Coda

So, if you are reading this blog now it has certainly been awhile since we were in Madagascar. The last post was May of 2008!! This blog came to an abrupt end during our Peace Corps term of service simply because our computer up and died one day. The previous procedure had been to write the entries and then post them when we had internet access. Internet was extremely slow and we did not have the luxury of writing entries in the internet cafe. I (Tony) had written several subsequent entries, but never posted them and at a certain point it seemed anachronistic- at best- to do so.

Nonetheless, our Peace Corps service lasted until March of 2009 when suddenly the mayor of Madagascar's capitol Antananarivo decided to declare himself president and in Madagascar this can work. This man was a youthful fellow and a former DJ who was too young to hold the presidency legally. More importantly, he proved incompetent and out of touch with the true nature and complexity of the problems he spoke of solving in the country. As a result, the international community balked at his unconstitutional coup and withdrew crucial aid money. Turmoil served as and excuse and facade for logging companies who tout de suite plunged into Madagascar's remaining and already threatened forests to perpetrate unmitigated plunder upon the exotic hardwoods therein and thus threatening the already struggling flora and fauna in these unique ecosystems. Tourism has plummeted. As a result of this circus act, Peace Corps Washington decided to evacuate all Peace Corps Volunteers in March on 2009. This was just shy of three months from the date we were to end our service. We had intended to stay a third year, so this was a disappointment to us. It was certainly even more of a disappointment to those who had only spent a fraction of the time in the country that we had. In any case, we found ourselves without an exit strategy and unexpectedly back in the U.S. hunting for jobs. We made our way back to Berkeley where Stacey got a job running an after school program at a middle school and I worked in San Francisco as an English teacher for foreign adult students at a private language school. This was OK at first, but before long we pined to be abroad again. We had both said that we would like to do Peace Corps again at some point in our lives. Then suddenly within two weeks of the one-year deadline for re-enrollment for returned volunteers (a kinder gentler, but still demanding application process than starting from scratch)we looked at each other and said, "why not now?". And so here we are three days away from our staging in Philadelphia and next Thursday just as the World Cup finishes we will find ourselves in South Africa for our second term of service as Peace Corps volunteers: Peace Corps 2.0

If you are interested, please follow us on our new blog. I have entitled it "One More Time" for obvious reasons. It can be found here:

http://tonypcsa.blogspot.com/

Best Wishes,
Tony & Stacey