One semester down.

Alright, it's a new year. Somehow I made it through the most challenging four months of my life. Even moving halfway across the globe on my own couldn't have prepared me for this whole graduate school experience. I had too short of a winter break in Colorado, where I just barely recovered from Fall semester. Winter semester is already in full swing.

My classes this semester are more technical with a GIS (geographic information systems) class and a site engineering class. On the artistic side, I'm taking a landscape design history class, which has been really interesting so far. We'll be doing an art installation toward the end of the semester at the Heidelberg Project in Detroit. I also have a graphic communications class where I'm hoping to brush up on my artistic/digital rendering skills.

My design studio course this semester is about landscape ecology. Last semester my design studio was more design focused. Now it's all about the ecological implications of site design. We're actually doing two real world projects this semester. One will be a design for a children's garden in the Arboretum (where I live as the caretaker) in connection with the nearby Mott's Children's Hospital. We also have plans for a project in Detroit with the Detroit Wildlife Refuge.

I actually can't think of anything I'd rather be doing in my life right now. It's amazing to be intellectually challenged on a daily basis and to finish each day knowing something I didn't know the day before. So even if the dark circles under my eyes and the moments of panic and stress seem like too much, on top of the complete lack of a social life, I know I'm doing something I feel passionate about, and I'm giving this my best shot.

Meanwhile, life continues on in the world around me. The Peace Corps Volunteer in me wants to drop everything and go directly to Haiti to hand out medical supplies or rebuild houses. I am going to stick with this grad school thing though, so hopefully someday I will be leading my own restoration/revitalization projects in the world.

This is me signing off 'til sum-sum-summertime. Winter semester ends on April 27th, then I'll have four months of sweet freedom. My long anticipated return to Black Rock City is in the works. No doubt a trip to the California coast will work itself in too. I do miss the coast.

I'll leave you with a photo of my back yard at the Arboretum. Winter may be cold in Michigan, but it is beautiful.

Starting over again...

Classes started this week at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. I thought I'd write an update before life gets too hectic.

My graduate school orientation was last week, which included a three day trip to the northern tip of lower Michigan with the 120+ incoming students at the School of Natural Resources and Environment. It was fun getting to know people and learn about all the different fields being studied at my school. There are only 13 students in the Landscape Architecture program this year, all with very diverse backgrounds and interests, which should make for an exciting learning environment for the next three years.

Here's a photo of my incoming class with a few of our professors and predecessors.


In other news about my new life in Ann Arbor, I moved in and started my job as the caretaker at Nichols Arboretum, or as the locals say, "The Arb". My job includes free housing on the property of the Arb, where I live with two other graduate students. We are responsible for keeping the park clean, and informing people about the rules. We also spend our weekends doing ecological restoration work removing invasive species and planting natives around the property. There will also be opportunities to take part in prescribed burns within the area.

Here's a path in the "Arb":


My classes this semester are really interesting. It's a cool program which includes lots of science/ecology related courses, as well as art/drawing/design classes. I'm getting lots of practice using both sides of my brain, and a good bit of outdoor experience in my field classes. It's all really exciting, and I'll be working hard to stay on top of everything.

This may be the last time I update for several months. The course-load this semester is heavy. Only three days in and I already feel over-booked and overwhelmed. Be sure to send notes of encouragement along the way! :-)
And even better, send me money! Ha! Grad school is expensive. Wish me luck.

High Sierra Music Festival 2009

I'm back from another great music festival in Northern California. High Sierra will always be my favorite festival. Even when I'm not so sure about the line-up, I always end up discovering new favorite bands and dancing more than ever before. The quality time I'm able to spend with my friends and family is especially valuable to me after so much time away.

I had a fun time working on the Hospitality Crew again this year backstage at the Big Meadow. The diverse music selection at the festival this year led to a lot of musical highlights for me throughout the weekend. Greensky Bluegrass, an up and coming band from Michigan (!!!!), had a fun set in the sunshine. Leftover Salmon, a longtime High Sierra favorite, played a fun late night set on Friday night with some of the guys from the Del McCoury Band. Paper Bird, a folk band from Colorado, played a couple of sweet sets and a nice singing workshop. Mike Farris and the Roseland Rhythm Revue closed out the Big Meadow stage on Sunday night with a soulful rockin' good time. Galactic's late night show was epic with a silly edge due to hundreds of circus balloons.

I finally got a chance to stilt with my favorite group of stilters, VigilAntiUp, thanks to a new pair of stilts and some fun costumes.



And now I'm off to start my big road trip out to the midwest. University of Michigan, here I come! First stop, Colorado! Later California! You know I'll be back! :-)

Permaculture at the Esalen Institute

I recently finished up my Permaculture Design Course at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California with Benjamin Fahrer, an inspiring long-time permaculture activist.

Taking the permaculture course of a period of two months gave me the time to integrate the ethics and principles into my life in a meaningful way. We had a collection of passionate and enthusiastic guest speakers throughout the course.

Two guests from the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center gave us some great information about Starting and Sustaining a Residential Intentional Community. Another great topic from the folks at OAEC was about the process of decision making in groups, a useful discussion for anyone who wants to be more effective in making truly democratic decisions.
We also had a great discussion on the uses of herbs and salve making with naturopathic Dr. Natalie Metz.
Trathen Heckman of Daily Acts gave us an enthusiastic lecture on the role of community placemaking. His suggestion and take-home message encouraged us all to "find your highest light, schedule it, and live it.... then find your community's highest light, and share it!"
Erik Ohlsen of Permaculture Earth Artisans talked to us about the benefits of growing perennial polyculture systems of food forests. Erik's campaign is Food Forests Across America!

We also managed to complete several projects, including a cob bench made for the Gazebo Preschool.
The course ended with presentations on projects that we completed in design teams. My group came up with an idea about the farm and garden at Esalen and how we could make it more sustainable and productive. Our theme was Restoring the Roots of Esalen. We thought it was important to incorporate more wild natives in order to restore the site while educating people about the cultural and natural history of the land.

There is something to be said for surrounding myself with inspiring, passionate, creative individuals. If anything it gives me the motivation to continue on an ecologically minded path with the people who share the same ethics and vision for our future on this beautiful planet.



Now I'm in Portland Oregon for the Village Building Convergence, where I'm busy getting involved in some permaculture projects in the urban environment. I've been posting photos of all my adventures on my flickr account, as usual. I'm just trying to keep the permaculture vibe alive and growing. For me, permaculture is about finding the simple, natural solutions to issues we face everyday in the world. As Starhawk talked to us about last night, the time for action is NOW.

To everything, turn, turn, turn....

Living in a rural farming community in Madagascar for the last two years, I really learned to appreciate the comings and goings of the seasons. Not necessarily winter, spring, summer, and fall, but the seasons of fruits, vegetables, and grains.

In the states, unless you're living on a farm, it's easy to forget that vegetables and fruits even have a particular season or only grow in certain places. You can walk into any major grocery store at any time of the year anywhere in the country and you're likely to find lettuce, tomatoes, oranges, bananas, pineapples, and maybe even a kiwi.

In my village, we didn't have those options. When the litchis were out of season, that was it until next year. When the weather was too hot for lettuce, we do without until it cools off again and we can plant more. We have jackfruit in October, litchis in November, pineapple in December, mangos in January, and oranges in February. Each month has it's own flavor that we enjoy as much as possible while we can.

Where I lived in Madagascar, there were no refrigerated coolers to keep our food "fresh." Instead, we would eat our fresh produce while it's still actually fresh and doesn't require refrigeration.
There aren't even roads reliable enough to transport food in and out. Sometimes, depending on the weather, boats would carry vegetables from the central plateau. Usually by the time they arrive, the tomatoes are smashed, the carrots are soft, and the eggplants have dried out. The best veggies always come from local gardeners around town, and are usually more reasonably priced too.

Eating locally wasn't just a personal choice for me in Madagascar, it was a basic necessity. But what I discovered, is that when given the choice, locally grown food eaten while in season actually tastes better. Maybe this is obvious to some of you. But I think for the most part, Americans are still eating frozen and canned vegetables bought off of shelves in grocery stores.
Isn't it more appealing to visit your local farmer's market and meet the people who grow your vegetables in person? Find your local farmer's market at localharvest.org. Support your local farmers!

I think my first insight into this superior local in-season taste phenomenon happened when I moved to California back in 2001. After a lifetime of despising avocados, I had my first avocado grown by farmers in Santa Cruz bought at the local market in Santa Cruz. Maybe I'm going too far by saying that avocado changed my life, but where would I be today without guacamole? I don't even want to think about it.

Similarly, there's no better place to eat tropical fruit than in the tropics. If you've ever picked a pineapple out of the ground, you know what I'm talking about. Even rice tastes better during the harvest. No joke! Freshly harvested rice has an unmistakable quality you won't find in rice bought off a shelf in the grocery store in a plastic bag.

It's a rewarding experience being in tune with the seasons. Sure, I can't eat an apple a day, but when the time comes for apples, I have months of anticipation to flavor the experience of that first bite. As they say, good things come to those who wait... The instant gratification ingrained into our American culture really does not appeal to me. I'll visit Florida if I need to eat a Florida orange, but don't waste precious fossil fuels bringing those oranges to me. I don't actually need to have anything 'right here, right now'. And I also don't need to have it 'my way'.

This idea isn't new. You've seen the bumper stickers. Think Global. Act Local. I'm not trying to be original here, I'm just starting to come to my own conclusions about the issue. In the last several months, I've read some recent books that really made me think and got me inspired. Barbara Kingsolver wrote a book, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, about her experiences eating only food she and her family grew themselves or could find locally. A similar book is Plenty: One Man, One Woman and a Raucous Year of Eating Locally, a young Canadian couple document their year experiment of eating only food found within 100 miles of their British Columbia home. Both are very inspiring stories and also full of great information about all the benefits of eating locally. Michael Pollan also does a good job of breaking it down in many of his books, including The Omnivore's Dilemma and In Defense of Food. Check those out if you're at all interested in the issue.

Now that I'm back in the states, I am really making a conscious effort to make good decisions about the food I eat and the environmental impact I'm having on the earth. It's been great to be back and see how much has changed in the level of consciousness around "green" and environmental issues.

Lucky for me I'm at the Esalen Institute (until June 7th) where a majority of the food is either grown on the property or bought from local organic farms. I'm also busy working on a permaculture design project regarding the land stewardship and food production on the property, so hopefully some of the ideas we come up with surrounding the issue are implemented in the near future as Esalen works on it's effort to become more sustainable.

Life is beautiful and healthy and abundant!

Here's a nice view of the ocean from the gorgeous Esalen garden:

Back in the U.S. of A.!

I guess it's about time for an update, now that I'm back in the states and starting to figure some things out.

The update on Madagascar is that the leader of the opposition was actually successful in overthrowing the government. The country is now under new rule, and democracy seems to have failed Madagascar again. The news has pretty well dropped off the international radar, so it's hard for me to figure out what's going on over there at all anymore, and especially now that the Peace Corps program has been closed (hopefully only temporarily). All of the volunteers were evacuated shortly after I left, and it makes me sad to read stories like this one.

The biggest news back here on the homefront is my decision to go to graduate school. After much deliberation, I decided on the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor for a masters degree in Landscape Architecture. School starts in September, but I will be moving there for the summer to get settled in before classes start. I'm really excited about being a part of the School of Natural Resources and Environment. I am really looking forward to being involved in a lot of interesting projects over the next three years.

Here are a few photos from my quick trip to Ann Arbor in March.

Since I've been back in the states, I've been having a great time visiting friends and family around the country. First I spent some time in Texas with my dad, my step-mom, and my little brother. Now I'm in California, catching up with friends in the Bay Area and just general shenanigans, as usual.

I finally got a chance to update my photos albums on flickr, so check those out if you're interested.

I am on my way to Big Sur now to spend another month at the Esalen Institute. This time I will be taking a course on permaculture and becoming certified so I can go on and spread the good word. Learn more about permaculture here.

When I leave Big Sur in May, I'll be taking off on my cross country road trip to Michigan (by way of Colorado, New York City, and New Orleans...). I'm hoping to see many friends along the way, so get in touch and let's make plans, for real. Hope to see you soon!

Veloma Madagascar!

This is it! I'm leaving Madagascar. I made the decision to Early COS (Peace Corps term: Close of Service) after several weeks of political turmoil in the country.

Here's an article explaining current events:
MADAGASCAR: What went wrong?
Here's another article from the BBC.

It has been a bit hectic here. After a violent protest in the capital last month, Peace Corps had all of the volunteers pack our bags in case of an emergency evacuation. When the looting and violence didn't stop, all of the volunteers were consolidated together to be nearer to communication, airports, and each other. It has been peaceful over the last few days and the initial momentum of the anti-government rallies seems to have waned for now. However, Peace Corps is continuing to keep volunteers consolidated and has yet to make a decision on how to proceed.

For me, I decided it was best to go because I felt that it would be difficult to return to my village under the circumstances. When I left I packed all my belongings as if I wasn't returning. I said my tentative good byes, and left in a hurry not knowing if or when I would be back. With only a couple of months left in my service, I was given the option to Early COS due to the current political instability and civil unrest. This feels like the best option for me, rather than wait out the crisis and/or eventually return to site to say my good byes all over again.

The fact of my leaving hasn't quite hit me yet. I'm still in the capital waiting to finish up my paperwork, and I haven't even been told what day my flight is, or even where my flight is going. It doesn't quite seem real. Maybe when I'm on the plane and crossing the ocean, I'll realise what I'm leaving behind. It is a bittersweet ending. I am happy to be going home, but this is not the way I would have liked things to turn out. I am concerned about the future of Madagascar. Food security is already a problem without the added expense of looting and rioting. And as long as the situation remains unstable investors and tourists are likely to look elsewhere.

My immediate plans for my return include visiting family in Texas before heading to San Francisco to visit friends. Then I'm hoping to head down to Big Sur for a month long permaculture course in April, and in May I'll be going on a cross country road trip starting in Colorado! Coming soon to a city near you! Get in touch so we can meet up soon!

I *heart* Madagascar

As I get ready to leave this country where I've spent the last two years, I've been thinking about all the things I'm going to miss about my life here. I've made some good friends in my village and also in the Peace Corps. It'll be sad to get on the plane this week.

These are the things I love most about life in Madagascar:

...waking up to the rooster's crow... the smell of vanilla and cloves drying in the sun... eating ananambo leaves (also known as Moringa: The Miracle Tree)... fresh baked bread in the mornings on my doorstep... my morning "mofo!" call.... the vanilla plantation at Antsiramanga... soahaba (a delicious sugary coconut milk porridge)... the bike ride from Soavina to Mananara along the Mananara River... Ambiditsika Beach... Mama Boda's homemade yogurt and pastries in Mananara... THB (the one and only Malagasy beer)... rice harvest season... doing my laundry at the river in Bagordan... watching men climb coconut trees.... geckos on my walls... our library of books at the Meva... candlelight dinners, every night... Robert's chocolate... Ziggy, my little Zigger Doodle (R.I.P.)... Zita's fresh juice and coconut candy... boat rides on the Mananara River... the awesome Peace Corps staff... all the yummy tropical fruit, coconut, jackfruit, litchis, breadfruit, pineapple... having all the time in the world...

Of course, it hasn't always been easy living in Madagascar. Trust me, it's not all dancing lemurs and pristine beaches over here. After all, this is a developing country and one of the poorest in the world. Sometimes life here is downright frustrating. I've been brought to tears dealing with harrassment over my white skin. The challenges I've dealt with living here hopefully have made me a stronger person, physically, mentally, and emotionally. It's been a good test of patience and endurance these last two years.

As long as I'm listing the positive, I'll also mention the things that make it easy for me to say good bye:

...sleeping on a piece of foam.... the constant sound of the rice hulling machine across the street from my house... flies landing on me while i wash the dishes outside... massive snails in my garden... mosquitos... parties centered around dying/dead cows... men drunk on "betsa" (a local brew made from fermented sugar cane)... "VAZAHA!!!!"... trabona (scary centipedes with red legs that bite hard!)... the dirty market... the post office stealing my packages... the insane heat in December, January, February... bugs swimming in my drinking water... rice, 7 days/week... tucking in my mosquito net every night... constantly being told how "maventy" I am (I don't care if it's supposed to be a compliment, I don't like being told I'm fat!)... reading books by candlelight... the "road" from Soanirana-Ivongo to Mananara... random strangers asking me for money... everyone asking me for money.... no one ever showing up for appointments... my "kabone" (the latrine)...

Maybe this will give you some insight into my life over here. It's difficult to put into words all the little things that make up my daily life. In some ways it's not that different from life in the states, or maybe it is, and I've forgotten what life in the states is like?????

Anyway, I guess I'll be finding out soon enough!
So long Madagascar! Thanks for all the fish!

...under african skies...

I decided to take a quick safari into the Kruger National Park during my trip here in South Africa. Kruger National Park borders South Africa and Mozambique and with over 2 million hectares of land, tens of thousands of wild animals roam freely in the wilderness.

This is the bushveld:


During my four day trip in the park, I saw some incredible sights, including all of the "Big Five" (lions, leopards, elephants, rhinoceros, and buffalo). I also saw a pack of wild dogs (a rare sight) and a couple of hyenas. Zebras, giraffes, and antelope were so common by the end of the trip we would just drive past them in hopes of spotting a cheetah or another rhinoceros.



I arranged my safari through Footprints in Africa and they put me up in a unique lodge near the central edge of the park called the Bushman Adventure Lodge. I had a cute little hut and chilled out in their cozy space by the camp fire when I wasn't off safari-ing around searching for wild game animals.
Here's my sweet little hut:


The most exciting moment on the trip involved a certain elephant who wasn't too happy about us stopping to check him out. He chased us down the road while we snapped photos and hoped he wasn't fast enough to catch up.



I also did some sightseeing along the way to and from the park. There are beautiful mountains and canyons in the Mpumalanga Province. Unfortunately my timing couldn't have been worse with the rainy season in full effect and mostly I drove through a big cloud the whole way. I did manage to see a nice canyon, but the sun wouldn't come out for what is supposed to be one of the most spectacular views in South Africa. If you've seen The Gods Must Be Crazy... this is the spot where he throws the coke bottle off the edge of the earth.

This is the canyon at a place called the Potholes.


South Africa is a beautiful country. I only wish I had more time to spend here. However, it's about time I get back to work in the village. I'll be heading back to Madagascar as soon as there's a flight. With only three months left in my service, I need to start saying good byes and preparing for life's next adventure, wherever that may be!

an update to end the year

It's New Year's Eve and I'm really looking forward to the year ahead. Only four months to go in my service with the Peace Corps! It's hard to believe it's almost over.

I've had some fun in the last couple of months here, checking out two parks and helping out with Peace Corps related events in the capital.

In November, we celebrated 15 years of Peace Corps in Madagascar.


There were events at the zoo in the capital and at the American Cultural Center. Peace Corps got a lot of good publicity around town, and it was gratifying to see how well supported and appreciated Peace Corps Volunteers are in Madagascar.

Around Thanksgiving, I visited Nosy Mangabe, an island in the Bay of Antongil in the northeastern region of Madagascar with my friends Tom and Faith and their family. Nosy Mangabe means either "Island of the Big Mango" or "Big Blue Island", whichever you prefer.
I like Island of the Big Mango personally.



There was all sorts of cool wildlife on the island... I can't decide which I like best, the leaf tailed gecko, master of disguise, or the brookesia chameleon, smallest chameleons in the world.





Then just after Christmas, since my trip I had planned to the north didn't work out, I took a spontaneous trip to Ranomafana Park (again) with some of my friends from Peace Corps. Last time I tried to get in the park, a cyclone had taken out the bridge. This time the weather was perfect, the bridge was fixed, and Tony, Stacey, and I all spent a day hiking into the primary forest inside the park. It was a long day of hiking and we saw several species of lemurs and a nice waterfall. We also checked out the hot springs pool in town and spent some time in Fianar, ending with a miserable overnight brousse ride that took 5 hours longer than it should have. Oddly enough, 5 hours extra in a taxi brousse hardly phases me anymore.

Here's a bamboo lemur in Ranomafana Park.


Now I'm in the capital to celebrate the New Year, and heading to South Africa again this weekend for another medical check-up. I can't complain really... Pretoria is a step up from Antananarivo.

Things are still going great at my site too. Clove harvest just ended and rice harvest is happening now. I'm still involved with building lots of cook stoves and figuring out ways for people to save fuelwood. Soon the new environment trainees will be arriving to replace my group, so that's exciting for us and them too!

Check out the rest of the photos I just uploaded too!

Here's wishing everyone a safe and happy new year!!
I have a good feeling about 2009!!! I haven't figured out where I'm going yet actually. Who knows, I might be "moving to Montana soon.... just to raise me up a crop of dental floss.... gonna be a dental floss tycoon". Yeah, I've got a good feeling about it.

bike race and a(nother) tropical island

After my last taxi brousse trip, I decided I would never take a taxi-brousse again.... even if it means biking hundreds of miles on terrible roads. Of course, it isn't really possible to avoid taxi brousses altogether, but I did a pretty good job of it on my way to Tamatave for the bike race.


I rode my bike south along the east coast this past month. It was a fun diversion, stopping in little remote villages on the beach, drinking coconuts, sleeping in ocean-side bungalows and basically really enjoying the fact that I live on an exotic tropical island. It was an intense bike trip, something like 120 kilometers, on a really crazy dirt road full of rocks and sand.

Once I reached the "good" part of the road, I took a brousse the rest of the way to Tamatave where I got together with a bunch of volunteers in the country for our annual bike race to promote AIDS awareness.

After the Bike Race, me and some of the girls that I came to country with (way back when), took a little vacay on a gorgeous tropical island off the eastern coast, called Isle St. Marie. We had fun chillin' on the beach, relaxin' in the sun, snorkelin' around, drinkin' red wine (such luxury!), and hangin' with our new friend, the lemur.



I went back to site just briefly, where it's the same old, same old... however, it pains me to say, my little Ziggy, aka Zigger Doodle, is no longer roaming the earth in search of geckos.... I'm not sure what happened, but while I was away, she suddenly got very sick and died before I returned. It's not the same at my house without her. She was good company. My neighbors buried her out back near my compost pile, so I guess she's helping to replenish the soil, and the geckos rejoice...

In other village news, regarding the cycle of life, my neighbor's pig gave birth on Monday, the day before I left town. It was pretty cool to see! She had eleven (!!) healthy piglets, cute as can be!! They came out all walking around and looking for food.



And now I'm in the capital to take the GRE and to help out for the Peace Corps Madagascar 15th Anniversary celebrations.

So wish me luck with all that. And while you're checking up on me here, look at my newest photos! Sorry they're all random and out of order. What more can you expect working on ancient computers with dial up speeds and outdated browsers? My patience only goes so far.

September already?

Where does the time go?

I'm in the capital once again. Faith and I had a horrendous trip from Mananara to the capital, including an argument with our taxi brousse driver which almost resulted in us being put out of the car in the middle of nowhere. But we made it here alive, and now we're going to Mantasoa for a conference with a bunch of volunteers. I haven't forgotten that taxi brousse ride yet though thanks to the numerous bruises I suffered sharing a Landcruiser for 20 hours with 17 people. I think it's designed for ten. Although my perception of how many people are supposed to fit in a vehicle anymore is definitely skewed.

But anyway... here's a quick update of how things have been going for me at site since I last checked in.

My very good friends in the village, the family who has taken me in as their own, hosted a huge traditional Malagasy ceremony in Soavinarivo in July. It's called a famadihana, and basically, the family in the presence of their community digs up their most recent dead relative, cleans off their bones, and puts them in a new casket. Then they have a big party with lots of dancing, singing and of course, RICE! A cow was slaughtered for this particular ceremony.
The new casket with the freshly cleaned bones inside attends the party, and people come to visit and pay respects.
After the party is over (two days later at our party), the casket is then brought to the family tomb to be with the other dead relatives.

Read more about the famadihana here.

This is a photo at my village's graveyard. They are working on digging up her casket in this photo. The community participates by singing and drinking "betsa", the local brew.



Here we are getting ready to eat rice at the party.
This photo is taken two doors from my house, which you can't see, but is off to the right. You can see my garden on the other side of the street, which is fenced in with leaves.



And here's a nice big plate of rice. Have I mentioned the rice? Don't forget the rice.



Also in July, I painted a world map mural at our local elementary school with some local friends. Tom and Faith also came down to help with the map, and now they're starting a map in their village in Imorana.



I had people come by to see what we were doing who didn't recognize what we were making a picture of. Then once we explained they still didn't really understand. Anyway, I hope the map will encourage the students to learn more about the rest of the world.

After painting the world map, I got a little ambitious with the leftover paint and my counterpart and I along with the help of some other local community members created a mural of Madagascar. This was really fun and I think it turned out beautifully.
And by the way, I live in the green area of the map, just to the south east of the peninsula (which I recently hiked across).



Other than that, it's vanilla harvest season, so I've been helping cook, dry, and sort vanilla beans with a local farmer. (Ziggy likes to help out too.)



And this is the (second) time of the year for planting rice. I was busy with the murals so wasn't able to help transplant this year, but my counterpart and his family have increased the area in which they are using SRI because of their results last season. Here is our freshly planted rice field which we will harvest in December with hopefully more rice than last year.



And last, but most certainly not least, Ziggy, otherwise known as Zigger Doodle, has become legendary in Soavinarivo. More people know Ziggy's name than my own. She continues to climb coconut trees and eat geckos. Recently she has been diligently studying for the GRE, which is scheduled for October 25th. Here she is hard at work learning new vocabulary and catching up on her geometry.



That's the update for today!
Thanks to those of you who continue to stay in touch and send nice text messages and letters in the mail. I miss and love you all!

back online in October!

This will be my last post for awhile. I'm heading back to site today, or tomorrow, depending on the oh-so-dependable taxi brousse situation.

The next time I'm online may not be until October. There's an AIDS awareness bike race every year in Tamatave, which I regrettably missed last year. I'm going to make it a point to be there this year.
Until then, I'll probably just be hanging out at my site gardening and reading lots of novels. I may take a trip up to Maroantsetra briefly in July, and I'll also be painting two murals with Tom and Faith in the next few months.
I may find another excuse to get myself online before October, but right now I have no plans.

The actual point of this blog is that an observant friend of mine pointed out I posted my most recent phone number but left out two digits (thanks Greg!). So now you all have a good excuse for not calling/texting me for all these months (since February when I lost my phone).

Here's my actual phone number:
011 261 32 55 302 61

I'd love to hear from you. Really... messages in English are few and far between these days... always always greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance for staying in touch. Take care.

Here's my mailing address (not packages, just small envelopes):
BP 36
Mananara-Nord 511
Madagascar

Packages can be sent to this address:
c/o Peace Corps
BP 12091
Poste Zoom Ankorondrano
Antananarivo 101
Madagascar

Until next time.....

an update from South Africa

After my recent hike through Masoala Park, I was on my way to the capital for a conference with my group from training (we’re down to 18 now…. natural selection at it’s finest). But instead I’m in South Africa unexpectedly for a medical check-up. Apparently the doctors in Madagascar aren’t quite equipped with all the finest medical technology… imagine that. No need to worry, it’s a common and routine check-up and I should be back in Madagascar in no time.

I am dealing with a bit of culture shock being in a country where everyone speaks my language, the roads are paved, and people don’t freak out because I'm white. Today I'm going to a shopping mall with an actual movie theater. That probably wouldn't have been as exciting to me two years ago, but right now it's the most exciting thing ever.

Another perk of being in a developed country, the computers here work! I’m finally getting around to posting some photos online from the last few months (since December ‘07). I’ll post a few highlights here in the blog, but the rest are on my flickr account.


Back in December, after my trip to Morondava on the west coast, I visited another volunteer at her site in Ambinanitelo near Maroantsetra. Letti and I painted murals on the walls at the hospital in her village with nutrition, hygiene, and environmental themes. It was a fun project and has inspired me to do a mural in my village this coming July at the elementary school.

In February, following the cyclone, I traveled to Fianarantsoa in the south central part of the island. Fianar is a beautiful historical town on the plateau where the Betsileo tribe live. Because of the cyclone, I wasn’t able to check out much of the surrounding parks and areas of Fianar, but I hope to make it back there again, maybe this August.

On March 8th we celebrated National Women’s Day here in Madagascar. Women’s cooperatives from around the Mananara region gathered together to march down the streets in honor of the power of women! It was great to see so many women organized together. I have a hard time imagining how life would go on in this country without the work of the women. Women are the strength of this country. They are the ones you’ll see most often planting, harvesting, and cooking rice. It’s too bad women only have the one day to gain some national recognition.



I marched with the fikambanana (cooperative) of women, named “Tsy Tonta”, that I helped organize in Soavinarivo on March 8th. They have been my biggest supporters in our stove building project around town and are also all hard working farmers.

Also in March, I spent a few days with the new Environment group training them on my stove building technique. As it turns out, after I left, the stoves we built were successfully installed in homes in their community with a few of their host families. One family was even using the chimney stove we built.




My stove building project in the Mananara region continues to be successful. I have a great team of people in my village to work with on building stoves, and we are spreading the word far and wide on all the benefits of using fuel efficient wood burning stoves. I’m most proud of our three pot stove with a chimney, although the idea has yet to take on popularity amongst the villagers. However the simple one pot design is being used by nearly every family in my village of Soavinarivo.


Now that the new Environment volunteers have finished their training and moved on to their new villages, the old environment volunteers are on their way back home. A few have decided to extend their time in Madagascar, but most have already said good bye. Bye Environment ’06! Good luck with everything!!



And last, but certainly not least, there’s my cat Ziggy who has a day job at the boutique next door to my house. When she’s not busy selling sugar and salt, she’s spitting up geckos on my floor and climbing coconut trees. She gives great massages at 5am as well.



That’s the update for now. I’ll be online off and on over the next couple of weeks… so send me an e-mail and say hello. Thanks for reading.

Masoala Peninsula Hike to Cap Este

Just last week, I hiked with three other Peace Corps Volunteers across the Masoala Peninsula of Madagascar, through some of the most pristine rainforest left on the island.

Our hike started in the town of Maroantsetra, on the northern coast of the Bay of Antongil. We brought along one guide, one cook, and one porter. We spent a total of 6 days hiking and arrived at our destination of Cap Este on the 7th day. Cap Este, a lovely little laid back beach town on the Indian Ocean, is the eastern-most point of Madagascar.

Day 1: The adventure begins! Leave Maroantsetra for a short “boat ride” to Andranofotsy. This is where the fun began… first of all, the water level wasn’t high enough for the boat to float, so we ended up pushing our boat upriver about 10 km with all of our gear. We probably would have been better off walking along the road (you know what they say about hindsight). From Andranofotsy, we start the actual hiking. Not far up the road, our porter’s bike breaks in half, beyond repair. So now he’s not only carrying all the food and equipment, but also a bike. We have lunch in a nice little town, Navana, on the beach, where we can see all the way across the Bay of Antongil to Mananara (home sweet home). Then we continue hiking until dinner where we stop for the night in Mahalevona. We stayed with a nice family at the Hotel Sylvana (4000 Ariary/night; 2000 Ariary/meal). If anyone reading this blog decides to stop through Mahalevona, would you pick up my headlamp? (17km)

Day 2: Early in the morning, we start hiking from Mahalevona, finally into an area that feels like the forest. This was the day for repairs… Sean’s shoes were bothering him so he started cutting and burning holes in them. My poorly repaired Chacos finally broke in half… and our poor porter got a huge tear in his backpack (he had already dumped off the broken bike in Mahalevona). We had a pitiful lunch of bananas, oranges, stale bread, and peanuts covered in honey. Somehow back in Maroantsetra we agreed to not pick up our pots for cooking until we reached Ampokafo on Day 3… which actually wasn’t a big deal because we borrowed pots along the way. After lunch we continue our hike to Ambatolaodama. Somehow Sean and I arrived ahead of everyone else. This was the only time our guide got lost… supposedly looking for us. We sleep in tents for the first time under a roof in the backyard of a local family. (12km)

Day 3: We wake up in the morning to the eerie sound of red ruffed lemurs howling in the surrounding forests. After an unsatisfying breakfast of infested cornmeal topped with fresh honey, we start our hike up the hill to Ampokafo. This is the day we come across two Adventist nuns who have apparently kidnapped a child and are escaping to sell the bones of a relative which they’re carrying in a duffel bag. Don’t ask me. Sean, Tom, and Faith are planning to notify authorities. We hiked for about 4 hours until we reach Ampokafo, a remote junction town on the edge of the forest. Here we spent the day bathing in the river behind our hotel, catching up on laundry, and relaxing before the big hike on Day 4. We also picked up a new porter to go with us for the rest of the trip. This is also where we bought the majority of our rice for the trip. (40 kapoakas for all 8 of us for all of our meals for the next 3 days). Rice is heavy. (15km)

Day 4: Intense hike to start out the day, straight uphill from Ampokafo. See, the trails are made for people who are trying to get from point A to point B as quickly as possible… not for people who want to meander through the forest checking out lemurs. Therefore, a hike over a mountain goes straight up, and then straight down. You’ll find no winding switchback paths on these trails. Once we reached the summit of the mountain (about an hour and a half hike), then we started straight down a path of thick vegetation and inevitably billions of LEECHES!!! Leeches were literally everywhere. We would take breaks to pick leeches off of each other. Not just one or two… sometimes 10 or 15… on your ankles, in your shirt sleeves, up your pant legs, biting through your socks. Nasty little fuckers. Then the rain… we kept on hiking, trying to get into some open air somewhere, away from the blood sucking little bastards… and we finally stop for lunch at a nice spot on the river. Our porters had arrived ahead of us and were already cooking lunch. The rain broke just long enough for us to eat before it was time to start hiking again. We hiked on for another 2 hours, and the rain never stopped. The leeches were in full force on Day 4. Arrival at camp could not have been more satisfying. Into our warm “dry” clothes, a cozy dinner, and a miserable night of sleep on a slanted floor. But at least there were no roosters…. (10km)

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Day 5: On to the waterfall! The day we’ve all been waiting for. The rain let up, and the hike begins! We climb out of our campsite, and start our hike, right into the river. Nothing like wet feet first thing in the morning. We hike for an hour or so up a steep path where we come out on top of a gorgeous waterfall overlooking the heart of the Masoala rainforest. The view was incredible and worth all the leeches the day before. The hike continued and was probably the most difficult part of the trail, up and down steep cliffs, hanging on to branches, sliding down on our butts, across and over rushing rivers with big slippery rocks to navigate around. I managed to survive jumping over one particular ravine, which my guide, in an effort to “help,” pulled me over before I had my bearings. “I think you are angry”, says Dona. (I wonder what gave it away.) Earlier in the afternoon we stopped to check out a group of lemurs (red ruffs) hanging out in the trees. Gorgeous animals with amazing colors. That was about the extent of our wildlife viewings in the forest unfortunately. Other than the birds and a few reptiles, our guide wasn’t real prepared with wildlife information, but at least he didn’t get us lost. We didn’t actually make it to the campsite we had planned on this day… so we slept in a dirty little hut on the river, which was a step up from the chicken coop our guides spent the night in. Mampahinikinika! (“That makes me sad.”- our favorite word on the trip) (12km

Day 6: By Day 6, we’re all a little beat up in one way or another. Sean and Tom are both dealing with blisters and/or bites which have turned into infections and are causing them to both limp down the path. I’ve had a pain in my back for the last two days, which painkillers can no longer disguise, and may have caused me to sprain an ankle (or maybe both), although I’m not sure how or when. Faith is doing fine, and of course our guides could all probably run the rest of the way in a matter of hours. I’m not sure I’ll even make it to our destination on Day 6. Most of the day we’re in the river, back and forth from one side to the other, sometimes we’re in water up to our waists practically swimming. Then at last we make it to Antanandavahely, where a nice comfortable piece of foam is waiting for us, along with a feast of all the beans and rice we have left. This might be the first night I actually sleep on the trip. I made the mistake of not bringing my warm sleeping bag. (12km)



Day 7: From Antanandavahely, we take a boat down the Onive River (50,000 Ariary) to our final destination of Cap Este where we find a great hotel with friendly staff and big fans of the Peace Corps. Definitely stay at Chez Justin if you’re ever in Cap Este. Justin hooked us up with amazing freshly caught calamari, lobster, and fish. Oh, it’s good to be near the ocean!





Costs for the trip:Guide: 18,000 Ariary/day
Cook/Porter: 10,000 Ariary/day
Porter from Maroantsetra: 10,000 Ariary/day
Hotel/Food in Mahavelona: 4000 Ariary/room 2000Ariary/meal
Hotel/Food in Ampokafo: 3000 Ariary/room 2000 Ariary/meal
Extra porter from Ampokafo: 5000 Ariary/day
Hotel in Antanandavahely: 3000 Ariary/room
Entrance fee to park from ANGAP (1000 Ariary –residents/Peace Corps Volunteers or 10,000 Ariary- non-residents/tourists)
+ food (rice, beans, oil, salt, pepper, onions, peanuts, honey, bread, fruit, etc)
Boat ride from Antanandavahely: 50,000 Ariary

In US Dollars… split amongst the four of us volunteers, it probably cost around $100/person, quite a deal!

It was a great experience, and I’m glad I made it back in one piece. While the distance in kilometers is not in actuality all that great, the terrain is rough and difficult to navigate. I would rate this as a very difficult trail… there’s no “trail maintenance” per say, the path is sometimes not visible at all, there are countless steep slippery inclines, declines, and water crossings with strong currents. Rain is inevitable at least part of the trip, and during wetter seasons, the river crossings are probably more than a little dangerous. Be sure to bring good shoes and a warm sleeping bag (words of advice from someone who had neither). The view from the waterfall and nights in the forest under the stars make the experience worthwhile. Swimming in crystal clear rivers, meeting the sweet people who live in these remote villages in the rainforest, checking out forest animals not found anywhere else in the world, and seeing what’s left of a rainforest that is visibly and rapidly vanishing is all part of the attraction. The more I see of Madagascar, the more I love it!