Part deux

For those of you who are reading this post before the last one titled "the adventure continues" please be warned. This is part 2 of 2 in my epic blog posts. However unlike sequels including Spider Man II, the Matrix II, the Lion King II, 2 fast 2 furious, and X men II, this sequel, is just as good, if not better than the first. If you only have time for one, read this one, but if you want the entire story, see part one below. Bon Appetit.

As for ISP prep (pre last few days mentioned above) back in tana, the experience was not as enjoyable. I went to the Wildlife Conservation Socitey (WCS) office to meet with Chris Holmes, the technical supervisor of the park that I want to study. I had told him on Friday when I was comming but ofcourse when I arrive I learned that he had just left for Maroansetra to visit the park. I called him and explained my project plans. Instead of being excited to see an undergraduate taking interest in his feild of study, he told me that there was nothing worth my while to see at the park and that I should spend the entire 4 weeks of ISP in Tana, esentailly being his inturn. He got mad when I told him that I wanted to talk to villagers about the impacts of the park, saying that me doing that would disrupt their relations with the locals. That didnt sound like too much fun so it appeared that my ISP on avoided deforestation needed to be slashed and burned. Fortunatly I got a call the next morning from Lisa, the head of WCS in Madagascar and former SIT academic director. She had talked to chris and explained the SIT format and worked out that I should delay my trip and do a combination of onsite research and library work in Tana. Although it wasnt ideal it was a lot better than being in the dirty crowded city for 4 weeks. I changed my trip to Maroansetra for the 6th to the 18th. Then I talked to Mamy, our assistant director, and got a homestay worked out for my stay here in tana. Things were looking a bit better. I found a student in the other SIT group who is going to the same park and had the same problem, we are going to be traveling together so that should help. She seems really cool so I will also have someone to keep me company, rather than being alone in the jungle for 2 weeks.

Anyway, this saturday I came to stay with my homestay family here in Tana. They live in the center of the city, the dad is a dentist, the mom, a french teacher. There are three kids, Kennedy or Kenny for short (age 19), Sandy (age 15), and Fy (age 12). The parrents seem extreemly nice and happy to host me. The younger sisters are very sweet and had lots of questions about american culture. Kenny is really cool, one of the first things that he said to me was "I think I saw you at the club last night", we are becoming fast friends. The family is pretty well off my madagascar standards, they have hot water, a fridge, a porcelan toilet with a seat, a TV, a computer, two cute dogs, a pet radiated tortus, a car, a biking machine, and yes, this is a big one, a washing machine. The fact that I am so excited about all of these things tells a lot about my past 2 months. At lunch the the parrents invited me to go to the countryside with them for a 24 hour visit. How could I refuse an adventure? I packed a bag and we were off.

After a 30 minute drive we arrived to this complex in the suburbs / countryside that used to be moma's faters. He gave each of his 7 kids a plot of land and my family has just built a home there. It was very nice, just laking any funrishings. It still needed a lot of work but it was much more calm than the city. I got 12 hours of sleep and helped papa move some sand. It was funny that there kids didnt want to come to visit because their parents put them to work all the time (remind the bishop family of anything?). It was cool to see them invested in the project, making a gardin, planing trees, clearing a driveway, frunishing the house. I really enjoy being able to see upper middle class life in Madagascar. It compliments my past small town and village stay experiences. My parents come on the weekends and plans to retire here. The hole time we were constantly being visited by mama's relitives. I really enjoyed it. It was much more calm than life in Tana. At the same time, now that I know the city and feel more comfortable here, like a resident and not a visiter, life here in tana is growing on me. I am going to be working on my ISP until thursday but will write when I get back from the Jungle, unless something particularly crazy happens of course.

Thats all for now, Jeff