Just NB

Went today with Rox to hunt down an iron, coffee pot, and tea kettle (hers electrocuted me last night!!) and I had my own driver today so we set out on the town. I didn't really have a need for anything but wanted to buy a few things... I was curious how much things cost so I picked up a few things 2 cans of Coke Zero (Ar$2800 or $1.60 CDN) 1 can of Coca Cola (Ar$1300 or $0.75) 1 small glass bottle of Black Currant Fanta (Ar$2890 or $1.65 CDN) 3 cans of Three Horse Beer (Ar$4200 or $2.40 CDN) 1 bottle of South African Red Wine (Ar$11990 or $6.85 CDN) 1 small bottle of body lotion - Malagasy Brand (Ar$2890 or $1.65 CDN) For a GRAND TOTAL OF Ar$23880 (roughly $13.65 CDN) Its extremely hard to judge how much things are... and some things are weirdly priced. But it was cool to finally go into a store. Outside the store I experienced my first beggar child. There were a group of them waiting outside the store. One little boy followed us, motioning his hand to his mouth, banging on ...

I feel like I've been complaining a lot about it here...so I wanted to put up some pictures to show you just how pretty it can be too. [and one to show how I can never have a shower without making a mini swimming pool on the floor - no matter where in the world i go. :) ]

Nothing really interesting to say today....just a blabbering on about nothing but i’m STILL not really feeling all that awake so i’m typing totally random thoughts and sentences that don't really tie in to each other...but who cares. Going out for girls’ night tonight. I have no idea what that means, but there are very few girls here so there won’t be that many of us. Everyone works Saturdays, so we’ll only stay out until about 10pm, but it should be a fun time since being here i get drunk off of 1 beer. I went for a run last night again. It is so incredibly weird to listen to that song “Africa” by some dude (the song is always played on The Bounce, it’s a ‘80s remake) and then realize that I am going for a run IN Africa. Oh, and HUGE NEWS!!!! MY STOLEN ROCKS ARE BACK!!! I don’t know how or why, but they are back. Now they are sittign on my windowsill. All water in the camp is heavily chlorinated. Its basically like going for a swim every time i take a shower. Its very humid here, ...

I went for lunch today with a bunch of other expats to the equivalent of the Mongolia Grill in Vancouver. You pick your fish, meat, veggies, sauce, etc. It was very nice and I was thrilled to eat some food that I actually like! My dining companions were 3 Parisians, 2 Canadians (myself included) and 2 Americans. It was very interesting and a nice time. The ability to speak French here (even if it’s Canadian French :P) makes things so much easier. There are times where I can’t really understand the Malagasy or Parisian French, but regardless it helps tremendously. Last night, I was FINALLY able to eat a real meal and nearly had an appetite. We had Indian food night at the camp. I’m not sure if the coca cola here is the same as in Canada – but I had 2 wine glasses full and I am seriously vibrating and hyper but not really in a good way. I’m pretty sure I could run a half marathon right now just on this pop. I know that my body/mind is going through a total shock right now, but it’s suc...

I can't always post the day that I want to, this was written on the 11th. Today was ok. The reality of the fact that I MOVED TO AFRICA has started to set in. Mainly because we lost power and running water. Until now, I couldn’t figure out what the huge bucket of water was next to each toilet in our office. WELL, I found out today! It’s for when the water stops working – you are supposed to dump the bucket of water into the toilet and it automatically flushes. I had heard about the power outages…but until I experienced it, I don’t think I fully understood it. The power has gone out several times since I’ve been here, but it has been very stormy, and I just assumed it was because of the storm. NOPE! Its because its Madagascar. Ok, so now… I know. We have backup generators so we just live without lights and air conditioning – which isn’t that big of a deal since its winter here. The power and the water thing…..they aren’t even really that big of a deal to me. Its just that those 2 thi...