Thick Skin and Many Tears.

I want to ask you an honest question. How many of you have seen poverty and turned your back to it? I ask because I live in a country that has a 92% poverty level. Poverty here is everywhere you go and there is no turning your back, no matter how hard you try.

Last week my family and I waited at a local gas station to meet up with some friends and follow them to our destination. While we waited, my family witnessed first hand a child about my daughter Emma's age, carry her infant brother on her back and beg for money or anything that could be given her. We are talking about an 7-9 year old girl who had nothing and had to beg. We were told to not give money for security reasons and because they will continue to bother you for more.  This is where my heart literally breaks and I cry and cry. I have nothing to give her. I have to turn my back to this child and hide my face. 

Seriously, here my family sits in a car with clean clothes, shoes, a full belly, and new iPhones. We have everything we would want, yet a child stands by my window with nothing but tattered clothes, no shoes, and was probably very hungry. 92% of the Malagasy people live in some type of poverty. Everyone I talk to says that after awhile you become accustomed to seeing this and you grow a thick skin. I'm not sure that I will be able to do this. I know that the world has poverty everywhere, even in the United States. All I ask is for you to imagine living in poverty? I dare you to try for one day to imagine where you will sleep or what meal you will eat. Maybe this will help us to learn to give more than we expect to receive. 

Here is a view from our balcony.

Ahhh, the life in Madagascar!

Welcome to Antananarivo, Madagascar!

Let us take a step back in time and into our lives via this awesome car tour! Lol! 

A few days ago we decided to take a quick tour by car of part of the city. Here is what we discovered. 

Madagascar is a very poor country and has many open markets where vendors sell their goods: fruit, vegetables, meat, clothing, and all types of things. 

Here's a clothing stand. There are some shops as well, but most of the Malagasy people shop at the markets since they can barter for cheaper prices.  

 

Here is a picture of a rice and grain stand. Rice is grown locally here and dried on the side of the street where cars and people walk. It's surprising to see first hand! 

This is one of many rice fields. They are all over!!! The water is polluted and is undrinkable. The Malagasy people have to collect their drinking water from the local wells in the city. They do not have running water in most of their homes. We cannot drink our tap water either. We have to drink bottled water or from our water distiller. 

This is my favorite! An open air meat stand. Needless to say, we buy our meat from the local supermarket. It is very expensive, but at least  it is safe to eat.

Many people carry things on their heads. How many of you can do this well? 

The buildings and roads are very old and are in bad shape. Sidewalks do not exist and everyone walks in the streets. 

Another example of buildings here. 

Many of the cars are very old! 

 

Not everyone is rich enough to own a car. 

Many of the Malagasy ride on these type of buses. It is very cheap for them, yet many, many people squeeze into them. 

It's not to odd to see Zebú on the side of the road like this. 

The zebú is related to the cow. This is where our steak and ground beef comes from. 

These are some more city views. 

A local Sunday soccer match. Soccer is very popular here as well! 

There is so much to see here, yet we will need to take a malaria pill before we visit outside of the city. This should be fun! More to come soon. I miss you all!! 😘😘

The long, long, long, (did I mention long) flight to Madagascar!!!!

The wise Dr. Seuss once said, "Oh, the places you will go!" Never, in my wildest dreams did I think Madagascar would be one of those places. 

Our traveling day started early with family goodbyes. (I'm realizing that I have never  became fully comfortable with this emotion, but it's become easier.) then we all piled into a can that took us to Logan Airport in Boston. Greg and I said our goodbyes, as I would travel with the Turdlings alone. All I can say is ugh!!!! 

Our first flight Boston to Frankfurt, Germany was a looooong 7 1/2 hour trip.   The kids slept the last two hours of it and I gave them Benadryl!! The inflight entertainment was broken all but the last two hours as well. Needless to say the kids were wild and I didn't sleep. Once we arrived in Frankfurt we were all cranky and sleep deprived. We had to get from one side of the huge terminal to the other side. It was at least a two mile walk and was not fun. At one point I put Audrey and Sam on one of the luggage carts and rolled them through the terminal. We made it to the Air France counter with 15 minutes to spare and still had to clear security again. We made it to the plane with 5 minutes to spare. The staff on the flight from Frankfurt to Paris were wonderful and kept the kids entertained.

Once we made it to Paris, I found Mr. Greg and our cat Charcoal waiting for us. It felt great to hand him our children and finally breath a little. Then we waited for an hour before we started our 10 1/2 hour flight to Madagascar. 

The Air Paris plane was huge!! Thankfully, it was not overbooked and we  were able to stretch out and sleep a bit. Even the Turdlings slept! Amen!! During the flight we were able to watch a current map of what we were flying over. It was awesome to see all the African cities, Mt. Kilimanjaro, and the oceans. At one point we passed over the Equator and the Indian Ocean. We arrived in Madagascar around 11:30 pm and was greated by an Embassy expiditor who got us through customs without waiting. That in itself was wonderful after all that traveling! We waited to collect our six pieces of luggage and two car seats, and were off to our new lives in Madagascar.