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 …
Continue reading “Tamatave – The Indian Ocean, Petanque, and Poisson d’Avril”
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 …
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 …
Transportation: I recently discovered that from my house it takes just as long to walk to the SIT program center as is does to go by taxi-be – about 40min. My host mom showed me the quickest way to walk home the other day, using passageways and stairways between houses that I never would have …
Continue reading “What I have learned so far: 8 fun “facts” about Madagascar”
Today is my first day back in Tana (Antananarivo) after a two week stay in the coastal town of Mahajanga and a visit to the farming town of Marovoay and the Ankaranfantsika national park on the route back. I have many fond memories of my stay in Mahajanga, some of which relate to my adventures …
Meet the family Last weekend I moved in with my host family in Mahajanga, a coastal town where I’ll be staying for two weeks. This is the first of 3 homestays I’ll be doing as part of the SIT program. My host family is great. They all speak excellent French (as well as Malagasy), and …
Today is my third day in Tana, and it is absolutely beautiful. The first time I saw Madagascar out the plane window I couldn’t stop a smile from spreading across my face. The first thing that struck me was the intensity of the colours: the soil here is reddish brown (in fact for that reason …
On Saturday evening, my plane took off from the Detroit airport. After a layover in Amsterdam, my dad, my sister Melinda, and I arrived in Cape Town, South Africa without any complications. The flight itself was quite pleasant – we watched an absolutely ridiculous but very funny French movie, listened to some Dutch pop music, …
It’s finally starting to sink in: in two weeks time I’ll be in the air, on my way to Madagascar! My program only starts on the 30th of January, so I’m fortunate to have an extra 3 weeks of vacation to spend with my family. My sister Melinda attends the University of Stellenbosh in South …
Continue reading “Predeparture: Enjoying the Snow and learning Malagasy”
hey everyone! It’s been awhile I know, but these last few weeks have been CRAZY! To recap what I’ve been up to… I went North, where I lived with an Aymara family for five days and worked in the fields (stay tuned for a separate post on that experience!) and after returning to Viña de …
Continue reading “Nothing says Family Bonding like… PEANUT BUTTER! :)”
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