Miscellaneous Pictures
New Hospital being built in Tamatave. Ambatovy is sponsoring the burn unit.
Infrastructure not so good
On a positive note, this little boy was apparently looking at the fish
A friendly Friday night game of Floor Hockey
Baobobs, my favorite tree in Madagascar
This says so little and yet so much
Ladies Afternoon Coffee
Ooops, no one likes a sideways Poos poos
Laundry day
Laundry in the rice fields and with ducks
Drying laundry
Major walkway through the rice fields
This is how the ship building starts. Workmanship is incredible!
Little girl dancing...
Lady with painted face- a fashion statement
Where boys first learn about autos and tires!
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After a good downpour!
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Nothing like a good feed of pasta!
The Operations Camp Pool (very nice on plus 30 days)
The Tiki Bar- a gathering place to enjoy a meal or beverage in the evening
Another view of the pool, you just can't imagine how refreshing it is when the weather is
humid and hot, hot, hot
Entrance to the Tiki Bar, sit outside or in
And the entrance to the plant, the reason we are here...
Our new back yard
Outside our place
Our new abode
smaller, but comfortable
Our brightly colored bedroom
Joan showing Natalie from France and Shootin from China how to carve pumpkins,
neither have done this before!
Kavithas Farwell -
Kavithas a very happy girl, she is leaving on a jet plane outta here after almost 3 years. Notice the Canadian flag over her ear? That's right, she's coming to Canada, Sherritt, Fort Sask to be exact...
Always the hostest with the mostest. Nothing like Jello shooters in Madagascar
Even though our place is small, we still have room for dancing
Clint and Kavitha cut a the rug on the floor (dancing for those that haven't heard that term)
It ended up being a great dance party!
Wish I could of got a photo of all the guys dancing, heehee
Even when the guys are done dancing, the girls keep on prancing
Update on the but parcels of land was given to locals. 20 meters square pieces of land were given to locals to build homes. Some fenced their property off and started building homes
More homes being erected
Some roadside restaurants set up
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road to village started like this
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Then it looked like this. Some controversy about who actually owns the land, so owners have hired prisoners to erect a fence to keep homes from being built - (this is not a good situation) to be continued...
Before with bamboo fence on both sides
Now like this. After with cement fence on both sides (Nov 2012)
The bamboo fence was burnt and now they have erected a cement fence on both sides. Not sure what is behind it.
Before with bamboo fence on both sides
The bamboo fence was burnt and now they have erected a cement fence on both sides. Not sure what is behind it.
He tried with an expensive, fancy pole. Got nothing. A few locals were using a piece of bamboo with shrimp, so he tried - got nothing. Then he saw locals using a piece of string with squid. So he sent me to find squid. Apparently it needs to rot, so it rotted in the sun for 2 days. Had to throw it out, cause we couldn't stand the smell, and again caught nothing. I went to the port and bought fish-less frustrating.
Joan snorted a geckel
Rick and his buddy (who ran away from Joan)
These 4 guys were sitting in the middle of the cross road, singing their hearts out. Nobody around, just them strumming a guitar and singing. They sang pretty good!
A ladies luncheon a Miriams' (in orange dress), giving us her Brazilian cultural dishes-was delicious
We're showing off the beautiful napkin rings we wore as finger rings!
Rick, work, work, work, even at home (I actually think he was planning our next holiday get away)
A birthday lunch for Ginette-pictured in the green and white blouse
A little desert I created, I must admit, it was pretty good!
In town off the beach. This mini fair ground was set up for the winter holiday break
something I found on the sidewalk- they like my plants
Twice a week we have lessons, provided by the village. Our instructor (orange shirt) and ball boy (green shirt) are very patient with us
The pool party has begun!
The newly completed pool in our village
Our expanding bride group and possibly more starting next week
Went from 4 to 3 to 8!
We're now at the Tiki Bar - they serve food and drinks and drinks and drinks.
Not your typical bridge group (heehee)
Since we had 2 tables, Kay organized a tournament, and Brett won! It's a good thing, as last week he was my partner and said he was still "licking his wounds" from the beating we took...
(this way he'll come back-just joking Brett)
Update: Nov 2012. There is now a 6 foot high cement wall on both sides of the road. Not sure what is on the other side, as some continued to build and others abandonded their lots.
Rick trying to catch fish just outside the compound. The locals use string tied to their finger.
Rick has a fancy long pole rod.
Rick=0
Locals=basket full
Desperate for shopping or what? Buying stuff at the new market through the fence.
Just can't be outdone!
One really cute little boy.
Children love to have their picture taken. I show them the picture and their so happy and giggly.
We took Eleda out for a 25th Birthday lunch. We let her pick the restaurant. She choose Darififiy. A nice place that looks out at the ocean. She was very happy.
Random children playing near the market.
Someone got a new doo
Awwwww
This is an overview of the pousse pousse trail
It's hard to tell in this picture, but there's broken glass on top of the fence and the red flowers are pretty, but don't let the large prickly thorns on the stem fool you. You can't see them for the leaves but they will HURT you very, very badly. This is high security item here. This picture is outside the hair shop that we usually go to.
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9,000,000 airy airy = Happy Rick
Boys and their toys
Mr. Rick at work so he can buy his toys!
A Man getting a haircut with a razor blade on the street corner. A young boy watching .
The little fellow intrigued me. So cute!
Such a beautiful flower. I had to touch it to make sure it was real.
Found this little guy on our way to the pool.
He climbed into the tree and changed colour
Aggie and I went shopping one of the local villages, and they had a merry go round. Pretty neat. I went to take a picture and the guy was going to let me have a ride. Not sure I wanted to break it for him, so I declined!!!
These guys were hanging on to a piece of rope that looked like it might spilt any second, and the other handle was a piece of rubber that looked like it had too much sun. I was concerned that either of the handles would break, they fall out, and we'd run over him for sure. They didn't seem to concerned.
Some local made furniture at the market.
Small, old car. No Rick, you can't bring it home.
Gina and Aggie took me shopping to the port for fresh fish. We waited while they unloaded the boat, weighed their fish, then we could choose our supper! Quite the sight once all fishermen were there. I had to get the ladies to tell me what I needed to buy. I'm a "Flatlander".
Just another Golfing Sunday. Those are police motorbikes. We usually get stopped a couple of times on the way to the golf course. I keep telling Rick that I want an inside picture of the jail. We almost got it on Sunday. Apparently the company that leases the vehicles to us forgot to renew the insurance. They took Rick's Malagasy driver license away, then let him carry on driving to the golf course. But of course, they wanted a couple of beers first.
So on Monday morning, Rick sent Zacka, our driver to town to pay for the ticket and pick up his drivers license. And next time we go golfing, it will be the same thing, all over again. That's Madagascar!
Joans turn. A little color, some streaks, a few snips off the back.
To my friends...you will be happy to know that, Yes, I am keeping my hair short. I know I look "haggard" in longer hair.
Our first pousse pousse ride. Actually this one is a cycle pousse. A cycle pousse is pulled with a bicycle, and a pousse pousse is pulled by hand. More pictures to come, once we do the pousse pousse factory tour.
A picture of a rainbow around the sun! This apparently is called a "Sun Dog". I wonder if it's called a "Moon Dog" when it's around the moon???
Our farewell party for Jelane and Bunny. Both lovely ladies are leaving Madagascar. Bon voyage and best of luck in the future. Hopefully our paths will cross again! This is how you take a picture when no one is around to take it for you.
This is the tool that you use to shred coconut. It works like a charm! The end looks like a bottle cap with a variegated edge. (in this picture the end is full of shredded coconut). You rub the inside of the coconut up and down, and the shredded coconut falls onto the plate.
Elita (our house keeper) brought over her coconut shredder for me to try. She sits on it and goes right at it. No problem for her.
Obviously she is much better than me. I sat on a stool, so I wouldn't break it. I'm too big.
These are the flowers that we got at the Palm Oil. Aren't they beautiful!
This is at Lafaza Plaza. Just a couple of kilos from our village. It's a beautiful area, with a small restaurant, a half dozen or so separate huts to spend the night, a beautiful beach and this part of the ocean you can swim in. The guys putting bait on the fishing rods
Rick came back early. Apparently a really, really big fish took his bait and hook. (really Rick?)
2 little girls from a nearby village. One was 13 and the other 9 years old. They liked my tatoo, and toe ring, so I ended up giving them my ring, and some munchies.
The girls told me their names, but I can't pronounce them, let alone spell them. They thought our lawn chairs were pretty neat.
The local boys were playing with a ball.
At first we thought it was a coconut, but upon closer look, it was the inside of a soccer ball with a net tied around it to keep it from falling apart.
Rick brought his football along, and was showing the boys how to throw it.
This boy caught the best, so Rick gave him the football. We just hope he still has it, and his parents didn't take it away to make something else out of it.
There was a celebration at the Train Station on Saturday. We weren't able to find out what was happening, but some ladies wore traditional outfits. Very beautiful.
More outfits. This picture is too far, but you can still see some of them.
These young ladies were Girl Scouts. Pretty much the same as Canada, right Janet?
Below is the finished product. Like all grass, it needs lots of water, to root. The type of grass that they plant spreads on a stem. Once it takes, the blade grows along the ground and keeps producing more shoots. It's a thicker blade of grass.
To market we go! This pig is alive, it was snorting when we drove by. Notice the man holding him down with his legs. The pigs legs are tied of course. Hey Gerald, a new way to haul pigs to the market!
They cover with mud (picture below) and start a fire on the inside and it burns slowly.
The wood burns slowly to make the charcoal.
Nous reunion tous Lundi apres-midi a une heure. (I have to check with Ginette to see if that's right.)
More treasures. They wouldn't let me take off the tags from the glasses. And you know I always listen!
Mr. Rick on his way to get a hair cut
