The promise

I received word today after talking to Michael that he WILL be posting to this site by tomorrow!! Yeah!! He also indicated that he should have enough regular opportunities to visit the internet cafe to keep up his own blog from here on out!!! YEAH!!! More variety, more first-hand news, and MUCH more interesting tales than the alternate administrator has to share!
He told me lots of interesting stories today, but the one that really got my attention was when he said his roommate was back for the evening....I didn't know he had a roommate! He then explained that his roommate was a bat that comes and goes, and when I winced about that, he said there were many more critters in Madagascar that would be more frightening than a bat as a roommate. As a result, I am thankful, today, for my bat-free house!

New Title!

Michael was officially sworn in as a Peace Corps VOLUNTEER today! What a great day for him!
He spent celebratory time eating burgers with his fellow volunteers and spent time at the US Ambassador's home with the Ambassador. Apparently the US Ambassador had a previous acquaintance with a Peace Corps Volunteer who became a Foreign Service Officer and was from Holland Michigan, so they talked about that a bit.
For the remainder of the week, Michael will travel to the coast to buy everything he needs to furnish his house....bed, table and chairs, etc. and get settled into his house near the National Park where he will be working. He is learning a bit more about his job now, and, as he describes it, "I am going to be doing almost the same work as I did at Walter's Gardens except with trees!"
He said the next time he gets near internet access he will download his latest blogpost...which he says is FOUR pages long! So if you see a post from him soon, put your feet up and grab a beverage. Happy reading!

pictures from the Peace Corps

One of Michael's fellow PCT's published some pictures on the web, so I was able to borrow them and post them for his followers to see. I am still waiting for Michael's photocard to arrive, but he is waiting for the replacement photocard to reach him before he sends his out to me. Some of the pictures are from Niger; others are from Madagascar. Can you decide which one is from where?

Where is Michael???

Unfortunately for the faithful readers looking for an interesting writing from Michael, you will be disappointed. This is just a quick update from the administrator. We talked to Michael on Sunday. He is enjoying Madagascar and is amused by its stark contrast to the living conditions that he had in Niger. It rains everyday in Madagascar....sometimes for the whole day! His cleanliness, he states, is dependent on the weather! He cannot do laundry on a day when the sun does not shine because the clothes will not dry. He also finds it difficult to bathe on cloudy or rainy days because it is such a moral dilemma. A dilemma? To bathe? The dilemma arises because if it is raining or cloudy, the water is REALLY cold! If the sun is out for at least a little while during the day, the sun will warm the water, and then it is a good day to clean up. If the sun does not shine, the water is too cold. The only other option for warming the water on a cloudy day is to use chopped wood to build a fire to warm the water. Hmmmm. Let's review: Michael is assigned to the PC to help in reforestation efforts because so many of the trees there are being chopped down for personal use or for sale and are not replanted. So how can the reforestation volunteer justify using wood to build a fire to warm the water just to wash up? Well, maybe tomorrow will be sunny!
The food situation is good there. Most things are served with rice, but there is much more balance in the other food groups. He gets meat and fruits and vegetables, so he is able to stay well nourished and keep weight on better.
He is currently staying with a host family who speaks only Malagasy, the language he is learning in class everyday. That is helpful for language skills. He likes his new "family", especially since there are no little children hanging on his pantlegs anymore!
He is greatly looking forward to his swearing in ceremony which takes place next Tuesday, January 26. He will then officially leave his "Peace Corps Trainee" title behind and become an actual "Peace Corps Volunteer". He is really excited about that. Shortly thereafter, he will transition to his new "home" near the National Park where he will begin working on the reforestation efforts.
He promises there are blog posts on his computer stick which he just has to plug in to a computer and upload when he has computer access. He isn't quite sure when that is going to happen, but it should be sometime soon, so keep checking for updates!
Thanks for reading!