Three hour tour

So far being in Madagascar has me feeling like the characters of gilligan's island all rolled into one person. I am still that down home midwest girl, turned movie star, but not by choice. I just feel like that because the malagasy people are very curious by nature and like to stare. Anything I do or don't do is interesting. I'm still the nerdy, resourceful scientist but turn suddenly into a bumbling fool (Gilligan) when I try to communicate. Language is still coming too slowly for me. I am like the rich couple too because to these people my white skin means I have money (and in reality even though I subsist on 300 a moth I know I will never have to go hungry). It is all about adapting to a new environment at this point. If I happen to take on several different charachter roles to do that, then so be it. This is my island home now and as long as I can laugh about the bizarre, the struggles, the ironies I'll be ok. I have had plenty to laugh about so far and I doubt it will stop from here.

I really like it here. Life is slow paced in rural areas but there are still times I can have access to big city luxuries like internet and ice cream. My internet access will be about once a month.

I visited my site where I will be working for the next two years. The people are resourceful fishermen/women and are hard working. There are plenty of opportunities for ecotourism development, reef conservation, environmental development work. My role in the community is to be a liason between the native people and Conservation International. Together we will work on reducing fishing pressures on the local coral reef while developing income generating opportunities for the village. I want to get a diving certificate while I'm here if it is possible and go out with CI and see the reef. I can't wait to be in my village! It is so beautiful there!

My house is 60m from the beach. There are flocks of bright green parakeets, all kinds of crabs some as big as my head, hermit crabs, colorful polkadotted ocean fish, all kinds of lizzards and snakes. I discovered my new favorite fruit called pokanelle.( sp?) During the rainy season I will probably be stuck in my village though. I get two days a month to go into my banking town. Rain makes all the roads impassible by vehicles.
Atsite I have a feeling my best friend is going to be an 8 year old for a while. At least we are on the same vocab page. Plus she has all the time in the world to tell me the names of things. I have a feeling we are going to play the "what is this" game for a while when I first get to site. I hope I start learning more language. That is my limiting factor for getting things done right now.

Five more weeks of training left. I have a phone now which is nice. You can call me around 7 am untill 2 pm midwest time on sundays and I'll have my phone on during those hours. Otherwise if you try my phone will be off and you will get a french opperator because I haven't set up my voicemail yet. Thanks for sending letters and e-mails. Text me!

Getting ready

I've had my suitcases open in the living room for a week now and they are mostly filled. The contents change daily. A few things I will not part with: pictures of family and friends, camera, write in the rain notebook, journal, and In the Shadow of Man by Jane Goodall. The other things are self explanatory but Goodall's book has particular sentimental value. It was my mother's when she was young and I have made a habit of reading it at the beginning of every field position I've ever taken. Not only is it a tremendous story, but somehow it gives me courage when starting something brand new. Goodall accepts her position with no previous professional training and dives into observing one of man's closest relatives; the chimpanzee. Her passion/obsession drives her. It reminds me to listen to what my mom has always encouraged me to do: pursue my passions and dreams.

With one week to go I feel as though everything is a blur. I am so excited about leaving! I can't wait! So much to do and so little time. I've had to start goodbyeing already. I saw my mom in Ohio this weekend and it was a very nice visit. A bit sad but good. I've been trying to prepare myself as much as I can with the whole goodbye thing but I hate it. It probably isn't even possible to prepare for that. Here in Granite, in addition to helping me prepare equipment and packing stuff, Dad and Terri Kaye have been there for me when I couldn't help thinking about how much I was going to miss everyone. Mostly now I've been focused on how awesome of a trip this is going to be.

A new chapter

The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. government or the Peace Corps

Well, here goes the beginning of a new chapter in life.


I’ve thought about joining the peace corps since the winter of my sophomore year in college. Though the idea was present nothing was concrete until March of 2007 when I sent in my application. It has not been a precipitous decision either. I have spent the last 10 months explaining to my family and friends, writing essays, interviewing, filling out paperwork, getting shots …the list goes on. Now the time has come.
I’m going to be in Madagascar in two weeks.

Some of you may never understand why I would want to leave the country for two years to live in a developing nation. I have two reasons. Good will and adventure.

Originally, I had extraordinary visions of somehow making the world a better place. Perhaps I could change the savagely unequal distribution of wealth, the misuse of resources, the way people think. Realistically, in two years I know I won’t be able to change the tide. This is just a start of things I can do to make a difference. I would say that the Peace Corps is more like throwing pennies in a wishing well. I’m still making waves, just small ones, and over time you have a lot of change.

Mostly, I believe that those with the greatest need should be helped first. I hope to gain great satisfaction in knowing I at least tried to understand and do something about the problems facing the people and resources in the developing world. How else can you truly understand unless you are there experiencing first hand?

This is where my adventuresome side comes in. I never tire of experiencing new places, foods, and surroundings. I purposely chose the African and Central American regions on my application because tropical areas support the highest amount of biological diversity. To illustrate my sentiments is one of my new favorite quotes by John K. Townsend, a bird collector in 1849:
“None but a naturalist can appreciate a naturalists feelings-his delight amounting to ecstasy-when a specimen such as he has never before seen meets his eye.”