back to the forest I go...

Our In Service Training (IST) conference is over, and I'm my way back home now. It was great to catch up with my group from training and the other environment volunteers in the country. Now hopefully we'll all go back to our villages with new inspiration and motivation to do some amazing things within our respective communities over the next 21 months of our service.

Our next conference together is not until May of 2008. In my own village, I plan to continue my gardening and composting projects. I'm also hoping to build more advanced cookstoves with chimneys to help people eliminate smoke in their kitchens. And I'll continue planting trees and teaching people to love and appreciate their environment.
There are also plenty of projects to get involved in around the country. Every year there's a bike race to raise HIV awareness organized by Peace Corps Volunteers. I also hope to make it to the east coast early next year to do some work counting sea turtles on a small island. And who knows what else is in store for me... I'm just taking it day by day.

If you feel like getting in touch, I have a new cell phone number... call anytime, I actually have service at home. I'd love to hear a familiar voice. Conversations in English are few and far between for me these days. Text messages are great too.

Here's my new number:
011 261 32 49 251 50

Here's my mailing address:
B.P. 36
Mananara-Nord 511
Madagascar

And if you're thinking about visiting, you should definitely get in touch. I only have so many vacation days, and I need to plan ahead... 2 years will be gone faster than you think.

Right now as many of my friends are heading out to the playa for another amazing time in the Black Rock Desert, I just want to say, have fun, be safe, enjoy the synchronicities, follow your hearts, and "burn burn burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars..."