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: