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.
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