lmsweet24

long time, no write

Sat, 13 May 2006 02:26:18 GMT

Wow... it's been a long time...

I suppose that it was for lack of good news that I hesistated to write in here for so long, but the tide is changing... so here goes.

I assume many of you already know this, but it is with much regret and sadness that I inform all of you that I've been medically separated from Madagascar. It happened around mid-Feb after a gastro-intestinal illness that lasted for about 4 months. After much time spent at the Med Unit in Tana and on a MedEvac in South Africa, despite the extraordinary efforts of my PCMOs, my health continued to get worse and worse until the PCMOs were left with no choice but to send me home. Plain and simple, it sucked.

It was relieving to return home, but it essentially turned my life into this chaotic mass of uncertainty... Many Peace Corps Madagascar people, staff and volunteers alike, had encouraged me to appeal the medical separation once I became healthy again, but my first few weeks of being home were just spent trying to restore my health and strength. Among the other options flying around in my head were starting grad school, getting a "real world" job, starting a new service-related project, and/or moving to either NYC, DC, Boston, or California. Definitely too many options to consider.

In the end, I was offered an awesome job at an international NGO in DC, but couldn't get my Peace Corps Madagascar life out of my brain. So many options to choose from, but Madagascar was the only one that felt "right".... As one who more often follows my gut insticts and my heart moreso than my head, I began what became a very drawn-out and difficult "request" for reinstatement to my assignment in Madagascar. What a process!

About a week ago, I got a letter in the mail telling me that my appeal had been granted pending a final examination from my physician at home (which will be in June) stating that I've been symptom-free for 3 months straight and am able to take Malarone (a malaria prophylaxis) without any symtoms of intolerance. That's basically the only thing holding up my medical clearance right now, and then reinstatement to Madagascar will begin! Luckily, my doctor at home had decided I was safe to return to Madagascar back in March, so I imagine medical clearance won't be a problem at this point. More than anything, I'm just anxious to get back to Madagascar and continue my service.

I hear from the volunteers often and have got to say, that's really been pulling me through this whole process. They are an inspiration to me, and I miss being amongst them. I just got off the phone with one of the volunteers from my stage who had ETed early on in training, and it was awesome to just be able to chat with someone who really understands what life in Madagascar was like again. It's amazing sometimes the sheer distance that separates all of us, and yet it's like we're still this big unit that is the "Health 05-07" stage. We joke about how the Peace Corps gossip never fails to spread, but seriously, we still manage to hear about what's going on in each other's lives no matter how far away we are.

ANYWAY...

I've been working at my old job from back in the days of high school/college breaks for the time being just to save up some cash, but I finish working at the end of May/ beginning of June. My return to Madagascar is anticipated to happen around late June/July, so I'll keep ya updated. In the meantime, at least I have some great resources here for researching potential projects that I can work on in Madagascar.

It's kind of ironic - the last entry I wrote in here had to do with what I missed about home... now I miss my village and my little mud house and the wonderful people of Fandrandava just as much... words can't even describe what that last day in Madagscar felt like. It's funny though, here at home, oddly enough, I still live with that mentaility of just taking one day at a time, and live with much anticipation for the future, while trying very hard to appreciate the present and learn from the past. Easier said than done.

I'll let you know how it all goes... haha.

Missing home...

Sun, 08 Jan 2006 02:19:39 GMT

I saw this in a fellow PC MAD volunteer's livejournal while I was sitting here bored and cooped up at the Meva (Peace Corps house) in Tana. (She's a volunteer who I actually have yet to meet here)... but I thought it was a perfect description of things we PCV's tend to miss here in Madagascar:

Top 10 Things Missed
1. My favorite people (you know yourselves). I just don’t want to meet anymore new people, just my crew of favorites from my past.
(Leanna's sidenote - ok, so I like meeting new people here, but definitely miss all my old favorites from back home more.)
2. Cold. Cold air. Cold drinks. Coldness.
3. Being able to walk into a grocery store and seeing more than 3 kinds of vegetables and more than one fruit (that is in season). (Just being able to walk into a grocery store would be good enough for me at this point...)
4. A real bed. Boy do I miss that. Here, I sleep on sponge.
5. Men asking me out to dinner, instead of men asking me to treat them to rice and beans.
6. Smelling American men. All of them. Every single one of you smells so good I bet. You wear deodorant and cologne! There is one man in my community that wears cologne and I go out of my way to get near him, just to smell. (I haven't found any men who wear cologne except for the security guy from the embassy and Hery - one of my trainers, who swears he's NOT wearing cologne!)
7. Ovens. I made a ‘peace corps oven’ that cooks on charcoal…only problems is that it is made out of sand and the sand gets in my food. I’m use to it now I suppose. (I have yet to make my own 'peace corps oven', but basically it consists of a pot that you put sand and cans into... then you put the pan of stuff you want to bake on top of the cans... the heat comes from putting the pot onto your stove)
8. Refrigerators
9. Wearing my hair down. It is bloody hot and I simply can’t bear it down.
10. Water pumps in the house. I guess we call this a faucet. I really miss those. And you can choose, or mix, if you want warm or cold water. And, it is already filtered! And there are built in buckets (aka sinks) to wash the dishes!

(my own personal additions):
11. Showers. I was ok in the beginning, but now I just plain smell. I have a completely new perspective on the word "clean" - as in, "I took a shower in the hotel in Fianar 4 days ago... Maybe if I just put my hair up (or have the kids braid it) and wash my face, hands, and feet, I can go one more day without boiling some water and sticking my head into the shower bucket..."
12.Washing machines. The same concept of "clean" goes for clothing. Even the doctor in my clinic will wear the same dress pants for a week before washing them. (although the actual process of clothes washing is kind of relaxing and not so bad...)
13. Not being sick all the time. (But thank you Giardia for the immense amount of weight I've lost!)
14. Having clothes that fit. (Ok, losing weight is not fun ALL the time, especially when the simple act of standing up is all it takes for my pants to fall off - WITH the belt on).
15. Toilets. (Especially when sick) - at this point I would settle for a "kabone" (latrine) that I can actually use. Mine is broken and I have to use my "po" - basically a bucket with a lid - for all of my daily excretions...
16. Not having a sunburnt head - have you ever tried putting sunscreen in your HAIR?! haha! (and to go along with that - I miss not having the skin on my scalp peel off after the sunburn so it looks like I have insane chunks of dandruff)

BUT, Madagascar is still amazing...

I'm stuck in Tana for the week right now because I've been pretty sick for about 2 months now (give or take a few healthy days), and they're trying to figure out what's wrong with me once and for all! I'm bored and discouraged during these days in Tana... but trying hard to keep my spirit strong.

Besides that, Month 1 at site was wonderful - exactly what I expected Peace Corps life to be like - "the toughest job I'll ever love" (yep, that's precisely what it is), and man do I ever love it! It's pure amazing-ness everyday. People told me before I came here to not expect every moment to be monumental - but literally every moment of every day spent at my site manages to become MONUMENTAL in one way or another. It's exhausting - in a really good way. In the way that makes me feel like I've experienced more in a few months here than most people do in their whole lives. What a privilege. I love it.

I just don't love being sick...

Such are the sacrifices we make, I suppose...

Missing everyone immensely!

packages

Mon, 21 Nov 2005 07:57:25 GMT

Oh, some of you had asked what good things to send in packages would be, so here's a quick list of things I need so far - all mail, letters or packages, is ALWAYS welcome and makes my day! The volunteers tell me that packages have been pretty successful at getting to the Fianarantsoa address within a few weeks. So here's the list:

-Spices (ANY spices, ALL spices), or anything like Taco Seasoning, Sloppy Joe mix, anything that would add some flavor to rice or pasta.
-Magazines (ANY magazines, just something to read/get news or humor/celebrity gossip from)
-de-worming medication for my cat
-Multi-vitamins
-kitchen utensils
-french press for coffee
-short-wave radio
-Snacks
-Pictures (of you, of people/things/places in the States)
-batteries (AA or D)
-dish soap
-washclothes/dishclothes/dish towels
-Beef jerky (because there's no meat in my village)
-Deodorant
-Toilet paper (always needed, but I can also buy it here)
-Old Navy flip flops (the $3.50 ones, any color, but they're probably out of season now)
-Shave gel
-newspaper clippings/internet news stories
-anything else that is fun, entertaining, or will keep me healthy for the next 2 years!

Again, these are all just suggestions... everything sent will be thoroughly appreciated!

Much thanks for all mail sent!

My Fianarantsoa/permanent address is:
Leanna Sweet, PCV
PCV Peace Corps
BP 221
Fianarantsoa 301
Madagascar

Finally updating!

Mon, 21 Nov 2005 06:59:21 GMT

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...

SOUTH AFRICA!

Sat, 01 Oct 2005 20:27:25 GMT

Our group has officially arrived safely to Johannesburg, and we are doing wonderfully. It looks like we're having more internet access than we thought, but it's not likely that we'll have it after today. We watched the sunset as we departed from JFK in NYC yesterday and then watched the sunrise when we reached our first stop in Dakar, Senegal early this morning. The plane ride was good, but long. There was a little turbulence when we got ready to descend to Dakar, which freaked everyone out a little, but everything was fine. S

Johannesburg looks just like the US, so it's really a little unbelievable to all of us that we're actually in Africa right now. We're staying at a nice hotel for the evening, and then leave at 6am tomorrow for our flight to Madagascar. Everyone's been staying optimistic through various mishaps (which I think are basically inevitable for any trip), and even though we're pretty exhausted right now, spirits are high. We're looking forward to our big day tomorrow.

Tomorrow, we have orientation in Tana and then get transported to our village 2 hours away. They will determine in Tana which group we will be in for language training levels and things like that. THEN, we get to meet our HOST FAMILIES!! Tomorrow will be our first night staying with them, and I think everyone's a little apprehensive about it right now just because we don't really know what to expect of them. I'm excited though.

Until next time...

SHOTS!!

Fri, 30 Sep 2005 13:23:03 GMT

I just had all my shots and took my 1st malaria prophylaxis, and now we're all ready to depart! We get more shots when we get to Madagascar and have to take the malaria pills once a week for the rest of our 2 years. Now my arms are all full of holes, but I'm SO ready to go.

Oh, we have one 36-year-old guy (Mike) going with all of us 22-24 year-olds. It works though.

Feeling of the day (articulated so eloquently last night by Margot): "I feel like I want to laugh and cry and vomit all at the same time."

So, here's my group - let's see if I can remember all their names:
Mike
Margot
Abby
Kerri
Casey
Allie
Alison
Amanda
Natalie
Patrick
John
Danny
Chris
Jamie
Emily
Lisa
Anne
and Me

That's everyone!

Alright, peace out everybody. This is me signing off for the next few weeks.
I wish everyone well!

but wait, there's more!

Thu, 29 Sep 2005 22:35:31 GMT

So I forgot to say that I'm officially the first one of our group to get sick (but I was sick before I got here). Major strep throat going on here. My voice sounds LOVELY. hahaha! I also had a dream this morning that I was at home/mixed with a few familiar Fordham faces, and when I woke up I had no clue where I was... and then it was like WHOA, I'M GOING TO MADAGASCAR! It was like finding out for the first time...

Also - cool quote from staging:
"I’ve been terrified every day of my life but that's never stopped me from doing everything I wanted to do." — Georgia O'Keefe

Yep, that sums it up.

Staging is over!

Thu, 29 Sep 2005 22:05:26 GMT

I just finished my 2nd and last day of our staging (orientation) event in Philly, and there's definitely a lot running through my head right now. We leave at 6:45am tomorrow to head to the clinic, where we will receive all of our shots and pills, and then take a bus to NYC and get on our 16-hour plane trip to Johannesburg, South Africa. After a night in Johannesburg, we have another few hours on a plane to Madagascar!!!

I've gotta say, so far this has all been absolutely surreal and wonderful. Our group is so amazing. I feel very lucky to be a part of all of this right now. About 35 of us were in staging together - 18 of which are going to Madagascar and the rest to Malawi. Another group of about 40 are being trained for Camaroon in the next room. When I got on the plane from Syracuse, there happened to be 2 guys going to the same staging event in the row next to me - one going to Madagascar and the other to Camaroon - so that was awesome. Then, we ended up somehow running into another guy in the Philly airport, and then 2 more girls. It was the weirdest coincidence, but definitely really cool. We also saw Ted Nguyen in the Philly airport. (I have no clue who that is, but I'm told he's famous). hahaha.

I really can't believe we've only been here for a little over 24 hours. Everyone bonded almost immediately - it's shocking how much this reminds me of freshman year of college... I'm relieved though. Everyone going to Madagascar is young (mostly 22-24), but the Malawi group has some older people. It's going to be sad to say goodbye to the Malawians already... Tomorrow's our big day - I'm majorly pumped and anxious.

Big shock of the day - they just told us we can only bring one bag to our home during training, and the other has to be locked up till we get our permanent location after training. Everyone's rushing around to repack their luggage so they have only the most important things. They just told us it was going to be really cold during training too, and none of us packed warm clothing - looks like we're going to be wearing the same 2-3 outfits over and over again for all of training. We also found out that our home during training is not actually in Antananarivo (Tana)- it's in a rural village 2 hours away, but we will have access to Tana and my address is still the same. They say we won't have internet access for at least 3 weeks, so this is going to be the only update for awhile. SEND LETTERS!!!

Anyway, I'm basically in my glory right now. I hope the feeling lasts.