Finally updating!

Well, I've been in Madagascar for about 2 months now... I have to say, it's so gorgeous here. More beautiful than I ever could have imagined. Training is almost over... Swearing-in is on December 6th, and I think we're all ready for it. It's going to be held at the residence of the US Ambassador! We have to do this huge presentation in Malagasy too, and the whole thing - ceremony and presentation - will be televised, on the radio, and in all the newspapers here. The whole country will be watching. No pressure. hahaha!

Unfortunately, I'm in Tana (the capital city) right now because I'm sick. Major case of Giardia. But I'm getting much better now, so I should be heading back to training pretty soon. This is my second illness here. The volunteers all had this "Double Dragon pot" going (basically, a bet for who would be the first person to get so sick that they have diarrhea and vomiting at the same exact time), and everyone put in 1,000 Ariary for it. I won it. hahaha. That was my first illness. It was thoroughly unpleasant, but at least I had 15,000 Ariary coming to me after it was over. Stomach illnesses are so unlike me, and I'm not used to it at all! Hopefully the Giardia will be over soon, and that will be the end of my illnesses for awhile.

Training is going well. My host family is great. But I'm definitely ready for it to be over. We had site visit a few weeks ago... My site is called Fandrandava - it's near Fianarantsoa (the second largest city) - and I've been eager to get back there since the moment I left. It's such an amazing village. The people are wonderful, there are kids everywhere, and it basically has a little of everything. It's not too hot because it's in the highlands, but it's still very tropical. The city is not far away, so I will have some access to internet and city things. The rainforest is somewhat close, including a very cool National Park (awesome for lemur sightings!). And there is a train that goes from Fianar to the coast everyday, so I have pretty easy access to the beach if I want it. There are also 2 other PC volunteers within pretty close proximity to my site (one is from my group and one will be a 3rd year volunteer if she gets approved), and there are many other volunteers within the Fianar region. Fianar is the banking town we will all use, and also my market town, so I'll see other volunteers at least once or twice a month. Overall, it's the perfect area for me.

While I was on site visit, I worked in the clinic, and actually witnessed part of a childbirth. It was scary though because the baby almost died... but the doctor ended up saving her life. It was the ultimate miracle! Everyone in the village was very supportive of my presence there, and there are many opportunities for health work in that region. The biggest issues I saw were Malaria, malnutrition/lack of available food, and childbirth issues... there are much more issues to work on there, but those were the top three that I saw so far. The villagers have already requested that I work on a pretty wide variety of things, but one of the major projects includes creating a nutrition center in the village. There are many people who also want me to teach English to them, but that will end up being a secondary project, if anything. When we were in Fianar, the Medicine Inspector flat out told me and the other volunteer whose site is near mine that we were going to have to teach him English. He was a very "interesting" gentleman, and I think we're going to be staying away from him from now on. It's pretty likely that we'll all be doing something relating to AIDS/HIV too while we're in country. AIDS isn't as prevalent in Madagascar as it is in most of the rest of Africa, but all PC volunteers (no matter what sector) in all countries in Africa must include some HIV/AIDS work in their projects.

That's pretty much all my major news for now...