Hey, y'all! It's taken me a day to calm down enough to write...read on...
The Peace Corps assigned a specific time with two phone numbers for someone(s) to call each Peace Corps volunteer. HOORAY! I got to call Erin this morning at 8:30 (4:30 P.M. Malagasy time). Y’all, there’s so MUCH to share!
Erin sounded great! As usual, she loves and misses us. She’s feeling fine despite a little cold. (All the PCV’s have a little cold.)
Erin went to Madagascar with no expectations…the Peace Corps strongly suggested to have no expectations. What Erin is so pleasantly amazed by is the people and their dealing with poverty. These people live in poverty far below the poverty found in the US…far beyond anything we can imagine! Yet, these people are happy – happy to love, happy to share, happy to live – what they value is each other! (For all their lives, I’ve told Erin and Eric [her brother] that “happiness is wanting what you have, not having what you want”. These people live this every day – happy to have one another.)
Erin loves her “host” family! Here’s what she knows about the family with whom she lives: (I hope you find the humor in this…)
Her “Mom” is about 58 yrs. old and is a widow.
Her 33 yrs. old “sister” has 3 children living in the home – 2 daughters (15 and 11) and a son (6).
Her 16 yrs. old “sister” speaks a tiny bit of English and is Erin’s new best friend!
Her 26 yrs. old “brother” and his 22 yrs. old wife live in the home with their 2 yrs. old and 4 yrs. old. (These two are Erin’s favorite children; however, she “hasn’t figured out if they are male or female”!!!)
Erin also has not figured out who all the other 6 people in the home are though she knows her “Mom” has 8 children.
Erin is the only PCV in her village. The other 18 PCV’s live in a nearby village with smaller families. Their village is about 10-25 minutes walk away. They are all together at the training center for most of the day. Erin’s village is at a higher elevation and she says the sunsets and the starry sky are among her favorites. They eat rice 3 times a day. (Yuck!) The evenings are cold – around 50 degrees (O.K., Yankees that is cold by southern standards!) and the days warm up to the mid-80’s. (As we have just finished our summer, they are now ending their winter.) The daily living is simple and laid back. Erin has grown accustomed to the dawn to dusk life, no electricity, no water (and all that entails) and day to day living.
One of the strangest things the PCV’s have been adapting to is the reality that they are SUCH a novelty. They are about the only source of entertainment. Remember, the children have no toys, no T.V.’s, no CD players or Ipods, etc. Actually, the adults have none of the things we use all the time – phones, computer, etc. The people want to be near the PCV’s – even just to observe. Erin sat down to write a letter and she realized that her family had encircled her and watched her writing. Wherever she goes, they go – they watch, they wait – they’re curious!
Now, for the future…
When Erin’s training is completed (around Dec.5), she’s going to be placed in a village that has never had a PCV. She will be setting up the program for which she has been trained rather than stepping into an established program. This is very exciting and challenging! She’s going to be farther away than the others. She had been prepared for the PCV’s to meet once every three months at the Peace Corps House in the capital, Antananarivo (Tana for short). Instead, she’ll get to go to their meetings only 3 times during the entire 2 years. Her placement is called a “fly site”. There’s a mountain range to the north of Tana that is not passable by anything but an airplane, so she will fly from Tana to Diego and will catch a bus (or something) to get to her village. This area is in between the mountains and the coast and should be very beautiful (I hope). This area is quite different from the rest of Madagascar since it is isolated due to the impassable mountains. The language is not Malagasy so Erin is now learning Sakalava-north. She has been given her own instructor since she’s the only one learning it. Franka, Erin’s instructor, teaches her about the culture, too. The people are more “African” rather than the African/Asia Pacific blend of most of the Malagasy people. Their culture differs, too, though Erin had no explanation as to how, yet. She said that Franka is “so cute”. Erin will be the only westerner there. The village has about 4000 people. Erin will live behind the community health center – her job – with no electricity, no water/plumbing, no cell phone service, no computer access, etc. Luckily, she will have to go to Diego – likely, once a month, so she’ll go to the Peace Corps House there – HOORAY!
When I get her December (new) address, I will share it with y’all. Please keep writing those letters to Erin – they mean so much to her!!!
Erin is being flown to her placement in 3 weeks so she can write a paper/report for the Peace Corps – something about explaining the needs. (Something like that – my notes were getting messy by this time.) Then she returns to her “host” family to complete training.
The Peace Corps is taking all the PCV’s on a field trip next week. They are going to see the lemurs.
I’m hoping that I may hear from Erin when she’s on her field trip next week and maybe when she goes on her site trip in 3 weeks. If so, I’ll do this blogging thing again. (I'll keep using Malagasy titles until I find Sakalava-north...I haven't been able to find it yet...any suggestions...)
I think I’ve covered just about everything. Y’all, please keep writing letters to Erin. She received some from y’all and she cherishes them! (I love the e-mails some have sent and I copy them to pass on to Erin. Thank you!) Also, please keep Erin in your prayers. Y’all take care!
P.S. Erin, “how wonderful life is with you in the world!” I love you and I’m so proud of you!
