3-10-2010: I’ve added dates to these posts since I’m clearly not posting weekly. I’ve taken to European documentation of the date though (day-month-year), it honestly makes so much more sense.
More noteworthy news, however: Class work is done!
Yesterday was our final for the primate ecology class. This week was pretty tough, it was supposed to be a field course, but we only got into the field once, really. That was disappointing, but the material was fairly interesting even though our instructor tried to fit entirely too much into a week long course.
School related things aside – Madagascar is still great. We finally got rained on (in the rainforest, go figure) about 3 days ago, and it’s been raining or patchily overcast since then. I can’t complain though, up until then we’ve had nothing but sunshine since we arrived here (with the exception of the day we arrived). I’m only mildly worried that the rain will be accompanied by the presence of leeches. Yuck.
Last night the staff here threw us a party for the end of the class/a few birthdays that fall around the present date. It was a ton of fun, the cook here is in a band and they played for us during dinner. They made zebu (Madagascar cattle) steak and frites – because we’re American and people have been craving fries – but I got fried zucchini as the vegetarian option (still delicious).
Still more interesting news: Tuesday one of us tried cliff diving. Unintentionally.
So I feel like I should provide some background for this story:
1.The topography here is entirely comprised of hills. People think Pittsburgh is hilly – psshh. The roads are all windy because they curve between (what I consider) mountains, and are therefore frequently are bordered on at least one side by drop offs.
2.The roads often have 50 cm deep ditches/trenches dug for drainage about a meter from the actual road.
3.Monday was the first birthday we had to celebrate here. Though we celebrated mostly celebrated on Tuesday and last night (Saturday).
4.The Gite – a bar/restaurant that’s a bit up the street. They serve food, but we only usually get for drinks, crayfish, and fries.
5.It gets dark at 6:30 here – always. There is no day-light-savings time here, so the sunrise time varies drastically, but the sunset does not.
6.There are no street lights. Except for the headlights that appear when cars come zooming around the windy Malagasy roads.
7.Cars ZOOM. They go so fast, it’s absurd. There are no speed limits, really, and if there are they aren’t enforced.
And Distracted. . . Fun facts about driving in Madagascar:
a. There is pretty much only one road. That we’ve driven on, at least.
b.The road is wide enough for 2 cars, but not much more.
c.The driver is on the right side.
d.If someone is driving slowly, they will get passed.
e.A single-friendly beep is used to signify any intention.
f.Pedestrians are generally not reason a reason to yield.
Well anyway. On Tuesday we had all gone up to The Gite after dinner to celebrate Tim’s entrance into his 20th year of life. Because we had class the next morning, people meandered back to ValBio (maybe 250 meters) in small groups whenever they were ready to leave. Unfortunately, not enough of us had the foresight to bring headlamps/flashlights when we headed up there around 6:00. By the time the second to last group was ready to head back, all of the lights had returned to the research center with other people. It’s not a long walk, so no one was really worried about it – plus, it was dark and cars have headlights – assumedly providing ample notice of their approach and time to get out of the way.
That assumption was correct. When a bus came rushing around the corner the group of people saw it, a general alarm of “car!” was sounded, and people leapt to the side of the road. Unfortunately, the side of the road at that particular point of the walk was around a particularly sharp bend in the road. The ditch that is usually present for drainage was absent in lieu of a 6 meter drop off through some shrubs into a passing creek. However as I said, it was dark and they hadn’t a headlamp.
The student in question saw the car coming and apparently made a superman-style leap into the non-present ditch.
Luckily he caught himself on a tree about 3 meters down and wasn’t injured except for some bruises, scrapes, and scratches. Someone rushed back to ValBio for a headlamp and rope and they pulled him back up to the road. The next day he was able to laugh about it, although he was lamenting the loss of one of his sandals. And now we’re equipped with a plethora of “don’t jump off the cliff” jokes that certainly won’t get old for a while.
Otherwise things have been pretty standard. We’ve got a 2 day hiking trip a primary forest planned for beginning of this week, followed by 4 days to write our research projects proposals and perhaps perform some pilot studies. Another day off and then we’re headed out for a 10 day trip/tour of Madagascar!
Overall stress levels are down and morale is up, the rainforest is beautiful as always and hopefully the sun will rejoin us for our hiking trip tomorrow!
Sunday, October 3, 2010
And breathe.
18-9-2010: It’s been just over a week since our group of 13 (including the Resident Coordinator) departed from the airport in New York, but as these things go, it feels like it’s been a month at least. We’re all pretty well situated, finally sleeping through the night, and between the lectures and seemingly endless readings I’ve been ceaselessly enjoying the abundance of wildlife that surrounds us, of course.
It’s crazy that we’ve only been at ValBio for a week. Our campsite is about a 200 meters from the research station, and requires our ascent up a massive hill, but it already seems like home and I’ve yet to lose any fascination with the passing forest each time I make the climb.
Our classes are interesting. Some more than others, inevitably, but all ecology or research related. It took a while to get used to the Malagasy accent, but I caught on quickly as nearly all of the lectures thus far have been taught by the Malagasy researchers here. The days are packed, breakfast starts at 6:30, class from 9-11:30 and 1-4. But we’re on Malagasy time, which is to say that those numbers are actually irrelevant. Class is split between lectures and field work – the latter obviously is the preferred aspect of the course as it hardly seems like work romping through the woods observing and learning about the wildlife.
Outside of the time we spend in class we’re kept busy with an endless supply of readings that, although tedious, are generally interesting and very informative. We’ve been receiving crash courses on how to efficiently read scientific articles, how to write our own, (as a written report is the final requirement of our Independent Research project), Malagasy culture, and some brief lessons on the language.
The first course on Biodiversity and Field Research Methods is already approaching an end – our final is next week – and then we plunge right on into the next class, Primate Ecology.
Our two TA’s are great, one is a native Malagasy and the other from England. The accents delight me, not to mention the personalities that accompany them (they’re certainly each unique characters). Our resident coordinator started out on a bit of a power-trip which made for some bitter feelings, but things have cooled down and now here we are; eager to enjoy our first day off in Ranomafana. The plan is to head into town – about a 6 km walk downhill – spend the day there checking out the town, using the internet (posting this), and hopefully relaxing in the pool (filled with natural hot spring water).
Well shucks. It’s a week later. Whoops.
9-29-2010: Turns out the computers in town can’t read files in .docx format. So as it goes, I got there, was thoroughly intimidated by the French keyboard and an entire blog post to write from scratch, and decided not to post.
And now it’s Wednesday night. And we just concluded the first course of this program today. We’ll see how the exam went, but I’m having a great time in general. Spirits seem to be up, especially with the end of the first course and a prospective night of fun and not reading/studying ahead of us. Right after the exam a group of us headed down to the nearby village (about a 10 minute walk) to buy some peanuts from the locals. 3,800 ariary later (exchange rate is 2,000 ariary to 1.00 USD, so approximately $1.85) we were headed back to ValBio with a half full garbage bag of local edible legumes.
But let’s back track.
Sunday was just what we needed. No one accomplished any work, but we all thoroughly enjoyed exploring town, a few of us went into the pool which was fun, but crazy crowded. I also got real sugar cane for the first time; delicious, but easy to get sick of.
This week through today was quite eventful. Stress was progressively building as the course final approached and we all realized that we weren’t going to complete all the readings. Monday was a full day of lectures, but that evening the first travel illness hit. It was like an epidemic. One by one kids started falling ill. 4 by the time we were headed to bed, a 5th in the middle of the night. The next morning we were 8 healthy, 6 ill, and one more on his way down. By lunch the health ration was 1:1, with two feeling distinctly under the weather. Luckily people only got better from that point on, and my vitamins did their job – I didn’t feel anything but paranoia most of the day.
So now we’re just relaxing for an evening. The cooks made “pizza” tonight, it was delicious, though not quite the pizza as you’d expect in the states. All the food here is delicious though. There’s a lot of rice, inevitably, but luckily I love rice. We get a three course meal 2 times a day, plus a giant breakfast. Noms Now we’re watching Madagascar (appropriate – right?) to de-stress before course two begins.
Tomorrow starts course #2 – Primate Ecology. We’re all trying not to preemptively worry about it, as it’s taught by our very sarcastic, resident coordinator, and we have about a textbook sized stack of scientific articles to read in the next week (at least 250 double-sided sheets from the campus computing labs), joy.
Overall things are great though. It’s only rained once so far, and everyone’s getting along really well. We’ve seen a ton of chameleons, some frogs, and few bats, lots of spiders and other bugs, about a gazillion moths, and of course a variety of lemurs. I’ve taken to walking around the campsite looking for anything interesting before bed, it’s wonderfully serene, the stars are incredible when it’s clear, though the nearly full moon has limited the star gazing since we arrived.
I’m planning on going for a hike to the primary rainforest on our day off this weekend instead of heading into town (where the internet is) so I’m sending this with a friend to get posted; hopefully the internet works out – it’s quite unpredictable and incredibly slow. Everything’s lush and green here, but I certainly do miss the colors of autumn. I just hope it’s not getting too cold up there in the Northern hemisphere – we’re just entering the equivalent of summer here.
And now to depart with some Malagasy vocabulary: Veloma vazaha be!! Mandrampihaona!
It’s crazy that we’ve only been at ValBio for a week. Our campsite is about a 200 meters from the research station, and requires our ascent up a massive hill, but it already seems like home and I’ve yet to lose any fascination with the passing forest each time I make the climb.
Our classes are interesting. Some more than others, inevitably, but all ecology or research related. It took a while to get used to the Malagasy accent, but I caught on quickly as nearly all of the lectures thus far have been taught by the Malagasy researchers here. The days are packed, breakfast starts at 6:30, class from 9-11:30 and 1-4. But we’re on Malagasy time, which is to say that those numbers are actually irrelevant. Class is split between lectures and field work – the latter obviously is the preferred aspect of the course as it hardly seems like work romping through the woods observing and learning about the wildlife.
Outside of the time we spend in class we’re kept busy with an endless supply of readings that, although tedious, are generally interesting and very informative. We’ve been receiving crash courses on how to efficiently read scientific articles, how to write our own, (as a written report is the final requirement of our Independent Research project), Malagasy culture, and some brief lessons on the language.
The first course on Biodiversity and Field Research Methods is already approaching an end – our final is next week – and then we plunge right on into the next class, Primate Ecology.
Our two TA’s are great, one is a native Malagasy and the other from England. The accents delight me, not to mention the personalities that accompany them (they’re certainly each unique characters). Our resident coordinator started out on a bit of a power-trip which made for some bitter feelings, but things have cooled down and now here we are; eager to enjoy our first day off in Ranomafana. The plan is to head into town – about a 6 km walk downhill – spend the day there checking out the town, using the internet (posting this), and hopefully relaxing in the pool (filled with natural hot spring water).
Well shucks. It’s a week later. Whoops.
9-29-2010: Turns out the computers in town can’t read files in .docx format. So as it goes, I got there, was thoroughly intimidated by the French keyboard and an entire blog post to write from scratch, and decided not to post.
And now it’s Wednesday night. And we just concluded the first course of this program today. We’ll see how the exam went, but I’m having a great time in general. Spirits seem to be up, especially with the end of the first course and a prospective night of fun and not reading/studying ahead of us. Right after the exam a group of us headed down to the nearby village (about a 10 minute walk) to buy some peanuts from the locals. 3,800 ariary later (exchange rate is 2,000 ariary to 1.00 USD, so approximately $1.85) we were headed back to ValBio with a half full garbage bag of local edible legumes.
But let’s back track.
Sunday was just what we needed. No one accomplished any work, but we all thoroughly enjoyed exploring town, a few of us went into the pool which was fun, but crazy crowded. I also got real sugar cane for the first time; delicious, but easy to get sick of.
This week through today was quite eventful. Stress was progressively building as the course final approached and we all realized that we weren’t going to complete all the readings. Monday was a full day of lectures, but that evening the first travel illness hit. It was like an epidemic. One by one kids started falling ill. 4 by the time we were headed to bed, a 5th in the middle of the night. The next morning we were 8 healthy, 6 ill, and one more on his way down. By lunch the health ration was 1:1, with two feeling distinctly under the weather. Luckily people only got better from that point on, and my vitamins did their job – I didn’t feel anything but paranoia most of the day.
So now we’re just relaxing for an evening. The cooks made “pizza” tonight, it was delicious, though not quite the pizza as you’d expect in the states. All the food here is delicious though. There’s a lot of rice, inevitably, but luckily I love rice. We get a three course meal 2 times a day, plus a giant breakfast. Noms Now we’re watching Madagascar (appropriate – right?) to de-stress before course two begins.
Tomorrow starts course #2 – Primate Ecology. We’re all trying not to preemptively worry about it, as it’s taught by our very sarcastic, resident coordinator, and we have about a textbook sized stack of scientific articles to read in the next week (at least 250 double-sided sheets from the campus computing labs), joy.
Overall things are great though. It’s only rained once so far, and everyone’s getting along really well. We’ve seen a ton of chameleons, some frogs, and few bats, lots of spiders and other bugs, about a gazillion moths, and of course a variety of lemurs. I’ve taken to walking around the campsite looking for anything interesting before bed, it’s wonderfully serene, the stars are incredible when it’s clear, though the nearly full moon has limited the star gazing since we arrived.
I’m planning on going for a hike to the primary rainforest on our day off this weekend instead of heading into town (where the internet is) so I’m sending this with a friend to get posted; hopefully the internet works out – it’s quite unpredictable and incredibly slow. Everything’s lush and green here, but I certainly do miss the colors of autumn. I just hope it’s not getting too cold up there in the Northern hemisphere – we’re just entering the equivalent of summer here.
And now to depart with some Malagasy vocabulary: Veloma vazaha be!! Mandrampihaona!
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Lies!
So I had some facts wrong in my introductory post, and I felt it necessary to correct them.
1. There are 12 US students in the program, and we're being joined by a few Malagasy students upon our arrival in Madagascar.
2. Our flight schedule is actually 8 hours from JKF to Paris tomorrow, where we have a three hour layover. Then aboard another plane for a 10 (though apparently more likely 12) hour flight down to Antananarivo.
3. We will spend 2 days in Antananarivo. The plan is to meet some of the staff there, and visit a (rather depressing) zoo to get acquainted with some of the endemic species.
4. Our independent research is really only 2 weeks, but we will be doing preparation for it continually throughout the program.
5. Internet is available in the nearby town - about 5 km from camp. We were told to expect to get there about once a week. Not making any promises that I can post that frequently, regardless, but I'll see what I can do/what I have to say.
5b. There is cell phone service there - that seems weird to me - but it's fairly expensive, and I'm eager to be off the grid for a while, so I have no intentions of turning on my phone until I'm back in the US.
Orientation was today, (thus all the corrections) it was a lot of sitting and listening to people talk, but I'm significantly more excited than I had been before. . . which is impressive.
I feel like I should have some catchy end phrase, but I don't. Suggestions?
1. There are 12 US students in the program, and we're being joined by a few Malagasy students upon our arrival in Madagascar.
2. Our flight schedule is actually 8 hours from JKF to Paris tomorrow, where we have a three hour layover. Then aboard another plane for a 10 (though apparently more likely 12) hour flight down to Antananarivo.
3. We will spend 2 days in Antananarivo. The plan is to meet some of the staff there, and visit a (rather depressing) zoo to get acquainted with some of the endemic species.
4. Our independent research is really only 2 weeks, but we will be doing preparation for it continually throughout the program.
5. Internet is available in the nearby town - about 5 km from camp. We were told to expect to get there about once a week. Not making any promises that I can post that frequently, regardless, but I'll see what I can do/what I have to say.
5b. There is cell phone service there - that seems weird to me - but it's fairly expensive, and I'm eager to be off the grid for a while, so I have no intentions of turning on my phone until I'm back in the US.
Orientation was today, (thus all the corrections) it was a lot of sitting and listening to people talk, but I'm significantly more excited than I had been before. . . which is impressive.
I feel like I should have some catchy end phrase, but I don't. Suggestions?
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Apprehensive, Not Scared.
So I've yet to leave, but I thought it'd be good to post an introduction with my prior thoughts, feelings, and expectations for this trip.
Madagascar. . . Eek. I leave for Stony Brook Tuesday, Wednesday I'll meet the 7 other students enrolled in this program, Thursday we fly to Paris. Madagascar on Friday, when we will finally arrive in the capitol city, Antananarivo. One day in the capitol, and then a 10 hour car ride to Ranomafana National Park, where we will be staying for the remainder of the program. About an hour hike from the nearest village, we'll be living in tents, taking classes, doing research, and generally being sweet. Or so I assume.
As my mom and I were rushing around today, making some last minute purchases and generally fretting over the results of my procrastination, she mentioned how scary this really is. Earlier this week someone put a good perspective on this trip, their words were something along the lines of "Get on a plane, and fly 20 hours to an island off of Africa. Then get in a van and drive for 10 hours; now where are you?"
I hadn't really thought of it this way, but yipes. That's exactly what I'm doing. And while I can point to it on a map, I don't actually know a whole lot about where I'm headed. That being said, it's clear that there is a lot of unique life and various perspectives for me to encounter, and while I can't even begin to fathom the extent of what I'm going to learn, I'm thrilled for the chance to do so.
Though I know there are certainly things to fret over and fear, I'm far more excited than frightened, and while things can always go wrong the chances of my not making it home from this trip are very slim (ie. I'll be fine, time will barrel on). I've led a very leisurely life for the past 20 years, so I'm ready for a challenge; ready to test my sanity and toughness in the wilderness (Ok, so there are latrines and showers, and the research center is a pretty nice indoor facility, but we are staying in tents. . .) - it's something I've always been eager to try. So while I am worried about the living conditions, culture shock, and the work load, I'm not frightened at all. This probably a fool-hardy approach, and one which is bound to waver over the next four days, once I've left the comfort of Pittsburgh. For now, however, I'm far more eager for the experiences and the chance to pursue a lifelong passion. Although it's evident that there are things to fear, my excitement reigns supreme.
The program is broken down into 2 sections. The first 6 weeks will be spent taking classes at Centre ValBio research center in Ranomafana National park. We're taking 3 classes, 6 days a week, 2 weeks each, studying Research Field Methods, Primate Behavior (Lemurs!!), and a 10 day tour of the country which will be coupled with lessons about the extensive biodiversity within Madagascar's various range of ecosystems. Holy cow, awesome.
The second half of the program is to be spent conducting an independent research project. The classes taken at the beginning of the program are mostly provided in preparation for our month long endeavor performing field research on the culture or ecology of Ranomafana. Our results are to be presented to the research center, and then again to, get this - embassy and government members of Madagascar. Danggg.
Ok, so crazy: Yes. Awesome: Yes. Frightening: Slightly. Life-changing: Hopefully.
Field research in the rainforest has been my passion since I was about 9. I've never before had the opportunity to so completely immerse myself in something I unequivocally love. So while my heart's racing at the thought of leaving and I've got perpetual butterflies in my stomach, my feelings as I look toward the next 3 months of my life: Distinctly apprehensive, not scared.
Madagascar. . . Eek. I leave for Stony Brook Tuesday, Wednesday I'll meet the 7 other students enrolled in this program, Thursday we fly to Paris. Madagascar on Friday, when we will finally arrive in the capitol city, Antananarivo. One day in the capitol, and then a 10 hour car ride to Ranomafana National Park, where we will be staying for the remainder of the program. About an hour hike from the nearest village, we'll be living in tents, taking classes, doing research, and generally being sweet. Or so I assume.
As my mom and I were rushing around today, making some last minute purchases and generally fretting over the results of my procrastination, she mentioned how scary this really is. Earlier this week someone put a good perspective on this trip, their words were something along the lines of "Get on a plane, and fly 20 hours to an island off of Africa. Then get in a van and drive for 10 hours; now where are you?"
I hadn't really thought of it this way, but yipes. That's exactly what I'm doing. And while I can point to it on a map, I don't actually know a whole lot about where I'm headed. That being said, it's clear that there is a lot of unique life and various perspectives for me to encounter, and while I can't even begin to fathom the extent of what I'm going to learn, I'm thrilled for the chance to do so.
Though I know there are certainly things to fret over and fear, I'm far more excited than frightened, and while things can always go wrong the chances of my not making it home from this trip are very slim (ie. I'll be fine, time will barrel on). I've led a very leisurely life for the past 20 years, so I'm ready for a challenge; ready to test my sanity and toughness in the wilderness (Ok, so there are latrines and showers, and the research center is a pretty nice indoor facility, but we are staying in tents. . .) - it's something I've always been eager to try. So while I am worried about the living conditions, culture shock, and the work load, I'm not frightened at all. This probably a fool-hardy approach, and one which is bound to waver over the next four days, once I've left the comfort of Pittsburgh. For now, however, I'm far more eager for the experiences and the chance to pursue a lifelong passion. Although it's evident that there are things to fear, my excitement reigns supreme.
The program is broken down into 2 sections. The first 6 weeks will be spent taking classes at Centre ValBio research center in Ranomafana National park. We're taking 3 classes, 6 days a week, 2 weeks each, studying Research Field Methods, Primate Behavior (Lemurs!!), and a 10 day tour of the country which will be coupled with lessons about the extensive biodiversity within Madagascar's various range of ecosystems. Holy cow, awesome.
The second half of the program is to be spent conducting an independent research project. The classes taken at the beginning of the program are mostly provided in preparation for our month long endeavor performing field research on the culture or ecology of Ranomafana. Our results are to be presented to the research center, and then again to, get this - embassy and government members of Madagascar. Danggg.
Ok, so crazy: Yes. Awesome: Yes. Frightening: Slightly. Life-changing: Hopefully.
Field research in the rainforest has been my passion since I was about 9. I've never before had the opportunity to so completely immerse myself in something I unequivocally love. So while my heart's racing at the thought of leaving and I've got perpetual butterflies in my stomach, my feelings as I look toward the next 3 months of my life: Distinctly apprehensive, not scared.
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