Tech Trip! 7/12-7/20

The 5th week of Pre-Service Training is dedicated to Tech Trip, or when they herd all 32 of us into cars and trucks and drive us to various schools and English Centers in town. For this tech trip, we went to Antananarivo and Antsirabe.

We left our host families on Saturday July 12th, and stayed at the PCTC until Monday July 15th. Saturday and Sunday nights consisted of movies and beer, pretty much. It was cool, and a nice break from host family living. I think it reset my mind, and by Monday I was ready to see a little bit more of Madagascar.


ANTANANARIVO
Being apart of group 1, I got to go to Tana first, the capital of Madagascar. I did not really have any expectations of the city, except that my neny says it's maluto be (very dirty). And boy, was she right! The drive from Mantasoa to Antananarivo took roughly 3 hours, and by the time we got to the Meva (Peace Corps Transit House) we just wanted out of the van, so I did not really pay attention to my surroundings as the van got into Tana. Lunch was at a mall (a mall!) called LA City, and it was.....an experience. I've only been in Madagascar for a little over a month, and already I was surprised by elevators, escalators, and actual stores with things more than snacks and toilet paper. Most of us went into a store called ShopRite, which is just a grocery store, to get lunch and buy things we had forgotten to pack for our week long trip. My friend Tori and I went to the small food court and found an American hamburger place. It was DELICIOUS. I had a chicken burger, fries, and a coke. Nothing says 'Murica like that!


After lunch, the group headed to an English Center called English Teaching Practice, or ETP. What this center had that was really interesting was an advising center geared towards learning about and applying for college in the states. They even offered testing help for entrance exams, and scholarships applications. I met a girl there that is leaving for Lafayette College in Pennsylvania in November. So Cool! We were then split into groups of 3 and shown to a classroom, where the teacher was told they were going to have a 'guest speaker' and we were told we were going to 'observe.' It was fine though, my group ended up having an awesoe conversation! I was in a group with our married couple, and the students could not wrap their heads around me not wanting to be married, especially with Clarissa and Stephen right next me! It was definitely culturally strange for them, but I think I was able to explain that I am happy as I am without a husband enough that they understood and respected that. The variety of questions I got asked was insane! All the way from "do Americans really call condoms rubbers" and "are the Illuminati real?" It was a fun cultural exchange, and the English Center is really doing some awesome work for the students in Tana!


Our next stop was the zoo. It was so tiny, and we saw every animal there in about an hour. Fosa, Ostrich, Peacock, Camel, Tortiose, Crocodile, birds I don't remember the name of, and lemurs! I finally saw a lemur! This one was in a habitat, but I will have a chance to actually hold a lemur eventually. I do need that quintesstial Madagascar photo of a lemur, you know! The zoo was okay, kind of sad because it was so small, but a nice break from the bustle that is Tana.

The rest of our time in Tana was spent at a University, a Lycee (high school), and the Meva. Also spending time finding various places to eat!

 I met the person that I will be replacing in Vavatenina! His name is Arian, and he's pretty much amazing. I hope that I do him justice when I take over his site, and that my town will come to love me as much as they love him! His birthday was actually the day that we met, so I got to experience a bit of the bar/club scene in Tana! I approve! We went to this bar called OutCool, that is home to many a PCV and Ex-Pat, and it was awesome to just hang out with friends and meet a bunch of people!

ANTSIRABE

The second city that we went to was Antsirabe, which is apparently the coldest place in Madagascar. I don't believe, Mantasoa is just like Portland in the fall, and is much colder than Antsirabe was. Halfway through, we had to stop on the road for about 35 minutes to lets dozens of zebu pass.

Anyway, we stayed at a hotel for the 2
days that we were there, and visited a bunch of English Centers, a Lycee, and a private University.
When we got to the Lycee, we were so shocked because the school has a whole welcome program for us! There were speeches, songs sang, and dancing! There was a group of boys that were break dancing on tables! I have video, and I'll upload it when I can! But the program was amazing, despite the lack of quality our version of the National Anthem was, and the principal of the school was so welcoming!
We toured the huge campus, and ended the visit with snacks and photos in his office!

We visited a couple of English Centers and a private University after that, and all 3 were pretty much the same format as in Tana; split into small groups and converse with students. Cultural exchange, if you will.
We did draw a pretty sweet map of the United States, complete with everything you could ever want it for both English Centers:

We left Antsirabe on Friday morning, and headed back to Tana to meet up with the rest of our group. Friday night was for our own enjoyment, so a couple of my friends and I bought ice cream and pineapples, and then went back to the Meva to eat and hang out before going back to the bar from Arian's birthday. While in the Meva, we stumbled upon this gem:

So had a few laughs about the power ranger suit, and then were on our way to the bar!
We've been at the bar for maybe 2 or 3 hours, and everyone is laughing and having a good time when someone dances too close to a window, and it shatters. Oh goodness. Good thing OutCool pretty much survives on PCVs drinking there, because the owner wasn't angry at all. But we all kind of left anyway. A few of us walked up the street to another club and continued dancing until we got tired, and then called it a night. No more broken windows!
Saturday was spent hailing a taxi to take us to the taxi-brousse station, and coming back to Mantasoa in a taxi-brousse. A brousse is pretty much a van that can fit 30 people squished together, with a banging stereo system. It's the public transportation of Madagascar.

We settled in for the 3 hour drive as best we could, and then got a flat tire! So everybody had to get out of the brousse and wait for the tire to be changed. It took about 20 minutes, and then we were on our way again! It was so nice to be home after traveling for a week!


Until next time,
Elena

Manahoana daholo!!

Welp, it's been one month since I've been in Madagascar! I have had nothing but an amazing time, the people are wonderful and Madagascar is wonderful.

STAGING

I left Oregon on June 9th for staging in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Being one of the first to arrive at the hotel from my group, I kind of just walked around a little bit, and then my roommate Crystal showed up! By that time (around 7:00pm) we were starving. So we met up with a couple of other people in our stage and wandered around Philadelphia until we found a little hole in the wall cheese steak place that was amazing. Actual staging was the next day, and we played a bunch of ice breakers to meet everyone, and then went through the initial rules and regulations that pertain to Peace Corps as a whole.
I've apparently become the 'mom' of my stage, so when we played a silent grouping game where everyone had a colored sticker placed on their back and had to group together based on color without speaking, I had 3 colored stickers, so I didn't belong in any of the groups. Apparently that is a good thing, and my stage was circled around me, instead of me being pushed to the side. Inclusion!

We had the rest of that day to explore Philly more, and I went to Reading Street Market, which is kind of like Pike Place, only smaller. Had an awesome lunch, and then had more cheese steak for dinner. And then a group of 4 of us walked to the Philadelphia Museum of Art to see the Rocky steps. And then we proceeded to RUN up the Rocky steps. What a work out.

After staying up all night, our group of 32 Education volunteers got on a bus at 2:00am and drove to JFK international airport. Our flight was at 11:00am, and we got there at about 6:00am. So pretty much everyone went to sleep in the middle of the airport. We finally got to board the plane, and settled in for an 18 hour flight to Johannesburg, South Africa. I don't remember much of the flight because I slept for about 10 hours of it, but it was long!

We arrived in Jo-Burg, and then had to hop on an airplane to Antananarivo, Madagascar. That flight was almost entirely over the ocean, and was about 3 hours long. We arrived in Tana at 2:00pm, and were welcomed by the country director, Dee. And then pushed on a van for a 3 hour trip to our training town, Mantasoa.

PRE-SERVICE TRAINING

For the first three days, we stayed at the training center, probably so we can rest a little bit before jumping into home stay. Those first three days were filled with a bunch of sessions on living safely in Mantasoa, and basic survival Malagasy for use in our host family.

And then we were dropped off at our host families. And I am so so happy with mine! I live in a two-story house with a mom, a dad, and a little brother. I also have 7 cats and 2 dogs. And the family raises pigs to sell, and pretty much every family in Madagascar has chickens. I have never seen so many chickens running around everywhere, seriously EVERYWHERE.

My days are filled with language class from 8:00am to 12:00pm, lunch with my host family, and then technical training sessions from 2:00pm to 5:00pm, and then back to host families for dinner and the rest of the day. Wash, rinse, and repeat every day of the week. Except Sunday, we do not do anything  on Sunday. And then we were here for Madagascar's Independence Day, which was interesting, and loud. Music out of every house, and every store. We went to the EPP (elementary school) to listen to some speeches, so that was SUPER fun. Not. It was all in Malagasy, and I could only understand about every 5th word. Oh well.

I know this blog isn't all that detailed about my actual time in Madagascar, but that's because the last month has been so repetitive. I am on tech trip right now, so there will be more exciting posts to follow!

Veloma!

Final Medical Clearance!

So I have finished the most time consuming and frustrating part of pre-service stuff for the Peace Corps. Medical Clearance. There is TONS of paperwork and doctor's signatures and scanning and uploading and praying that the PC Nurse doesn't need any more information. But I persevered, and have finished the process! Here's hoping that I don't break my arm between now and June 9th.

I think I went through a relatively painless Medical clearance process, I am a pretty healthy individual, so I guess that helps!

The only problems that I really encountered were my iron levels being too low, which only required a doctor's note saying that I was not anemic. Which was emailed to me promptly, so I could submit to Peace Corps.

And the vaccines. Oh goodness, the vaccines.

I am a bargain hunter. I like to shop around for the best price before I buy pretty much anything, and this includes the travel vaccines that Peace Corps requires: Polio and Yellow Fever. (and Varicella if you are not immune)

So I could be like most Peace Corps volunteers and go to Passport Health or NW Passport or whatever it is called, but as I was calling all of these places, I realized that they were EXPENSIVE. So I started calling smaller pharmacies with travel clinics, like Bi-Mart, Fred Meyer, and Safeway. Safeway ended up being the best option, with my vaccines totaling $230.

So I get to the pharmacy for my appointment, and the immunizations specialist tells me they did not check their stock of the Polio vaccine before I got there, so they could give it to me. And then they tell me that I can't get the Yellow Fever vaccine because I recently had part one of the first Varicella vaccine (turns out I never had chickenpox, who knew??) and you can't have two live virus vaccines at any time except for on the same day, or 4 weeks apart. So I had to wait 2 and half weeks. That put me at 5 days before all of my medical paper was due. Cutting it close, Safeway. Needless to say,  I was not a happy camper.

Luckily I was able to go to a different Safeway that actually had what I needed, with a much nicer staff, and I got everything taken care of. That Yellow Fever vaccine HURTS. I still have a red welt where she poked me. Seriously, people that give shots need to understand what 'just a pinch' feels like, because that was NOT what this vaccine felt like. More like someone cutting out a chunk of my arm. Ouch.


ANYWAY, long story short, I am medically cleared to go to Madagascar on June 9th! :)

Updates, kind of?

So not much happening on the Peace Corps front; other than finishing up my medical tasks!

I only have to get my Yellow Fever Vaccine and the Polio Booster, and then I will be on my way to final medical clearance!

Speaking of; I have a little GoFundMe fundraiser going on to see if I can get some help funding those two vaccines, as well as some of the other things I will need to purchase as it gets closer to June 9th! (: Feel free to help the cause!




But other than that, not much happening! I'll update again when I get final medical clearance! (:

Aspiration Statement! :)

So the Peace Corps requires all new invitees to write up an Aspiration Statement that will be sent to our country, so they can get a better idea of who we are and what we hope to get out of Peace Corps service. I'd thought I'd share mine! (:

Aspiration Statement

Elena Herrera

Madagascar

June 10, 2014

A. Identify three professional attributes that you plan to use during your Peace Corps service and how these will help meet your aspirations and commitment to service. 

Organization, awesome and creative lesson planning, and great communication with students and coworkers are all attributes that I have gained from work and volunteer experience that will definitely help me during my time as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Madagascar. Using my organizational skills will help in the classroom by allowing me to keep track of lessons, my students grade levels and English proficiency, as well as being able to balance my time in the classroom with my time integrating into the community outside of being the Peace Corps Teacher. My lesson planning skills will come in handy when I am trying to teach reluctant students or adults English, as I have a great time finding fun and engaging activities that make learning easier for everyone, as well as being more enjoyable for me to teach. Communication is key in any environment and my ability to effectively communicate what needs to happen in the classroom will help with the structure of the day, and I plan on working on communicating in Malagasy, so that I may be a fixture in my community as someone that is open to new experience and conversations. These attributes will help me during my service by allowing me to effectively integrate into my community, and will help me become a better teacher during my service, as well as after my service has ended.

B. Briefly identify two strategies for working effectively with host country partners to meet expressed needs.

Having a solid grasp of the Malagasy language will be the best way for me to work effectively with my host country and community, as I will be able to communicate in the local language so there will not be as many barriers in conversations with my counterpart, students, and community. I will also be sure to learn and understand the cultural norms so that I can behave and dress accordingly, which will help earn the trust of my community and build stronger relationships.

C. Your strategy for adapting to a new culture with respect to your own cultural background.

I know that living in Madagascar will be a culture shock, but I do not see myself having too hard of a time integrating and adapting, as I’ve moved around my entire life, living in vastly different cultures and lifestyles. I plan on being open to every new experience that presents itself to me, and giving everything I encounter a chance, even if it is not necessarily something I would have done in the United States. While I will enjoy my new experiences and relish learning everything about a culture I know nothing about, I do plan on bringing some of my comforts from home, such as books and tv shows that I love.

D. The skills and knowledge you hope to gain during pre-service training to best serve your future community and project. 

The knowledge and skills that I hope to gain at pre-service training are a solid grasp of Malagasy, enough information about Madagascar’s educational system to be effective in the classroom, and more insight into the Malagasy culture that my own research at home might not have touched on. Learning the language is imperative to living and enjoying my time in my community, and learning about the educational system will help my implement my lessons and activities accordingly.

E. How you think Peace Corps service will influence your personal and professional aspirations after your service ends.

Personally, I am almost positive that Peace Corps will turn me into a more patient, humble person with an ability and love to face new challenges. I hope to return from service with a better understanding of myself, as I am always growing and learning and adapting. Peace Corps will be the biggest challenge I have ever taken on, I just know that I will come out better from it. 

Professionally, I know that I am going to pursue my Master’s in Education. Teaching in the Peace Corps will definitely give me a vast amount of knowledge on what works in the classroom and what does not. 

Talk about paperwork!

I've always said that I enjoy filling out paperwork. When I was in high school, I used to fill out job applications and things of that sort for my friends, because the average person despises filling in all the little boxes over and over again, and I'm strange, so I love it.

I knew that the paperwork for the Peace Corps was going to be extensive, but there are 3, count them: 3! different portals with different activities that have to be done by April 11. I've been thinking that I did not need such a head start on all of this, but boy was I wrong!

A list of things to do to keep me organized and timely:

Medical Applicant Portal:

• Physical and Lady Exam
• Doctor's approval of Health History Form
• Yellow Fever Vaccine
• Eye Exam
• Updated Tetanus shot
• Proof of Polio immunity
• Chicken pox blood test/vaccine
• Proof of MMR immunity
• A whole mess of blood tests:
• Tb
• HIV
• Complete Blood Count
• Hepatitis B 
• Hepatitis C
• G6PD titer 
• Basic Metabolic Panel
• Urinalysis
• Dental Exam and X-Rays
• Wisdom Teeth extracted

Here's hoping that my insurance covers a majority, if not all, of the expenses! Peace Corps reimburses a large chunk of it, so some costs that are not covered by insurance, I will get back! Woohoo!

New Volunteer Portal:

• Passport and Visa for Madagascar
• Resume and Aspiration Statement
• Volunteer Registration
• Contingency Plan Info
• and loads of other stuff that needs to be read and agreed to!

LearningSpace/PC University

• Online Safety and Security Course

And with that lengthy list, I'm pretty sure I have all of my bases covered. Now to start the fun process of going back and forth between tabs while I read some of this information!