Life is like laying under a shady tree with cows grazing in the distance. Yet, sometimes mosquitos lurk. The projector I ordered arrived in country and it was stuck in the capital awaiting payment of duty and taxes. I jumped on the first bus heading north for an 11 hour ride up to  Antananarivo to pick up my package from the UPS office, expecting the process to be easy. On the ride up I met a lady, Rina, who spoke good English and lives in Antananarivo. At the UPS office they made a list of all the things I had to pay for: about 180 dollars, a little more than what I get paid in a month. Also, they told me that me and my brother (he sent the package) had to open a Malagasy bank account. Also that he would need to fax a copy of his passport along with other documentation. I was shell-shocked. I had enough and I politely told them, “I no longer want the package.” Rina implored me to not give up. I said to the UPS workers, “Many Peace Corps volunteers have things sent to them and there’s never a problem. Why is mine a problem?” Turns out since it wasn’t labeled a “gift” like a care package, they thought I was trying to make money off the projector. Then they said we could go to the airport and try to negotiate with customs. We took a taxi across town to the airport and talked to a few officials and they also made a list of things that I had to pay for, taxes, fees, whatever. We finally got them to go get the package but by then the cashier had already left for the day. Meanwhile, I had to be at work the next day and since I’d have to take an 11 hour bus ride south I had to leave ASAP. I gave a Rina all the money required to get the package out of customs, plus taxi money, plus the cash to send it on a bus south to Fianarantsoa. I left and two days later I was able to pick it up. Thank you Rina! It is a quality projector.

I showed my first movie with a projector in the English Club. I purchased some thick black material to cover up the windows properly because it was daytim. Now the imaged is bright and clear. The students loved it.One of the movies shown included images in which the viewer flies through the air through a brightly lite city. We were all enthralled, especially since the image was so big. I compare the sensation to the Imax effect.