Final Prep for Site Visit

The group returning from big Market Day last week.

Wednesday, 15 March 2023 (31)

Liver and watermelon for breakfast. You've got to love this place - meat with all meals. It goes without saying that rice was also served. People here as in America have some unusual eating habits. They use their spoon more than we do. Most don't eat the skin of grapes, nor were they aware of seedless grapes. They also peel potatoes and don't eat the skins. I'm sure I already mentioned all fish are cooked with heads and bones attached. Would you like some hot chocolate with that? Make sure you use the sugar that the ants haven't found.

Generally speaking the training materials are not so great. Besides it being US government training with several long, lengthy and high fluting words when one or two simple ones would work - the power points are fairly badly designed. Too much text on most slides. They are produced locally from US materials and design isn't a forte of the Malagasy. Lots of white text on light colored backgrounds. I've been meaning to offer some help but other staff members also can't seem to convince them and they have design degrees.

I've had to sit in the front row just to make out most of it and even then few can read them (which we are asked to do a lot of). I don't mind the safety, health, culture, policy and general "all around everything we need" training to do our jobs - currently, this first quarter of our Peace Corps lives, we're focused on youth health. Over the course of our stay, we'll get more specific health training for mothers and pregnancies, vaccines, clean water, nutrition and more topics.

The language training on the other hand is top notch. The instructors for the most part are really here to help and if we want new words translated they stop whatever their plan is and give them to us. They teach us where we are or what we need if we don't know ourselves. I have literally my own private tutor as I mentioned. I probably both need it and wouldn't have it any other way.

I'm down a couple more pounds. Lost 11 so far. Hard to believe because I am supplementing with some treats and soda. This afternoon we had a language lesson on transportation costs and how to get a Taxi-brusse and other forms of transportation to and from places. We also received 410,00 ariary this evening for our weekly stipend and travel money. We'll be staying in a couple hotels, buy our own food with it, and pay for the transportation back to PC camp eventually at the end of this next week. That money will also cover us buying a "Po" (the word means "bucket" - a certain kind of bucket with a lid on it, to do… you know what… in). We'll need that at our new place. And we've been told never carry one on a taxi-brusse even if it is brand new. They also won't take animals (maybe a chicken) but no cats or dogs. For that you have to hire a private taxi or car. And I'm sure that is likely to be very expensive - like $15-20 dollars instead of the normal $5 to get between our towns and our banking city - mine being Antsirabe.

By the way that 410,000 Ariary is equivalent to about $90.00. We are rich.