July 4, 2008

Happy Fourth of July! I am spending a few days in Fianarantsoa, helping to celebrate my friend Brittany’s birthday (check out her blog at islandtrap.blogspot.com). It’s been a good past month, mainly because I made a friend at site. Her name is Prisca and she is great: inviting me over, feeding me (more on that later), giving me little pointers on the language, introducing me to people and projects, giving me lots of gifts and in general just being a really nice person. I think when I’m ready to start work she and I will be able to do a lot of things together. She is a silk and cotton weaver, she and her husband run a small epicerie in town, she has a one year old boy, Boda (pronounced “Buddha,” which I love, especially since he’s the one roly-poly child in all of Madagascar) and is president of an association that does charity work with poor and orphaned children in the area.

This is my first blog and I’m not sure if it will be of interest, but I felt that it was a little less egotistical than sending a mass email. This way you can choose to check in on me if and when you want, and not because I’ve forced myself into your in-box. Most of the other volunteers keep a blog, and they have told me that it helps if people ask questions and then I can post the answers on this page. Otherwise, it can be hard to come up with what to write. Some of the questions I have already received are:

Is it safe?

Yes. Not only do I live in two rooms on the second floor of a house with a police couple living below me, but everybody knows everybody’s business in my town, and there is no way I could ever leave my house without at least ten people knowing where I am going, where EXACTLY I’m going, when I’ll be back, and if it will be wonderful. As I’m on my way to wherever I’m going (whether to the market just down the road, my banking town half an hour by taxi-brousse, or Fianarantsoa for internet access over the weekend) people I know and perfect strangers will shout these questions to me, both coming and going. While at first it is nice to have such friendly people around you, as you can probably guess, it can also grate. As my fellow volunteers know, I now find the question, “Aiza ho aiza? (Where, exactly?)” one of the most annoying questions on the planet.

How is the food?

The food has been one of the surprising pleasures of my experience so far. Unlike other parts of Africa, Madagascar has a wide variety of fruits, vegetables, beans and meat, and of course, everything is fresh. My friends at site find it appalling that I do not eat rice three times a day like they do, and often someone’s son or nephew will knock on my door with a basket full of freshly made food. Prisca basically force feeds me, and I have tried several tactics to try and let her and others know that in the one area of food preparation I am actually self sufficient. Of course, I prefer to cook for myself for sanitation reasons, too. However, all my attempts to dissuade people from cooking for me has only increased the amount of food coming my way. Prisca told me that she is worried the town will get in trouble next time Peace Corps sees me because I’ve “diminished,” but I am pretty sure the only weight I’ve lost has been alcohol weight. Oh, how I miss my evening wine.

What about the language barrier?

You probably remember me freaking out about learning French before my departure, and all the conflicting accounts of whether I’d ever use French once here. It would be incredibly useful to be fluent in French, since everyone here does speak both Malagasy and French. Hopefully I’ll be able to continue on with French after a year or so here, but my brain can only handle one language at a time, and so I’m focusing exclusively on trying to learn Malagasy, a very slow process. Apparently I’m not so good with languages. But everyone assures me that one day I’ll be fluent and I’ve just decided to believe them. I can communicate on a very basic level, but still have a hard time understanding what is being said most of the time, especially when people talk at a normal speed and not what the other volunteers consider “special Gasy.”

What is it that you do there?

I am a member of the first Small Enterprise Development group of Peace Corps volunteers to Madagascar, there are five of us now living in rural and medium sized towns in the highlands of Madagascar, except for Dan who is lucky enough to be on the beach. My site, Sandrandahy, has a population of about 5,000 people and is larger than my fellow stage mates’ sites. Sandrandahy doesn’t have electricity or running water, but does have cell phone coverage, strangely enough, and is on a paved-road, a rarity here. It’s surrounded by rice fields and rolling hills. The women in my town are known for their traditional silk weavings, and are fairly organized already: there are seven silk weaving associations formed in my town, and many of the associations requested a volunteer in order to receive marketing help. My work might also include assisting individuals with basic accounting, business plans and feasibility studies, costing and pricing, management, and credit. I haven’t done any work yet – I’m still trying to get my Malagasy language skills up to speed. I’ve been in country since February, and at site since May, and other more seasoned volunteers tell me that it takes a year to really feel settled. I only have internet access occasionally, and love to receive mail at site, so please write if you have the time:

Melanie Hasslinger

Lot 04A60 Atsimotsena

Sandrandahy 308

MADAGASCAR

cell: 011 261 32-56-445-95

I hope everyone is well and happy and enjoying the summer. Thank you to those who have kept me in their thoughts! I will write again when I can.

Take care,

Melanie