Life in Antsohihy

After swearing-in and becoming an official Peace Corps Volunteer, I hopped in a four-wheel drive with Doda (the PC driver, pronounced Dude-ah), Steve (the Country Director), and two other PCVs heading to their sites (Liz and Deres). We dropped off Deres first after swinging through Mahajunga and getting a very small glimpse of the beautiful Mozambique channel. It was such a tease to see the ocean and have to turn inland again, however the drive to my site was incredible. There is only one narrow road north which few people utilize. We would drive hours before seeing another vehicle- it was just our four-wheel drive and the vast landscape of Madagascar. The road winds through green hills positioned so closely together it looks as though you are sailing over the ripples of an endless green lake. We drove through some dense forests, some dry land scattered with palm trees and over a couple rivers red with the iron rich soil.
As we got closer to my site, the heat began to intensify and I learned that Antsohihy is one of the hottest towns in the country. I drank between 3 and 4 liters of water a normal day, and far more if I was active.
After arriving at site and settling in, I began working at the clinic across town. I practiced Malagasy with the patients waiting to meet with the mid-wife and doctor, helped with some of the paper work, and worked with a friend (the nurse) on my presentations. I made friends with 3 South Africans who ran a radio station in town. One of their radio shows was a Malagasy soap opera that the town never missed. I was starting to work with my new friends and was planning to add some public health messages to the soap opera. Unfortunately, I was ripped away from Madagascar before I could get started.