Advertisement
The Group
Here's a small part of our group that went to the game.What a weekend! Friday night was a great time at Mojo (the popular ex-pat bar). I've started making friends beyond the couple people I knew before coming. I had a great conversation with two guys, Patrick and Warwick (both are 6'6), and people in the bar thought it was the funniest thing they'd seen in a while. Most Malagasys are quite a bit shorter than the three of us. Everyone I've met here has an incredibly interesting story. Many work for AccessBank (a micro finance company), and many others are involved in projects just like mine. It's pretty interesting coming from college where my group of friends is very homogeneous when it comes to age. I've found myself hanging out with kids my age, and married couples in their late 30s. Everyone seems to connect because we all have something in common we're in a new place, and we all feel very strongly about what we're doing here. I've also been able to connect with lots of the Europeans because of the start of the Euro Cup. Every night I find someone who is watching their team play, and I have therefore gotten very excited about the games.
Speaking of
Malagasy National Anthem
This flag rolled out in the crowd as soon as the national anthem started. football (soccer for you Americans), yesterday was incredible! I joined a pretty big group going to the Madagascar vs. Côte D’Ivoire World Cup qualifying match. I'd never been to a large football game (Being a 12th Man at Clark is about as much as I've done) and seeing the thousands of people supporting and chanting was quite an experience. The Côte D’Ivoire team is supposed to be one of the best in Africa and the size difference between them and the Malagasy team was kinda funny. The Barea (the nickname for the Malagasy team) went up against what looked like giants, and even so outplayed them. The final score was 0-0, but the entire game was run by the Barea. Forget the fact that Didier Drogba didn't come with the Côte D’Ivoire team (he's their star player). Oh yeah, and I forgot to mention that I sat about 10 rows in front of the President of Côte D’Ivoire!
As far as work goes, I'm still having a great time. I work from home most days because it's much more quiet and I am given what I need to do so that I can just work here. My internship does
The Stadium
Check out the awesome stadium, and the old palace on the hill in the background. not involve menial tasks by any stretch of the imagination. I was given the job of writing the text for the website that the organization will be launching in about a month...in both French and English. Thank goodness I went to WIS and am able to write in French well.
Well, that's all for now. Keep checking in!
Advertisement
Tot: 0.067s; Tpl: 0.015s; cc: 8; qc: 49; dbt: 0.0349s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Bill
non-member comment
Did you give the Côte D’Ivoire hell 12th man style? Good stuff as always. Gorgeous sunset. Keep it up!