Maventibao!

The view from my window

Ray, the pet lemur

Maventibao

A lizard I found in my hut

A family hut

Maventibao Village

I have spent the last week in Maventibao Village!  It has been quite an experience.  I rode the taxi brousse from Diego Suarez to Abutymufa, which is definitely a day trip!  The taxi brousse, which is basically a bus, fills up with as many people as it can before it makes the 3-hour journey to Abutymufa.  I then had a 5-mile uphill hike to Maventibao.  I enjoyed the scenery during the hike, and even crossed a creek in which we had to look out for crocodiles.  Nono assured me that they usually see the crocodiles in the early morning, so we should not have to worry.

I finally made it to the village and am enjoying my time there.  I am living in a hut and have a beautiful view from my window.  Maventibao is located in the mountains and the view of the mountains is absolutely gorgeous.  I have been enjoying the simplicity that Maventibao offers.  I hardly look at my watch and basically have no Internet access in the village.  There is a small hike to the stream, where you can get fresh water.  I enjoy the hike because you occasionally see a chameleon or snake, not to mention that you can see miles of nothing but untouched land.  I feel as though Maventibao is the ideal village.  They have access to clean water, there is a clinic nearby, and a school just opened up.  The clinic and school are free and from what I gather from my conversation from one of the villagers, the people seem very happy to live in Maventibao. 

I am also enjoying my time in the clinic.  There are two UK medical students (practically doctors) here.  It has been great shadowing them, as well as Daniel, who has been working at the clinic for the past two years.  I feel as though I have been learning so much!  On Wednesday and Friday we travel to other villages 3-5 miles away, and it is quite a walk!  I enjoy the hike, but could do without the thorns that get stuck in your feet like splinters that come from walking through the brush! 

I am currently in Diego Suarez, about to visit the Amber Mountains.  I am excited to camp there and hope to see some more wildlife! 

Arrival!

 

Greetings from Madagascar! I have had a wonderful three days with Ando’s family!  I stayed in Mama and Papa Jean-Paul’s home in a town near Tana, the capital city.  The town I stayed in was so calm and peaceful.  The family I stayed with is so kind and hospitable.  I miss them already!  Toky and Iena took me around the city and should me around Tana.  The city is filled with many colorful buildings and has several palaces!  It is very populated since many people go there for work and school.  And because it is the center city, you have to go through Tana to get to the surrounding cities.  This means that there is a lot of traffic.  I experienced that it can take hours to get home even though you are just one town over from Tana!  

I have had the opportunity of visiting a couple schools in the past three days, and was asked to give a speech to the students in the English classes on encouraging them to go to college.  It was such a joy to meet and speak with the students. Two of the classes I talked to were Toky’s students! 

It was great to see both the countryside, where there are rice patties and vegetable farms, as well as the busy city life in the central region of Madagascar.  I enjoyed learning about Malagasy culture.  One of the things I learned is that the bathroom is always located outside the home because it is seen as unclean to have it in the home.  I also learned that when Indonesians and Malaysians came to Madagascar by boat, they build their houses with roofs that resemble an upside-down boat.  This is to remind them of how they journeyed to Madagascar. 

The food in Madagascar has a new kind of flavor to it!  Every meal has rice as its foundation, as well as some special topping to it, such as zebu, chicken or vegetables.  This means that you eat rice three times a day; I never knew rice could be prepared in so many different ways!  A couple other new foods that I have tried include mashed avocado with sugar on bread and taking bananas, dipping them in a mixture of flour, sugar and water and then frying them!  Both are very delicious treats!

I am so grateful for the Malagasy family I stayed with!  They have been nothing but loving and hospitable.  I was sad to leave them today, but am excited for what is to come.  I just arrived to Diego Suarez today and will be here for a couple of days before I head off to the clinic I am interning at.  I am not sure when I will have internet access again, but I will try to remain consistent with my blog postings!

Taking Flight!

Hello!

I cannot believe that the time has finally come and I am actually leaving for Madagascar!  I have been planning for over a year for this journey to happen, and it has shown through to be a success!  During my time in Madagascar I will be living in a hut in the rural village of Maventibao, located on the Northern tip of Madagascar.  During my time in Maventibao, I will be interning in a clinic, taking self-directed study, and researching preventative health care.  It has been a dream of mine for a while now to one day work in a clinic that provides rural communities access to healthcare, and I have become more and more passionate about preventative health education.  This is the perfect opportunity to gain an insider's look!  Not only will I get to learn the details of how a clinic operates, I hope to build relationships with the villagers and hear their story (I will be learning the basics of Malagasy thanks to Amanda!).    

But before I head to the village I will be staying at, my plane will arrive in Tana, the capital city.  I am so thankful to have met Ando, Suzanne and Jean-Paul!  Because of them, I now have the opportunity of staying with Ando's family when I arrive to Tana.  I am so happy that I get to meet Ando's family and am thankful for their generosity in letting me stay with them for a few days. I am looking forward to seeing a little bit of the city before I head off to my village! Toky, Ando’s brother, has been so kind to offer to show me around Tana.

I am so excited for what is to come, and know that there will be, as with every trip, unexpected challenges.  I hope that I will take them as opportunities for growth.  I learned during my time on Semester at Sea that you have a choice when it comes to deciding whether the challenges you face are either part of a big adventure or an ordeal.  I hope that this lesson will carry through during my stay. My heart is filled with so much joy and I am looking forward to see what this journey will bring.  

I have never written a blog before, but I am going to try really hard to write weekly on my experience!  Thank you for reading!