Ground Rules/ Blog 1

Disclaimer: I’m no longer in Johannesburg (aka Jo-burg or Jozi) but this is my first ‘official’ blog. Hello everyone and greeting from Johannesburg, So this is my first of many blogs from the wonderful country that is South Africa. And I want to set some ground rules for understanding and appreciating all that will be …

Time to Say Goodbye

This past weekend we went on our last excursion to Ampefy. It was really beautiful – we stayed in bungalows with an amazing view over a huge lake surrounded by rice paddies and hills that used to be volcanoes way back when. We had a number of opportunities to go hiking in the countryside, and …

Shadowing Doctors in Madagascar

It’s been a month since my last update, and there is so much I could tell you about, it’s difficult to decide what to write about. I spent 3 weeks back in Betafo (the rural area I stayed in for a week in March) doing field work for my independent study project, and then this …

Visiting “Africa”

People assume and learn certain things about “Africa” from society and predispositions in the United States, but I find many of these “facts” to be unfairly assumed or slightly ridiculous. When I decided to study abroad in Botswana, I kept saying I am going to study abroad in AFRICA! Well, guess what guys? I wasn’t …

Easter Travels

Finding time to travel can be a challenge while studying abroad because there are times when school work is overwhelming and there is lots to do!  So every time there is a break during school — GO SOMEWHERE! My friends and I decided to go to Durban, South Africa for Easter break.  Unfortunately we didn’t …

Up next: the ISP

Tomorrow (Friday) is the start of phase two of the program. At 7am I’ll be at the taxi-brousse station, waiting to board the taxi-brousse for the 4hour bus ride to Betafo. Once that bus leaves the station, I’ll be on my own for the next 4 weeks. On my own schedule, that is. That’s because …

Tamatave – The Indian Ocean, Petanque, and Poisson d’Avril

I just got back yesterday from an SIT excursion to Tamatave (aka Toamasina), a city on the East coast of Madagascar. It was kind of like an unofficial Spring Break, since we had very few organized visits and activities, and we stayed in bungalows right on the beach. I don’t think I could ever get …

Life in Rural Madagascar – part 2

Life in the village is the most sustainable I’ve ever seen: there’s no running water, so buckets are used for showers and washing; most people don’t have electricity, but those who do have solar panels which they use minimally; there is absolutely zero food waste, because even fruit and vegetable peels or rice husks are …

Life in a rural Madagascar – part 1

Wow. How to convey the experience of the last week in a blog post of a few hundred words? I don’t think it’s possible, even for the most gifted writer. So you’ll have to come to Madagascar and experience it for yourself 😉 Well ok, I’ll try to at least give you a glimpse. I …

ShOrT VaC!

Last week was our short vacation for school which is the equivalent to spring break in the U.S., and I was able to travel to Swakopmund (Swak), Namibia and Cape Town, South Africa with a great group of girls. We left early Saturday morning on a highly cramped mini-bus and spent about 16 hours traveling …