Everything is going fabulous. In the beginning of December my whole Stage went back to the Peace Corps Training Site for Inter-Service Training (IST)

Prior to leaving my small town to head north, I was really getting along with my students. I didn’t want to leave them, and that surprised me. Who’s going to teach them when I’m gone? I thought most of my enjoyment in Madagascar would be outside of class and the teaching part would be the “work”. It turns out that I’m really enjoying the teaching and when I’m away from it, I miss it.

The Stage spent a couple of days in the capital before going to IST. I was more happy to see them than I expected. It was like seeing family again. Like family, you may not have the “friendship” bond with all of them, but with all of them, nonetheless, you have a strong bond. This training was more relaxed than our initial training. A Peace Corps director asked me to put together a video that they could show to new invitees. Also, I bonded with some fellow Peace Corps Volunteers that I wasn’t close to before. And we had some killer bonfires. The bonfire pit was on the edge of the water surrounded by hills covered by trees. My friend Edgar, from Dallas, had been interviewing everyone with a Gopro. The interviews had great locations, like one on a canoe. I chose to have my interview in a tree. We were like 25 feet above the ground. After the training was over we spent a couple of nights in Antananarivo again, before departing for our sites. Some people didn’t go back to their sites immediately but went on vacation. I went home and taught for a week before the official 2 week Christmas vacation.

I had to correct 200 tests, and review them with the students. I spent the 1st few days of vacation in Fianarantsoa, the big town located one hour south of mine. One night I wandered the dark streets, heard music in the distance and walked towards it. It was a little carnaval with rides and booths. I wished I was with a girl. We could’ve had a good time here. I got something to eat. I reluctantly played some carny games cause I wanted to but wasn’t in the mood to play. New Years Eve I spent with my host family at my site, Alakamisy. Often I compare my life here to my life in Miami Beach. Here in my small town I spend the nights alone in my apartment working on films, studying, writing, exercising, preparing lessons, and meditating. The town goes dark around 8pm. Not much to do or distract you. But after my hectic Miami years, I needed this.

I made a music video that show of Steph, Kamaka, and Juan performing their song “Volunteer” at one of our bonfires. In it I included video clips of our time at IST.