As I tell my friends and family that I will be spending a year in Madagascar I get many responses. Some ask if I will be safe, most ask what I am going to be doing, but a surprising number ask, "where's that," "have you seen the movie," or they comment on one small thing they know like, "they have lemurs." I admit, I am pretty excited about the lemurs, but since receiving my call to Madagascar I have lost any admiration for "the movie." I also admit that I don't know much about Madagascar now, and I really didn't know much two weeks ago when I received my call. So, we are all learning together.
In the midst of attempting to finish up my undergrad, I have been procrastinating by using Google maps to try to pronounce the names of cities in Madagascar, attempting to learn some Malagasy with online language learning tools and looking at lots and lots of photos. Here are a couple things I have found...
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/19/travel/19madagascar.html?pagewanted=all&_r=1& - I especially like the beginning of this article, where the author describes the combination of cultures, the food, and the plants and animals. I will have a very different experience than the author's 10 day vacation, but I believe that these are things we may have in common.
http://www.kuederle.com/Madagascar/Pictures/ - There are lots of photos here. I especially like the "people" section.
http://news.mongabay.com/2014/0515-fitzner-madagascar-reforestation.html - This is an interesting article that the Madagascar Country Coordinator sent to the Madagascar YAGM crew. It gives great insight into the challenges that Madagascar faces as a society.
Thanks for reading!
