Update from back in the States

Now that I'm back in the States relatively unscathed from my travels, let me give you a brief update on all things foot-related:

I did go to a doctor the day after I returned home and my foot was re-x-rayed to see if it actually is broken or not since my film from Fianarantsoa doesn't show the distal metatarsal.  Good news: the foot isn't broken, my cast is off, and I'm allowed to walk around.  The ligament over the distal metatarsal is probably torn, which would explain the popping sound and the pain that is still there, but that's manageable.

My journey back to the US wouldn't be complete without having some drama at the airport; I attract drama at security even when I'm in airports filled by reputedly nice people (like Minneapolis-St. Paul International).  Apparently there's something about me that just screams "I'm a potential terrorist," although I'm not sure what it is, as I don't think I'm particularly intimidating in all of my 1.55m, 100 lb glory.  I didn't have a wheelchair at the airport in Tana, so I was crutching along wearing my backpack and with my duffel bag hooked over my cast, so being dragged behind me.  It felt very odd to move that way and looked even stranger, and as a result, I got searched at security...with guns drawn on me.  I suppose I could have been like James Bond and been packing heat in my crutches, but I wasn't.  I had a ridiculous amount of candy from Tana, as well as some candied violets that I got in Paris on the way down to Madagascar, and those aroused a lot of suspicion.  After my carefully packed bag was unpacked and thoroughly checked, and after the security agents snickered at the volume of bonbons that were in it, I was released to go hang out in the airport for a few hours and finally get some salty snacks - I'd been craving salt since getting to Madagascar and was so excited to see [horribly unhealthy] snacks like potato chips.

Side note: Madagascar has really interesting potato chip flavors that I have yet to see in the US, such as roast chicken.  I didn't try that one, but I did have fromage-flavored chips that tasted like Swiss cheese, as opposed to the cheese-flavored chips in the US that taste like artificial cheesey-stuff.

My flight to Johannesburg was uneventful; I spent most of it looking out the window and watching the landscape of Madagascar until I couldn't see it anymore.  It was about a 3 hour flight, followed by a 10 1/2 hour flight to London.  London was pretty neat - Heathrow is huge and there are so many shops, it's like its own city.  I had a long enough layover that I could check out some stores and have a little bit of fun.

Finally, after another 7 hours on a plane, I made it to NY's JFK airport.  I was pleasantly surprised that my checked bags from Tana made it there with me - I was operating under the assumption that they would eventually reach New York, but given that I had 2 connections and flew on several different airlines, I figured the chances of my luggage getting to New York with me were pretty slim.  I landed in New York at just before 11 in the morning (6 pm in Madagascar) and was pretty jet-lagged; I left Madagascar at 3 pm the day before!  All in all, it was pretty uneventful as travel days go, and I'm glad that it worked out so well.

I will post another entry with some reflections on my time in Madagascar soon.  In the meantime, here is a link to my photos that I put on Facebook.  Hopefully, this will work even for people who aren't friends with me on there - if someone could comment and let me know if it's not working, that would be splendid.

I managed to trim it down to only 400 pictures!

Of dealing with disappointment and posting from Tana again.

Several blog posts are going to be crammed into this one, as per usual.

10/1/13

I’m in lecture right now and it’s the first rainy day since we arrived at Ranomafana.  It’s not a really heavy rain; rather, it’s clouds of mist.  It is almost like watching snow blow by the windows.  It’s pretty cold today compared to other days we’ve been here – I can’t give specific temperature data, as I don’t know and I don’t have enough internet access to be able to find out, but we are all wearing sweatshirts or fleeces and long pants, whereas a few days ago, we were wearing tank tops.

I think today I made the decision to go home.  I really don’t want to, but my back is just getting worse and worse, and with my foot in this cast, it’s not going to get better.  Disappointed doesn’t begin to cover the emotions that I’m feeling right now.  I want to just cry, but I know that it won’t make it any better.  I’m still hoping that I have a miraculous recovery and don’t have to leave, but the likelihood of that is very small at this point, and if I’m going to go back, I need to get a ride with someone who is leaving on the 8^th.

Update, 10/3/13

Well, it’s official.  I’m going home.  I don’t know when yet, as that depends on when I can get a ride back to Tana and when I can get a flight out that doesn’t connect in Cairo (as I’d rather not go there at the moment), but it’s confirmed that I will not be finishing out the program.  I am so, so disappointed and sad….but I know that staying here when I have radiating pain, weakness, and numbness going down my legs is not a good idea.  I need to go home and get treatment that I can’t seek here – as an example, I looked at my x-ray films for my foot and they don’t show the metatarsals at all (which is where I think the break is, if there is one), so those were completely inconclusive and pretty much a waste of time and money for all involved.  Nothing like a language barrier to complicate things!

So this is not how I hoped to end my trip to Madagascar, but I’m trying to make the best of what time I have left.  I can’t go on the hikes, obviously, but I did manage to procure a second crutch so I am a little more mobile and will be able to go into town and such this weekend.

I can guarantee one thing: this won’t be the last time I’m in Madagascar!  I’ll be back!

10/8/13

I'm posting from my hotel room in Tana.  Yesterday, I left CVB and embarked on the 10 hour drive back to Tana before my flight out tomorrow.  My back is killing me today, but I'm not surprised; the drive is more like a 10 hour rollercoaster ride than anything else, and it's really bumpy!!  I got some quality time with my iPod (which has a surprisingly good battery life) and watched the landscape roll by.  We drove through Manandona, which is the village where I did a homestay for 2 days earlier this fall, and I saw some familiar faces as I went by.

Today is pretty much a free day for me; I have nothing I need to do and I'm trying to stay off the street as much as possible, so I'm just hanging out in the hotel with the door locked and enjoying having a decent internet connection for the first time in weeks - I'll even post a picture at the end of this entry - and figuring things out.  Everyone in the study abroad program threw a really nice goodbye party for me Sunday night, which was so nice of them and I might have cried a little bit.  It's an awesome group and an amazing place.  I wish I didn't have to go home early, but I know that I'm doing the right thing for myself, physically.  I can always come back to Madagascar.  I can't necessarily fix damage I could do to my back if I stay and keep trying to hike.  So, here I am in a hotel room with some movies on my computer and a healthy stash of mofo mamy, a sweet bread that might be the most delicious thing known to man.  I bought ALL of the mofo in Ranomafana on Sunday - you think I'm kidding, I assure you I'm not.  I have a whole backpack full of it.  I plan to take it with me on the planes; I have a long day tomorrow!  I leave Tana at 3 to fly to Johannesberg, I'm there for about 2 hours before flying to London, and I'm in London for 5 hours before flying to JFK.  It'll be exhausting, to say the least!

So this ending to my adventure is disappointing, to say the least, but I am keeping my chin up and enjoying the fact that I got an incredible month down here with some really wonderful people.  I will update my blog again when I get back and will put a boatload of pictures and videos up, so stay tuned.

Here's a mouse lemur: