And so it begins....
We made it. Finally. After leaving Blacksburg on Sunday, we have finally made it to Madagascar on Thursday! We stayed a night in D.C., a night on a plane (17 hour flight), a night in Johannesburg, a night in Kenya – and finally our first night in Madagascar last night. Everyone has done quite well. The boys are completely unaffected by jet lag. Well…their sleep is completely unaffected by jet lag. No waking up in the middle of the night at random times, etc. Their attitudes and behavior? Uhm….yeah, that’s affected. Affected as in, I’m holding to the memories and truth that they are good kids normally...because otherwise I’d have to kill the little one in his sleep. It’s easy to forget – this is hard on them too – they just show it in different ways.
Experiencing all of this for the second time has been different. I remember the first time we arrived how incredibly in shock I was. Everything you see and smell and feel is just – different. It’s actually really hard to explain. Driving is RIDICULOUS. I would never survive driving here. Cars absolutely everywhere going every which way as close to each other as absolutely possible, compounded by the fact that the 2000 people you pass every single minute are also trying to walk in between all the cars at the same time. The smell of exhaust is nauseating. I know from last time – we will be blowing black out of our noses the whole time we are in the capital and probably a few days after we leave the capital as well. Every sign you see if different from your norm, every food being offered on the street, how people are dressed, and of course how they are speaking. We passed kids Oliver and Fletcher’s ages walking home from school alone, and who knows really how far they are walking? They are the lucky ones however, because we also passed plenty of children selling food items on the street (again, alone) because they are needed to support the family income. For some families, school is simply not an option. I point as many of these things out to the boys as I can – because I want them to see and hear and understand. I can do that this time – because I’m not in shock myself. This is familiar. I know what the signs say, and what the food is, and I recognize the school uniforms. I also know I will be okay. Doing this before is such an advantage. I will get used to cold showers, roosters in the morning, limited language communication, being dirty and sweaty, brushing my teeth with bottled water, mosquito nets, and whatever else I’m not even thinking of because it just isn’t as new this time.
The capital is so weird because there is so much poverty and also luxary. We can go eat a three course absolutely delicious meal for about $9. Things like zebu and cassava leaves, duck with boubon and vanilla sauce, perfect pomme frit (french fries), crepes for breakfast, and barbeque bat...wait - what? Yep - bbq bat. (Just to put all fears aside, we did not eat the bbq bat). And then you leave the restuarant and the path you walk back has open sewage in the street, trash and exhaust everywhere and people following you - asking you to please buy the random hat they are selling. And who can blame them? I would follow us too.
I would say Zach and I are excited to leave the capital and get going. The rural areas always have my heart. Life is slower, calmer, and beautiful. Our students are great and are doing great! For my team, we met with our translator for the first time yesterday and went over everthing togeter before heading out tomorrow. He (Claudien) thinks some people will be afraid and not want to answer our questions, so I am hopeful we can reach our goal of 15 households per village and can communicate effectively to the people that this work is hopefully going to bring more food and better health in the long run. I plan on bringing Fletcher with me as a bribe. They all seem to love him because he is little and blonde :) haha - but seriously.
I can't wait to see what adventures and memories we all make.
We are enjoying the adventure. It’s not always comfortable, but it is so worth it. Not sure when I'll be able to update again, but we'll try!
