Septième Semaine

So this week is a little crazy. It’s our last week in Fort Dauphin, officially, and at the same time we are working hard to get our stuff together for one major paper as well as plan our Independent Study Projects (ISP) which will take place during all of April, once we get back from a lengthy traveling session. We are given more free time than usual to do so, mostly to get interviews and writing done for our big paper.
On Monday, we had a long day with debriefing of the village stay as well as briefing for the week and month ahead. On my way home, after stopping at the post office and the little store to buy some jam, I was walking on my street behind three men in gray and red uniforms. The emblem on their arms said “Omega” which my homestay aunt, Omega, explained to me is the security for QMM. I thought “Hmm, I feel pretty safe walking behind these guys”. One of them turned to me and asked “Ca va?” so I was feeling even better about the situation until out of nowhere he just blatantly asks me for my phone number. (Keep in mind everything is in French) So I laughed and said “No, I don’t think that’s necessary.” And he asked “why not?” so I replied “because I do not know you…” and he went on to say something about how I would know him if he had my number and we could talk. This guy was probably in his early 30s and I was not looking cute with my huge backpack and frumpy clothes. So it was pretty sketchy. I just kept saying “Non, merci” until he said okay and backed off. Oh, the troubles of being a vazaha in paradise.
Also, everyone in my neighborhood now knows my name. Since I am the only vazaha within the three blocks, I guess word spread from the children in my family and one day instead of “bonjour vazah!”, I was getting called “Caren!!” by all the children. It was a little bizarre. I feel slightly like a celebrity though. I wonder if they will still remember when I come back in April.
Tuesday was our “free” day to work on our Environmental Issue study and, for me, get some things together for ISP since I plan to come back to Fort Dauphin. I guess I should give some background on my ideas for the project(s) to clarify how I’m spending my time: the way the people cook here is on coal fires, and the charcoal is made from wood (certain types) and is one of three causes of deforestation in the country. For my upcoming paper on “environmental issues in Madagascar” I am researching the use of charcoal and its impact on the local forests in the three areas we are seeing (the village in Faux Cap, Fort Dauphin, and Toliar) In the Fort Dauphin area, there is a huge mining project going on for titanium dioxide run by Qit Madagascar Minerals (QMM) and their project, while it involves completely wiping clean three of the local forests, includes restoration of the forests as well as cooperation with the needs of local people. Part of this idea is to include in the restoration a more sustainable, fast-growing crop of charcoal-able tree species, like Eucalyptus. This isn’t preferred by the local people because those types of wood are not the best for charcoal, but it is a compromise. For my ISP, I plan to look at what impact QMM currently has on the local charcoal industry in Fort Dauphin (having bought out the forests) and the future of the charcoal industry because of it. I’d like to research what incentives would be most effective in increasing demand of sustainable charcoal sources as opposed to those that are currently preferred and not sustainable, that Fort Dauphin would have to get from other places.
So Tuesday was a crazy day for me. I had a meeting with our professor at 9 to briefly talk about my ISP so I walked the hour there to do that and it ended up just being a kick in the butt to get stuff done this week because we won’t be coming back until ISP! He gave me two contacts that I attempted to call but had no luck so I tanned on the beach for about an hour and then decided to head off and do some work. I emailed both contacts instead of calling. One of them only speaks French. I’m pretty used to contacting professionals from my Energy Fellows job but it was pretty exciting to do it in different languages! Also, in Madagascar, there are less time constraints. So it’s possible (and easier) to just show up somewhere to talk to someone than to try to schedule an appointment. So after I sent off those emails, I went to the local community center to talk to someone we had previously met who works with QMM named Philo. He speaks English and he invited me to go with him to Mandena, the current mining site, to meet a man who focuses on environmental issues at QMM. After lunch with my homestay family and interviewing my French speaking aunt about their use and views on charcoal, I went on a little trip with him there and had a good conversation with the other guy, who then got me in touch with someone who works with the Forest Ministry here and manages a charcoal plan (or local energy in general). I met him back at the community center and by the time he finished going on in French about the whole charcoal system in Fort Dauphin, it was already 6:00! But I was pretty proud of all my accomplishments that day. I got a ton of information and met a lot of important contacts for my ISP. Also, the man I was with most of the day who works for QMM told me that they have the Rhode Island Red here! They pronounce the “s” so now I know if someone asks me where I’m from and I say “Rhode Izland”, they will recognize it!
Wednesday we had a nice short school day and Becca and I went to the beach afterwards. Obviously we were eventually harassed by some local boys because that’s just what happens. I was presented with a live starfish and this boy (who must have been like 16) gives me a puppy dog look and says “Caren. I love you.” I literally just laughed. I couldn’t help it. I actually laughed in his face. Then proceeded to get up and leave. On the way out of there, another rasta guy started walking next to me and trying to talk but I was not in the mood. Finally I was walking alone and a car pulls up next to me and the guy’s hanging out the window asking me if I need a ride in Malagasy. In just one walk home after that I got two kissy noises, a whistle, and at least three “hello baby” or “belle vazah, vovo?” all from different men/boys. I don’t know if there was something in the water that day or if I was just not informed that it’s mating season, but I was a little agitated by the time I decided to grab a cap for the rest of my way home. I didn’t even look good that day!
Thursday was great because I had realized that I didn’t really have more work to do in Fort Dauphin for my paper and my French groups didn’t have to go into school because our teachers weren’t there to have one-on-one assessments. So we really were just invited to school for our free lunch and that’s it. Obviously I decided to spend the day at the beach. I woke up later than usual and had a nice slow breakfast while the whole household was bustling around getting my 20 year old aunt, Omega, ready to head to Tulear for school. It was just like watching any American student on their day of returning back to school; chaos and lots of suitcases. I said goodbye to her but I will likely be able to meet up with her when our group heads there next week! I was at the beach from about 9:30 to 12:30 and this guy started talking to me and Ally and I told him Austin was my fiancé and showed him the picture of him so he would lay off a little. He still didn’t leave but it may have prevented an uncomfortable situation. A little later, more of us SIT girls were there and another creepy Malagasy guy and a 14 year old kid joined in. They were just sitting around us being awkward as usual and then the 14 year old just stroked Larissa’s leg while she was laying out! She completely flipped out on them Jersey style and it was fantastic. We finally got them to leave shortly after that because it was obvious we were all pissed off. That day was also ironically “women’s appreciation day”. There was a big celebration in town with everyone selling street food in front of town hall and all women had the day off of work. It was pretty cool aside from the fact that it could be the reason for the men being all crazy the past couple days. I hope it went better in the US. I spent the afternoon at Kaleta doing some research from my readings and my ipod for my paper. I had lent my computer to my homestay aunt, Nadia, because she recently lost her job and needed to use the internet to look for another one and I technically didn’t need it. I think my ipod might actually have a better internet connection than my laptop, actually.
Friday was another slow and simple day. I took a bunch of stuff to put in storage at school that I won’t need for our voyages in the next three weeks before ISP. It’s really convenient that I’m going to be in Fort Dauphin for ISP. We had our two language assessments (basically, our language courses are over) which was just a five minute one-on-one conversation with a teacher in Malagasy and then in French. They were the most casual finals we’ve ever had. We had a half day so basically 2/3 of our group went to that French restaurant with the delicious pizza and followed it with some sweet snacks and internet time, of course. In a convenience store at the gas station nearby, I found the most delicious snack in the country. It’s not from Madagascar because the package is mostly in Portugese. The company is based in Brazil. They’re called TEENS and they are tiny chocolate cereal type squares that are filled with a little coconut. DAMN. I gotta eat the whole bag once I open them. They would be an absolutely amazing cereal, if cold regular milk was a thing here. Sorry, folks, but there’s gonna be no room in my suitcase for souvenirs. I’ll be filling it entirely with these snacks and they are ALL FOR ME. I’m actually going to research how to get them in the US. That’s closer to Brazil than here so it must be possible, right?
http://www.marilanteens.com.br/ - I’m still trying to put them down long enough to type this.
So today, Saturday, is Kaitlin Luciano’s birthday. My beautiful and wonderful roommate who is studying abroad in Italy right now, but is lucky enough to have spring break AND a visit from her mother there for her 21st birthday. I don’t know how we are doing this without each other. If we were at home, we would be stressfully planning a big birthday event where she would probably cry but everyone would be getting drunk and having a great time and it would feel like the semester was ending soon. This year, it’s not even the half way point and we are so far apart from each other and from the rest of our friends at URI. It makes the experience that much more exciting, I suppose, but it hits me hard today when I think about what it would be like under normal circumstances. Anyway, shout out to her: Happy Birthday!! Have the most fun ever because you are in FREAKING ITALY and you better not cry this year!! Also, I’m sorry for posting online that you always cry on your birthday. <3
Now it is time to officially depart from Fort Dauphin, some of us for the semester, and head out for a three week long adventure as we make our way west and then north back to Tana. We will be starting in Tulear and then progressively making our way up to Tana through various protected areas, forests, and villages. I will still have internet at least once a week so don’t worry about staying up to date. This might be one of the most interesting parts of the trip after the village stay and the initial week in the country. After that, it will be April already!! Which not only means it’s time for ISP and I will be stationary for a whole four weeks, working completely independently on my one area of study interest, but it also means that the program is almost over!! Maybe I’m getting ahead of myself but according to my calendar that I study all too closely, there are just two more hurdles before homecoming.