On The Road Again

Wow what a trip!!!!!!! So much fun was had and I feel like I learned so much more about the people I'm with. The best time had to be at the beach that we spent 3 days and 4 nights at. We stayed in bungaloes(sp) on a beachfront hotel called the Bamboo Club. It was amazing to wake up to the water which was always warm. The beach always had locals on it trying to sell us necklaces and lambas and wooden crafts, it was pretty funny to watch our friends get swarmed by salespeople every time they went near the beach, but once we got into the water the people left us alone.

The first day we went snorkling on the reef (the 2nd largest in the world) and that was really interesting. I saw a beautiful colorful fish which may have been a parrot fish and I saw a fish that looked like a puppy which freaked me out a little. It was scary when I got in the water because I can't swim and I started panicing but my friends Michela and Mike helped me out and calmed me down and once I was calm I was safe. The activity was early in the day so we had all afternoon to do whatever we wanted and that day I went out on a fishing boat with Mike and Patrick (the one who fell off the cliff) and it was SO COOL. The sailing was so relaxing. On the way out we were talking about Age of Empires and how we felt like we were on one of those fishing boats and most people will know that I love comparing real life to video games so I was excited that Pat made that connection. The water is so shallow for miles, we must have been 4+ miles out when the boat stopped and the fishermen started fishing. One went out with a spear gun and a snorkle mask, he caught 7 fish that day. The other guy stayed in the boat with us while 2 of us held a fishing line with bait. While the 2 of us were in the boat one of us went out into the water with a spear and attempted to catch a fish. Mike and Pat were having a lot of fun with this and so then I tried but, like I said, I can't swim and this time there was no life jacket holding me up lol. It must have been pretty hilarious to watch me in the water for 30 seconds trying to doggy paddle with a spear in my hand. It was a great day, though. Absolutely beautiful. Then when we got back to shore I went horseback riding on the beach during the sunset and that was awesomeeeeee. My horse was good and the guy riding with us was really nice. We had a conversation for a while which I was proud to be able to do considering I know very choppy French and even less Malagasy and this guy wasn't so good with English hahaha but we made it work and it was great fun.

The nights at this place were just as good as the days and this night I spent 10 minutes floating on my back in the pool watching the stars and I counted 15 total. The stars here are incredible and floating in a pool looking up at that was surreal. That night I fell pretty hard on my hands and knees while trying to get a blanket to my friend sleeping in a hammock but luckily my friends helped me out and got me to bed safely. They're great.

The best part of the days on the beach was meeting this guy Soafaly. He was a wood sculptor on the beach who was selling his things and I asked him if he would give whiddling (sp) lessons to my friend Natalie and me. He agreed to and came around later that night but not for whiddling because it was too late but that night he taught us a song on the mandolins Nat and I had bought that day. The next day we had a fishing boat ride up the coast to a spot where we were going to have lunch and Soafaly met us there for the lesson. Nat, Will, our trip driver, and I all helped carve a pipe in the shape of a zebu (local cow). Nat carved most of it and in the meantime Soafaly taught me the beginning of Madagascar's national anthem. It was just awesome to spend time with this guy, even though we didn't speak the same language and had to have Franck (the TA) translate our convo it was still really great and I felt like we connected, especially with the music because he would play some and then I would play some and it was just nice. The beach was beautiful, the weather was comfortable, the company was fantastic...it was a glorious day. That same day I saw him again on the beach and he gifted me a piece he had sculpted, it was very intricate and beautiful and when we said bye I was honestly torn up. On that day I was most happy to be alive and to have met such a positive soul. Nothing else on the 10-day trip lived up to that day and that sunset :) And now I will forever think of this great guy when I see the sun. I hope I can come back some time and that he'll still be carving and playing music.

So now we're back in Ranomafana and people are starting their projects. Mine will start on Monday. I met the principle of the school I'll be working at today and she was very nice, I'm quite excited to start this.

Today Franck said in one month I'll be on an airplane and I got sad. I've been thinking about going home since I got here and now suddenly I realized that I don't want to really go home so soon. Julia was right when she said the time would fly...even though it feels like we've been here for years haha. I miss home, and I miss NYC and all the people and my family but this place fills a space in me that will be incredibly empty when I leave. I'll be sure to make the best of this final month here. I'm so happy I did this! What a great experience.

See you all soon.
G