04/28/10
Sometimes I end my days here and just feel so content with life. Actually I think it happens pretty often, but today was one of those days. I went to town this morning to get the vaccines from the health bureau and everything about the trip was pleasant. I arrived early and put my things in a hotely (a restaurant –like place, but not really) where Lucette has friends and then went shopping in the market. When I finished I had coffee and bread at the hotely and then went to use the internet on the way up to the hospital bureau. I had received a couple emails from friends, which is always really nice and fun to read and then I went to the bureau. I really enjoy the people that work there. I sat and chatted with them for a while and then went on my way. I rode my bike and it rained on me some, but it wasn’t really an issue.

People from farther and farther away have started to learn my name. When I start to get closer to my town the little kids start calling ‘nicki!’ (or Nicka, Micki, micka) instead of Vazaha and it really feels like I am arriving home. After lunch Pascaline and Nadia (middle school aged sisters) stopped by my house. Nadia is one of the first people that I met while walking around the paths back by the agricultural research center. She’s a 12 year old girl, but I instantly liked her and whenever I ran into her I thought to myself that we were going to be friends. It’s started working out like that. Whenever she has to go to the market or when she comes and goes from school she stops by to see me at my house. Through her I have met the whole array of siblings that she has, including her 1 month old brother or sister (haha theres no distinction between he and she in malagasy and it’s too small to tell). I truly enjoy all of them and have gone to visit them often. I even like her dad so far, who works as a guard for CALA. I feel like he must be a pretty good guy to have such wonderful daughters. When he’s not working at CALA he drives a taxi-bicycle. One day I unknowingly got on his bike and when we had been going for a while I was talking with him and then he told me, ‘I’m Nadia’s dad!’ I was really excited and he seemed really proud of her. It was really cute. Another time I ran into him in Ambato and stopped to talk to him. As I was walking away, I heard him tell all the men around him that I was friends with his daughters.

When I do some sort of girls group with the CEG (middle school) girls I’m definitely going to use Nadia as a resource. I already like spending time with her, and she is confident, helpful and motivated. She would be a great leader and I really hope she can continue on to lycee (high school). There are a lot of kids in her family, and the fact that she is one of the oldest and a girl doesn’t really bode well for her. I’ve been thinking about how it would be really great to have peer educators within the girls group and if I do, do something like that she will be the first on my list. I know that there will be interest too, because in the last couple weeks I’ve had a bunch of random CEG aged girls stop by my house to talk to me.

In the evening I talked to the kids and then Lucette came in and talked with me while I was cooking my food. We’ve been hanging out pretty late the last couple days. Yesterday night she was in my house and I was showing her some old pictures from Niger. Just by looking at the pictures she really got what it was like there, and what was most shocking by coming here to Madagascar. She’s just wonderful. She is a large reason why I feel so tamana (at home) here in Ambohitsilaozana. She may not really be my partner in work, but I’m so glad that she was assigned as my counterpart in Peace Corps.

It was not really a significant day, but it was one filled with good conversation, friends and work.

This week is mother and child health week for the whole country. They have 1 every six months and all the Clinics and health workers distribute a dose of Vitamin A and a deworming pill to all kids under 5 and pregnant women. Yesterday I went out to a really far fokotany called Ambofotsy. It was definitely one of the poorest fokotanys that I have seen yet, and the women had lots of kids. More than one had 3 or 4 children under 5 years old. I was really surprised, but the doctors let the health workers carry birth control pills and the shot with us to the fokotany. It was such a good thing and I was really excited that they had thought to do it, but even though we talked to all of the women only 2 agreed to taking it. For that reason, my talk tomorrow for vaccine day is going to be on Fanabeazana aizanana (family planning). It’s such a constant issue here. I feel like it is going to be one of my biggest focuses during my 2 years, both with young girls and women with families.

I can’t even explain the way that weeks fly by here. Tomorrow is already Thursday and Thursdays and Friday always go so fast because I work at the CSB. Thursday is also mail day. I get really excited to check for mail on Thursdays. Even though I don’t always have something, I do often enough that it makes me excited every week. The post office guys know too and they can hardly keep from telling me what’s in my box before I check.
Last weekend I was in Ambato for another banking weekend. It was really fun and there were a bunch of us that showed up last minute. We spent the day on Saturday fixing the doors on the flop house so that they have bars and are more secure while were gone (and by we I mean Dan, Chris and Tom did while Hannah, Corey and I chatted) and then we decided to cook at the flop before going out at night. It was not the best of our ideas since we didn’t have anything like oil, salt, and pepper and had to continuously go to the store and it involved cleaning all the dishes pots and pans before and after since our house is infested with rats and we needed to clean everything before we could use it. The rats have gotten to a new level. We were joking with the family that they should be paying rent as well, and that we are miompy rats (raising; as in cows, chickens, ducks). Next time we have plans to stick their cat up in the ceiling and let him have at them.

We always go to this little bar/restaurant called Naina’s when we’re in town. They make rum that they flavor with actual fruit and they have freshly made juice for mixers. You all sit on seza kely (small chairs) which are essentially stools fit for a 6 year old. They make brouchettes (grilled beef kababs) and also have grilled chicken breasts, which are the closest thing to american meat that I’ve encountered yet. When we were at the ‘ball’ that a hotel was throwing on Saturday night, a man walked up to our table really excited. He said, in English, “I am the Naina.” Haha we were all really excited and he continued to tell us in broken English how he has been friends with all the volunteers before. It was kind of like meeting a celebrity. And I think he kind of thinks of himself that way too. We’ve been going to his restaurant for the last 3 months but he has yet to meet any of us because he travels back in forth between here and the coast constantly. I’m pretty sure that he gave all the guys some taoka (rum?) but we had already left for the dance floor.