Tratry ny toana vaovao!

Wow, 2012 flew by. I am officially in my 19^th month of Peace Corps service and the countdown has started – 6.5 months left in country! Thinking about what little time is left has definitely lit a fire under my butt and I have so much I want to accomplish before I leave. But first, this past year was packed so full of amazing experiences that, in light of my dismal blogging performance in 2011, here is a 2011 highlights reel. (And from now on, I promise to update more frequently and with shorter posts!).

January

Spent a crazy New Years 2012 in Diego with a big group of my stage mates and spent time catching up friends who live too far away. Conducted my Community Diagnostic Survey in Betsiaka and learned a ton about my village. Hit a language plateau.

Women creating a Seasonal Calendar for Betsiaka

February

Struggles with the rainy season! Spent lots of time with family in Betsiaka. Started working on a water project. Started my English club! Learned how to cook coconut rice. Broke at least 3 pairs of flip flops. Traveled to Diego for our regional VAC meeting and danced every night.

Road troubles

March

Finally resigned myself to the fact that shoes are more trouble than help in the mud and stopped wearing shoes in my village. More struggles with brousses. Celebrated International Women’s Day in Diego. Got fed up with the rats. In response, got a cat – Max! Celebrated birthdays in Ambanja and met new Italian friends.

Max, the cat!

April

Anna visits!! Take a tour of the North, head down to Fianarantsoa and the nearby national park, Ranomafana, get stuck in Antsirabe and almost miss our flight to… South Africa! Spent 10 days road tripping/backpacking down the southeast coast. Met awesome people from all over the world, climbed Table Mountain, went surfing, ate frozen yogurt (!!!), wore a sweatshirt at night, ate too much at the Cape Town food festival, stayed for two nights at an isolated hippie compound with only the crazy proprietor for company (although great company he was… cooking breakfast every morning, giving us mud masks, waking us up with coffee in bed to see the sunrise, elaborate dinners with delicious wine…all on “dolphin time”), met Anna’s friends from school, and spent some much needed time with my little sister!

Anna and I in wine country, South Africa

Beach at the Kraal

May

Turned 24. Cooked a birthday dinner for all my friends and family in Betsiaka. Celebrated with friends in Ambanja. Fell in love. Welcomed three new environment volunteers to the North. Continued struggling to find work in Betsiaka. Max runs away. Stopped keeping kosher (Pagliacci pepperoni pizza, I’m looking at you).

Andilana Beach, Nosy Be

Enlisting children to help me cook my birthday dinner

June

Finally enjoyed some cooler weather (aka used a sheet for a couple of nights). Went to a music festival in Nosy Be and heard all the big Malagasy groups play. Farmed rice with my neighbors in Betsiaka. Was finally able to run on the road again without sinking to my knees in mud! Celebrated Madagascar’s Independence Day with a Gasy parade! Started researching grad schools.

Dance party in Betsiaka 

Summer in Betsiaka

July

Celebrated Independence Day with Malagasy friends at the beach.  Traveled to Diego for the national VAC meeting and got elected new VAC representative for the North. Followed the Africa Cup of Nations in with my family in Betsiaka. Tripped over the cord providing electricity to the 300+ people watching the final in the mayor’s compound in Ambanja and disconnected the TV… oops! Killed my first duck. Participated in a Wash U reunion in Mada – John, Jason, and I welcomed another friend, Nick, and we traveled around the north together. So crazy!

Wash U Crew

Before

After

August

Reluctantly said goodbye to Health/Education 2011 friends. Went to lots of veloma (goodbye) parties. Took photographs of kids for a church community event in Ambanja. Made lasagna! Got a flu vaccination. Got very sick for three weeks and spent most of my energy trying to convince the doctors I did not have malaria, but something else. Consider asking to change sites. Do not want to leave my family and friends but am worried about the isolation during the next rainy season and the lack of work.

Goodbye dinner in Banjo

September

Mom and Dad visit!!! Introduce my American and Gasy families. Got emotional at the meeting as they all exchange presents and hugs. Do the grand tour of the North. Head down to Tolear and Isalo National Park. Spend an amazing four nights on the paradise of Isle St. Marie, where Luca joins us. Figure out how to have a pretty fluent conversation between me, Luca, and my parents. Am impressed at Mom and Dad’s secret French skills. Eat the hands down best pizza in the town on St. Marie – thanks Mama Santo! Roadtrip from Tamatave to Tana. Stop at Andasibe National Park and feed bananas to lemurs. Am sad to see my family go. Welcome new education volunteers to the north and am so lucky to get a new friend, Nicole, in Ambanja.

Lemurs in Andasibe

Ambovoka waterfall

mom, dad, anadahy, anabavy

Tsingy at Ankarana National Park

October

Stayed in Tana for a week for my Mid-Service Conference (MSC). Have a blast catching up with my stage. Am blown away I have been in country for over a year. Pierce my eyebrow! Acquire two guinea pigs, Stella and Henry. Decide with Luca to go visit his family for Christmas/New Years! Am anxious to spend another year with no work and decide to request a site transfer. Am given the choice of one site near Ambanja and two other sites in a different region on the East Coast. Decide to move to Djangoa, a small village 22k south of Ambanja where my friend Katie spent her last two years. Prepare to move and say goodbye to Betsiaka. Djangoa says there is no kabone or ladosy but they will build one before I get back in November. Decide to apply to grad school in business/public administration and law.

Pierced my eyebrow!

Stage Girls Night Out in Tana

Stella, RIP

November

Travel to Nosy Be for my first VAC meeting as the representative. Decide to do a project with everyone in the region. Meet new volunteers from the Black Hole. Implement a new system of communication in the North (thanks google!) to make collaboration easier. Move in to Djangoa. Drive down to Tana with Lova in the Peace Corps car for National VAC. Return to Djangoa and realize nothing has been done on my kabone or ladosy. While I’m waging a war to get this accomplished (two months later), start showering on my porch at night and using a kabone in someone else’s house. Host Nicole’s family for Thanksgiving and celebrate with a turkey, sweet potato casserole, greenbeans, mashed potatoes, and (of course), rice at Mama’s house. Teach our Italian and Malagasy friends the Thanksgiving traditions. Become friends with Fred, the doctor’s son in Djangoa, and my new best friend. Stella dies and Luca disowns Henry so he moves in with the nuns across the street (probably only for a short stint before he becomes dinner).

Thanksgiving at Ankify

Fred: "look, I am you!"

New house: the hotbox

Mama and Felicite

December

Meet with Community Healthworkers in Djangoa and decide to work together starting in February by doing trainings once a month in the far fokontanies. Travel to Italy!!! Meet Luca’s family. See Pinerolo, Torino, Verona, Venice, and Padova. Get a silly face infection after taking out my eyebrow ring and spend the last week in Italy with a swollen purple cheek. Eat a ton of pasta and salami. Celebrate a quiet New Years in Pinerolo with a dinner party and am home in bed by one a.m.

Italian sunset

Venice

Atop San Michele

San Michele

Outdoor market in Verona

So 2013, bring it on!!

Have lots of awesome work projects coming up in the next few weeks/months and will update this weekend with more news.

Sorry for the long hiatus. I miss you all very much and will see you in America late this summer.