Days 25 - 27

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Day 25, Friday, May 23, 2008
We were supposed to go to ANGAP (the Madagascar version of the National Park Service) today but the President of Rotary International is in town so our vocational day was once again postponed. We were supposed to go to his reception that evening, but otherwise nothing was scheduled. So once again we were on our own in Ivato. We found that the TV gets BBC world news from 8-10 in the morning so we've been starting our days that way and today was no exception.
The dinners and lunches seem to have ended once we returned from Tulear, which has left us to make due on our own in Ivato. The guys have actually done a remarkable job of cobbling together some really good meals from the random assortment of food in our house. This morning however we realized that we were out of almost everything but rice. We took a cab to the supermarket and stocked up on supplies. It was fun to go through a Madagascar supermarket. There were the American foods - mostly junk food - the local milks and juices and other things that were different versions of things we have in the states and then here were the things that I didn't recognize and wouldn't have had any idea what they were except for clues from what they were displayed next to. We also bought pastries from the local bakery for lunch and also got one for our driver, who stayed with us to drive us home.
We went out to a dinner in honor of the President of Rotary International. It was a formal sit-down dinner. It was a typical large affair with lots of speeches and mediocre food. The President of RI was very busy so we ended up talking with his wife who was lovely. We also met some very nice people from South Africa.
On the way home we had our second Zebu related traffic accident. This time, there was a large Zebu cart with two zebu parked in the roadway along a very dark stretch of road. By the time Michele saw it, it was too late to stop and we plowed into it. No one was hurt, but because this is often used as a technique to get people to stop so they can rob people, Michelle just drove away. When we got to a gas station, we pulled over and realized that the damage was pretty severe. While we were investigating, we noticed the car was leaking coolant and then started to smoke, so we just left the car there and took a cab home the rest of the way.

Day 26, Saturday, May 24, 2008
We had a day of social events scheduled. We first went to Rontu's house for brunch at 11AM. We had grilled chicken, veggies and rice. Lilliane had a family wedding to attend so she left after brunch. At 3PM, Christian picked us up and we went to a country club where we met some of his fellow Rotary Club members. Here we had grilled Zebu and little deserts. At about 6PM we left there and went to a Karaoke bar. Kristen was tired so she went home with Rontu. The Karaoke bar was very loud and partially outdoor so also very cold. They tried to feed us more, but we balked after the soup course. We stayed there until 11PM when Josh and I left and took a cab home. Stu went out dancing afterwards and took a cab home after that.
Question: If your host is having a great time and hoping you are as well but you're not, can you tell him? If so how? 12 hours of social events after a night of formal events is way too much for me.

Day 27, Sunday, May 25, 2008
We were picked up at 11AM for lunch at Liliane's parent's house. We were met by most of the Ivandry Rotary Club and had a spectacular authentic Malagasy meal of spring rolls and veggies followed by baked fish, curry meats and rice and finished with a fruit desert. Josh has been trying to find someone in Madagascar to talk with about environmental issues and the Rotary members have been unable to find anyone. However, it turns out Lilliane's Father used to be the head of the Conservation Department in Madagascar for 8 years. Josh is hoping to get a chance to speak with him again before the end of the week.
After lunch Kris went back to Rontu's and the guys went to visit with the South African veterinarian I found. Unfortunately, lunch ran 1 1/2 hours over, so by the time we got there, it was almost too late to speak with her. We had a brief tour of her kennels and I talked with her a little about practicing vet medicine in Madagascar, but then we had to go because the person who was giving us a ride home had to go.

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