Wow, when I heard my dad tell me over the phone that my new country assignment for the peace corps was Madagascar, I was beside myself. How totally cool. My previous assignment was in Togo, West Africa and that was great and all, but who knows where Togo is? I would be spending the rest of my life drawing that map of Africa in the air and pointing out Togo, then saying, "It's between Benin and Ghana and near the Ivory Coast" and still, some people would not know what I was talking about. So, you can imagine my relief when I hear Madagascar! ok, but seriously, so exotic and beautiful and AWESOME!
My official program is Small Enterprise Development and I'll be a Small Business Advisor. This is a brand new program that started in July 2008. Most peace corps volunteers work in health services and agriculture so my secondary programs will be working with them and NGOs.
I'll be living in either a small town or a larger city and I'll be learning a mix of French and the local language, Malagasy (which I've already downloaded the language learning tapes so I can get started'...) Salama! (hello)
We're given a health pack during orientation that has all our medical supplies and pills and shots, bandaids, mosquito nets, et c.
"Your community will either build you a house or identify one for you to rent which could be a local material structure with a thatched roof or a cemetn dwelling with a tin roof" ...ok...
FOOD: boiled rice, corn, cassava and a simple sauce. Send veggie supplements!
In the meantime, I'm spending some time out in Colorado with my dad, probably taking a trip to California to see friends and then back to the keys for the holidays. I started this blog so I won't have to send mass emails, everyone can just keep checking here when I get to Madagascar to see photos and what's happening with my life in the peace corps!
