28 Oct 2011

So the last entry I posted was actually written back before hot season started. I no longer have to use a sleeping back at night...sometimes I even a light sheet is too much. Now I go running at 5 because its already too hot by the time I get back at 6. And its harder to be active in the afternoon, since Im pretty much dripping with sweat in my house until 4pm. Its not even the peak of hot season yet (thats in January) so I cant even imagine what its going to be like this year!

It hasnt been raining hardly at all, so everyone is struggling with wells and rivers drying up. Even in the big towns where there is running water/public taps like Vohemar and Andapa, the water keeps going out. People have been going out to the fields to clear their land, so it's almost time for rice-planting. Im wondering if some will wait, though, in case the rains still dont come for a while. Last year the rains were late as well, and many lost their initial crops that they planted in November.

I think the heat has brought fruit season early this year, though, which is perhaps a silver lining on the cloud. There are already bunches of pink leechies popping out of the mess of green forest along the roadside and mangoes are already showing up in the market. My neighbor asked me for a container so she could make me some leechy jam from the fruits of her tree near her rice field, which Im greatly looking forward to. Pineapples will be coming soon as well.

It's been difficult for me to get projects going, as I've been gone from my site a lot recently. I just got back from a wonderful week of vacation visiting my father in Rwanda, and then spent a week in Tana at Peace Corps' Close of Service Conference. Though I am planning to extend my service until May of next year, the COS conference was still really helpful and it was great to see all my fellow volunteers with whom I went through my initial training in Niger and then again in Madagascar.

During COS we talked about job hunting strategies, the readjustment process going back home, how to document our skills that we have gained over the past two years and how to say goodbye to our communities with whome we have spent two years of our lives with. We also had to say goodbye to each other, as many of us are leaving the country at different times and may not be able to meet up until possibly when we are back in America. There are four or five other fellow volunteers from my group, who are extending, so I look forward to possibly still running into them in the coming months.

It's been great to be back at my site and to reconnect with everyone. It's going to be a challenge to plan short-term projects that I can finish before january, though. Although I am extending, I will be switching to a different location in Madagascar after the holidays, so I still need to think about wrapping up and saying goodbye to my community up here in the north. Im still planning to do some small activities though, like a kitchen garden with the village mothers, a financial literacy class (how to save/how to budget/family planning) with the womens group, a scholarship project for disadvantaged youth at the local secondary school and some health education in the local schools as well. Hopefully Ill get to play some more soccer with the women too, although one of our balls is already busted!