Always something new in Mada...

So today is Tregeagle's last full P-Day in Mada, so we all got up at 4:30 and took a taxibe to the beach to watch the sun come up. It was a little on the cloudy side, so it wasn't as insane as we were hoping, but it was still fun. 

 

going to the beach at 5 am

The best part was what happened later, ha...We were walking up the beach to cross the port, and for about.. a quarter mile, the whole beach was just covered in fresh human poop. Way awesome. They like going out in the early morning and letting the tide carry it out. It was definitely a new experience. Madagascar always finds a way to top itself.

Things got wild a while back in building up to elections. The Tana elders and sisters got a curfew. But we didn't because we're a ways away from all of it. So apparently the government decided to push back elections until August. So we'll see what happens then, ha. I hope we don't get evacuated, ugh, that would stink. I'd be fine if they just keep pushing back elections til I leave. They've been pushing it back for like a year now.

getting ripped before going out

Going posiposy in the rain

the best compose I've had here, at a members street shack thing 

Nasty fruit things

Pretty sure someone was doing something sketchy here

This old bebe had a crazy dreadlock

yeah, that's hair

We should have 5 baptisms this week, that'll be way cool. And also, I found out that 2 more people from Analamahitsy that I started teaching back in December finally got baptized. Way cool, the dad was a bum alcoholic when we found him, and now their whole family is going to church and has callings. I was stoked to find that out. They are people that I never really told you guys about though. I taught them for like 3 months. Hoby is the girl in Ampefiloha that I told you about that read like all of 1 Nephi in a week. She got baptized last weekend. 

The girl in the "stoked" picture last week is one of our investigators. We've only taught her and some of her family a few times, so I'm not sure of their story too much.

This kids name is "Vazaha" (Foreigner) Not sure what his parents were thinking. 

Another one of my girlfriends

Bienvenue trying out the fisheye on my camera.

Tania fisheye'ing

The language isn't too much of a problem anymore now. There's still things I don't understand, but that'll be going until the end of the mission. But when you first get in country, you always have that depressing cloud of not knowing the language following you, on top of being stressed out about teaching. But now I basically just worry about the lessons. Thank goodness I never have to do that part again. I still make sure to thank God for that every night, cuz I know if I forget I'll end up being terrible at Malagasy the next day. He likes doing that every now and then to keep me humble.

Yeah, marriages here are rough. It's pretty rare to find a couple with kids that actually "love" each other. Even people with kids sometimes have a hard time answering questions like "Why is your family important to you?" They just say "I don't know" a lot of times. A lot of people have a ways to go, but it helps us appreciate the people who genuinely do try to get married. But this mission is still new, give the church a while here, and people will have things figured out.

Oh, so I had a few skin tags. Well I've had them forever, so Marsh and I decided that there's not better time than on the mission to take care of little things like that. So he did me a favor and cut them off with some toenail clippers. It got bloody, ha.

Yeah, the year mark is this week. Pretty nuts. Not gonna lie, I'm trying not to think about it. I try to not look at any calendars or even write the date in my planner. It helps time keep moving. I hope you enjoy the pics!

Love you!

Taylor