Onzième Semaine

Well, I am safe and sound back in Fort Dauphin working on my Independent Study Project. It has not been very nice weather this week, unfortunately, but I guess that just gives me more reason to focus on my project rather than laying on the beach. (Even though the rain is really irritating me and making me more depressed) I have been doing a lot actually! Let me tell you a little bit about my project:
I am conducting research around the city to assess trends and variations within the charcoal market. Because almost everything in Madagascar is sold in the informal sector, “market prices” are interesting to observe. In the charcoal market, there is very much a ladder style production. The people who make it out in the forest will sell it to people who take it into town (sometimes bike boys with just a couple sacks or sometimes large vendors by the truck). These people will either sell it in town to consumers or they will sell it to a smaller vendor who will either sell it themselves or sell it to an even smaller vendor… etcetera. As the charcoal moves through town, the prices change based on transport. There are different types of wood that become charcoal as well and some are preferred over others which affects prices. So essentially my project is to go around town every day and interview different charcoal vendors about what type of wood they are selling, where it is coming from, how much they pay for it, how much they sell it for, and the quantity that they sell it on a daily basis. In the end I will use this information to compare the trends across all variables to determine what has the biggest impact on price. With this I should hopefully be able to narrow some thoughts about incentives towards conservation of charcoal wood and/or sustainable options.
That is probably the broadest and most laymen’s terms I can use but the important thing is that the next few weeks will be mainly composed of myself and my host aunt (who is also my project translator) walking around town all day talking to charcoal vendors, and plugging in/analyzing data. I’m very excited that Nadia is my translator because it is so much more fun having someone I know and can easily communicate with around me all the time. It’s also great for my studies because I know I will get more accurate information if I’m translating from English since my French is not the best. Overall, it means that she is staying in town so I will always have a friend during ISP! Also, my advisor is a young Irish guy who lives in town and I run into him all the time which is great because he can always give me feedback and advice throughout the project and I don’t have to worry about trying to contact him. Basically, everything is going great so far with that.
The only problem right now is that Nadia and I are sort of in charge of taking care of the house and the kids. This week, my hostmother and hostgrandma were fasting from Wednesday at lunch to Saturday at dinner for Easter. It was a little scary but it turned out not as bad as I thought. They have been at church basically all the time and have much less energy obviously so it has been Nadia’s responsibility (and mine) to buy food and bring it home to cook for the kids and clean up the house while still trying to be out all day doing my work for ISP. It’s a struggle but we made it work. Things will only get easier from here. In a way it’s making me feel more like this is home because I have real responsibilities, plus it is making time go by so fast because I’m always so busy!
I went to church with the family on Saturday to observe Easter. This launched an awkward dinner discussion about religion and my hostmother wanting to baptize me… I will just say it was awkward but I made my way out of it. I guess I didn’t realize that staying here longer would mean being more involved in family activity (which for the most part is CHURCH). I’m doing my best to respect it but as an American, it’s sometimes stressful.
Also, the people here are even crazier than before!! I don’t know why but nowadays when I walk down the street alone it’s like I’m the freak vazah that EVERYONE has to talk about loudly, laugh at, point at, approach and follow. People will start walking next to me and talking and then laughing because I don’t understand them. Sometimes I will walk by someone and they will just touch my arm, as if to check that I’m real. There were 22 of us around here for four weeks! How are the people not used to us? It’s not like I’m the only one in town either… I guess just the only one in my homestay area. It’s really getting to me and I don’t know how much more I can take before I freak out on someone (which could potentially affect my research because people might stop talking to me so casually during interviews). I guess I will just do my best and write up my paper for the next couple weeks. Hopefully the weather will get nicer and I can be at the beach. At least I can be thankful that I have not been sick at all or hurt and I have food and a roof to shield me from the rain.