I'm here! (sort of)

Well, I’m here at last. Madagascar, although not my final destination yet, but in Antananarivo. Flying over, there wasn’t much in the lines of civilisation looking down until we were just about landed. I can see why they call it the Red Isle – Most of the land was a reddish brown, and not that vegetated. I’m not sure if it was burned and cut at some point, or if it’s naturally dry and redish. I’m pretty sure there was only one runway, and the airport and passport control were all very easy. Jackie, the driver for ERI was waiting with a sign with my name on it, which was a relief.

Driving away from the airport, we went through areas that were obviously quite poor. As we neared the center of town things were in better and better repair. The center square is quite pretty, and has a feel that’s a little like a mix between France, key west, and something else. We went by the ERI office so that I could meet the people there, all of whom were very nice. Plans of me getting to Fianar have changed a little bit. Rather than taking a taxi-brousse tomorrow morning, I’ll be going in a private vehicle with some British students around noon tomorrow, but maybe Saturday. Apparently one of the British volunteers/students broke his finger, and has to come all the way to Tana to get it fixed. Hopefully it’ll be fixed by noon tomorrow, and we’ll all go back to Fianar together. If not, I’ll stay at Theresa’s house (their HR type person), and we’ll go the next day. It actually works out better, as Mark advised me that one of their vehicles is much safer – the taxi brousses go too fast and get in accidents oftenish.

After visiting the office, Jackie brought me to my hotel, which is very nice. Nice big bed, private shower, a TV, and a phone. I figured I’d turn on the TV to see what was on and what channels they had, and what was on ? Friends dubbed in French. Strange. My only plans for tonight are to get a bite to eat at the hotel restaurant, and maybe watch some more TV. I don’t have the energy to explore, and it’s dark at 5ish anyway, so that’ll wait for another time.

So far so good, although I’m a little intimidated by the job. Sounds like I’ll be writing up stories evaluating certain programs, as I was informed before, but I do wonder if the people here place more confidence in my writing and knowledge of the subject area than they should…I’ll have a whole bunch of stuff to read tomorrow to get me up to speed on the project, and then a weekend with Mark and his colleagues at the coast which I’m sure will make me feel a little less lost about it.

I'm really looking forward to getting myself set up in my apartment, and having some neighbors, and a routine. :)

And now, a couple of very underwhelming photos of cold, rainy, foggy Cape Town (Table Mountain is behind the clouds, or so they told me), and the view from my hotel room in Tana, which I saw for about an hour of remaining daylight.

Here we go

Well, I'm at O'Hare. I've got an hour and a half till my flight, check in was a piece of cake, there was no line at security, and my flight's scheduled on time. The TSA people didn't make me feel like a criminal, so that was nice. Saying goodbye to Patrick was incredibly hard, mostly because for goodbyes (especially actually AT the airport), I become a blubbering mess and can't really even say anything. But, now, in the terminal, I'm feeling calmer, and mostly just looking forward to the trip. We all miss people when we go away, but that's part of what makes coming home that much better. Right? Right?

These flights are going to be long - 9ish hours from ORD to Frankfurt, a four hour layover, and then another overnight 11 hour flight to Cape Town. The hope is that I'll sleep on the second one soas to arrive rested and ready to see penguins when I get to Cape Town at 5AM. After looking forward to this trip for so long, it's very strange that it's finally here. I did receive word from Mark, my boss, that it's quite possible I'll be traveling to Manakara with the Freudenbergers and perhaps some others from Sunday to Tuesday. All I really know about Manakara is that there is a railway restoration project between Fianar and Manakara, and that Manakara is on the ocean (East coast). Sounds like a promising first few days. Here's hoping 24 hours of flying doesn't drive me batty. :)

and now, for lack of pictures from my trip, here's a pic of patrick and i at my family's BBQ on saturday: