Here we are back in the city again, in just a few more days we will swear in as Peace Corps Volunteers. Training is over and we have moved out of our host families' homes into the training center at Mantasoa. We have only a few days left before they ship us all off to opposite ends of the country to really start working, and they are going to be busy and exciting days. The director of Peace Corps World Wide will be in Madagascar for our swearing in, which will take place at the ambassador's residence on May 2nd, and then we ship out on May 3.

Training has been an amazing experience, mostly because the Peace Corps Staff are so amazing. I have never met a more dedicated and hard working group of people. Not only are they extremely hard working they are also great fun and really caring. I feel extremely lucky to have been assigned to Peace Corps Madagascar. As I learn more about the Peace Corps family and other people's experiences I realize what a luck group we are to have such experienced and dedicated staff from the man who cuts the grass to our Country Director and everyone in between. I can not thank them enough for making my expirence what it has been thus far. Our last days in Anjozoro were filled with tests, wrapping up and saying good byes to our host families. Here is a little something I wrote in my journal on April 24th.

These last couple of days in Anjozoro have been pretty great. Yesterday Jeanette reminded me to stop and enjoy the view as we were trapsing across the rice paddies from Stan's house to our part of the hood, and what a view it was. We had just crossed the river and were in the middle of the valley, the mountains raising on either side and the rice paddies stretching away in either direction, some the distinctive yellow-green of rice ready to be harvested, some not quite yellow enough. Though the majority of the rice in this area has been harvested already and many of the paddies are now full of stubble and weeds. There were tiny fish living in the paddies and eucalyptus trees blanketing the hills, interspersed with the occasional stand of pines.

We stopped again half way up the hill, similar view different vantage point. There is a lesson to be taken away from this, to stop and observe what is going on around us, then move to another vantage point and see what things look like from there as well, and then another and another, and only then can you begging to understand what is going on around you. We need to remember to enjoy the beauty of this place as well as to look for its problems (we'll get to the solving part later 1st we have to figure out what is going on). I think if we spend all our time looking at the bad and none looking at the good we need to reassess our view point.

So two nights in the city now and a couple more nights at the training center before we ship out to our sites. I should have a chance to update again soon. Hope you all are well.