Freezing!

So it's been a long time since I posted and the reason is actually a good one: I leave 3 weeks from Wednesday and I have a lot to do until then. In fact, yesterday, I did not leave my apartment once, because I was too busy entering in data on my computer... sounds like the fascinating and exotic life you would expect in Madagascar, right? But, it is the life of a scientist, and I do get a sick pleasure out of it, particularly when I'm done and actually have some data to look at!
Anyway, I'm currently going through similar feelings I had in December, except the reverse. It's the end of May now and my brain is saying, "Sun, summer and fun!" except it's rather more like grey, windy and chilly here. I know, again you would not believe that the tropical country of Madagascar could get cold, but it does... well, it was a low of 50 last night and in an apt. with no heat and lots of glass windows and doors to an outside terrace, the chill enters pretty quickly. It feels more like early November than May to me.
The good news, however, is that I did get out of Tana one last time and made it to the east coast and the lovely city of Tamatave. It was great to actually wear a tank top and sandals again and feel warm. The taxi brousse only takes about 8 hours and I had friends from work who were also going with their kids for the long weekend (Pentecost here apparently). Tamatave reminds me of a small southern town that seems to have been forgotten by the rest of the world. It's actually a pretty large town for Madagascar, and it can get busy during rush hours etc, but at noon, it feels practically deserted because everyone is smart and taking naps to avoid the heat. Strange how Tana can be so cold and coastal cities are still the tropical places you would expect. Another example of the diversity of Madagascar I suppose. Anyway, the streets in Tamatave are in varying states of disrepair, from pretty well paved to once paved, now mostly gravel and large pot holes that become lakes when it rains. And it does rain...a lot and pretty hard and with absolutely no warning. So the weekend was a lot of, "Let's go for a walk on the beach" and then "quick, run for cover under that Terminalia tree so we don't get soaked!"... don't worry there was no lightening... I'm not that stupid. And, yes, I know the names of the trees, because I'm still the dorky botanist that will go up to a tree and examine the leaves very thoughtfully in order to determine what it is, without realizing that good friends could possibly be looking on and laughing hysterically! In any case, it was a fun weekend, of sleeping in, eating fattening, delicious pastries, taking pousse-pousse and swimming. Just what I needed before my last month here and don't worry, I did take pictures (including of the the pousse-pousse, and will post them eventually... I promise!)

Now, my time is occupied with finishing my project and preparing for my American Culture lecture which happens to be today. My topic is the representation of homosexuality in American cinema, and i'll be showing clips of films in order to best explain my points. I'm a little nervous given that this is a controversial topic in America, not to mention Madagascar, where homosexuality is not even discussed. But I've never been one to back down from a challenge (how about that for a cliche) and I think it's important to start discussing, no matter what your beliefs are. So, I'll keep you posted on how that goes.

I'll be back in the United States one month from today and I don't know what has happened to my time here... it just flew by. One year ago I had just graduated from Vassar College, and saying goodbye to some life-long friends, and as one of those friends recently put it in an e-mail, in some ways it feels like both a short time ago and a really long time ago. And as my excellent and very intelligent mother has said for years to my brother and I, "It's just a strange time, that year after college. You have to work through it." And it's true for me, coming to Madagascar was probably the strangest and most unique way for me to spend my year after college, and I wouldn't trade the experience for anything.