Long Absence

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Hey all,

Very sorry for the extended absence. I had a little while with nothing very exciting going on, as well as being quite sick for the past few days. Here is a short update on what's been going on.

Work has been "interesting," to say the least. I had been working on the website for the Ankoay and Carton Rouge projects and finally finished that up. I did run into a bit of a brick wall however. Working in Madagascar is a very different experience. It's been hard getting used to the relaxed time schedule when it comes to meetings (i.e. being told to show up at a certain time to meet with the boss and sitting there for an hour and a half waiting). Also, Madagascar seems to me to have a bad case of 'island mentality'. By that I mean that the people I work with (as well as many Malagasys I've met) seem to have a somewhat distinct separation between "us and them"...it is very hard to get myself to be included in goings on (not to mention I would never expect an invitation to go to lunch with any of my co-workers). It has been very hard to get used to.

Antananarivo has been gearing up for this week's festivities. For those of you that don't know, the 26th is the Malagasy Independence Day. There are going to be fireworks tonight that I am going to go watch at Chelsea's house (which has that view overlooking the whole city).

In other news, I have received a job offer back in DC that pays (which I do need for school), and have decided that my trip is going to be cut somewhat short. I am returning to DC early next week. (Please note that this is not me giving up because of the difficulties I talked about above, it was a totally separate decision). I feel that I have had a wonderful experience here and am proud of the work I was able to do. I also feel extremely lucky to have met the great people I have been spending time with. This has been a wonderful trip.

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