Hashing around Madagascar

Twice a week, a group of people called Hashers meet up and run or walk through the countryside or city. My husband, is one of these Hashers who introduced us to this fun pastime. Last Sunday, we joined (the kids too) the hashing crew and made our way up steep hills, through rice patties, woods, small villages, and down steep hills for a 3 1/2 mile walk. What we saw was amazing, fascinating, and sad as well. Many of the paths we took had us walking in the middle of rice patties on the narrow walkway that joined them together. The air was fresh and the people were friendly as we greeted them with a hello (manaona) in their local language. Many of the children followed us as we were probably one if the few Caucasian people they ever saw. They laughed with delight as I took their picture and showed them. You must remember that most of these children live  in "houses" with no electricity or running water.

 Once we finished the hash trail, we joined the others and had a drink and snack as the children played together. The best part of this hash group is the people who belong to it come from all over the world. Our group has Malagasy, French, Belgian, Dutch, South African, and American people. If there is one important lesson you should learn in life, it is that we are all one family! 

Audrey and I hiked about 3 1/2 miles on this hash. 

One of the many rice patties and villages we travelled through. 

Zebu (cows) grazed as we walked by them. 

There were many small villages and houses. These houses do not have electricity or running water. 

The rice patties are broken up into sections. Each section you see has a very narrow path which we walked on. 

Audrey carefully walking on a path through the rice patties

Beautiful view of the rice patties dotted with palm and banana trees. 

The cattle and the villagers share their areas.

More examples of their houses.

Many of the roofs are thatched with a type of root. The Malagasy people also make wonderful sturdy baskets with this root as well. 

Free range chickens

Audrey chasing the free range chickens

This local farmer walked his zebu through the town. 

Audrey and Rachel walking through the village as local children join them. 

These local children were very excited to have their pictures taken and shown to them.

Audrey made several new friends. 

After the running/walking we joined together and had a drink. 

My friend Rachel joined us and brought her dog. Notice our running sign in the background-complete with lemur! 

Drinking from the piss-pots. Don't worry they are only used for beer and water. 

Samuel joined the circle as we celebrated his birthday one day early. 

       Overall, it was a wonderful day filled with adventure and new friends. Who can beat that?

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. 

Driving across the United States and some more hello and goodbyes!

We made it across the United States in a record 2 1/2 days! I should have known after all these years, how stubborn Mr. Greg really is! We went from OK City, OK to PA in one day! We almost drove for 24 hours! Ugh!! The next day we went to DE to see family and friends and made the 8 hour track to NH. We stayed there for a few days, finishing up errands and visiting with the family, before we started our long trip across the world. That story is a totally new blog post to say the least!!! 

Goodbye Albuquerque-Hello Adventure

We have officially left Albuquerque today, and make our way across the United States. Nothing says traveling with the Davis' then a car packed to the gills with a cat inside! As we drive through Texas, we of course have to drive through a storm which could possibly turn into a tornado. Ugh! Never a dull moment in our lives!!! Onto Oklahoma City where we shall "rest" and continue on our crazy voyage. 

Moving Again, Again, and Again

Every military move I've had has saddened me in a way. This move is no exception and is much more bittersweet. Not only am I leaving behind some wonderful friends who have brightened up my life, but my students who shaped and molded me into the teacher I have become. I'm going to miss having them rush my desk as they come into the classroom, relentlessly speaking over each other as they chant my name, with something important to say to me. Ahhhhh! You are all in my bubble!!! I'm going to miss our special 5th grade handshake, or pressing the "panic" button over and over again. I've enjoyed the days full of laughter and learning besides them. I am a better teacher because of them. I will always remember our classroom motto: A day without laughter is wasted. How true this really is. As I pack my teaching stuff away, the voice of Dr. Seuss resounds in my head. "Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened!" I will continue to smile!!!