TSARA BE FORT DAUPHIN

(The title means very good, or great, or tasty, or a million other things but the general idea is it's a positive adjective. So = GREAT FORT DAUPHIN)

Good God this place is beautiful. Welcome to Fort Dauphin! It's breathtaking.

This morning I woke up at 3:30 AM, took a shuttle to the airport with CC and EM (other people have already taken the C and E initials...) and got on a plane for Fort Dauphin. CC and I randomly had seats next to each other... and this was how he felt about it. I think he was kidding... Maybe? Sort of? A little bit...?

I read Harry Potter in French and he read Lolita. It was adorable.

We got in at 7:30 AM and of course the city was already wide awake, because that's what they do in this country.

I'm currently staying in a kind of crummy hotel and plan on moving tomorrow. Here's the rough schedule of my time here:

April 6-12 - Stay in the city. Do a million interviews. Try to get a quick start on my 40-page ISP.

April 12-17 - Go to Andohahela National Park and hang out there for 5 days camping and doing interviews (cool!). I even have an official park permit that lets me go in the park.

April 18-25 - Either do another home stay or live in a hotel and finish up interviews.

April 25-30 - Live in a fancy hotel on the beach that was free Wifi, write this damn paper and get really tan.

May 1 - Return to Tana, see some people and my host-family.

I haven't taken any pictures of Fort Dauphin yet because I spent today just trying to get the lay of the land. But here's a quick way to show you HOW NICE the beach is here.

So, this is the 5000 Ariary bank note for Madagascar (it's value is $2.50)...

...see that beach? The one that they put on their currency? Oh, that's a two minute walk from my hotel. The water's blue-green and there are mountains that surround the ocean. We're going hiking on a 3-6 hour trek this weekend. AHHH! This place is so pretty and so cool and I'm excited.

I'll take some pictures tomorrow so you can really get an idea of what I'm talking about. Eek! Until then, velohma!