So it’s been a year since I left home...

I apologize for not blogging as often as I promised. Since it will take me forever to write a blog about everything that’s been going on, I’ll just give you a brief overview of my experience. Mazotoa!

I know I’m a Peace Corps Madagascar Volunteer when:

- One of the doors to the taxi brousse remains wide open on a 3-hour drive, or sometimes the taxi brousse assistant is even hanging out of the door.
- I bargain hard and am not willing to pay an extra 50 cents for a cab ride.
- I am so used to “frip” shopping that I will probably never buy new clothes again.
- I don’t blink an eye when people dig for their boogars in public or shoot snotballs everywhere.
- Spiders are my friends, even the ones that are larger than my fist. We have a mutual agreement in my house. As long as they leave me alone, I don’t kill them.
- I am used to people staring at me.
- I stare at non-Gasy looking people just as much as the locals do.
- I have to shake everyone’s hands when entering and exiting a meeting, even if there are 20+ people.
- Some Malagasy singer comes up to a group of us and says “Mila vazaha” (“We need foreigners”), so we may end up in a random music video.
- I get news about current events and updates on American music from Gasy people before I have access to TV, internet, etc.
- I have many nicknames (not by choice), and the most common ones that I hate are Chinoise Kely (“Little Chinese Girl”) and “Mr. Bean”. Others include Bina, Voahangy, Sabine, Robine, Rabine, Tsaramaso (“Bean” in Malagasy), Madame Mine, Antaboaka (name of where I live), Amerikana, etc.
- People don’t know what “personal space” means.
- Instead of saying they don’t know the answer, they would rather guess and give you the wrong answer; so I’ve learned to ask AT LEAST 5 different people before making a decision.
- I lived with 13 pet pigeons in my host family’s house.
- I got more than 100 mosquito bites in a span of 2 hours.
- I’ve dropped my retainers in my pee pot and used it the next evening.
- I’ve pooped in a bag.
- I’ve peed in my pants (a little).
- It’s normal to talk about bowel movement problems at a dinner table.
- I carry hand sanitizer and toilet paper everywhere.
- On average, I only flush my toilet once or twice a day (manually, with a bucket of water and not just pushing the lever).
- I probably consume less water in a week than you do in a day.
- I can fix my own toilet leak by cutting up a plastic bottle of soda.
- I have candlelight dinners by myself during the rainy season.
- Instead of using a microwave, I keep food warm by wrapping it in a blanket or putting it under my cushions.
- The taxi driver runs out of gas and has to sprint to the nearest gas station by foot, then returns and has to put the gas in the tank by gargling it in his mouth.
- I feel like a kid’s first time at Disneyland when I receive care packages.
- I often have to correct a store owner’s total, even if they use a calculator.
- I get paid by rice, cassava, corn, and peanuts for my work.
- 10km of walking in one day is considered normal. At home, I used to be the one waiting in my air-conditioned car for the closest parking space.
- I was told during my vacation at home that I say “Yeah” a lot in between sentences. Gasy people nod their heads and say “uh uh” as a “yes”.
- I pick leaves from a tree and make tea with it.
- It’s normal to take a 2-hour lunch break and get at least 8 hours of sleep everyday.

…to be continued.