La Fin

Just thought I'd drop a quick note before I LEAVE THE COUNTRY (what???). I've been working for the past week or so on my ISP: writing, gluing plants, reading, spending frustrating times at internet cafes, presentations, etc. It's difficult sometimes to do professional work in a developping nation. However, I'm nearly done with my project (photocopy, put in a book, etc.) ! There's always room for improvement, but I'm trying to be satisfied with what I could do given my circumstances.

The final title is: A case study of Medicinal Plants and Their Changing Availability at Two Sites South of Toliara. Big surprise (being a little sarcastic here), but the biggest threat to the habitats that I observed was the burning of wood for charcoal. Charcoal is basically the only way that the Malagasy people cook food. Supplying urban centers with charcoal is the number one cause of deforestation and habitiat destruction in the southwest Spiny Forest Ecoregion...and was the number one reason why there have been changes in the medicinal plants available at the two sites I studied. Situations are complex, though, and solutions are not simple. I won't go much further as it would require a lot of background information, but that's the gist of it.

All of the students convened in Fort Dauphin for two days of presentations. They were awesome! It was really interesting to hear about so many topics from different regions: marine sacred sites, education system in Faux-Cap, the mining industry (really really scary), shark fishing, ecotourism evaluations, etc....I really need to write about all it for myself.

Now we are in Tana for a day, picking up baggage, printing, etc. Onward to the northern beaches for some relaxation and a GIANT music festival. It should be fun, but I don't think i'm ready to be a tourist. It is very difficult to imagine that I will be home in TN in just a week. I knew this time would come, but my brain nonetheless is feeling uneasy. I'm excited to come home (family!), and i'm genuinely excited to be going back out to SROM to work, but I'm not sure if I'm ready to leave Madagascar.

Much love, Em