July 1, 2010
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Fianarantsoa
As i mentioned, we tagged along with Josh on his overnight trip to Fianarantsoa. It’s been a long time since we’ve gone on a trip with him… probably over a year ago and we most likely went to Toliara (as usual) that time. Fianarantsoa was nothing like Tuliar. LOL. It’s colder there than it is in Tana right now, so we were forced to pack lots of warm clothes and blankets for Asher. I wasnt sure what kind of hotel we’d be staying in, so we brought the pack-n-play bed. In the end we didnt need most of the stuff we lugged along (shame, i really detest over packing!) because the family room at the Soafia hotel had 2 beds of 2 single beds and it was nice and cozy warm. Asher and i had one big bed and Judah and Josh the other. Although I had to wake up more often, i reckon Josh had the rawer deal
. Judah has all the unfortunate sleeping habits of all his relatives rolled into one: jimmy legs, snoring, gritting teeth and talking aloud. Isnt that how it goes that the most disruptive sleeper gets the best sleep though. Ha.
Anyway, it was nice to be in a place where we werent going to get heat stroke. Unfortunately i still got stomach sick, which of course made me worry that i would puke all the way home again en route. blech. Alas. Tagging along on a trip with Josh may sound exciting, but i’ve been reminded again why we dont do it very often: sleepless nights in a terrible bed, cranky children bored with nothing to do for entertainment, and stomach yuckiness. Shame. I think once my boys are old enough to leave behind perhaps it’ll be more fun to go along without them.
We did have some good parts to the trip though. I was very pleasantly surprised with the hotel room. I’d been preparing myself for a dodgy place with cockroaches in the bathroom, dirty carpets and bedding… But it was nice and clean and large, so there was room for the boys to play. We also had a tv for Josh to watch the World Cup Soccer game. The Salon de The on the hotel grounds was also a highlight. They had the most lovely cappuccinos with rich whipped cream on top and some lekker almond croissants. Yum! As an added (and much appreciated) bonus, the 5? ladies who worked there all thought Asher was the cutest thing, so they whisked him away to play behind the counter as soon as we would come in for a snack.
Gotta love Malagasy service. Also, Pierrot Men’s studio was on the same property, which was fun to visit. Josh said he wanted to invest in some prints of his before we left this country (at some point). I was reminded of when Pierrot came to our house for lasagne. Unfortunately he had just left on a trip of some sort that same morning, so Josh couldnt say hello.
We went for a nice walk to the train station the afternoon we arrived. It was nice to see some of the town, but frankly, there’s not much to see there. It’s ‘just another dirty city’, as someone so eloquently put it. Apparently if we’d had a car and the inclination to do some driving we could have gone to see the tea farms or Le Lac Hotel, which presumably has something interesting to look at. It was also nice to watch Josh in action again. It’s often easy to forget what we’re really doing here since i’m at home most of the time doing normal life kind of things (running the house, school runs, meetings and grocery shopping). Josh’s clients on this trip were three nuns. On the way back we had three extra Swiss guys – our IT civil servants – who had been on vacation traveling around the country for the weekend.
It’s Canada Day today. We’ve put out the flag and us Canadians in the compound are getting together to eat a Canadian themed meal together.
Nanaimo bars, poutine, Manitoban pork sausage with noodles and schmont fat. Yum. Perhaps we could also celebrate by staying up past 9 like we would do in Canada at this time of year… but… nah.Currently i’m working at organizing the hosting schedule for the pastoral couple for MAF arriving tomorrow and staying a week. I’m getting the impression no one wants to be pastor-ed though… hm.
We’re leaving on “vacation” in two week’s time for the coast, as per usual at this time of year.
I’m suffering from winter blues and post-traumatic-stress. I realize this is a delicate prayer request based on the desires of some people back home, but i could really use some prayer to be content (happy would be even better) here in Mada right now and until the end of our term here. I’ve been struggling a lot recently with wanting to just throw in the towel and move back to Canada. Things are difficult here these days and i’m definitely tired of the higher levels of tension that i sense in the undercurrents of the current political climate. I dont want to give in to what i presume is a barrage of spiritual attacks aimed at sending us home. We’ve committed to this term at least and it would be terrible if i had to battle through the whole time. Ironically, the location for our ocean side vacation was the location for the terrible news i hinted at a few weeks ago the hearing of which i’m quite certain was the last straw that broke this camel’s back, as it were. So, instead of being a time for rest and relaxation it will inevitably be cause for some serious mental battles instead. Alas. In retrospect, i’m really wishing i would have decided to go back to Canada for my brother’s wedding because it would mean i would be leaving in a few weeks’ time. But that boat has left, so to speak, and i’m left trying to “snap out of it”. Shame.
