Just NB

Our flight in the can't-come-soon-enough five days (or four days?) was a big stress for Louis and I. I wanted one FUCKING thing to be settled. Will I have a job next month? Who knows. Will the public freak out and will there be protests next week? Who knows. Will we get a permit? Who knows. WILL I GET ON A PLANE ON SEPTEMBER FOURTH? Please for the love of chocolate - I need to have this confirmed. For my sanity and the sanity of everyone around me, please, please, please, I need to have this confirmed. I know that there is a super high probability that something will go wrong in one part of our journey, but I don't care. I'm just clinging on to the fact that I had a flight booked. And then, Luftstansa went on strike . So I started the search, monitoring availability, for other flights. Trying to decide...when should I book another flight....should I wait...how long should I wait? Should I royally piss Louis off and book us business class (he's all, "Let's...

Yesterday we had to lay off a few drivers, in attempt to start to curtail costs (hate the word curtail). Not a great morale going on here. 10h04, we get a message: Protest rally going-on, please avoid downtown. This usually means one of a  few things: 1. There are like fifty people with signs protesting 2. There are a hundred angry people protesting 3. It's actually unsafe to proceed downtown. More often than not, it's usually the first option. These days, who knows. Update 14h32: Our Security staff told the protestors to go home. They did. As if this place isn't confusing enough.

With absolutely everything else up in the air, it would make sense that Lufstansa would go on strike, five days before we are schedule to fly back to Canada. Here's ONE of the many, many articles. What this means for us: We hope that the strike ends before...Sunday. If not, on Sunday night, we purchase ourselves a one-way flight from Joberg to Frankfurt. I've checked and there are at least ten different options. Since the project isn't exactly flush with funds at the moment, this may come out of our own pockets, which means this princess may be flying economy. At the moment, I don't care.

Antananarivo — About one in seven residents of Madagascar's main port city of Toamasina are sex workers. In less than 20 years, the number of registered sex workers in the city of about 200,000 residents has climbed from 17,000 in 1993 to 29,000 in 2012. The increase has been driven by rising poverty levels as well as the city's proximity to the recently opened Ambatovy nickel mine. Construction of the mine, coupled with recent improvements to the port, saw an influx of thousands of foreign workers. The billion-dollar investments also resulted in an escalation in living costs and the collapse of traditional commercial activities like the collection and sale of cloves and coffee, pushing more young women into sex work. "Girls come from the countryside to work as maids. Then, when they have a problem with their employer, other girls from their region introduce them to prostitution," Germaine Razafindravao, the president of the local sex worker collective FIVEMITO ...

Google Translate doesn’t always work the best, but I can’t find any articles in English. Article Source Google Translated version: According to the statement from the company operating Ambatovy has not yet officially received the license to operate which will go into production. Also, the Company has decided to curtail the activities of contractors who are not directly related to the completion of commissioning and testing techniques of plant Toamasina. According to this statement, “Ambatovy notified date (note: yesterday) subcontractors and suppliers of a possible future reduction in non-core activities during the period of completion of commissioning and testing techniques. Ambatovy continues its dialogue with the Government of Madagascar for licensure. For now, regular activities continue as usual. Ambatovy not considering layoffs of employees for the time since the company expects to receive the permit as soon as possible. “ This announcement follows another statement dated Aug...

Every so often I hear a song that really resonates with me. I had a bizarre day, but I feel like I had so, so many lightbulb moments. I went for a very short run today, and heard this song on the way back home and every so often I just have to get that cheesy that I post a song on my blog. [Also things are good but I'm having trouble accessing my hotmail/outlook account.] Here's the link I'm not able to embed the video Darlin, you're hiding in the closet once again. Start smiling... I know you're trying, real hard not to turn your head away Pretty darlin... Face tomorrow, tomorrow's not yesterday Yesterday, oh oh Pretty please, I know it's a drag Wipe your eyes and put up your head I wish you could be happy instead There's nothing else I can do Then love you the best I can Darlin, I was there once a while I go... I know, that it's hard to be stuck with people that you love when nobody trusts Pretty please, I know it's a drag Wipe your eyes ...

Well, things are either going to get very interesting here, or, life will be totally back to normal. Yesterday the media/employee announcement came out. The national staff is worried. There are expected to be protests, etc, but again with those types of things my biggest problem in ME because I just can’t help but freak out whenever they happen - regardless if I’m with Louis, or in a secure camp, or that they have additional security, etc, etc. I guess for me to be able to be less scared during protests/strikes, I need practice to conquer the fear. Regardless of me getting a little jumpy, I’m safe. We have enough groceries to last us until we leave for vacation and we don’t have any plans to go into town. Our company charter lands on the plant site, we quickly get transfered to the Tana airport, and then we’re out. I’ve been asked (and asked myself) if we will lose our jobs, and while it’s a possibility, it is the absolute last resort. Over six billion dollars has been invested i...