Africa2007

Next Adventure...

2007-12-09T00:15:00.001-08:00

You can check out my next Habitat Build at...

www.michelleinvietnam2008.blogspot.com

In Zanzibar...

2007-07-06T07:50:00.000-07:00

Well I've gone from A to Z... the Arctic to Zanzibar and it's almost time to come home...

I'm spending my last week in Stonetown in beautiful Zanzibar... at the Tembo Hotel...

Stonetown is this maze of small streets and alleyways that guarantees that you'll get lost but if keep wandering, you will either end up at Market Street or at the Indian Ocean...

The Zanzibar International Film Festival is going on right now so lots to do...Last night we went to see a film in the outdoor stone amphitheatre...And there's bands playing in an old Fort...

Yesterday we took a boat, called "Mr Bean" over to Prison Island to do some snorkeling. Amazing, pristine beaches...

It was never actually used as a prison because as soon as it was completed, they decided to use it to quarantine sick people arriving by boat from India and the Middle East. Now it houses a hotel, restaurant and conservation area that helps protect the almost extinct Giant Tortoises...

Feeding time...

And the race is on... The Tortoise and the Hair!

See you in a week!

In Dar Es Salaam...

2007-07-01T13:00:00.000-07:00

Fr Salutari Bahati and Fr Massenge are keeping me company...

And today we went to Bagamoyo on the Indian Ocean.... And I think it is my favourite place in Tanzania....

There were so many school children there on vacation...

And then tonight we dined at our favourite place "The Rose Garden".... Our usual waitress is Ashura...she is 21 and wants to be a lawyer to help with women's rights...she has been talking to the Priests about going back to secondary school, so between me and my friends, we will hopefully sponsor her....

Pictures from around the schoolyard...

2007-06-24T06:48:00.000-07:00

I've been accused by some of my American friends of being on a mission to recruit new Canadians with all the Canada pins and flags I've been giving out...

This way to the school...

Hanging out with the girls in the dorm...

The computer lab...but no internet yet...( it's coming soon)

Do you remember the computer days before internet? Way back, we had a huge, huge computer that my Dad brought home from work...it sat in the corner of our kitchen and I used it to type out my essays...one screenshot page at a time...I think that was around the time of Pong...Boy, do I sound old!

The bus home after a soccer game...

Playing some Netball...

Short hair is mandatory at the school...and everytime I walk by the shop, the students want to give me a buzz...

UWO Western Heads East Project...

2007-06-22T04:17:00.000-07:00

It's so strange to come to Africa and hang out with Western students...but I couldn't have found four more welcoming, friendly or fun girls... Corrine, Missy, Kim and Jackie...

The girls are here as interns for the summer and are working on expanding the Yogurt business, doing research to see how it's helping and doing a documentary on it...

We spent a week touring, working, and playing...(and between us, I think we had malaria, typhoid and an unknown parasite....)

Corrine teaching English to the Mamas...

I got to meet the "Yogurt Mamas" and see how the yogurt is made...it sells for 10 cents a cup but here are so many people who still can't afford it...

And Missy, Jackie and I took a road trip back to Ussango to visit my school...

5 hours on a sketchy bus....

But worth it in the end...

We got to see all of my watoetoes.... (Swahili for Children)

I try not to have favourites...but "Captain Merando" is so cute!

Thanks to Mom and Danielle for all of the books, stickers and candies...the kids just loved them!

And finally...our last night out together in Mwanza at the Hotel Talapia!

Thanks for such a wonderful time girls and we'll see you in September!

Safari...

2007-06-22T03:50:00.000-07:00

Those of you who have camped with me...Borman, Tara, Kellie, Danielle, Brenda, Esme, and to some extent, the Madagascar Princesses.... know that I'm a bit of a chicken when it comes to leaving the tent at night...so imagine Michelle in a tent by herself in the middle of the Serengeti with wild animals roaming around...I was terrified to say the least! When we were setting up our tents at the Ngorogoro Crater, there were four elephants roaming about 50 yards away... The guy a few tents over from me went to go to the toilet during the night and when he came out of the tent, there was a buffalo five feet away...and the night before, a lion killed a warthog right behind some tents. Needless to say, nothing short of an elephant stepping on me, was getting me out of my tent at night!!

But looking back (now that I'm hanging out poolside at the Talapia) ...I have to say it was an amazing experience....lol

I did a five day safari that included one night at Lake Manyara, two nights in the Serengeti and one night at the rim of the Ngorogoro Crater...I joined a tour with two German students, Sorn and Toby...Toby had a really good camera and is sending me a disc with all his pictures but until then, you'll have to make due with my feeble photographic attempts...

Don't want to tailgate this guy...

More Tembos...

Just hanging out at the local watering hole...

Simba on the Hunt in the Ngorogoro Crater...There were nine lions circling in on two warthogs...(who got away thank goodness...I may have become a carnivore lately but some things I still don't want to watch...)

Twiga...(my blog is not only entertaining, it's educational...teaching you Swahili!)

Although it might not look like it in the picture, but Hippos are huge animals...and very dangerous if you mistakenly get between them and their water source!

Lost in Translation

2007-06-16T04:48:00.000-07:00

May 26th…

In the past, I have sometimes been accused of being too casual in making plans with people…To me ”See you later” is not a plan but apparently this attitude is catching up with me here in Tanzania…

Last week, I heard that our cook Matthew’s child was in the hospital so once he was back, I went to see him. (my Swahili vocabulary surrounding food is actually pretty good)… Up until this point, most of my conversations with Matthew have centered around food, so it was strange to struggle so much during this conversation but I was able to find out that it was his "daughter" and that she had a problem with her eye. (my Swahili is also pretty good when it comes to body parts) I then ask him if tomorrow I might be able to give him some balloons to take home to his daughter.
So as I leave, I see a little confusion in his face but overall I am feeling pretty good about our conversation. Later that night, Felician (an English teacher) comes to tell me that Matthew came to him to see if Felician would accompany me to Matthew’s house as Matthew was worried that I might not find it on my own. Apparently I had somehow made an appointment for 5:30 pm the next day? And of course, balloons in hand, Felician and I went at the appointed time the next day…lol

Later that same week, I was sitting outside the store when two women came and sat with me. We chatted over a soda and the one woman told me that she would like me to come and visit here at her place. Quite often I accompany Father Chuwa or Father Henry to different towns so I’m never exactly sure when I’ll be around, so, through Felician, I said I wasn’t sure when I could meet or if I would have time before I left the next week. We had some more conversation … part Swahili and partly translated by Felician and then we said goodbye…Kwaheri.
So two days later, I am at the school taking pictures and Felician comes to tell me that my friend Fairista is here to collect me (and Felician) to go to her place. So I am a little perplexed on what to do as …A) It’s the last day of school and Felician actually has a job to do at the school which does not include being my personal tour guide and B) I have no idea how far away this place is as most people here are used to walking far distances and when you ask them how far it is to somewhere, they say “just over the hill”. Just over the hill can mean anywhere from 100 metres to 25 kilometres…
So thankfully, Felician agrees that we should go and that he will come with me… So we join Fairista and start walking. I want to bring some sodas to here place as a gift but it’s almost impossible to figure out how many to buy (as there were then about at least a dozen children around us) So we send some of the older children off to buy 18 sodas…(Fairista has said that she doesn’t want a soda but would really like some soap…so we buy her some soap…and a soda) We follow Fairista for quite a while, going through other people’s yards…stopping to say hi to them…and then finally we reach her house. About 5 minutes later, the children come carrying the case of sodas… We sat and chatted…and I find out that Fairista is 38 and has four children…(three of which are away at school so only one of our crowd of children is actually hers.) It was such a party atmosphere…I taught the children the “Capt’n Jack” song and dance…and we took lots of pictures. Then just as we were about to go, Fairista presented me with a live chicken as a gift. There is something so surreal when you receive such a kind offering… I then lead the children in songs the whole way back to the school “I said a Boom, Chick a Boom” …I think this may have been one of my most favourite experiences here… so Lost in Translation is not always a bad thing…

Magic Moments

2007-06-16T03:57:00.000-07:00

Around May 7th…

Looking back now…it might not have been such a good idea to kiss the Blarney Stone (to get seven years of the gift of gab) before coming to a country where English is not the first language!! I'm sure even the ones who don't understand english are getting tired of hearing me talk...lol

All kidding aside though, it is very strange the ups and downs I've had because of limited communication. There are times that I feel so isolated that I want to jump on the next plane home…(good thing it’s outrageously expensive to change my ticket or I might have…) but then the next moment, I experience something so wonderful that I feel like I’ve just been given one of the greatest gifts that the universe has to offer…just want to share some of these moments with you…

I was walking down a dirt road just outside of town when a lady starts waving at me and inviting me to come over… I walk over to her hut and she pulls up a small stool for me to sit on in the dirt. About six children gather around us… I start off with some of my Swahili and tell her my name and where I am from. Between writing in the dirt and using my Swahili dictionary, we have a short conversation. I then took a picture of them before heading off down the road. I kept looking back as I walked and the children were all waving at me until I was out of sight. About two weeks later, I took Felician (a teacher) back there with me and brought the picture in a frame. She told Felician that she has never had a picture before…

I sat and made balloons for the children and gave them some sweets. I'm not sure if she knows what a gift she gave me by inviting me to share some time with her family.

Another time, I went to visit one of the teacher’s Mr Msebya’s family…He has six children and there were a few of his neighbours’ children there as well. One neighbour girl around the age of two kept running up behind me but if I turned around, she ran away to her Mom screaming. (some children are terrified when they see a Mzumgu…ie..white person and it’s possible for the young ones, that I am the first one they have seen) I started making balloons for them, and gave out some sweets and by the time we were singing and dancing, the young neighbour girl was up front and centre dancing with me…
Before heading home, Mr Msebya gave me a live chicken as a thank you… I was very happy when his young son agreed to carry it home for me. What a sight we must have been walking through the village at twilight…about 10 children and I, singing at the top of our lungs, waving balloons and carrying a live chicken…

You may start to see a theme here but it seems like a lot of my magic moments involve the children of Tanzania…they are so carefree, happy and fun to be around. I have a small group of the village children and quite often we play soccer, sing and dance or just sit and drink sodas…I’m not sure how they spot me but every time I come out to the canteen, they come running across the field to see me.
One day, I was sitting out marking some essays and I heard singing. I looked up and the group was coming across the field. They came up to me and just stood and sang songs in Swahili to me…precious!

Random pics and thoughts....

2007-05-28T04:10:00.000-07:00

Michelle wearing her new kanga given by Bongomello Church....

This story might not come across as funny when I blog it but it's something that makes everyone laugh here...

My name is sometimes difficult for some of the students to remember so to make it easier, I say that it's like "Uncooked Rice" in Swahili..."Mchele". Then one day, Father Henry and I were in the truck...and the inside temperature said 47 degrees celcius so I said I'm no longer "Mchele", I'm "Wali"....which means cooked rice! They thought that was hiliarious! And since then I've evolved to "Mponga, Mchele, Wali"! (mpunga is what rice is called when it first comes from the rice field) This picture is Michelle trying to carry a bag of mpunga...(about 180 pounds)

Michelle giving Dance lessons to "Capt'n Jack" (thanks to Barretstown for the singing lessons!)

Michelle as she's finishing marking 120 english essays....That deserves a Safari!! (the local beer, not a trip!)

Although it's not the most comfortable ride...this is the usual way to get around in Ussango...For about $2, you can get a 20km ride into town...

Tanzanian Statistics...

2007-05-28T03:34:00.000-07:00

2 - Number of Live Chickens I’ve received as gifts so far…

0 - Number of times I’ve successfully purposely left behind live chickens without someone chasing after me with them.

32 - The number of consecutive days that I’ve eaten chicken for at least one or two meals…(for this reason, I try not to make friends with the ones I get as gifts...)

47 - The number of water blisters that appeared on my face when I drank some Ribena! (and yes I did count them...)

6 - The number of people who “palmed” me money at church last week when I was shaking hands…including two young boys who each gave me 40 shillings…(approx 4 cents) It was heartbreaking to take it but would have been unthinkable not to accept it…btw..I donated it all back to the Church…

2 - The number of times I’ve been holed up in my room for at least two days waiting for the Ciproxin to start working…(actually 3 if you count Madagascar….)

18 - Number of times I’ve been asked by the students to dance to Shakira…( They haven't figured out yet that I have no rhythm....I should have never played my mp3 for them!)

62 - The number of students who fit in the back of a lorry on the way to a school soccer game…(unbelievable…)

I will post a picture as soon as I can!

Just another day...

2007-05-16T03:28:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to give you a taste of the typical “untypical” day in my travels here in Tanzania…

May 7th....
This morning was spent in Nzega. While Father Chuwa went to the bank, Maggie and I went off to do some shopping. My intention was to pick up a couple of souvenir wraps for my sister and Ang…(but don’t tell them…) So I go in looking for something that you would wear with a swimsuit…but Maggie keeps showing me yards and yards of material. Our English communication isn’t going so well and I can see that Maggie is getting a little frustrated with my indecisiveness to buy anything…(probably not frustrated with me I think but frustrated because she might fail at helping me shop??) So Maggie finds here sister Tina, (who works in Nzega) to help. Tina is a little more forward than Maggie and she grabs me by the arm and is determined to show me every stall in the market so that I might find a wrap that I like…Well I finally figure out from my Swahili book that it’s a “Kanga” that I’m looking for and that a kanga is nothing like our bathing suit wraps. It’s about 12 feet of material that can be folded in half and wrapped around your entire body… I heard something about it being cut up and being made into 6 pieces but I lost something in that translation … So finally I ask the price and find out that each one is only 4000 shillings…about $4 usd. So for that price, I pick out two patterns that I like and with that, I have finally appeased my hosts because I have bought something…. I guess Danielle and Ang can always use them to curtain every window in their houses…lol

So I get back just in time to jump in the truck with Father Henry to head off to Igunga. We stopped at the bank where Father Henry just drops off his paperwork and then we get right back into the truck…and for some reason it decides not to start for us. (I thought it might have something to do with the interior temperature of the truck being 46 degrees!) So off we walk through town to go do our errands…When we get back to the truck, Father Henry bangs a few things with a crowbar…but nothing happens so he decides we just need a push. Some guys across the street start to push us…and of course, it starts!

We had one more errand to do before leaving…going to the post office. So once we get there, Father Henry gets a wad of paperwork that he had to fill out to accept money wires for students from their parents. My attention span lasts about 18 minutes in the small office before I decide to go wandering. I head next door to try to get a beer and the guy shows me a freezer full of fish…ugh. The next stop was a Vodacom trailer where you can make telephone calls or top up your cell. They had a couple of chairs out front under a shady tree so I decide to check it out…There’s a fridge inside so I ask the young guy if they have beer for sale. He opens the fridge and takes out a juice box of milk. Our students have told me there is some disease going around right now associated with milk so I just shook my head no…then he points to a warm Red Bull that is sitting on top of the fridge. … I then decide that it might help if I name all the Tanzanian beer I know…Safari, Killiminjaro, Castle…he just laughed but opened the fridge and pulled out a bottle of Castle. (Did I mention that all the bottles of beer here are about the same size as the quarts of beer in Quebec? And that comes into consideration when I am an hour away from my “real” toilet at my home in Ussango) So I pay for my beer…2000 shillings he tells me. ($2 usd) Then about ½ hour later, a guy from next door, who was there when I got my beer, came over and yelled at the Vodacom guy. He said my beer was only 1200 so that the guy should give me back 800 shillings. Vodacom guy comes out with 500 and from what I could tell, he didn’t have any other change. By the group, it was then decided, that I should take the 500 and then with the rest, buy a soda for a young girl who had just joined us…and I thought that was a very good solution.

So about an hour passes in which I sit and read as well as chat with a quite a few people who keep popping by…(I think Vodacom guy is calling his friends to tell them to come see the “Msumgu”. ) I then check on Father Henry, who is still filling out paperwork…I can either stand on the street and have people gawk at me or I can go back to my Vodacom Paradise. I opt for one more Castle…Another hour passes and this is where the size of the beer comes into play and I have to go search out a toilet. (after my “Madagascar outhouse tour”, here, I have become quite good at managing my intake to coincide with access to my “western” toilet.) And you might think it’s any easy thing to find a toilet, and it is…but you are never sure what you might end up with…So I search out Father Henry to help…He points somewhere down the road and shakes his head…I sometimes think I am too pushy but I’m thinking to myself…”the people in the post office must have somewhere to go to the toilet” so I send Father Henry back in there. The guy behind the counter hands us a key and sends us around to the back of the building. This is where it gets tricky as there are a whole lot of locked doors back there and it’s tough to tell which doors are a part of the post office. So a young guy in an “England” soccer shirt tries a few of them for me, unsuccessfully. So he starts walking off and is waiting for me to follow. He takes me across the street to someone’s home and to their outhouse…By this time, pretty much anything will do…but I find myself in one of the best outhouses I have seen. It was about 10” by 10” and had no roof…In my mind, open- concept outhouses are the best…there’s lots of light, no flies and you don’t feel like you have to hold your breath the whole time. (although it might have more than a few problems during the rainy season…lol)

So, I head back out front to find Father Henry still working in the now closed Post Office. (it’s 6pm by this time…) So I was just contemplating whether I should go back to Vodacom when I heard my name coming from the other direction. Two guys I had chatted with at Vodacom, Stephan and Vincent were calling me to come play pool. Yes… although the balls would roll around on their own sometimes, there was an actual pool table out beside the road. I think they were just being nice letting me play but after I beat the first three guys, they brought in the town shark. He was kicking my butt but sewered on the eight ball so I ended up winning. After that, the rules got a bit strange so that in some games I couldn’t tell if I had actually won or if they just wanted everyone to get a chance to play against me?

Finally, around 7pm, I see a group of guys pushing our truck to help start it, so I run back over and then we were off.

It was now starting to get dark outside and we had about an hours drive. Just outside of town, on a major highway, we go through a police check. I think they’re looking for bad guys, or drunk drivers or maybe inspecting the vehicles…but no. Father Henry then says, “it’s a good thing we’re not going far or they wouldn’t let us through….the police don’t want us on this road after dark because all of the robbers on it!” ugh…

Ussango

2007-05-16T03:27:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to tell you a little about where I’m staying here in Tanzania…

The place is called Ussango and it’s about 4 hours south of Mwanza. We are about 7km off the main road and it’s a fun, bumpy, dusty ride down our lane. I am living in a compound with Father Chuwa and Father Henry…and there are about 10 other people who live here… Maggie is Father Chuwa’s assistant and has been given the unfortunate job of looking after me…hehe. There are about 5 other girls who I interact with here and they all have varying levels of English. I’m not always sure how much we understand each other…but there’s always lots of laughter.

The food is amazing and I've been trying out some of the local dishes like Ugali...My room is great and even has a "real" toilet unsuite!!!

There is a church, a health clinic, a hospital and the Sister’s compound right next to us…and across the field is St Thomas Aquinas Secondary School. It is a boarding school so there are always lots of students about to chat with…I have been to quite a few of their classes to tell them about Canada and to chat in English. The Form Three students (out of four levels) have a class on Tuesday and Friday nights that I attend. It’s a class on Moral Life and right now, the topic is HIV/AIDS. After going through some basic training at the Aids Committee of London, it’s very interesting to see how it is taught here. The students always have lots of questions for me…I forget what it’s like to be in high school so the students laugh when their questions make me blush…

I have been having lots of Swahili lessons…I practice on the children here with my counting, days of the week, body parts…and with strange animal noises…I’m kind of like the Pied Piper here with my balloons, kids music and dancing…

Every Sunday, we travel around to different parishes for Mass and at the end of each one, I get to tryout my Swahili…as I have say a speech introducing myself in Swahili…usually people just laugh but I think they get the gist of what I’m saying…

I’ll be heading off to Moshi on June 5th…then to the Serengeti for a Safari….Can’t wait!

Snail Mail...

2007-04-25T08:59:00.000-07:00

Well I'm off to Tanzania tomorrow...and from what I hear, there's no internet. So this will be my last posting for a while...(I'll be back online in Moshi around June 4th)

So if you feel so inclined to go back to the last century and put pen to paper...here's my address at the school...

Michelle Burlock
c/o St. Thomas Aquinas
PO Box 184
Igunga
Tanzania

New update...I now have a cell phone here... 011 255 787 544 641 and I can get e-mails to my yahoo account through my cell... mburlock@yahoo.com

Take care...
Michelle

R & R

2007-04-25T08:23:00.000-07:00

I'm sitting here in a cyber cafe in Nairobi...I've been up since 3am (to catch my flight from Madagascar), have only eaten a few crackers and a Fanta, and have been on the internet for over 9 hours with only one pee break...so you'll have to hear about our R & R later...But to sum it up...

"Don't touch my feet.."

You can check out the lodge we stayed in at ...
http:/www.hotel-vakona.com

Michelle's theories on driving...

2007-04-25T04:31:00.000-07:00

Driving in Canada usually meant that my Jetta was in the shop at least once a month...I used to curse that but I am now rethinking how good I had it in my little VW...

In Ireland's narrow roads, I found that if I sucked in my breath, our tour bus almost always squeezed through...even if there was a transport truck coming from the other way and the road was technically only big enough for 1 1/2 vehicles...

I won't even go into my terrifying night ride into Nairobi...(see previous blog)

Then we went onto our build in Miarinarivo...Our bus driver decided he wouldn't drive the bus into the park because of how bad the roads were...so we had a 30 degree, dusty five mile hike to the falls...I was willing to pay anything to get a ride out but our hosts didn't want us to pay the $20 USD for 15 of us to ride in the back of a truck...too expensive...so when they bargained them down to $6, I was all over that...And I didn't even blink an eye when they had to keep stopping to put in brake fluid...

So today...I'm back in Nairobi and my buddy Sammy picks me up at the airport...and puts me in the front seat because my bags are in the back seat. (I didn't want to even ask what was in the trunk so that my bags couldn't go there)... Sammy hands me a newspaper as I got in...(and it was in english??) So of course we run into traffic jams so Sammy does his usual "shortcuts" through town and we end up in this flooded area...and we're hitting bottom of these foot and a half pools of water...and I'm still hiding behind my newspaper, pretending not to mind...ugh

So here's my newest idea for getting me around town safely...

Team Poem...

2007-04-25T04:07:00.000-07:00

Team Madagascar…
It has been a blast!
It’s hard to believe,
That it’s gone by so fast…

Together we celebrated Victories,
Like real teams do…
Like the cheers that went up,
When Dennis finally went to the Loo!

Fusas eat Lemurs,
Or so you say…
But when you’re ailing,
It’s Duck Lemur that saves the day!

John, the bald headed Lemur,
Who dances so fine…
It’s a good thing that Laingo is here,
To keep you in line…

And Val and Nick,
Which one is the dreamer?
To think you’d get any sleep,
Rooming with the Snoring Lemur!

Then there’s the Princesses…
Group peeing each and every night.
But when in doubt…
Go left, go left, boogie on down, go left, go left, goooo right!

And although we love Finley,
She’s a little bent.
Cause she hates to have impurities
In her Ce-ment!

Then there’s Christopher,
Our HomeGirl’s alter ego…
Who will live forever in a magazine,
Left behind in Miarinarivo!

Now team…tomorrow as you pack,
And you run out of space.
Just give it to me,
Cause there’s always room in Rick’s suitcase!

We have memories of Madagascar,
Bucket showers, orange socks, zebu steak…
And Karaoke singing,
Furniture moving neighbours at daybreak!

So Val and Pam,
You’ve done this trip with flare.
You both are truly…
Habitat Team Leaders Extordinaire!

Meet the team...

2007-04-23T04:13:00.000-07:00

Lauren...

Pam...Shake, rattling and rolling...

Val...

Finley...

Liango...

John...

Rick...

Anne...

Dennis...

John, Pam and Marc (HomeGirl) ...

The Princesses...

More Pics to come...

Habitat Build

2007-04-23T04:03:00.000-07:00

Habitat Day 1 – April 9th…

Along with our two Habitat Volunteers (Liango and John), Lauren, Joe, Dennis and I picked up the rest of our Habitat Team from the airport late last night. (After our Easter Sunday dinner at the beautiful Sakamanga Restaurant)
Madagascar Note: You cannot buy or sell Madagascar money, the Ariary, anywhere else except Madagascar. And the largest denomination it comes in is 10,000. (which equals about $5 usd…) So as our team arrived on Easter weekend and we were leaving the next day for our small town, our entire team had to change all of their money at the airport…All eyes were on us as we got our wads and wads of cash…

Breakfast this morning..
Coffee, fresh squeezed OJ, French bread, butter, omelet and a croissant
Cost = 5000 Ariarys = $2.50 usd

Practiced our Malagasy
Hello – Salama
Please – Azfady
Thank you – Misaotra

Then headed off to Miarinarivo…a town about 2 ½ hours away where we were doing our build.

Our accommodations were in a “guesthouse”. (our room was bottom left)
Once we got finished hanging our mosquito nets, it looked more like a harem then the bare cement room we started out with. Anne, Finely, Lisa and I dubbed it the “Princess Room” …
And the best part is…(after I had already used the WC with the footprints and hole)
We found out that there was a real western toilet available to us in the group meeting area!!! (as many of you know from camping/cottaging with me,…Tara, Kellie, Brandi, etc…I would rather hike to the next town if it meant I could use a real toilet instead of a hole in the ground!)

Habitat Day 2

Still have yet to start working…In Malagasy culture, it seems like socializing is a precursor to work and to jump right into working would be a fady. (taboo)
So today started out with breakfast, a welcoming ceremony, long breaks, lunch, meeting our host families, a tour of the town and the worksite, playing with the children…Just my kind of day...except that whatever I ate yesterday had other plans for me. After a night of excruciating stomach pains, I have spent the day quarantined to my mosquito net bed…Thank goodness for Lauren’s Ciproxin….

Habitat Day 3
Market day in Miarinarivo…Stalls line all the main streets in town…hats for 40 cents, dried fish in all sizes, underwear hanging from the tents, bike parts, (no bikes, just parts), etc…

We were greeted by the Mayor of Miarinarivo, Andry Raveloson, and given a tour of city hall.

Then we actually started to work in the afternoon…The team split up into two and my group, the Lemurs, went to work on house No 1.

Today, as we walking home from the work site, a family on the hill ran out to greet us. They offered us food…it was taroroot (sp?) It’s funny…after spending the first few days in Tana, we were used to being followed around by people begging for money…and now that we’re in the countryside, people who have next to nothing are sharing... :-)

Habitat Day 4

Still being on the “disabled” list, I was put on market and kitchen duty today…It’s a good thing that my Habitat Team doesn’t know my motto, “Every pan is a No-stick pan if you don’t cook”. I spent the morning shopping in the market with Harry, Flawier, Patrick and Robert…even got them to try to teach me to carry a basket on my head…

Then it was onto chopping carrots and cucumbers for lunch…I brought my MP3 into the kitchen to liven things up with some Shania Twain line dancing… I’m not sure exactly how to say it in Malagesy but I think the word “Loco” came up a few times…

Habitat Day 5

We’ve now come up with our team name, “The Screaming Lemurs”…And each of us are our own specie…There’s Thong Lemur, Snoring Lemur, HomeGirl Lemur, Doc (Duck) Lemur, LD Lemur (can’t reveal Anne’s name) and I am the Red Dred Lemur…(there’s limited bucket shower time so hair takes too long to wash…so Lisa and I are having a contest to see who can go the longest without washing our hair…hence the Red Dreds…)

The Lemurs...

Oh yeah…amongst all the fun we’re having…we did do some work today…and now have almost all the floors done…and that’s a lot of ce-ment mixed by hand.

Tomorrow, we’re going to the other half of the team’s worksite to get filmed for National TV.

Habitat Day 6

Well, after getting all gussied up in our finest workwear…we find out that TV people don’t work on Saturday so they were a no-show… They missed us doing our Madagascar Step Class…We had to move 2000 clay roof tiles up 63 uneven winding steps to the buildsite.

Some of the Habitat Families joined us on our afternoon of R & R (which now stands for roasting and rigor mortis walk…hehe)
Chute de Lily…

Please see driving theory blog for truck ride home picture...

Words of wisdom from Anne...
Even on hell rideds, you are probably safe because although they don't particularily care about you, they probably don't want to wreak their vehicle and jeopardize their livelyhood...Please note, this is only applicable if the driver is also the owner of the vehicle...lol

Habitat Day 7

Today we spent the afternoon at a Geyser…and the bus drove us all the way in this time. Although the Geyser was quite fascinating, we were spent a lot of our time in the coolest outhouse. It actually had no roof, didn’t smell and was kind of funky. (watch for Anne and Finely’s upcoming new series, “View from the Loo”.

There is a really cool Habitat community here in Miaraniviro…with around 30 Families living in Habitat homes.
Tonight we each went to stay with a Habitat Family…Finley and I stayed with Isabel, Roger, Martina, Martino and Herizo.

On the way, Finely and I had one of those strange moments where you look at each other and just wonder how you got to where you are…We hadn’t really met the family…and a van of three guys just dropped Finely, Roger and I off at the side of the road in the pitch dark…Finely and I proceeded to use our headlamps and follow Roger through a field, not knowing where exactly we were going…We just had to trust that everything was going to work out…
And once we got to the two room house, we got a wonderful greeting from the family. We gathered by candlelight (no electricity) and had Coke and cracky. (my newest snack..kind of like ringos) Only Martina spoke French…(and for some reason, because I’m Canadian, everyone thinks that I speak French…and sometimes I do??) So we had conversation mixed with Malagasy, French, English and sign language…Then the entire family went to sleep in the other room while Finley and I were put under mosquito netting in our own room. (we had the option of staying for up to three nights but we felt bad for crowding them.)

Just a note about electricity here…there is a shortage of breakers (or some other piece of equipment like that?) so people go on a waiting list to get electricity into their homes. In fact, one family had a tv but was not scheduled to get electricity until 2008.

Habitat Day 8

Another hard day at the office…Monday’s will never be the same.

Best dinner so far…
Omelets, homefries, cucumber salad, meatballs…and Three Horse Beer.

Habitat Day 9

Our masons, Rene and Aristad started out quite serious with us…communicating only by "meet" (thumbs up) or "si meet" (thumbs down) but we have gradually worn them down and today Aristad broke down with a full belly laugh…When we are mortaring the walls, we usually bring either Rene or Aristad in to say either "meet" or "si meet"…so today I do that but meanwhile, I have etched a smiley face into the wall…so when I call him in so seriously, he burst out laughing…Rene, on the other hand just gave me a thumbs down when the eyes kept poking through as I tried to fix it…Our team now thinks that the family might think the house is haunted if a smiley face comes through when it rains…

Habitat Day 10

Today was the last day of the build…We spent a half day at House 3 chipping away at the bricks...(did I mention that between the bricks is just water and clay…no cement? I’m not exactly sure what keeps the walls together when it rains?)

It was also a very special day as Lisa and I finally washed our hair in honor of Celebration Party…

Speaking of the Party…I’m not sure if I mentioned this…but I learned a new"repeat after me song" at the camp in Ireland…
“Ah oh, Capt’n Jack
Meet me at the Railway track…
With a “guitar” in your hand.. (or hose, or drumsticks, or etc)
You can be my music man…” (or fireman, or drummer man, or ec

Then comes the dancing part…
“Go left, go left, boogie on down, go left, go left, goooooo right!”
“Go right, go right, boogie on down, go right, go right, goooooo left!”

I taught it to some of the kids over the last few days so it was a hit with the families when we sang/danced it at the party…

Habitat Day 11

Today we are leaving Miarinarivo…and a lot of the families came to say bye…What started out as a civilized ballooning session for a few kids…

“balloon” picture to come...

Words cannot express how it feels after a build...the impact on the families, on the community and most of all, on yourself!

"Be the change you wish to see in the world"
Mohatma Gandhi

Touring Tana...

2007-04-08T04:54:00.000-07:00

The keyboard here is much different from home so please excuse any typos...
The keyboqrd here is ,uch different fro, ho,e so pleqse excuse qny typos:::

I have now moved from Susans place to downtown Tana, to the hotel where our Habitat team is meeting...There are four of us, Lauren, Joe, Dennis and I, that came in early so we have been exploring for the last day. This morning Dennis and I walked for a few miles alongside market stalls...Usually there is a lot of begging going on but I think we were out of the tourist area...There were a few times we were bumped to check out our wallets and once followed by some teens but overall, it feels pretty safe here. [although they stare and scream out Vazaha] We could not bring any valubles with us on our walk so no camera...but here are some pictures taken out of our hotel window.

Outside of our hotel, there is some type of bus pickup...A guy hangs out the back door on a ledge and lets people in the back...very interesting to watch.

We walked by a church today, where Easter Sunday Services were going on...lots of kids dressed up in their Sunday best. It is such a contrast when you see other children, shoeless and dirty, following you, begging for money or asking for your almost empty water bottle... Breaks your heart...

Thought of the day...by Dennis...

In tribal times, when people begged for money, it was better if they put out two hands...it meant, please give me something and...I do not have a knife in my other hand...

Happy Easter...
Michelle

Don't touch my feet...

2007-04-05T23:37:00.000-07:00

In Madagascar...

Phoeby...you're the best! Susan and her family (David, William and Elizabeth) are amazing...

I'm getting terribly spoiled here. Their house is just lovely...it has a beautiful backyard with a swimming pool... and four tortoises. (Fact of the day...the difference between a turtle and a tortoise is that tortoises don't swim...thanks Elizabeth...)

There are currently two Queen's students, Josh and Kristy staying here as well...They are heading home today but have been great at showing me the ropes...(even how to catch a cockroach...)

Yesterday, Gene, our driver took the three of us touring downtown Tana...And I learned very quickly that even listening costs you $$$. There are people constantly wanted to sell you something or earn money by being your guide...Just when you think they're giving up on you because they stop, you find that you've actually just come to the edge of their territory and someone else is going to take over...lol

Many of you may have heard about the cyclones here...here's a picture of some of the still flooded areas in town...

Besides Gene, we also have a guard Pierrot and a cook/laundress Noro...I'm not sure how I'll cope with bucket showers and pit latrines next week on the Habitat build???

Au Revoir
Michelle

Nairobi at Night...

2007-04-05T12:11:00.000-07:00

They say not to arrive in Nairobi at night...I flew in at 7pm. Fact of the day: It turns out the sun sets in Nairobi at 6:30 pm every night of the year.
Many of you know how apprehensive I was about going to Nairobi...After hearing first hand stories about getting stuck in traffic and having the trunk crowbarred open and bags stolen. About not stopping at lights, just slowing down to avoid carjackings. Even the tourist video on KLM calls it "Ni-rob-ya! So I was pretty worked up after my 7 hour flight there.

I had e-mailed the hostel at least 5 times to schedule an airport pickup but it always came back undeliverable so I wasn't sure what to expect at the airport. I was quite relieved to see a sign with my name on it as I went through customs. We threw my bags in the trunk and Sammy and I were off. My high spirits were quickly squashed as we drove down the highway into town. If you can picture scenes from futuristic movies such as The Terminator or Children of Men...that's how it looked. There were people everywhere walking down the pot-holed highway. Tin shacks everywhere. Smoke from the open fires on the side of the road made for a permanent fog overhead. The acrid smell was burning my nose...

Then Sammy decides to pull into a gas station. (I'm thinking to myself...why the *%#@ couldn't he have filled up earlier) There are about 15 cars trying to get to a pump and at least 100 people milling around the station. And Sammy just keeps on driving around it. He's looking for someone he says...So I just about lose it when a guy with a crowbar starts pounding on our trunk...It turns out that it's Sammy's cousin Kefar...earlier that day, Sammy had helped him change a tire and Kefar was just wanted to give him the tire back...ugh

I was never so glad to see my hostel....Thanks to all of you that were on MSN that night and helped me calm down...Mom, Sonya, Brandi, Tamarra....

But everything always looks better in the daylight...and I'm now on my way to Madagascar. The flight attendent just came on because the top of Kilimanjaro is coming through the clouds for us to see...(I'll post the picture for you soon Tim...and here it is now...)

Life doesn't get any better than this....

Take care
Michelle

Barretstown...

2007-04-01T01:58:00.000-07:00

Dia Daoibh (that's hello in Irish...and the kids would laugh at me whenever I tried to pronounce it)

Barretstown is where a kid can be a kid, parents can play and volunteers dress up, dance, sing and play all day! Just my kind of place... It's in a castle and is truly a magical place!

I'm here on family weekend so we get to hang out with the kids as well as the parents...It's been a long time since I've been at camp but it has been a truly amazing experience! I'm not sure who had more fun...the kids or me? And Watch out Eddie, Emma and Travis...I have a whole new repertoire of songs and dances to teach you! I think I've perfected the Capt'n Jack one, but still need some help with the Moose one...

Shannon, you are going to have a blast here next week...Make sure to hook up with Bernie while you're there...She and I were partner Caras... There's also some other Canadians...and believe it or not, a London connection too...

Off to Amsterdam tomorrow, then Nairobi on Tuesday, then Madagascar on Wednesday...

Ciao
Michelle

Luck of the Irish...

2007-03-29T14:46:00.000-07:00

I have yet to see a Leprechaun…Or find a pot of gold…but still having a fun time in Ireland. (so much actually that I haven’t had much time for blogging…) I’ve spent a few days touring Dublin, doing the touristy things like the Dublin Castle, the Kilmainham Jail and of course, Guinness…

I’m staying at the Globetrotters Hostel in Dublin.

It’s quite nice…but it takes some getting used to the hostel lifestyle again…Sharing your quarters with six other girls and having no personal space…but then I think of where I’m going next…where we’ll all be sleeping in one room, on mats on the floor, under mosquito netting, with pit latrines…and suddenly this seems kind of nice…lol

We went on a three day tour this week that included stays in Galway and Killarney…And we made a stop at the Blarney Castle…where I’m sorry to say that I kissed the Blarney Stone…(for those of you who don’t know the legend, anyone who kisses it gets the gift of gab for seven years!)

Tomorrow morning, I’m heading off to Barretstown to start my volunteering at the camp…so more to come next week…

Michelle O’Burlock

In the Yukon....

2007-02-23T11:59:00.000-08:00

Check out the Yukon blog at ... http://michelleinwhitehorse2007.blogspot.com/

Thank You....

2006-12-29T08:43:00.000-08:00

Hello Everyone....

There once was a Habitat Elf,
Who became a shell of her former self.
Making chocolates late into the night,
She was fueled by her dreams of taking flight....

Her friends and family would stop by,
Get roped into helping, in the blink of an eye..
Quickly they would get put to work,
Reject truffles, their only perk...

So thank you truffle makers, brokers and buyers,
For fulfilling the world's chocolate desires...
So adios, goodbye and au revoir,
I'm off to Mad-a-gas-car!

Happy Holidays!
Michelle

Truffling

2006-11-12T08:11:00.000-08:00

Hello Friends,

I am once again heading out on a Volunteer Adventure. In March, I’m flying to Madagascar to build for Habitat for Humanity, and then it’s off to Tanzania where I’ll be volunteering for a couple of months in a school in Ussongo.
To help cover some of the costs, I will be spending the next two month’s hard at work in my kitchen making thousands of truffles… So if you’re wondering what to give Uncle Bob who has everything, or want to stock up on holiday hostess gifts, or just plain have a sweet tooth….then Truffles are your answer! They come in a cute holiday tin and are available for only $10 per dozen. You can choose from three flavours: Bailey’s, Grand Marnier, Chocolate or a Combo of all three…Just e-mail me at mburlock@yahoo.com to order.

Thank you for your support!
Michelle Burlock