Stressful Livin’

I had a terrible day, got angry because I wasn’t invited to a birthday party of someone who is in my Stage(the group I arrived to Madagascar with) Someone I thought would have invited me. It’s ridiculous, I know. It’s a long story but it was a B.S. reason to get mad and lose my cool. I’m realizing that now more than before, I’m not in control of my emotions. Or maybe I just notice my angry episodes more because I read so much about this type of stuff. I get mad when I want to remain cool. For example, this town is difficult to live in and it drives me bananas sometimes and I am for the first time telling people in town this truth. Up until now I’d tell them all that yeah, I’m comfortable here, which was party B.S. To conclude: I’ve got like 3 months left to go in country and many days I can’t wait for the day to arrive. And other times, I know I’ll miss this place and will want to go back to it, if for only a day. That’s life. Everything looks better in the rearview mirror.

Regional Trip to the Coast

Last few weeks have been busy as a bee. First I had the annual Regional VAC meeting in the town of Mananjary. On the day we departed, we were told to be at the bus station at 7am but we didn’t leave until 11:30, so our group had a few beers in the meantime. You can imagine our state at departure time. The ride down was a party, but it was also like 8 hours so, just like on those long rides to Vegas, like in “Swingers”,  we lost a little steam in route. During the weekend in Mananjary, we drank, shopped, went to the beach, and sang Karaoke.

 

Trip to Antsirabe

The following week I went to Antsirabe, a big town north of here, to work on a video with a Stage-mate, Edgar. I had filmed an event he organized and now I’ve been editing it. Editing is difficult especially when doing it alone, so I need some help from Edgar. While in Antsirabe I stayed at Hostel Lovasoa. It’s a wonderful place, clean and organized. A lot of other Volunteers were there, too, for their Regional VAC meetings. Tanner, a Volunteer from Georgia, I hadn’t seen since we went to St Maria Island. I made a video about it and he was the Star. A real class act. While at the Hostel, Me and Edgar went into an empty room to record his voice-over. I turned the light off because it made a humming sound. I put a comforter over Edgar to get a better recording as I crouched next to him with the sound recorder in my hands pointing at his mouth. Some other Volunteers opened the door suddenly and were perplexed at what we were doing in the dark room all alone. Lol.

On to the Capital

After that rollicking couple days with other Volunteers, I hopped on a bus north to Antananarivo to take the Foreign Service Officer Test (FSOT). The test went well. During our few days there, me and 2 other volunteers stayed in the home of a Foreign Service officer working at the American Embassy. This generous lady had an American style home with all the bells and whistles. She had a TV, wifi, refrigerator, running water, and proper cooking stuff, like a microwave a a cutting table in the middle of the kitchen. I was flabbergasted. We had some wonderful conversations around the dinner table with our host and we had the opportunity to pepper her with questions about the Foreign Service. It was so much fun. I played chess with Jesus, a fellow education Volunteer, that I met when we went to Nosy Be back in October. He got the best of me and I want revenge. Lol.

The Start of Teacher Strike

For the last week the public school teachers have been on strike. So no work. I’ve been taking advantage of this break to get my film projects along the path to completion. Currently, I’m making a video about the Malaria Bikeride and a traveling theater company here in Madagascar, and about a beehive project that an agriculture volunteer in the region is starting.

Conclusion

So even though I’m stressed, I’m grateful because I’m traveling and spending time with good people who are also my friends.