Ex"Site"ing Times

At last, after 10 weeks of training and one week of traveling, I am moved into my Peace Corps site where I will live for two years of service. Revealing the diversity of Madagascar, my site is quite different from the community I lived in during training. Fortunately, I am fond of these differences, and am rather excited to be in this region. What's it all like, you ask? Well, here's a glance at my new life:

WEST SIDE: My Region 

During training, I lived in the Madagascar highlands not too far from the country's capital, Antananarivo. Now, I'm in the northwestern area of Madagascar, closer to the northern-most tip of the island. 

The first noticeable differences between these locations are weather and land-type. The highlands were typically cool to mild in temperature and occasionally hot. The northwest is hot... All the time. Lucky for me that I actually like hot weather! The topography has changed from clay soil to sandy soil, and the hills have changed to flat lands.

Livestock abounds in my region with herds of cattle, sheep, and goats. Cattle herds here seem to usually range from about 10-50 head. Many of these are zebu beef cattle, although some steers are also used as beasts of burden to pull carts. 

Sugarcane is the specialty of my area, but rice and vegetables (especially tomato and onion) are still widely grown. We have banana trees, coconut trees, mango trees, papaya trees, and some pineapple. Yogurt is also a big thing here....and it.is.so.good. 

The main religions of my region are Catholicism, Islam, and Tromba (the traditional religion). The language is a mixture of official Malagasy, Antakarana dialect, and French. The people are often courteous and helpful; I haven't experienced any harassment on a threatening level. Many women wear the traditional Malagasy dress on a daily basis, and they especially wear these for special occasions. As a whole, the dress code is fairly relaxed, which suits my style perfectly. :)

Popular sports are soccer and a fighting sport called Maraingy. The Maraingy fights are similar to boxing matches. Both men and women participate in both sports!

The Hood: My Village and Neighbors

I have four markets available to me within biking distance throughout the week. One is in my village, one is in a neighboring village, one is between our two villages, and the other is in my banking town. At these markets, I can typically find everything from food, to household items, to clothes. In my banking town, I can also find hardware and a few "vazah" items, such as dish soap and Nutella. 

My main mode of transportation is by bicycle. To travel further than my banking town (about 15K away), I would take public transportation via taxi-brousse (like a taxi van of sorts). 

My neighbors are pretty cool. A lady directly across the street from me has been very helpful with filling me in on Malagasy practices and norms of our neighborhood. She is somewhat of a "beacon of culture" as I would call it. The neighborhood school girls enthusiastically visit me and help me with many small tasks such as cleaning my floor and finding kindling for my charcoal grill. I'm becoming friends with a family a few houses down who I visit early every morning. They own the village pharmacy, and I think are also related to the mayor, who is one of my key counterparts. I also visit a lady with a small roadside stand near my house every morning and buy coffee from her. With the kindness of my neighbors and our growing relationships, I feel quite welcomed and safe in my community!

Trano'ny Texas: My House 

I live in a two-room house with concrete floors, concrete walls, and a tin roof. Honestly, from the outside, my house looks a bit like an isolation cell from a World War II prisoner of war camp. But it's actually quite nice. The rooms are of equal size, each running about 9'X13', making it considerably larger than the average Peace Corps house. One room is my kitchen and visiting room, and the other is my bedroom. I don't know how old the house is, but it shows some wear. I am the second Volunteer to live in it, but I don't remember the house's purpose before that. My shower and outhouse are in my back yard, I have two trees in my front yard (one is a mango tree), and I am enclosed in a bamboo fence. The fence is cool because it is made out of bamboo, but it isn't very good at keeping animals out. It's a daily norm for families of chickens, ducks, and piglets to wander through my yard. I also found a 4-foot snake in my outhouse, which upon my presence simply slithered away coolly without much concern. I have no electricity, and I fetch my water from a well about 50 meters from my house.

P.S. "Trano'ny Texas" means "The House of Texas," which is what of course I've named my house.

So there's the first glance of my new world. Sometimes, it can be scary to be alone in a totally new place and with a new culture and a new language. However, that has not been my case so far. I'm actually enjoying being alone, exploring the world around me, and tackling the small challenges of settling in at my site. (Of course, I've also been fortunate enough to receive wisdom and support from older Volunteers in my region, which does make a big difference). I'm back in an environment in which I can thrive--a small fish in a big pond. Taking one day at a time, I am building up my Peace Corps investment, preparing to meet all that is to come in the next two years. Confession time: I actually am a little bit intimidated. But after all, where's the adventure without that?