Moving To Siteko (Jules)

I am sure we all have our own fun stories about our first week(s) at site. My first week was not actually spent at my site… why? Well, in true Malagasy fashion, things were running a bit behind schedule. I arrived to a house with no walls! This was a minor security issue-- though it did provide a beautiful view of the Tsingy (rock formation) on the other side. Needless to say I did not move in at first. I ended up going to Jennine’s site and helping her settle in then retuning a few days later to a house with walls…but no kabone (a.k.a. latrine) or shower. However, within a couple of days I had both a shower and a roofless kabone. I am happy to report that just the other day I received a roof on my kabone— ah, home sweet home. It makes the raining days more bearable :) Everything else is going well. I had to tell all of my neighbours that is not proper fomba (a.k.a. not OK) to sit in my door and watch me eat, cook, read, clean, live; and told the neighbour kids they can’t wander into my house- they need to knock 1st. But everyone caught on quickly. First month victories: buying eggs from my neighbours, finding the “market” on Wednesdays (true, there is usually no food there but I know where it is), and having people tell me that I am now “mahay Malagasy” (I was “tsy mahay”—not smart at the language-- until visitors from Canada that spoke no Malagasy came to our evolving eco-tourist site and I had to translate. So by comparison I can speak the language.) First month frustrations: I cried because I couldn’t understand the bread man my fist week, nobody can tell me and Christi (last volunteer at my site) apart, everyone’s favorite comment about me is that my feet are all cut up from the grass, and of course all the “Sali vazaha” comments—I don’t even know how to spell “sali” BECAUSE I AM NOT FRENCH (though I have been told many times that all foreigners are French). All frustrations with being mistaken as French daily aside, life is grand! I am staying busy with ongoing and new projects and I feel really positive about the whole situation. And the community is really motivated after our first guests this year. But ask me how it is again next month… or in an hour :) Hope evryone else is having great adventures, too!

Jules