I am sitting in the Cafe De La Gare with my study buddy Jon right now, having just finished going to an art exhibit with some of the fun female compadres of SIT.  The Cafe De La Gare is a vazah hotspot being that it is one of the nicer, spendier restaurants in Tana.  It is still pretty cheap by American standards; you can get a fantastic Croque monsieur, fries, and a THB (Three Horses Beer) for about six dollars.  The Gare is really open and breezy and there is usually a house musician or ensemble serenading you.  We ate here on our first night in Tana and it has been a favorite hang out ever since, also because they have free wireless with the purchase of a drink.  As far as past events, I will now endeavor to do a little catch-up, including some pictures.

This curious Malagasy boy liked to peer over my shoulder while I took photos of my host dad playing soccer.  I snapped this shot over my shoulder and it turned out to be the best picture I took at the field.

I have been going with my host dad on Saturdays to play soccer at a beautiful field behind St. Michels Catholic School.  My dad plays on a team with older Malagasy men on the main grass field, and I have been joining a group of high school guys to play on the adjacent dirt field.  The  Malagasy have impeccable touch and control with the ball and are also quite fast.  The only potential advantage I might have is that I am usually one of the tallest players on the field so I can win headers most of the time.  Playing soccer on Saturdays has probably been my favorite part of the homestay thus far. 

As far as my daily routine goes it is something like this.  I usually wake up bright and early at around 5:30 a.m. to the sound of roosters or dogs or both, walk down to my host family's dining room where I eat a croissant and sip a bowl of coffee with plenty of sugar and condensed milk.  I leave my house at 6:30 a.m. and walk down the steep cobblestone driveway to the street and across to the other side by dodging in and out of scooters and taxi be buses.  I then join the mad dash for my taxi be bus and squirm my way to a seat.  I have about a half-hour ride to the SIT center so I arrive there an hour early most days.  I use my hour to catch up on homework and go online.  The school day starts at 8:00 a.m. with French for an hour.  At 9:00 a.m. we switch to Malagasy for an hour. After Malagasy is a snack and social time for half an hour.  Snack time is everyone's favorite part of the day as we munch on baby banana's, Krumps (the Malagasy version of the American Puff Balls snack in the shape of a French Fry or chip), Caca Pigeon, and peanuts.  We sip on tea and coffee and sometimes hot chocolate and talk about hilarious or odd experiences from the day before.  After the snack is a two hour National and Social Identity lecture with a visiting professor from the University of Antananarivo.  At 12:30 p.m. we have lunch which is always quite tasty.  Every day there is a dish of rice, a vegetable side, a meat side, and a fresh fruit side, usually really good pineapple.  After a relaxed 1-2 hour lunch we have an afternoon lecture either about field study or something else and are done by 4:00 p.m. most days.  Students hang around the center to use the internet and hang out till about 5 p.m.  Then I take another crowed taxi be to ride back home with my host family's relative and my friend, Jacquis, who is a 21-year-old French teacher.  Jacquis is super cool and friendly and is always wearing shades.  I asked him why but he didn't give a straight answer.  Back home I watch soccer with my host family and eat dinner at about 7:30 p.m.  My host family is tres gentil (very nice).  It consists of my mom and dad, Pierrette and Rivo, my brother Ranto, niece Merina, and domestique Chuncha.  My dad is boisterous, plump, and loves to sing and practice his English with me.  My brother is quiet and serious and routinely kicks my butt in chess.  My host mom is kind and motherly and my host niece is also very nice (and may have a small crush on me I think).  After supper is homework and then early to bed at 10:00 p.m. or 10:30 p.m. There it is, a day in the life in Madagascar.  I didn't go into as much detail as I could but there will be further posts that will take care of that.   

A typical Malagasy meal of rice and loaka (anything that goes with rice).