An Obituary

Green Mens Chacos, Size 12

of Antsiranana Madagascar

formerly Kalispell, MT USA

Passed, peacefully, from complications of punishing wear on July 17, 2011, at the tender age of 2.  The adored product of the state of Colorado is survived by two, ever adoring, feet.  You will be missed.

Any memorials (preferably in the form of new Chacos) may be sent to PCV Ted Koenig, 6 Rue Commandant Marchand, Place Kabary, 201 Antsiranana, Madagascar

Pictures

My Garden

The Local EPP (Elementary School)

Nosy Be with fellow volunteers

Movie Night

Thoughts from the Road

Let me first say that I am happy and well (if not a few pounds lighter) after my first solid month at site.  I have just arrived in my banking town and hope to catch up on a few things, including adding some pictures and substance to this blog. 

I also want to make a few remarks regarding the trip from my site, Analasatrana, to Diego-Suarez.  In leaving the valley floor and ascending into the highlands north of my home one is confronted by both extreme beauty and extreme poverty.  It is the latter that I fail to notice most often.  This would seem counter intuitive, because I live amongst the people of Madagascar and, everyday, share there plight.  But as I travel to the city to enjoy the luxuries of running water, electricity, and general abundance I cannot help being afflicted by a certain pang of guilt.  The children filling potholes on the road for extra change or those, with anvil and hammer, turning stones into gravel, make me feel helplessly selfish.  

The second remark is that transportation in Madagascar can be pathetically slow and endlessly frustrating.  The vehicle I traveled in this morning managed to turn 137km of highway into five and one half hours.  Mainly because of mechanical issues.  To begin, there was the leaking break line.  Always a concern when ascending and descending on two lane highways.  This was followed shortly after by a broken throttle linkage.  The only reason I am here, writing now, is because on my way out the door this morning I happened to grab my Leatherman; the tool that proved indispensable in helping get us back on the road.

Random Journal Entry, July 22 "On Happiness"

Happiness depends on wisdom - Sophocles

This is a quote that I have been considering quite frequently today.  My day, for its slowness, did not match my expectation.  And when I find myself frustrated or restless my mind wanders.  Typically, that wandering will force me to confront the trappings of life in the States that I dearly, dearly miss.  Not just the ability to watch Sports Center on the couch in my shorts over a bowl of cereal, but things more substantial.  Family, friends, and the ability to be understood and to understand.

But thinking this way also forces me to confront the fact that life is what you make it to be.  True, I cannot will myself to be happy all the time.  All of us are allowed our days in the rain, so long as they don't interfere with the task of getting on in life.  If I were a bit wiser, in those moments when I am down, I could stop and consider how fortunate I am to be here, in Madagascar, now. 

For example, the financial crisis and gloomy economy are a only of secondary interest to me.  I do not have to worry about rent and utilities and the rising price of fuel.  Yes, in many ways, my life is one of luxury and I would do better to remember that from time to time.

Le me close with a simultaneously frustrating and poignant quote from the prairie sage Garrison Keillor.

Some luck lies in not getting what you thought you wanted,

but getting what you have, which once you have it

you may be smart enough to see is what you would've wanted had you known.

Random Journal Entry, July 15

I am very pleased to report two items.  The first is that Score (Malagasy equivalent of Wal-Mart) is finally opening in my banking town.  That means that once a month, as long as I don't loiter, I will be able to enjoy air-conditioning and other Vazaha (white people, generally) delicacies.  So excited!  The second bit of news is that today marks my largest continued stay at site.  A paltry two weeks.  Granted, I hope to make it to three or more in the weeks ahead, but this is my high water mark thus far.  On a related note, these have been fairly eventful weeks.  Ok , last weak at least.  And I look forward to staying nominally busy in the week ahead.  Did I mention there will be a grocery store in town? Yes, sorry, I did.  But I really am that excited.