Tyler Swain Madagascar Day 60

March 28, Madagascar Day 60

Let me qualify this post by starting that things are great here for me. I would like to share some thoughts and difficulties, though, as not everything is not roses and chocolate-covered strawberries.

It's currently Sunday afternoon here. We've moved from Mahajanga to Nosy Be (pronounced Noosy Bay), the most popular tourist destination in the country. Since the last post, more sanctions have been imposed upon Madagascar by the African Union, and civil unrest has kicked back up slightly because of it. It's been a year since former president Ravalomanana, put simply, handed his power over to opposition leader, mayor of Antananarivo, and former DJ Andry Rajoelina. I haven't seen any manifestations of this increase in violence and demonstrations as I am so far away from the capital city. And I'm fine with that.

I have, though, experienced the effects of the current state of things. As I have mentioned many times before on here, my father sent me a package to replace the items stolen from my baggage on my trip here from the States. The government has no money, so I guess they feel that charging foreigners exorbitant customs fees is warranted, thus I had to pay over $400 in fees to get it out. That on top of FedEx's terrible service, led me to getting my package about a month after it arrived in the country. So I got it last week. So excited, I opened my package to find a letter from my parents, goodies that included gum and Fig Newtons, and my video camera (YAY!!!). To my dismay, though, my portable hard drive, along with a digital camera I had gotten for my Tana host mom, was again stolen. This time it had to be by customs!!!!

My thoughts on the matter? Ultimately, I've got to keep my head held high as there's no use in crying over spilled milk--no matter how many times it spills. I know that I can buy that hard drive again, and I hope that whoever stole it would never be able to afford such an electronic. I'm positive that, at this point, it's sitting on the side of some street in Tana waiting to be sold at a ridiculously low price. But maybe that theft has meant that a family could eat dinner last night or that a man could purchase medicine for his child. Man, it's really disappointing to have gone through all of the hurdles and expenses to get an incomplete package. Put into perspective, though, it really is a drop in the bucket compared to the pain through which countless others are suffering--even here in Madagascar.