Okay, so I have to start this out with a HUGE thank you to my parents and our family friends, the Squatritos. They sent packages to me around the end of september. I believe they arrived fairly quickly but I hadn't been able to get to them until another volunteer helped me out and brought them to me. Thanks Al. I never seen such a beautiful site than what was in those boxes. It was pretty much all food and it was all fantastic! Thank you.
Speaking of the food that was sent, I got some Oreos from my parents. I opened them last night and not even 5 minutes later one of my teacher friends came over, but I couldn't put the Oreos away in time. About 15 minutes later I had 6 left. That was probably one of the hardest moments I have had since I got here. Just kidding, but seriously a huge bummer. I actually just ate the rest of them for fear of having another spontaneous visitor in the near future. He enjoyed them though, so that's good.
Food here is not too exciting, so you can imagine my joy when I opened those packages. Malagasy people eat rice 3 times per day every day. It is a big bowl of rice with a small side dish called loaka. The loaka is usually some beans or vegetables or maybe some meat. People ask what I eat back in the united states and when I tell them I don't eat rice 3 times it's a huge deal- like there is no God. Religion is also a big deal over here, but I'm not gonna get into that. But back to the rice. Two teachers at my lycee are paid by the equivelant of the parent/teachers association in the US. Since they don't get as much as the rest of the teachers do, each student also has to bring in 5 cups of rice by mid December for these two teachers. I thought that was a pretty unbelievable scenario. At the same meeting of the parent teachers association where this was decided, I gave my first speech in Malagasy. It went really well. I basically just introduced myself and explained my position with peace corps and what I was doing, etc. it was pretty cool.
Several funny situations have come up since i got here so i thought id share a few: Malagasy people think every American singer is Michael Jackson (one guy was even positive that MJ was still alive. I didnt give him the bad news) although some r&b songs will elicit a Chris brown reference. I'm assuming the rihanna thing didn't have as much of a negative effect with the Malagasy people. One person asked me if there is a moon in the states. I also got sick two weekends ago (less funny), but on several occasions during that weekend I had a teacher come over to my house and rub oil on my stomach. Apparently it is some kind of Malagasy cure. I don't think it worked because the vommitting continued. Moral of the story, I won't be buying eggs in this country ever again.
I have also seen several cock fights since I arrived at site, which was originally a really shocking thing after watching some espn features and working in the news. Now, walking by a cock fight is almost no big deal which is kind of messed up. A cock fight around here is about as normal as.... I don't know, but something really normal. Insert your own clever metaphor. They are pretty unbelievable. In the first one I saw one chicken looked like he was on death's door, but he pulled through. Another shocking thing to see was a guy smoking (thats not the shocking part) then he threw the butt on the ground. A boy, who couldn't have been more than 8 years old, walked over, picked it up, and started smoking it.
But on to more positive things. I successfully built a gutter system on my house using what looks like tree bark, some sticks and a few nails. It's awesome although it hasn't rained in a while. When it does, I have a full stock of water within 10 minutes. It's a beautiful thing. Now I need to buy a big basin to put at the end of the gutter so my supply can last longer than the rain. Hopefully I can get some pictures of that up soon.
Teaching is going well. I gave my first tests last week. After the review I was really excited, but they ended up not doing as great as I had hoped. A few of the other teachers didn't seem phased by the scores which was sort of shocking. Apparently it is really common over here for kids to not do so well, which is probably why I am here in the first place. Anyways, I guess it's back to the drawing board to figure out how I can get the lesson across better. Not sure if I mentioned this yet, but I have roughly 170 students in 3 classes so one on one interaction is a bit more difficult. Cheating also appears to be a problem. When you have 2-3 kids squished into a desk built for two very small children it can be hard to prevent, but I think I got the message across after the first test.
I think that is all I have for now. There is a bball game today teachers vs. students. Pretty pumped. I have about a foot advantage over the tallest person here. I'll let ya know who wins.
Oh last, but not least. I am headed back to our training center in December along with the other 24 volunteers who came with me to Madagascar in July. There is a training session and recap sort of regarding our first 3 months as volunteers. Will be good to see everyone again, but I should also have Internet for a bit so hopefully I can get some pictures up during that time. Stay tuned.
Rory
Ohh. PS. Nick I saw ur message about sending stuff. Yeah, the conversion is crazy. It's like a dollar to 2,000 ariary. Unfortunately American money is useless where I am. I have no way I using it and I can't convert it unless I'm in the capital. With that said, feel free to send anything anytime you want. Getting that stuff from my parents and the Squatritos was unreal. Thank you again you guys. I will happily pay any amount of ariary at any time for anything anyone may want to send. Thank you for thinking of me.
Tuesday, November 20, 2012
Friday, October 26, 2012
Life in Ampasimanjeva
Akory aby!
Whats up everyone?! Hope all us well with everyone back in the states. I am back for another post. You'll have to excuse any spelling mistakes because I am doing this on my home once again.
I have been at my site, Ampasimanjeva, for a little more than a month now and so far it's been great! The people have been extremely nice, including or of my fellow teachers who took me to his brother's wedding in a town called Manakara a few weeks ago. We actually were biking the 72 km trip until his back tire blew out with about 30 or so km left to go. Biking everywhere is huge around here for the obvious reason that cars are a luxury, but it appears most people would rather endure a grueling (but very scenic) bike ride than fork up several thousand ariary to go on a taxi-brousse which I believe I have already mentioned is an experience in and of itself. The volunteers in my region (about 15 of us) also just had a meeting last weekend in a place called vangaindrano. I biked half of that trip too, which was 80km in one day. By the end I could barely get off my bike my legs hurt so bad. The meeting itself was awesome though. Got to meet more all of the volunteers in my region and all of them are really cool people. One of them lives about 12km from my house and he has been really helpful. I am actually headed to his town after I finish writing this to help with a project he is working on.
My town is fairly large (as far as small towns with no electricity go). There is about 8,000 people in the main part of town and then another 22,000 in the surrounding villages. I live on the lycee compound, which is really convenient now that classes have started. I walk about 100 yards to the building. I teach three classes, each twice a week. Two seconde classes, which is live the equivalent of a freshman or sophomore in high school, and one premiere class, which is like a sophomore or junior. Each class is 2 hours long and I speak in English so you can imagine its probably pretty difficult for them. There is a lot of acting out words to make it a little more fun. The other day I acted out dancing for them instead of just giving the translation because what could be better than watching a tall, lanky, white guy dance on a Wednesday morning? Exactly, nothing. So far the kids are doing really well and I haven't questioned my teaching capabilities, although I'm sure that will come in time. I really like all my coworkers and I'm happy classes have finally started.
My house is a small building made of ravinala trees with a tin roof. It has two rooms, but I bought a double bed, so one room is basically just my bed. Oh well, it's comfortable. The other room has everything else, including a desk, a table I cook on and a small shelf. I have a serious rat problem although I think I may be going away. I found a tail in my rat trap the other day and a trail of blood following it. Maybe he learned his lesson or went off and died somewhere. Ants are always a problem. Quite frankly it's a house made of trees, so it's probably more theirs than mine anyway. No electricity hasn't been nearly has difficult as I originally thought. I have candles I use at night and I usually cook before the sun goes down. I have a small solar panel to charge my phone and iPod and that's really all I need. I have noticed that I go to sleep a lot earlier. A typical day is waking up at 5 or 6:30 and then going to sleep around 9 or 9:30.
Quick sports vent: I hear the Tigers are in the ship, but down early. Hoping everyone is enjoying some good playoff baseball and hopefully we can turn it around and win this thing. That would be a hreat thing for the city. Also just saw that the NHL cancelled their November games which is ridiculous. If they cancel the winter classic that would be a tragedy. Hurricanes, come on fellas. I realize this wasn't supposed to be our year, but a big loss to ND and a another tough loss to that team in the godforsaken town in northern Florida. Let's get back on the saddle here fellas and close this season out on a good note. I'm sure I missed an epic reunion in Chicago which was a big low point here, but I hope you guys had an awesome time minus the score.
Speaking of sports, I've been playing soccer with the local team. They practice tues-sat at the lycee field at noon and they do not mess around. We usually do conditioning drills for an hour and then play for the last half hour. (a regular drill is to put someone your size on your shoulders, run 100 yards, do 10 squats, then run back and do 10 squats and then switch). I'm sure i nearly had heat stroke the first few times, but I've gotten better and I think my soccer skills have actually gotten better too. (Ben, I can hear you gloating all the way over here).
I will be here at my site until december 12th when my training group all heads back to the training center for a week long meeting. We also present a report on our sites that we are all working on now. It will be good to see everyone again when that happens. After that, hopefully a little vacation before coming back here for the second trimester.
My Malagasy is coming along, but still has a long way to go. I hopefully will be able to hold a conversation without asking what certain words are by the end of this whole experience. Rainy season is coming up. I've been told that it can rain here for weeks at a time without stopping. I am trying to build a gutter/water collection system for myself. I'll let ya know how that goes.
A lot of people asked about my address before I left so here it is:
Rory Lincoln
Lycee du Faraony
Ampasimanjeva 316
Manakara
Madagascar
This address can take letters only and there is a good chance it will never get here. Sorry. I had something sent in country to this address and it took a month. Anything else you might want to send would go to an address in manakara. I am going to ask if you could wait a few months before sending any pkgs to this address because it is expensive to take them out of customs (15,000 Ar, which is food fr about 3 weeks) and I just got a few and we don't make much money.
Matthew Simms
Attn: Rory Lincoln
BPN 101
Manakara Sud
Manakara Be 316
Madagascar
Thanks so much everyone! Miss you all! Until next time.
Rory
Whats up everyone?! Hope all us well with everyone back in the states. I am back for another post. You'll have to excuse any spelling mistakes because I am doing this on my home once again.
I have been at my site, Ampasimanjeva, for a little more than a month now and so far it's been great! The people have been extremely nice, including or of my fellow teachers who took me to his brother's wedding in a town called Manakara a few weeks ago. We actually were biking the 72 km trip until his back tire blew out with about 30 or so km left to go. Biking everywhere is huge around here for the obvious reason that cars are a luxury, but it appears most people would rather endure a grueling (but very scenic) bike ride than fork up several thousand ariary to go on a taxi-brousse which I believe I have already mentioned is an experience in and of itself. The volunteers in my region (about 15 of us) also just had a meeting last weekend in a place called vangaindrano. I biked half of that trip too, which was 80km in one day. By the end I could barely get off my bike my legs hurt so bad. The meeting itself was awesome though. Got to meet more all of the volunteers in my region and all of them are really cool people. One of them lives about 12km from my house and he has been really helpful. I am actually headed to his town after I finish writing this to help with a project he is working on.
My town is fairly large (as far as small towns with no electricity go). There is about 8,000 people in the main part of town and then another 22,000 in the surrounding villages. I live on the lycee compound, which is really convenient now that classes have started. I walk about 100 yards to the building. I teach three classes, each twice a week. Two seconde classes, which is live the equivalent of a freshman or sophomore in high school, and one premiere class, which is like a sophomore or junior. Each class is 2 hours long and I speak in English so you can imagine its probably pretty difficult for them. There is a lot of acting out words to make it a little more fun. The other day I acted out dancing for them instead of just giving the translation because what could be better than watching a tall, lanky, white guy dance on a Wednesday morning? Exactly, nothing. So far the kids are doing really well and I haven't questioned my teaching capabilities, although I'm sure that will come in time. I really like all my coworkers and I'm happy classes have finally started.
My house is a small building made of ravinala trees with a tin roof. It has two rooms, but I bought a double bed, so one room is basically just my bed. Oh well, it's comfortable. The other room has everything else, including a desk, a table I cook on and a small shelf. I have a serious rat problem although I think I may be going away. I found a tail in my rat trap the other day and a trail of blood following it. Maybe he learned his lesson or went off and died somewhere. Ants are always a problem. Quite frankly it's a house made of trees, so it's probably more theirs than mine anyway. No electricity hasn't been nearly has difficult as I originally thought. I have candles I use at night and I usually cook before the sun goes down. I have a small solar panel to charge my phone and iPod and that's really all I need. I have noticed that I go to sleep a lot earlier. A typical day is waking up at 5 or 6:30 and then going to sleep around 9 or 9:30.
Quick sports vent: I hear the Tigers are in the ship, but down early. Hoping everyone is enjoying some good playoff baseball and hopefully we can turn it around and win this thing. That would be a hreat thing for the city. Also just saw that the NHL cancelled their November games which is ridiculous. If they cancel the winter classic that would be a tragedy. Hurricanes, come on fellas. I realize this wasn't supposed to be our year, but a big loss to ND and a another tough loss to that team in the godforsaken town in northern Florida. Let's get back on the saddle here fellas and close this season out on a good note. I'm sure I missed an epic reunion in Chicago which was a big low point here, but I hope you guys had an awesome time minus the score.
Speaking of sports, I've been playing soccer with the local team. They practice tues-sat at the lycee field at noon and they do not mess around. We usually do conditioning drills for an hour and then play for the last half hour. (a regular drill is to put someone your size on your shoulders, run 100 yards, do 10 squats, then run back and do 10 squats and then switch). I'm sure i nearly had heat stroke the first few times, but I've gotten better and I think my soccer skills have actually gotten better too. (Ben, I can hear you gloating all the way over here).
I will be here at my site until december 12th when my training group all heads back to the training center for a week long meeting. We also present a report on our sites that we are all working on now. It will be good to see everyone again when that happens. After that, hopefully a little vacation before coming back here for the second trimester.
My Malagasy is coming along, but still has a long way to go. I hopefully will be able to hold a conversation without asking what certain words are by the end of this whole experience. Rainy season is coming up. I've been told that it can rain here for weeks at a time without stopping. I am trying to build a gutter/water collection system for myself. I'll let ya know how that goes.
A lot of people asked about my address before I left so here it is:
Rory Lincoln
Lycee du Faraony
Ampasimanjeva 316
Manakara
Madagascar
This address can take letters only and there is a good chance it will never get here. Sorry. I had something sent in country to this address and it took a month. Anything else you might want to send would go to an address in manakara. I am going to ask if you could wait a few months before sending any pkgs to this address because it is expensive to take them out of customs (15,000 Ar, which is food fr about 3 weeks) and I just got a few and we don't make much money.
Matthew Simms
Attn: Rory Lincoln
BPN 101
Manakara Sud
Manakara Be 316
Madagascar
Thanks so much everyone! Miss you all! Until next time.
Rory
Saturday, September 15, 2012
A New Volunteer
What's up world!
I have finally managed to find Internet that I can use for long enough to be able to post this. I have spent the past 2+ months in a very rural town called Mantasoa, which is just east of the capital city. When I say just easy, you probably think maybe a few miles (an hour tops) but you would be incorrect. Some of the roads are so awful here that it could take upwards of 3 hours to go 50 km. it's pretty wild, unless you are in the car. I believe Madagascar is 1000 miles from top to bottom and that could take about 7-8 days in a car.
Speaking of being in a car, I have just finished the training part of my Peace Corps experience and I am now headed to the town where I will teach English for the next two years. I am being sent to a small town called Ampasimanjeva which is near the southeast coast. The town does not have electricity ad therefore I will not have a computer or Internet on a regular basis. Sorry bout that. I do have to bank in a town about 2-3 hours south of me so when I go there I will bring my computer to keep everyone updated when I can.
Our swearing in ceremony was just yesterday. I've spent every waking minute with 25 people from all over the US and just today we were all split up to serve around the country so that was a bit weird but we will see each other again in 3 months for another training session. Our training in Mantasoa consisted of language, culture and technical ( which is basically just learning how to teach English properly. I learned a ton, my language has improved significantly and I think I am ready to start teaching. Once I get to site, I believe I will have a month to settle in before classes start.
Training was unbelievable. We arrived in madagascar on a Wednesday ad moved in with a host family on that Saturday after only two language classes. You can imagine the awkwardness. For the first few meals not much was said, but I can tell you I have significantly improved at charades. I stayed with the host family for three weeks and could communicate okay by the end, but by the end of training you could definitely see a big improvement. I have a video tour of the house but my computer is giving me a hard time and right now im typing this post on my phone.
During training we also had a cooking session where we cooked chicken. We split up into 4 groups with each group having a group leader. It was a volunteer position, but the group leader also had to kill the chicken. I volunteered for the position thinking "when in Madagascar..." but it was obviously much harder than that. I will skip the gruesome details for now, but yes, I killed the chicken and eating I was a huge mental hurdle. Needless to say, several volunteers became vegetarians that day. I also have pictures of this, but again, they are on my computer which I am not using right now. Hopefully I can get the pictures/video/etc up soon.
I know there is a ton of stuff I have missed out on already in the states, but I've heard of a few: red sox trade, NHL lockout, Batman (actually did get riser it though if u can believe that), Neil Armstrong died, lance Armstrong was caught, and the canes somehow got slaughtered by Kansas st. (not disappointed missed that). If you have anything else, please post and hopefully I will get to read it soon.
I have met some unbelievable people here and look forward to meetings by more. Madagascar has been an extremely eye-opening experience so far (i.e. incredible disparity between wealth and poverty, and just everyday occurrences like washing clothes - kids will pee in the stream where their parents are washing clothes just a bit farther downstream). Anyways those are just some examples and I really haven't even begun to scratch the surface when it comes to culture shock but that is all I've got for now. Hopefully I will post before another 2 months go by.
Mazotoa everyone!
Rore
I have finally managed to find Internet that I can use for long enough to be able to post this. I have spent the past 2+ months in a very rural town called Mantasoa, which is just east of the capital city. When I say just easy, you probably think maybe a few miles (an hour tops) but you would be incorrect. Some of the roads are so awful here that it could take upwards of 3 hours to go 50 km. it's pretty wild, unless you are in the car. I believe Madagascar is 1000 miles from top to bottom and that could take about 7-8 days in a car.
Speaking of being in a car, I have just finished the training part of my Peace Corps experience and I am now headed to the town where I will teach English for the next two years. I am being sent to a small town called Ampasimanjeva which is near the southeast coast. The town does not have electricity ad therefore I will not have a computer or Internet on a regular basis. Sorry bout that. I do have to bank in a town about 2-3 hours south of me so when I go there I will bring my computer to keep everyone updated when I can.
Our swearing in ceremony was just yesterday. I've spent every waking minute with 25 people from all over the US and just today we were all split up to serve around the country so that was a bit weird but we will see each other again in 3 months for another training session. Our training in Mantasoa consisted of language, culture and technical ( which is basically just learning how to teach English properly. I learned a ton, my language has improved significantly and I think I am ready to start teaching. Once I get to site, I believe I will have a month to settle in before classes start.
Training was unbelievable. We arrived in madagascar on a Wednesday ad moved in with a host family on that Saturday after only two language classes. You can imagine the awkwardness. For the first few meals not much was said, but I can tell you I have significantly improved at charades. I stayed with the host family for three weeks and could communicate okay by the end, but by the end of training you could definitely see a big improvement. I have a video tour of the house but my computer is giving me a hard time and right now im typing this post on my phone.
During training we also had a cooking session where we cooked chicken. We split up into 4 groups with each group having a group leader. It was a volunteer position, but the group leader also had to kill the chicken. I volunteered for the position thinking "when in Madagascar..." but it was obviously much harder than that. I will skip the gruesome details for now, but yes, I killed the chicken and eating I was a huge mental hurdle. Needless to say, several volunteers became vegetarians that day. I also have pictures of this, but again, they are on my computer which I am not using right now. Hopefully I can get the pictures/video/etc up soon.
I know there is a ton of stuff I have missed out on already in the states, but I've heard of a few: red sox trade, NHL lockout, Batman (actually did get riser it though if u can believe that), Neil Armstrong died, lance Armstrong was caught, and the canes somehow got slaughtered by Kansas st. (not disappointed missed that). If you have anything else, please post and hopefully I will get to read it soon.
I have met some unbelievable people here and look forward to meetings by more. Madagascar has been an extremely eye-opening experience so far (i.e. incredible disparity between wealth and poverty, and just everyday occurrences like washing clothes - kids will pee in the stream where their parents are washing clothes just a bit farther downstream). Anyways those are just some examples and I really haven't even begun to scratch the surface when it comes to culture shock but that is all I've got for now. Hopefully I will post before another 2 months go by.
Mazotoa everyone!
Rore
Monday, June 25, 2012
2 Weeks Out
Manahoana family and friends!
It seems to be a staple of just about every Peace Corps volunteer to create a blog to let the western world (or maybe just a few close family members) know what their 27 months of service is like. For those of you who don't already know, I leave for my adventure in Madagascar in two weeks. I doubt any of my entries will top the comedy of a Zebra who sounds like Chris Rock, but I will do my best to entertain while explaining life in Madagascar.
I don't have too much to report, but here is a quick update on where I am in the pre-departure process. Right now, I am collecting all the essentials for the next two years. Next week, I'll start packing and then I leave for Philadelphia on July 9th. In Philly, I will meet the 25 other volunteers headed for Madagascar. We will get a quick orientation regarding our first few days in country along with a few more vaccinations. That same night we take a bus to New York to board a flight for South Africa and then Madagascar.
Very excited for the 9th, but in the meantime I'm going to enjoy the last few weeks I have with my family. Here are a few things I will miss out on in the next two years....
That's all for now. My next post will likely be from the other side of the world.
It seems to be a staple of just about every Peace Corps volunteer to create a blog to let the western world (or maybe just a few close family members) know what their 27 months of service is like. For those of you who don't already know, I leave for my adventure in Madagascar in two weeks. I doubt any of my entries will top the comedy of a Zebra who sounds like Chris Rock, but I will do my best to entertain while explaining life in Madagascar.
I don't have too much to report, but here is a quick update on where I am in the pre-departure process. Right now, I am collecting all the essentials for the next two years. Next week, I'll start packing and then I leave for Philadelphia on July 9th. In Philly, I will meet the 25 other volunteers headed for Madagascar. We will get a quick orientation regarding our first few days in country along with a few more vaccinations. That same night we take a bus to New York to board a flight for South Africa and then Madagascar.
Very excited for the 9th, but in the meantime I'm going to enjoy the last few weeks I have with my family. Here are a few things I will miss out on in the next two years....
- Jared's graduation (I missed Matt's, too. I'm just a shitty brother)
- Watching/Playing Hockey (Welcome to Detroit, Zach Parise)
- The Winter Classic at the Big House
- HBO's 24/7 leading up to the Winter Classic
- New Years with the entire family.
- Toilets
- The Dark Knight Rises in theaters
- Miami dismantling Notre Dame at Soldier Field
- Tailgating at Soldier Field with my Hurricane family
- Fantasy Football
- Peiser's Wedding (Congratulations, buddy)
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