Last Days in Madagascar

Hi friends and family:

We finished up our trip with two days on the beach at Ifaty.  WARM water, white sand, and heartwarming company as we, who have gone through so much together, were able to relax and play in the Mozambique Channel. 

To say it's been an education would be an understatement.  So much to process in terms of the lives of the  people here and the dynamics of traveling so much and making an impact on so many villages.  By the time we got to Ifaty, we were truly exhausted.  Images and memories of our adventures swirl around in my head.... hours of driving in deep sand (to Ifaty) with the van getting stuck every 1/2 mile or so....local men who came running out to the car each time to work together to pull us out of every rut (not to mention that it was 90+ degrees with no shade in sight!).......or being stopped by the local "police" who tried to challenge our driver's papers.....that led to  an adventure, a call to the Peace Corps head hancho, release for all of us and some form of discipline forthcoming for those "policemen".......or more precious memories like watching the Malagasy kids swarm around Joan and laugh and screech as she took pictures of them and showed them on her camera......or swarms of kids surrounding nathan trying to talk to him and him having learned enough Malagasy to ask them their names, share his name and tell them where he was from.  And, of course, sitting on rock watching baby lemurs wrestle and leap over each other in play.....going a long 1.5K walk in desert that looks like NM but with different trees and ending up at a natural swimming pool where most everyone jumped in for a swim (the waterfall water was warmer than the pool, YUM!)

....the strongest memory for me, though, is getting to spend two days living in one of the villages....I really got a feel for their daily life.  That's probably more than you wanted to hear, but it's so nice to be back on a computer, "speaking" english and touching base with all of you back home.

much love to you all,

elizabeth

joan and lemurs

I’m relaxing on a beach of the Mozambique Channel!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We finished the LEEP program in a poor village, were it was really hot with no trees. LEEP kids from the seven villages gathered together and had a final afternoon of sharing facts about our lives. Now we get two days of vacation to end the trip. I’m having a great time and I’m going to bring home a white shell for every kid in my class as well as a piece of coral that had washed up on the shore. I got to go snorkeling by a coral reef, which was amazing!!! We saw amazingly beautiful fish! My favorite one was black with an orange tail. I collected shells on the beach of a fishing village with some Malagasy kids. I’m having a great time and am sad to know that I have to leave soon. See you all soon.

Blog from Tulear

I am in a big city in Madagascar called Tulear. We finished giving out the t-shirts and did the last LEEP program yesterday, which was great, but all of the friends that I had made i had to say goodbye to, and that was very sad. When we did the LEEP program, there were some things that Americans do that Malagasy kids don't do, so I had to write them on a chalkboard so they could write the words they didn't know. I told them my favorite food was a hamburger, which I explained was cow's meat. They probably think that I eat only that 24/7, because they eat rice, corn, chicken, zebu (malagasy cow), cassava (a vegetable) at every meal. After this trip, I will be happy not to eat rice and chicken for awhile. I stopped eating the chicken last week after we carried nine roosters on top of our car and then I caught a glimpse of the Malagasy cutting their heads off. I had to explain what baseball and tennis are. The teacher speaks British English, so he could translate although he had trouble understanding my pronunciation. He pronounced soccer like "saucer". He spelled my name Newton, as they don't really hear the "th" sound. I leave to Ifaty beach at 10:00 our time (midnight colorado time), and we're going to be there for 2 nights. I got to see ring-tailed lemurs 5 feet away from me in one of the parks that we visited, which was AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!

Ambalona

On the 26th,I visited a school in Kelilana, which was the first school that Hope for Madagascar helped. We got to see the small library (apprx. 25 books), which was cool. The students sang and danced for us and gave me a Malagasy hat and vest. I am now in Ambalona, a village of about 1,700 people. All of the kids are very happy, and I’m having a good time. We climbed up a waterfall today, and on our way back we got to look at a rice field. We also got rice that is still in its shell to show my class. Tomorrow morning a woman is going to show me how to pound the rice to de-hull it. I’m becoming better friends with the kids from Antananarivo, as well as getting to know the kids from Ambalona. All of the kids are amazed to see an American child and they follow me wherever I go and watch everything I do. It’s making me a bit uncomfortable to be stared at all the time, but I’m still having fun with them. I’ve spent hours throwing those little, tiny, squishy, thin footballs (that say CU Buffs, Boulder, and Pasta Jays on them) around with the Malagasy kids. I’m doing pretty well teaching them to throw a spiral, which they all enjoy.Veloma (Goodbye), Nathan

Today I hiked in the rainforest!!! I got to see brown lemurs play in the tree, which was adorable! There were awesome plants, like this one that was a like a snake, called the strangler, and it was strangling another tree. My mom had a leech put on her hand, and it grew as it sucked her blood! As grotesque as it sounds, it actually cleaned her bloodstream. It is raining now, as it does every afternoon (early morning for you is afternoon for us). There is a photo of the kids from Antananarivo wearing Mike’s, Alannah’s, Summer’s, Lillie’s, and Zach’s t-shirt. They are kids who go to my school. Everyone else’s shirts will be worn by kids from other villages that we haven’t been to yet but we will get to those villages soon. I’m having a great time in Madagascar!!!!! In the bottom photo, you see us pointing to a sign. The name of this town means Boulder

I'm typing on a very confusing French keyboard in Antananarivo. I'm having fun learning a new language. Malagasy is really cool!! We are picking up 4 orphans from here and driving to Antsirabe. goodbye from africa. nathan