très occupée

I realise there are some things that I have left out of my blog (well, more than some...). Before we began out ISP, we had a nine week "Environmental Issues" study to do behind all of our lectures, traveling, and such. Mine was on public health and sanitation...water and trash is what it turned into (not literally of course). I interviewed all kinds of people: average street folk, doctor, a PhD student, several government officials, public works employees, etc. Finding written, and what I consider reliable, sources in this country can be nearly impossible So my final report was what I managed to find out, and not necessarily hard fact. It was still very worthwhile, though. Clean water is an enormous issue/problem for a lot of the Malagasy people. And for many developping nations. (I did get my hands on one good book about Third World Cities written several decades ago.)

Another thing I think I've failed to mention: the difficulty of being a white woman here. People aren't mean-- but men are ridiculous. I walk down the street and people hiss (i don't know how else to describe the noise) and say, "Bonjour cherie" "Tu es mon amour cherie," even being looked up and down like I am a desirable piece of meat. I've asked people about it, but many don't really know (ie they are men or Malagasy women). However, one person did tell me that there is almost a worship mentality of Americans. Nonetheless it makes me very angry. Sometimes I can laugh at the situation and how ridiculous they are.

For example, one day walking through the market past the meat stands (boy does that make one a vegetarian) and a guy with a nasty wife beater on, covered in meat juice and smelling of it, stretches out his arms right in front of me and says "BONJOUR CHERIE!" I gave him the dirtiest of looks, said "Non" really emphatically, and dodged him. In the meat market...!

I guess I should also take this time to say that Malagasy women have a very defined and restricted position. A man's decision rules. It's a woman's job to run the house and have children. They do not go out at night and can't drink (unless you are prostitute). If the man in a relationship is infertile, it is outwardly blamed on the women while the women must buy the medicinal plants to help him. Maybe all these Malagasy garcons are not used to asking, but demanding? It's really sad that they don't really have examples of how women deserve to be loved and respected.

Anyways, I realise now how much it has affected my stay. If I were here with a man-- even just to walk around with== things would be different. It's created fear, anxiety, a stone-cold face, and a greater inability to get to know the Malagasy people. For example, when an Irish PhD student joined our crew for a few days I found myself ignoring him as much as possible. I had become trained. Male: don't look him in the face, don't speak to him, avoid. I think by day 2 I realised this and apologized to him.

So brief overview of the past week plus:
-getting to know a fellow SITer a lot more as we are living together renting a room from a slightly crazy Malagasy woman. buying and cooking all of our own food and trying to fend off the rats!

-I spent my time in the field for my ISP at two sites. One, Namakia, I camped and cooked my own food. Good 'ole rice and lentils. A lot of mangroves and littorale scrubby stuff. Beautiful moon, drawing water from a well, learned a little more Malagasy, pounded some coffee beans, got to gather plants, and met a few people that are worthy of proper descriptions.

-second site, St. Augustine: worked with the local ombiasy for 2 days. vistited two very different habitats. learned about the local problems, saw a hog that was hog-tied (heehee), dealt with some creepy vazaha at a hotel, had some quality God-time, and gathered many more plants.

there's a lot more I could say. Maybe for future blogs! I'm still learning so much, and it's a little scary to think that I only have three more weeks. I have so much left to do, and s little time. But I'm excited to create a final product that is valuable to me and to others. I wish I had time to really write about the things that I am learning, but alas...

emily