Friday, July 27, 2007

Almost Through Training

At this point, we are about half way through our pre-service training. It has been quite challenging so far. Trying to learn the language and acclimate to a new culture is work enough, but there is much more training in addition including tech sessions on teaching, staying healthy etc. This is an incredible place and we are working with some incredible people here whom we hope to keep eternally as friends! We have had our site announcements and in two weeks we will visit the place where we will be stationed for the next two years. We will be in a town near Lake Alaotra which is north of Antananarivo in the Tomatave province. We are close (about 3 hours by taxi-brousse) from some of the old primary-growth rainforest-the national geographic stuff- yet we will wake up looking upon more rice paddies than trees. If any of you actually were present for one of our Madagascar wildlife screenings you may remember at the end of “Madagascar- A World Apart” when they talked about the endangered bamboo lemur- the only primate that actually spends it’s life above the water living on bamboo reeds and only to be found in Madagascar- aka the ‘bandro’, well we will be where they live. This area is an area of particular concern for conservation in the country and a lot of effort is going into preservation and protection here. We are hoping to do our part and save the Bandro. We will for the most part teach English, but we will also have the opportunity to do secondary projects and there is a reserve nearby that is in its relative infancy and in which we hope to put ourselves to some use. Our host family is especially kind and we have learned a lot from them. We know how to make peanut butter from scratch- from roasting to crunching the peanuts- and it is quite honestly the best thing on earth! The Malagasy eat rice with every meal- prepared with some variation for each- and peanut butter melted into rice is a surprisingly good thing- and if anyone knows me (Tony) when it comes to food, you know that ‘surprisingly good’ status is not bestowed on just any food. The vegetables here are quite good. The tomatoes are very sweet and bursting with flavor as are the oranges. There are avocados which are slightly different than those in the states. They are on average a bit larger, very lush, and slightly sweeter. Meat is a part of most meals with our host family. We walk through the market everyday and do see literally every part of the animals we typically enjoy in the states. The pig is typically sawed in half from front to back and sitting on the counter of the storefront. The cow’s heads peer eerily ahead having only recently lost their bodies and entrails abound throughout the market. Chickens are ubiquitous here, but are somewhat gaunter than we are used to. [Stacey: The Velociraptor connection is hard not to notice, except these chickens seem rather stupid in comparison.] It takes a good size chicken to supply us with the grilled boneless breast of chicken that fill our burgers at a pub in the U.S. Our host-dad showed me, Tony, how to kill a chicken recently. I will do it soon. It’s not too difficult- honestly the chicken doesn’t stand much of a chance- nor are they that likeable, so one doesn’t feel that bad. I have much more affinity for the ducks which are also in abundance here. Fortunately, our family is less enthused about killing the duck because it is a much greater task to pluck all the feathers. I do hope to kill a goose. They are not very nice and like to chase you! They don’t know what I have in store! We may also prepare rabbit soon. [S: Nooo! Not the little bunnies!] I have no plans to kill a cow or a pig, but I am interested in the process. It’s not so much that I have a morbid fascination with death- a la Hemingway- as I recognize that I do eat this meat and can appreciate having full knowledge of the entire genesis of the process from field to fork. [S: I completely agree, but I may just let Tony tell me what its like. I’m sure I can’t handle the screaming part.] Incidentally, the beef here, in particular, is much tougher here than what one would expect to receive in the U.S. and due in part to the fact that it is bona-fide free-range and these animals do actually climb hills and the like to graze. We also roast our own coffee here, which is really nice. I am excited about the prospect of roasting just enough for a few days at a time when we get to site and keeping things real fresh. I’m excited to get our own mortar and pestle with which we make peanut butter, coffee etc. although I’d just as soon rely on the Krups grinder for the coffee as it is a LOT of work to pulverize coffee beans. The milk we get here is not from Hood’s or Berkeley Farms, but from the cow’s utter and we boil it every morning so that we may drink it. I could add a few more pages of information on food here, but it is suffice to say that the process involved in many of the things we routinely consume in the U.S. is rather involved. It’s also interesting once you’ve made this stuff- in the case of peanut butter, for instance- and if you are used to eating Skippy- to ponder what the hell these corporations are trying to feed us! There is no McDonalds here. There is Coca-Cola in the bottle which is made with actual sugar rather than the high fructose corn syrup that corporations in the U.S. have decided should become a permanent component of our body chemistry. I’m enjoying this Coke on occasion and Stacey is drinking it regularly. [S: It’s my afternoon pick-me-up.] Enough about food.

People do believe in witches here and apparently (so we’re told) a couple were arrested recently. It is difficult to learn much about what the witches do or believe in, but the topic does seem to come up enough. Many of the inhabitants here are Christian. Their practices incorporate older and more traditional beliefs, however. In this area, bodies are kept in family tombs and are removed periodically and carried around. The dead communicate to a family member that they are cold in the tombs and it is in this way that the family will know that it is time for an exhumation. There is a great ceremony and eventually the body is returned to the tomb with new (warmer) wrappings and returned to rest until the next cycle. Another volunteer was invited to a circumcision the other day. Apparently, this is a big deal for the boy and according to tradition in this part the circumcised piece is put into a banana and eaten by the grandfather. In the south, it is not eaten, but fired out of a cannon.

By our standards, it is interesting what is ‘modern’ here and what is not. There are many houses and in many ways a room is a room. There are no flushing toilets or running water. Water is brought to the houses each day by the water carrier. People use charcoal primarily to fire their stoves, but primarily for this reason and not to keep warm. Some people use gas stoves- including the house we are in, but it is not entirely the norm in country. Water is boiled to take a ‘shower’ which consists of a bucket and cup. There is a ‘kabone’ for each house which is essentially an outhouse except there is no seat and one squats rather than sits. Nonetheless, many houses do have electricity and our family watches television- two channels only, but its media! Cell phones are also common and it is interesting when one of the children’s’ phones goes off in the schoolhouse during class - where there is no electricity. It’s just easier to have a tower transmitting a signal here than to have each house hardwired which actually is more infrastructurally demanding if you think about it. There are many vehicles- Mercedes, Renault, and Peugeot definitely do some business here. I don’t know what emission standards they are adhering to as even minutes after a car has passed on the road one is still suffering from the exhaust fumes. In the U.S we would consider the way people drive here to be a little out of control; which is true of the U.S., but it is difficult to have the level of law enforcement here that we do in the states. This is the opinion of our host family in any case, and in fact a kid was killed just yesterday crossing the street to buy peanuts. It is not uncommon to see big rigs tipped over on the side of the road just from obviously taking a corner to fast.

7/22

We did our laundry this morning. Not at the Laundromat, but at the wash station that is in our neighborhood. The wash station is sourced by a beautiful spring that is a ways up the mountainside and covered with Lilly pads. For many, laundry is done in a river, lake or stream. It is hard work to do laundry by hand with a brush and a bar of soap. My forearms are still tired from trying to wring every possible drop of water out of the clothes before hanging them on the clothesline. The time it takes laundry to dry here is contingent upon the weather. Last time, it took just two days because the weather was really hot. The time before when it was rainy and chilly- five days. There is a good local beer here that we get to enjoy on occasion. It is called THB or Three Horses Beer and it is a pilsner. Why the English name? Apparently, to encourage marketing abroad. I am not actually sure if there are even three horses in the country. We haven’t seen any. There is one exceptionally attractive goat in the village, but nothing has been named after him that we know of. Tonight, we are cooking an “American” dinner for our family at their request. We’ll just have to see how successful this effort will be. We are attempting Meatballs, Pasta with a creamy cheese sauce with roasted peppers and a hint of tomato and also a cauliflower dish, with a salty-sweet Asian type sauce with ginger and garlic (this one is a bit of a gamble). [7/26 S: The meal was a success, especially the cauliflower. Tony’s culinary techniques were closely observed by mom, dad, daughter, cousin, and three neighbors!] We haven’t gotten sick yet, though some people have. We have had about 90 million shots and we should be protected against all kinds of stuff. We’re both feeling pretty healthy. I’m (Tony) a few pounds lighter, but I’d trade it in a minute for some pesto pizza or pasta with gorgonzola cream. Stacey too!- I’ve been instructed to add. The language here- Malagasy- is quite fascinating and fun to be learning. There appears to be an intimidating number of syllables in any given word when you see it spelled. Fortunately, they are not all pronounced. The word order is a bit different than English [S: think Yoda] and is basically –verb, object, subject- so, “Wash laundry Stacey” or “Manasa lamba I Stacey”: Stacey is washing laundry. There is no verb “to be” in the language, but it is implied easily enough. There are also many interesting words for different things in the language. To be retired is: “misotro ronono” which literally means to drink milk. Stacey believes that things in the language actually sound like what they are. For instance, sweet potato is vomanga! [S: OK, not that one , but cow is homby and I think that word fits the animal better.] It was a couple of weeks back now, but our host family took us to the zoo in Tana where we saw many of the animals that are uniquely found on the island. The giant tortoise saw us coming and made a beeline [S: at giant tortoise speed!] toward the part of the fence where we were. It was pretty neat- only chicken wire between us and this giant tortoise. A lemur reached through its enclosure and grabbed a hold of our camera cord while we were focused on getting the shot. It subsequently shook hands with Stacey- a unique primate from both points of view. This is our update for now. Correspondence is still welcome. [S: Mom & Dad, we got your card. Thank you! It took exactly 2 weeks from California to reach us. So far it is the only mail we have received.] Once again, if you write, ‘Jesus Saves’, written as follows, “Jesosy Mamonjy!” on the envelope, the parcel and all of its contents are much more likely to reach us unmolested. If you would like to send something our way the address is:

Tony & Stacey Frallicciardi

Peace Corps Madagascar

BP: 12091-Post ZOOM Akorondrano

Tana 101-Madagascar

After August 10th it will be better to send it to our permanent site address. Site visits are coming up in about a week, so we will be seeing our new home soon. We will try to post the address as soon as we know what it is. Thanks in advance for any mail you may send, we appreciate the love and any news from home.