Hotel Au Bois Vert Antananarivo

... rendre au turbin Ils vont faire la cueillette Du thé et du ver à soie Les filles brodent des chemisettes Qu'elles ne mettront pas J'ai vu les dragons en céramique Au palais d'été fleuri Et la porte fantastique De la suprême harmonie Et la toiture du temple du ciel Au bleu si lumineux De grands lacs artificiels Et un bouddha libidineux Comment c'est la Chine C'est ...

... so in demand ( i just squeezed in despite booking a month in advance) but i have to say it is exceptionally friendly and atmospheric. Every room is unique and mine is a bright and breezy room with a huge bed, fresh flowers and huge windows. Not to mention the bathroom actually rivals many hotels i have stayed in in the UK. I climbed into my bed a happy lassie

... USA for good, there's still some American traditions that need to be introduced in Madagascar. Like the excitement of basketball, and the countdown of a tournament. Satellite television is limited here, and even then it doesn't broadcast college basketball. In lieu of watching the actual March Madness, Peace Corps volunteers are creating their own, and tweaking it a little, to benefit people educationally as well as socially. We will have a 3 day, 3-on-3 basketball ...

... to Ambohimanga the spiritual home of the Merina kings and queens this word is the Malagasy for blue hill, (blue means great in Malagasy so anything called blue is also thought of as great) as this was the site that the 19th century mighty king of the Merina tribe chose as his base, with his ambition to unite the country under Merina rule, although he failed his son King Ramada succeeded with the help of the British. We visited the King's house or ...

... amazingly I managed successfully. We left for the airport in plenty of time and of course got there in the minimum possible amount of time and the flight was delayed by about half an hour too, so plenty of time to kill and people watch. Eventually got back to Maputo, with luggage intact, amazingly. It was a wonderful holiday, with great travelling companions. Really didn't want to go back to reality...

... and do some snorkelling and sailing in a masted outrigger---thet can really move. Then its back through Tuleqr by taxi-brousse, through sapphire boom towns, to Ranihera, gateway to the fantastic scenery of Isalo National Park, where ...

... It too was very good. In the afternoon we drove around the city a bit more and made a visit to a local center of artisans where I was able to pick up some local handicrafts to take home to my wife and daughters. Throughout all this site-seeing we were discussing elements of our fundamental beliefs and comparing our practices and administration with their group with is, I learned, called the Messengers of Jesus-Christ. We have begun a discussion which will continue for ...

... some reason, but in the end Dodwell sent a car anyway. Thence to a doctor's, then to hospital, where I spent to first night in a room with an old woman and her daughter and the Dodwell staff. No privacy at all for the bedpan, but at the time I just didn't seem to care at all. Stupid drip was really annoying me, though. Got tested for malaria - thank God not - just "la grippe tres forte". The doctor told me they could have sent myblood ...

... hips and legs. It was so cute. Halfway through the concert he wanted to see the stage, so he spent the rest of the time on my back. Of course, by the end of the concert, most everyone around us was drunk so we left a little early. The drunk, older women were trying to pull me into the crowd and simultaneously use me as a prop to steady themselves, which was pretty awkward since my arms have barely been worked out since I got here and felt like they ...

... amp; he has started teaching his "brother" to play guitar. We have learned to feed the chickens, carry them to the coop, wash dishes, wash our clothes (by hand which takes quite a long time!!!), use a latrine, take a COLD bucket bath. In tech class we have made compost piles, built a tree nursery & planted 2 gardens (both of which are already producing fruit- thanks mom & dad for the gardening skills ...