The School is Quiet

Three in the afternoon on a Wednesday... I should be meeting with my English club, in the middle of my busiest day of the week. Instead, I'm just hanging out listening to Alpha Blondy.

Yesterday afternoon, my fellow teachers here at the lycee decided to join the national teacher strike that had already been going on for ten days. I heard that some important person came to town and that is what spurred the action here, though a teacher also told me "Kamo miasa ny Malagasy, dia migreve" (Basically, they are kind of lazy so they are striking. Though he laughed when he said it so I don't know how serious he was). And my boss from Peace Corps told us all to not get involved because there could be some political stance behind the action, though a different teacher denied this. I'm not going to try to speculate, but I will say that if it weren't for the national strike, my coworkers most likely would be teaching as I write this.

Had a crazy couple of weeks during exam time. I received my stack of over 400 exams to be graded on a Thursday, then had to have each class' graded before we met the following week. But I didn't realize this until I had already spent the weekend hanging out with friends and not doing much grading. So partly my fault I guess, but in any case that wasn't too fun.

Oh also, we have three terms at my lycee, but only two exams (February and June). The second term ends next week, but grades have been turned in for a week and a half. So any work after the exam is essentially part of the third term, even though it doesn't officially start until April 16. No one else here seems to be that surprised by this arrangement.

Luckily, I have a lot to be happy about right now. I will be heading out on vacation next week, hitting up the east coast for a week and then spending a couple of days in the capital. It will be great to see friends again, since they live far enough away to make weekend trips impractical. And I'm looking forward to getting out of my region. I don't leave very often since friends in the area always come here to go to the bank and whatnot.
Also, avocados are in season! So damn good. And cheap too at 100-200 AR each depending on size (~5-10 cents). I've heard the season is short (as it is for all good food here) so I'm eating avocado about four times a week now. Cheapest guac I'll ever eat...

I also haven't gotten any sort of sickness in quite a long time (knocking on wood rapidly as I write this). Other than my side effects from my malaria meds, which I'm getting changed anyway. I guess my stomach has finally gotten used to living here!

I am also no longer an organic farmer here. I have over 60 passion fruits on the vine now, but several have developed a brown spot and fallen off before ripening fully. I was told there were bibikely (Literally "small animals," but means insects or other bugs. I love the word.) and I should get some spray for them. At the store, the guy agreed with the diagnosis (I had brought a diseased specimen along), measured out a liquid chemical with what looked like a giant syringe, and put it into a little bottle for me. He told me to add it to a liter and a half of water and spray it on. Chemical, bottle, and advice: 400 Ariary (20 cents). Score.

Conveniently, 1.5 liters is a standard size for plastic bottles here (I wasn't about to buy a spray applicator). So I got an old bottle, added the chemical and water, poked a couple of little holes in the lid, and squeezed to shoot it onto my passion fruit vine. So far so good, but I've got my eyes on you, bibikely...

Oh yeah, also, one of the better known singers in Madagascar is coming to town on Sunday for a concert... Samoela! I'm going with a friend who is a lycee student here and an avid student of English and America, and two PCV friends. Then I teach Monday (maybe), and Tuesday my vacation will have begun!