of toilets, washing machines and sex tourism.

So I really apologize like 2309409834091 times for being horrible at updating. I hope you all liked my short and sweet update the other day. More will come in reference to that topic I promise. But right now, I have had this post drafted for a while and wanted to give you all a mini-lowdown of what I have been up to these past three weeks. 

So, a few weeks ago (you might have seen the pic on fb) I got to go to a beautiful beach with my host cousin and his friend. It was incredible. Totally like something out of another world- the water was as wonderful as it looks too. 

Throughout my time here in Diego I have been feeling a bit more homesick than usual. I think that this probably has to do with the fact that there are no other SIT students from my program here, and I really do not know anyone besides the few people that SIT has set me up with. They have all been wonderful, don't get me wrong, but my independent study project has had a huge emphasis on the "independent" part. I spent the first two weeks here living with a host family that used to host students when the program used to spend time in Diego. Now, due to the fact that I am super busy with my last week of research for my ISP I needed some time and space to get things done (I was living in one room with 8 people before so there was no privacy :-) haha). 

So, I have been living in a hotel for the past week, I leave on Tuesday to go back to Tana to live with my family there (I can't wait to see them again!). Though, it is really nice to have some space and be able to unpack and spread out, which I have not been able to do in months. Also- the hotel is in the center of town (a prime location) and has really fast wifi (I mean, fast for Madagascar that is...) Oh. and above ALL... I HAVE A SIT DOWN TOILET! Here in Diego it is rare to find sit down toilets in houses, although the toilet here is just not the same as back home. 

In fact, a few weeks ago when I was with my host cousin he asked me what I missed most about home. I answered in this order:

1. Washing Machines

2. Toilets

3. Family

4. My boyfriend 

Sorry family and Mike, but you are third and fourth to toilets and washing machines... As you can see from this picture above and below (as I said in one of my previous entries, the room I lived in was actually a converted classroom- I lived in a school so the bathroom resembled somewhat of a student bathroom...) Though in Madagascar you have to expect the unexpected and roll with the punches. It is important to understand that this family that I lived with was first of all, the sweetest, and second of all, could not afford anything more than this. Living eight to one room and having this as a bathroom/kitchen is what they know. In fact, I felt incredibly guilty one day when I called around noon to tell my host mother I would not be home for lunch because I had things to do around town. I ended up stopping at a sort of touristy restaurant to get a cheese pizza (I haven't had pizza in so long! Unfortunately the cheese here is not like the artisan brie and goat cheese  I am used to at home...) Anyways, I paid 8,000 Ar for a good-sized Margarita pizza of which I finished a little more than half. 8,000 Ar is the equivalent of $3.75- I do not know where you could get a decent pizza that size for that price in the US. Anyways, I ended up bringing the remains of the pizza back to my family to finish up for dinner. They asked how much it cost me and when I told them they were astounded. I asked why? Is that a lot??" YES! they replied. 

Just to put things in perspective... 

Anyway- Above is the porcelain gem that I had become so aquainted to. Maybe one of the main reasons why I miss US toilets so much is because of my poor life decision I made last week. 

Have you ever heard of corrosol? Well look it up- the english translation is soursop.

Well I love corrosol. It is scrumptious.

Well my family was making fresh squeezed corrosol juice the other day.

And if you know me, you know I could never pass up anything containing fruit especially fresh squeezed juice. Well, after they warned me it was made with non-potable drinking water, I decided to drink it anyways. Well that was dumb. Luckily I only had minor digestive problems for a few days and the cipro I bought at the pharmacy took care of it right away. I’m surprised cipro still works for me actually, this is the fourth times I’ve been on cipro in the past three months. I can’t tell if this should be an embarrassment or an accomplishment.

Anyways, enough of this sort of bathroom talk and onto another sort of bathroom talk. I will title this: finding live animals on the third floor bathroom chilling in the toilet. After a day or two this animal mysteriously disappeared and I later learned that the delicious chicken leg I ate the other day belonged to the animal chilling in the toilet. 

Onto the next topic. I will title this: Olivia teaches everyone how NOT to do laundry by hand. In my other homestays, we had laundry women that would come and do laundry for us. Here, in my homestay, and especially in my hotel room, we do not have people to come and do laundry for us. I now have so much respect for any woman in a developing country that has to wash clothes by hand. I have literally been having dreams about washing machines (seriously, no joke). 

So, as you can see, somehow my white tank top ended up with a mysterious bullseye stain. And what’s even more mysterious is the tye dye shit in the picture below that looks like it could have given the stain… was not in the same load! Blagh, my mind is baffled. Oh well, it was probably for the best- I came to realize that my camera brought out all of the disgusting sweat stains on the shirt. It was my shirt’s way of saying: please do not wear this in public anymore; you will be an embarrassment to yourself. 

Speaking of embarrassment and sweat stains on shirts (wow. I really apologize that this blog update seems like it has been written by a 5 year old obsessed with bathroom talk…) anyways- it is really really hot here. I literally get upper lip sweat and drippings just standing outside sometimes. So, as you can probably imagine, when everything is hot and sweaty, it really smells. And when Olivia the wash maid does not how to do laundry properly, things really start to smell (especially since I try to go running everyday). I guess the bottom line is that I am glad that none of you are around to smell me. 

Onto another topic: FOOD!!! So I have been living in a hotel on my own for about a week now. You would think that I had devised a system to be able to cook for myself or eat in a cheaper way besides going out to eat all the time. FALSE. Maybe it is the fact that I have so many options other than rice at my fingertips, or the fact that the fish here is mouth-wateringly fresh, or maybe the fact that all the restaurants here are incredible: I have basically been going out to eat all the time. Luckily because of the conversion rate, the food is not too expensive but, my pockets are emptying fairly quickly. Let me give you some of my favorite eats:

1.     The Rosticcera- An Italian ex-pat owns this place and you can get a delicious pasta plate for about 5 bucks. I’ve been here about three times and have had this delicious sausage and saffron pasta (saffron is harvested here so its real cheap) and I’ve had the carbonara (which is one of my favorite dishes of all time). Basically I was blown away by both of them. Totally and utterly delicious.

   2.    Tsara Be VaoVao- Not a cheap eat but I had the most incredible coconut fish curry here. This plate is a traditional one of the region I think because many many restaurants serve poison coco curry. My goal is to find the best poisson curry and I think that Tsara Be does it. (Although Hotel de Rade and La Cantine do pretty good and less expensive renditions).

3.     LE GRAND HOTEL- I come here every morning for breakfast. They have the best chocolate croissants (for about .75) that a little vazaha could ask for and needless to say, I am addicted. Every morning I come here and get my daily croissant and café au lait (the croque monsieurs are also pretty delsih- see below.). All of the ladies that work here know me and it has come to the point where they just know what I want without asking. Should I be embarrassed that I am such a vazaha? I mean, I could be eating gooj gooj or mofo gasy every morning but I mean… All right, I wont even try to defend myself. 

Though, if I do have to point fingers and blame I would blame my foodie boyfriend Mike. I used to make fun of him for being a foodie and now I am quickly following in his footsteps. It just makes me so happy when I am sitting down to a good and delicious meal. Especially when I am navigating this town alone and sometimes, as gluttonous as it may be, I really look forward to the pleasure of meal times.

Anyways, there was a little lighthearted update of the little things that have been going on in my life in Diego. In my last update, you got a little taste of what I have been up to in terms of research and I promise that I will provide you with another one of those soon. As for my schedule right now, I am planning on finishing up a few interviews with local officials tomorrow and then on Tuesday I fly back to Tana where I will be seeing my wonderful Malagasy family, and some wonderful friends and writing my (not so wonderful) 40-page paper. These three weeks in Diego have absolutely flown by. It is hard for me to believe that in a little more than three weeks I will be back in the United States! Just a little schedule for you all in case you are interested:

Tuesday 4/24: Fly back to Tana

4/24-5/1: Camp out at the program center and Café de la Gare to write my paper

5/2 & 5/3: ISP Presentatons

5/4-5/8: Program wrap-up and excursion to Andasibe National Park

5/9: End of program!!! Flying out to Mauritius in the afternoon

5/9-5/15: Scuba diving in Mauritius (an island in the Indian ocean close to Mada)

5/15-5/16: Starting the long journey back to the Etats Unis!

Crazy huh? Time flies when you are having fun. Although, I still have about three more weeks of fun to be had so I might as well enjoy it while I can! (Even though one of the those weeks will be spent locked up writing a paper).

Thanks for Reading! A post outlining some of my research will be next- when I have the time that is…. Haha

~Lots of Love~