Monday, July 23, 2012

Wisdom Learned from Peace Corps Unemployment


In my last blog, I wrote about the countrywide teacher’s strike going on in Madagascar that was messing with my master plan that I meticulously laid out starting this past February. Then all the health centers and hospitals went on strike as well. Cool. I asked for good vibes for the strikes to end and I am happy to report that after 2 months, I am going back to work this week! I’m sure everyone is dying to know what I’ve been up to for the past interim months. Basically just a lot of adventuring, fun, and learning. I dislocated my elbow falling off a camion, celebrated Madagascar’s Independence Day and watched a house get set on fire during the fireworks show, got my purse stolen with everything I owned in it, but then had it miraculously returned. I camped out on the beach, swam in an infinity pool that overlooks the Indian Ocean, and even stayed up all night once! These past two months in Madagascar have been among some of my hardest because I really had to look at my reasons and motivations for being here, minus work and projects and all the other Western things that have kept me busy in the past. But Madagascar is always teaching me new things and making me grow and reevaluate. I have some interesting things going on in the next few months now that the strikes are over, starting with being a translator for Operation Smile this upcoming August. I’ll write more about that experience as it happens. But here are some pictures to illustrate what I can’t put into words about my last couple months here.