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ahh... nothing like a refreshing bucket shower.

... recently moved and we still don't have hot water. So I boiled some water and combined it with normal water and voilà , a bucket shower. Have had many of these in my travels to India. Good times.

#bucket shower #personal

Pic Saint-Louis et autrechoses

Today we climbed the highest peak in this region, Pic Saint-Louis. The view was amazing, but I will admit that it wasn't the best experience I've ever had. Just after vanquishing my food poisoning with Cipro, I subjected my body to some overexertion and sun overexposure. Believe it or not, they're not lying on the Doxycycline label when they say that it makes you more sun-sensitive. So I'm rocking some nice sunburns but I'm feeling fairly accomplished, quand-même.

I've now moved in with my host family (really just host parents, their children all live in Tana or Diego Suarez) as well. They're very nice people and the house is a very traditional Malagasy style. That's being a very interesting experience but I do have to say I would appreciate a few more Western comforts every now and then. It's a wooden structure with a tin roof with three and a half rooms inside: the living/dining room, my bedroom, my parents' bedroom, and a little kitchen-like closet in the back. The squat toilet and the bucket shower are both outside. I've been doing pretty all right with both of those, but there are times that I fantasize about toilet seats and showerheads.

And now for some general observations that may be of interest. TV is really big here in Madagascar. Every night before, during and after dinner, we watch TV. There's one Malagasy language channel but most of the channels are French outlets based in Réunion, so we watch a lot of French game shows as well as American TV shows and movies dubbed in French. Some of the more interesting things that we've seen are some telenovelas (broadcast by Telemundo Internacional) also dubbed in French, and this channel called Kanal Austral which shows world music videos. It claims to represent Madagascar, Mauritius, Réunion, Mayotte and Seychelles, but pretty much all of the videos come from Réunion and Mauritius, which isn't really that surprising since they're much wealthier and more westernized.

Ramen noodles are also really big here. You can buy packets of them at practically every market stall, and last night we ate ramen noodles with chicken and carrots, which Maman Dette referred to as "pasta." While on the subject of food, for the most part it's delicious (food poisoning aside). My one big gripe is that Malagasy breakfast is just not sufficient. They eat a baguette with bread and jam along with some tea around 7 or 8 in the morning, and then don't eat lunch until 12 or 1. So we've all been pretty lacking in protein in the morning and not being especially happy about it. Hopefully I'll get used to it eventually.

Running out of things to say, so I'll probably stop. I miss everyone, but don't worry, because I'm having a great time here. It seems like I can at least make it onto the internet every other day and especially on the weekends, so I should be fairly contactable, even if the hours are a bit weird for all y'all in the Western Hemisphere.

Veloma!