PTS R GOOD

May 4, 2012

Yo yo yo tubas, we did a session on music and dance in Madagascar and watched music videos.  We watched a pop take on a “traditional” dance for each region.  The North: booty shaking and PTs.  Google this and see if the video is on youtube—Tence Mena Tsisy Karaha Ty.  Jimmy, these guys may have you beat haha.

In more pertinent news I BECOME A VOLUNTEER TODAY!!! In about 2 hours actually haha.  The country director, John Reddy, drove up from Tana yesterday and threw us a wine and cheese party.  With Swiss cheese and Brie, not the stuff you find here in Mantasoa.  And real, soft bread, not the day old baguettes.  We also had the best brownies ever.  I swear I ate my weight in cheese and bread.

This morning, I actually put on make-up and STRAIGHTENED my hair.  I actually look normal again haha, although slightly tanner than when I left J.  It has rained most of the morning, but we have seen peaks of the sun, so I hope that holds up for the ceremony.  They have been testing the sound system, and played a hard rock version of pomp and circumstance, which just made me laugh.  It really is like a graduation.  The girls are all fighting for the 2 straighteners, we are dragging out the long unused makeup, putting on dresses.  It is like a dance and graduation all rolled into one, with the girls all getting ready together.  We have also all forgotten what each person looks like when they try to look good, so we keep oohing and ahhing at each other haha.

I am just about packed up and ready to move in!  We go to the transit house in Tana tomorrow morning, stay there for two nights, then go to Itasy (my region) on Monday.  I will officially be on my own on Wednesday.  That moment when the Peace Corps van drives away is going to be a scary one, but I am so excited to finally be getting started.

About a third of the way until my trip back to the states!  Hope things are going well there.

Love,

-Sarah

Hoorah for the Yellow and Blue

May 1, 2012

Yeah, I lied when I said the last one was it before I move in…

So, we sat down to watch “What’s your number” last night for Christina’s birthday (which she shares with my grandma, who I shocked by calling briefly haha), and the end of the movie has a big fat guy playing to tuba for a wedding (of course).  So we were laughing about tuba stereotypes, and I got to talking about the MMB.  I took a second to realize just how different my life would be and college would have been without you guys.  People asked me if I missed playing, and I said I was never the person who could play by myself (which is why I could never practice haha), but I always had a love for the ensemble and how the different parts came together.

So now, my final language exam is done, and I am sitting on my bed blasting the Maize Album into my headphones, and actually conducting J Apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree, Dad.

Moral of the story: go blue, and I love you MMB.  Horns—be on the lookout for a picture dedicated to you as soon as I get a chance to take and post it, I think you will greatly appreciate it.  Also, for swearing in we are singing "we are the world" in English and Malagasy--so our Peace Corps show hit the nail on the head haha.

HAIL

-Sarah

Wait, am I actually COLD?

April 30, 2012

You heard it here first, ladies and gentleman, I sat in Sperry’s, socks, a long sleeve T, rain jacket, scarf, and GLOVES, and was still a little chilly.  Welcome to the dry season (winter) in the mountains on a lake haha.  I am not sure of the exact weather at my site, but I will know in a week!! I do know that although it is winter, summer is the rainy season, so there will definitely still be sun.  Therefore, Karen—your going away present is beyond awesome, gonna have to get some more of that when I am back in August haha.  However, I can’t say for sure that my tan will be good for a wedding haha.  At least my face will be, and my hair will be lighter than Tina’s wedding dress probably haha.

In other news, I have been sick for a few days, but I am on the mend and on track to be healthy and happy for swearing in, which is just a few days away, and then to be on my own at site!  That information is slowly starting to settle in to my mind.  Excited, definitely nervous, anticipative, and just generally interested in what the next step will bring.  You forget during training that this isn’t really Peace Corps, this isn’t what we signed up to do and this “study abroad meets summer camp” is just a really small portion of our service.

I am sad that I was in bed for most of our last weekend together as a stage for awhile, but I am happy that I managed to make it to my host family’s house yesterday and to take pictures of them in the hats my mom sent from the states.  Three of them will be at swearing in on Friday as well, which is exciting.  It will be hard to tell them goodbye, but I definitely plan on coming to see them when I am back in Mantasoa for in-service training and mid-service conference at the year mark.  We also have a conference with three months left but I do not know if that one is at the training center or not—waaaay down the road haha.

Alright, time to get back to studying, we have a language test tomorrow to make sure we are ready to swear in on Friday.  Probably the last post I write before I move to my new home!  I will keep you updated on how the move goes, I am sure there will be a lot to talk about.

Love,

-Sarah

WORLD MALARIA MONTH

April 24, 2012

Manahoana!

Today’s blog post is dedicated to World Malaria Month.  Tomorrow is World Malaria Day, and to raise awareness about preventative measures, the trainees here painted a mural on the trano ny fokontany (town hall sort of) depicting what may happen if you do not use mosquito nets.  Tomorrow, we will present the mural to the local authorities, as well as some journalists and others from Tana.  We will also do a “Neem Cream” demonstration.  This stuff is actually really cool, and if the plant is available in Miarinarivo I am totally going to make some, even though the highlands are a low malaria area.

Neem cream is a natural mosquito repellant, made by boiling the seeds, leaves, and stems of the neem plant to get the neem oil.  You then add the boiled water with oil to soap shavings, ad cooking oil or any other kind of oil, and let it harden.  The Malagasy love it because it makes their skin smooth because of the oil.  The plant grows all over the island, and the process and ingredients are so simple that it is a great way to prevent malaria.  I am hoping to make some in my town to bring back with me haha, I hate mosquitos.

Now, for those of you who are not exactly sure what malaria is, let me give you a run down.  Malaria is a potentially fatal disease that is transmitted by a female of a certain mosquito species between dusk and dawn.  She bites an infected person, and the disease stays in her salivary glands, infecting the next person she bites.  There are several different types of malaria, but the fatal one then goes into your liver, lying dormant for around 10 days.  Then, the disease begins infecting your blood cells, multiplying inside them and then causing them to burst and release toxins into your blood stream.  This results in cyclical symptoms, such as fever and aches, while the disease builds up and then bursts over and over.  Unchecked, vital organs begin to shut down, and eventually you die.

For those of you who are now wishing that I were not in a malaria-infested country, don’t worry.  I take my meflaquine (malaria suppressant) every Friday and use my bed net religiously.

Less than two weeks until I move!  Saturday, May 5^th  I will leave the training center for Tana, stay there for two days while we shop for supplies (and hopefully have Internet J), and then I am officially installed on Monday, May 7^th!

Very exciting.  Hope you all are well!

Love,

-Sarah

Wherever you go, go blue

April 21, 2012

Helloooo!

So the trainees made their first trip to Tana this week, which was pretty exciting, even though we didn’t see a whole lot of it.  We went to a government appointed children’s home, funded by international donations.  It is really nice there; I was really impressed with the work they do.  The courts send youth there for foster care or because they have committed a crime.  The center feeds, houses, and educates them, and when they turn 18 (if they stay that long), the center sets them up with a potential job.

Then we went to the Tana Meva, which is housing for volunteers while they are in Tana.  There are ones in Fianarantsoa and Diego as well.  Hung out with two Michigan alumni, one who graduated with me (woot!) and has been here since July in health, and one who is in her third year of service.  Geeked out a bunch about U of M stuff, including my first mention of “the Michigan difference” for the first time in forever haha.  Also, one told me they like my ring from San Fran on Pinterest, so well done Erica and Helina, we have awesome taste and are starting a trend.  Additional small world info: the CED trainer for this week, Al, grew up in Buffalo, NY.  However, he lived for about a year in Ann Arbor while his dad finished up school, the summer I was born!  They lived in Northwood, and my parents lived in a condo near North Campus.  We may have known each other.  Parents?  The name Fertig ring a bell? 

So then we went to see the Peace Corps office, which was really nice.  They have a ton of really cool Peace Corps posters that I sooo want to find.  Favorite—the corner office can wait, some corners of the world can’t.  We had an IT session there with David McAfee, who is a returned PCV who now lives here in Tana.  He quoted Gabe (another RPCV from Mada) almost to the letter about winning the Peace Corps lottery with Madagascar.  It is a wonderful place J

Upon our return to the PCTC, a few of us decided to play some poker.  You would be proud Tina, I won VS 6 other people.  A whole 3 dollars haha.  But to us, that is currently a lot of money haha.  Then, on Friday, we had a language session on invitations, so we talked a lot about weddings.  RACHEL YOU GET MARRIED IN ONE MONTH!!!! AHHHHHH that’s so exciting.  During the weeks of Rachel, Megan, and Tina’s weddings, I will be watching a whooole lot of girly wedding movies, mostly courtesy of my friend Christina here.

Last night, our language trainers decided to set up karaoke for us, which was pretty hilarious.  The backgrounds of the songs were the absolute worst synths ever, and Gabe, you were right, the Malagasy love karaoke.  No shame and they have pretty awesome voices.  They also really like slow songs, which is hilarious.  Not too many Americans participated, but it was fun nonetheless.  Today, we are continuing our April birthday celebrations with a BBQ for Anne and our PCV trainer Tara, which should be fun.  Then tomorrow I am going to visit my family in town again.  We give a presentation on Thursday for our families about potential income generating activities, so I will be giving them the presents my parents sent from home.  Excited!

Less than two weeks left!

Love,

-Sarah