on Monday we'll fly back to Tana. I am thinking of doing my one month ISP in that region, so I'm excited to see what it's like.
Some of you may already know, but I'm almost sure I'm doing my project on small scale artisanal fishing communities of that region.The doors were opening all over the place for that like contacts and research material. I'm really excited, but there's still a week or so to decide so we'll see, eh?

I love you guys, I really do! I miss all of you, especially this last week in (barf) Diego Suarez. Wouldn't it be nice if we could all be in one beautiful place forever and ever? Oooo, like heaven? Heaven...I'm in heaven...
Well, friends from all over the world, I must retreat to my luxury hotel room (6 bucks, but it has a fan and a mosquito net...SCORE!). I would appreciate prayers for wisdom and discipline and also for health. God is SO good though. They should really write a song about that. It doesn't have to be long, just a simple song saying how God is so good and how he's so good to me.

Veloma dudes and dudettes,

Sandra

Hi all,

Sorry to not have updated this in a while, I just always need to set a lot of internet time aside to put one of these up. Most of you probably received my email about going to Diego Suarez. We leave early tomorrow at 6 and it's only a 2 hour flight so we should be there by 10. The city is right on the coast, but because it used to be a military base much of the ocean is inaccesible from the main city. I still don't really understand why but that's what I remember Roland, my academic director, saying. We'll be there for 10 days followed by a 4 day camping excursion on the peninsula across Nosy Be. We'll then spend one night in Nosy Be, which seems like way too little time considering it's the nicest island of Madagascar. We'll be snorkeling and spear fishing and riding pirogues and avoiding prostitutes...

I'm super excited to get out of Tana. I like it here a lot, but I've been looking forward to seeing the ocean and also to going to a less polluted place. The cold I caught 2 weeks ago is sill having an effect on me and I feel like it has a lot to do with how polluted it is in the city. Any pollution is a lot of pollution compared to Boulder! Also, Diego is significantly warmer, but sill relatively dry which is good for my residual cold. However, there are a whole other set of worries with going to a new place. I'll be living with a new host family so that'll be somewhat uncomfortable to get accoustomed to. Not to mention a whole other city to navigate...but what am I talking about, that's fun and exciting. Silly.

I feel kind of feverish and I have some diarrea, what does that mean? Maybe I have malaria.

This last week was our Music and Dance module. Basically every morning we would have a lecture on music and cultural identity etc, a language class (either French or Malagasy) and then after lunch a famous group of musicians, each representing a different region of MDG, would come and play for us and make us dance. Then last night we had a party because the other SIT group based in Fort Dauphin (aka the Ecology group) were up in Tana. There were like 8+ different bands playing for us and we were dancing the afternoon away, it was a lot of fun. For some reason I'm considered a good dancer because I can keep a beat. Haha.

So, I guess I'm not going to complete my village stay blog. It'll take way too much time. I just CAN'T do it...

I learned how to play a very typical Malagasy song on the guitar, but I can't remember what it's called. I'm planning on purchasing a Valiha and a Kabosy to take back with me to Colorado. I'm also considering a Djembe because they're so cheap here. I don't know how the heck I'll carry all of that to the US though...

Anyway, I should get going. I have a paper to write before the trip tomorrow and I don't know what to do it on. I've attached some random pics:

This is a view of Tana from the first hotel we stayed at, the Raphia

An angry Zebu that chased us all over the place until we climbed against a wall of mud. It as hilarious but slightly scary too, they're big ol' animals! Fact of the Day: the word for cow/zebu in Malgache is Omby, which comes from Swahili.

I saw mom at the airport in Paris! Doesn't that look like mom?!

OK, big kiss!

A couple of photos from my time in Andasibe: These are a few kids in Andasibe. They got a kick out of the digital camera but didn't quite know what to do when I would point it at them.


Here is a pic of Madagascar Boa I got to hold on the way to Andasibe, it was a spectacular animal and used to being handled.