February 17th to February 23rd 2024
This week I was able to fully recover from being sick and was be a little more productive and have more fun. Many of the students, still have exams going on so I didn’t teach a ton this week, but I was able to help with a few classes and volunteer at the American Corner.
On Saturday I did Small Table Talks and helped run the STEM club again. At Small Table Talks we had an interesting conversation about some of the cultural differences between the U.S. and Madagascar. One notable distinction I’ve observed is the significance of family among the Malagasy people. Familial bonds take precedence over all else. Many individuals will choose to move to specific cities in Madagascar solely because they have family there, prioritizing familial proximity over career advancement. While family is important, that isn’t to say that every family here is perfect. There are still single parents, abuse, and other not so good things, but the family that people do have, look out for each other. In the U.S., I think the trend is to prioritize your career especially when you are younger. There are definitely advantages and disadvantages to each, but I’m learning the importance of balancing your career while prioritizing your family and that is something I will carry back to the U.S. once I’m home.
Anyway, ACM was good and since I didn’t have a full teaching schedule this week, I got the chance to do some fun things for myself. On Tuesday, I went to the gym with Mbola and got a workout in. I haven’t worked out that much since being here, but when I do go, I push myself to the max. This time I was there for two and half hours and the coach made Mbola and me do so many back exercises. By the end I couldn’t lift anything and Mbola and I had to tell the coach that we quit. I had fun though and it always makes me feel better to move around and exercise. Speaking of which, I also was able to play tennis this week with an older American who retired here in Majunga. I had met him a couple weeks ago at ACM and this week he called me asking to see if I would play. I took him up on his offer and I had a lot of fun doing something competitive again. In fact, I liked it so much, I went back later that week, and I signed up for a membership and played with one of Malagasy guys there. If I keep playing, I might be able to get really good and then I can beat my dad once I’m back.
This week also brought a mix of updates with some good news and bad news. The good news was I had more time to read this week and read all of Where the Crawdads Sing. Man, that was a really good book. I couldn’t put it down and I would highly recommend it to anyone who hasn’t read it yet. The bad news was that my debit card information got stolen and now I have no way of accessing any of the money in my bank account. Luckily, I was thinking ahead, and I took out a month’s worth of cash to get me through. And…Back to good news….
Sophie and Danny get here in only 5 days! (at the time of writing this) This is awesome, and I can’t wait for them to be here. We’re going to have such a great time! And Sophie is bringing my debit card and other things for me. I’m pumped! She’s the best and I can’t wait to see her.