Made it!

Hello from Antananarivo! I am finally here. All my luggage, however, is not here yet. Much of the group's luggage didn't make it from the Delta plane in Paris to the Air France plane for Tana. We had a chaotic layover in Paris with only 45 minutes to change terminals before the plane took off. I ran around the airport like a total noob, scared that I and two other volonteers were the only ones lost. Turns out we made it to the gate first. Anyway, due to the short layover, only some of our bhyags arrived with us. We have been assured that the rest will come tomorrow- I'm not holding my breathe.

After the baggage ordeal, we left customs and were greeted by the welcoming committee. Seriously, there was an honest-to-god welcoming comittee! About 10 current volonteers, who had been brought in to Tana for training and welcoming committy-ing greeted us with cheers and hugs. They helped us and our luggage into the PC vans and rode home with us. They seem happy, healthy, and enthusiastic.

The PC office in Tana is a beautiful little compound located... somewhere in the city. The buiding is a two-story french-colonial, complete with a blooming flower garden. I saw some small green geckos climbing around the walls, but was too tired to harass them.

We got settled in rather quickly last night and pretty much went right to bed. However, I soon discovered that my body didn't want to go to sleep at what it knew to be 6pm. Eventually, I took a sleeping pill and got a solid 1-2 hours of sleep. I was suddenly awoken by the oddest- and loudest- birdcall i've ever heard. I decided to forget about sleep and wander about and see what it feels like to be the first one up.

I chased some geckos in the courtyard, memorized a few words of Malagasy, and began writing this. The internet here is rather slow, not 1994 slow, but at perhaps 1998 slow.

I don't know when I'll have internet access again. Perhaps later this month, perhaps not. I hope y'all will write me a letter soon (be sure to include your address). Goodbye for now.

Comments

[Jess]

shawwwnnnn, you're great. i miss you already love. please leave the geckos alone. one more request- you should try to teach the rest of us some malagasy. maybe a word or two every posting? that's all. i love you dear.

[Jim Dooley]

Hey Dude! Glad to hear you survived the plane ride. That's the first test Peace Corps will throw at you ... the old can they survive a ridiculous flight. I remember waking up my first night in the Phillippines and wondering what kind of weird monkey-bird could make such a loud noise at such an early hour. It turns out the noise was being made by dogs. I was a bit of a dork then (still am). Have fun with the geckos. I used to watch them climb all over the walls and ceiling. Hang in there and have FUN! Jim