The Malagasy are a very ingenious group of people, most likely as a result of the extreme poverty most of them live in. As PCTs (and soon to be PCVs) we see this ingenuity every day, from the tools used to repair a bicycle to the toys (I use this word in a liberal sense) our host siblings play with. But one of the things the people in this country have found the most use for is the road, most specifically Rout National 2.

The site I will soon be moving too and the town we were training in are both along RN2 so I have spent a decent amount of time on this road in the last month and a half. RN2 is by far one of the nicest roads in the country, but don't start imagining an American freeway, this is a Malagasy road, though the best of them. It is approximately the width of a normal city street in Minneapolis, contains absolutely no traffic control measures (stop signs, lines, guard rails, ect) and is extremely hilly and curvy (which causes a lot of car sickness among PCVs and PCTs) and is considered one of the most dangerous roads in Africa. Because it is well paved people like to drive really fast and because it is narrow and curvy this thus causes a lot of accidents. I personally have seen approximately three semi trucks toppled on this road. But in Madagascar things are never just used what they were created for, they are always put to many uses; RN2 is not just the countries nicest road it is also an extremely nice bike and cow path, a good market place, repair shop, parking lot and laundry mate.

RN2 is one of the few places in the country that is flat and hard so it makes an excellent place to dry your rice. The cars wizzing past at aprox 90 miles and hour don't really seem to bother the locals who spread their rice to dry on which ever available surface they can find. These characteristics also make it a fantastic place to sharpen your knives and sell your wears. I have seen pretty much everything imaginable for sale along RN2 from the amusing to the sad. RN2 is one of the most notorious places in the country for prostitution, between Tana and Tamatave there are 72 identified "hotspots" aka places where cross-country truckers stop to participate in prostitution. Mostly though, you see a lot of people setting up road side stands trying to sell to the people who are speeding past, ducks, fruit, honey, baskets ect. On one of our recent field trips we went to a small town where a volunteer has put this tendency to good use for her community and helped them open a craft shop and demonstration center to sell their crafts to tourists.

In some areas RN2 has these really well built ditches along the sides, to funnel water I guess. Though sometimes it doesn't really work like they planned, and they collect the water instead of funneling it. It could be that the locals have slowed down the water flow so they can put it to use as a place to wash themselves and their clothes. On more than one occasion I have seen women on the side of the road scrubbing away at their clothing as if it was a stream and not a drainage ditch.

The propensity for accidents has led to RN2 becoming not only a national road but also a national repair shop. I quickly lost count of the number of vehicles we passed (with a quick honk of the horn during the day or a flash of the brights at night) which were pulled partly off the road undergoing some major or minor repair with the tools and parts necessary to effect the repair spread well into the traffic lanes. Possibly it was something as simple as a new tire, other times it was something as difficult as a broken axis.

One of my favorite uses for this fantastic piece of semi flat tarmac that I have seen thus far is simply as a gathering place or a nice place to just take a break. Just today I say a group of people slaughtering a cow on the side of the road on the way to Tana. A couple of weeks ago an elderly gentlemen was simply sitting on the edge of the road enjoying the view, I admit it was a fantastic view, but is it really worth almost dieing to see it? I was extremely surprised that we didn't hit him it was a close call. And with all good roads this one makes an excellent place for a game of soccer, game on?