Last week we had a cross culture session where we learned about malagasy dance, let me tell you these people can really shake some booty! We learned about 6 different dances from the different regions of Madagascar. The best had to be went the guys wore loin cloths and tiny hats while shaking spears as the girls were shakin it. I'm going to have some great pics to show people when i finally get around to developing them.

the 26th I get sworn in as an official PCV, then its off to Lac Alaotra....the blogs will continue! We said bye to our host families last week. We had a ceremony where the mayor spoke, and the families and everyone that helped training got certificates of appreciation, we then did a ribbon cutting for a public latrine that we built....thats right kids, I have taken part in latrine building! We then had a huge meal with all the families...my little sisters and host mom were there...they didn't quite get the concept of a buffet, and the brownies and choco chip cookies were a mystery to them. The next morning I left, now we're kinda hanging out until swearing in. I went to a club last night with a group of friends....talk about total culture shock! First off the club was so crowded, we had to shove our way to get anywhere in the club, and while making the way through the crowd there was some definate groaping (sp?) going on....and way too many sleezy guys trying to grab me to dance. Lets not even talk about the massive amount of hookers in the club...they were so obviously hookers too...and my guy friends were out on the dance floor with them...one even asked how much (just jokingly) but we're still giving him hell about it.

Well this blog is already very long so Veloma!

Training is almost over. Just another 2 weeks and I'll be an official volunteer and off to my new home, Lac Alaotra.

This morning we went to a funeral for the sister of one of our instructors. I guess I didn't really know what to expect because in the room was the body still lying in bed, with the family around it. The group of volunteers and coworkers said a speech, and was followed by prayers and song. We gave an envolope with money, which is Malagasy custom, then shook the hands of the family said to each that we hope no more sadness comes to them (in Malagasy)

My first funeral, but I doubt my last.

I came up to CT for a couple weeks before I jetted off to Madagascar. From here the plan was to go to staging in Philly and thats whre I would meet up with the rest of the Peace Corps group. Well low and behold last night a huge snowstorm came and blew in over 2 feet of snow! Needless to say there are no flights leaving CT today, so I wait until tomorrow night...successfully missing 2 full days of staging. If that wasn't bad enough I go from CT to DC, have a 2 hour layover, and then finally get into philly at 9:30. I'm tired of stressing over this.

Courtesy of Alex

Every Gay down in Gayville liked Gay Marriage a lot......
But the Grinch, who lived just east of Gayville, did NOT!!

The Grinch hated happy Gays! The whole Marriage season!
Now, please don't ask why. No one quite knows the reason.
It could be his head wasn't screwed on just right.
It could be, perhaps, his Florsheims were too tight.
But I think the most likely reason of all was
His heart and brain were two sizes too small.

"And they're buying their tuxes!" he snarled with a sneer,
"Tomorrow's the first Gay Wedding! It's practically here!"
Then he growled, with his Grinch fingers nervously drumming,
"I MUST find some way to stop Gay Marriage from coming!"

For, tomorrow, he knew... All the Gay girls and boys
would wake bright and early. They'd rush for their vows!
And then! Oh, the Joys! Oh, the Joys!

And THEN they'd do something he liked least of all!
Every Gay down in Gayville the tall and the small,
would stand close together, all happy and blissing.
They'd stand hand-in-hand. And the Gays would start kissing!

"I MUST stop Gay Marriage from coming! ...But HOW?"

Then he got an idea! An awful idea!
THE GRINCH GOT A WONDERFUL, AWFUL IDEA!

"I know what to do!" The Grinch laughed in his throat.
And he went to his closet, grabbed his sheet and his hood.
And he chuckled, and clucked, with a great Grinchy word!
"With this beard and this cross, I look just like our Lord!"

"All I need is a Scripture..." The Grinch looked around.
But, true Scripture is scarce, there was none to be found.
Did that stop the old Grinch...? No! The Grinch simply said,
"With no Scripture on Marriage, I'll fake one instead!"
"It's one man and one woman," the Grinch falsely said.

Then he broke in the courthouse. A rather tight pinch.
But, if Georgie could do it, then so could the Grinch.
The little Gay benefits hung in a row.
"These bennies," he grinned, "are the first things to go!"

Then he slithered and slunk, with a smile most uncanny,
around the whole room, and he took every benny!
Health care for partners! Doctors for kiddies!
Tax rights! Adoptions! Pensions and Wills!
And he stuffed them in bags. Then the Grinch, with a chill,
Stuffed all the bags, one by one, in his bill.

Then he slunk to the kitchen, and stole Wedding Cake.
He cleaned out that icebox and made it look straight.
He took the Gay-bar keys! He took the Gay Flag.
Why, that Grinch even took their last Gay birdseed bag!

"And NOW!" grinned the Grinch, "I will pocket their Rings."
And the Grinch grabbed the Rings, and he started to shove
when he heard a small sound like the coo of a dove.
He turned around fast, and off flew his hood.
Little Lisa-Bi Gay behind him sadly stood.
The Grinch had been caught by small Lisa-Bi.
She stared at the Grinch and said, "My, oh, my, why?"
"Why are you taking our Wedding Rings? WHY?"

But, you know, that old Grinch was so smart and so slick
He thought up a lie, and he thought it up quick!
"Why, my sweet little tot," the fake Shepherd sneered,
"The judges are evil, the other states weird."
"I'll fix the rings there and I'll bring them back here."

It was quarter past dawn... All the Gays, still a-bed,
all the Gays still a-snooze when he packed up and fled.
"Pooh-Pooh to the Gays!" he was grinch-ish-ly humming.
"They're finding out now no Gay Marriage is coming!"
"Their mouths will hang open a minute or two
then the Gays down in Gayville will all cry Boo-Hoo!"

He stared down at Gayville! The Grinch popped his eyes!
Then he shook! What he saw was a shocking surprise!
Every Gay down in Gayville, the tall and the small,
was kissing! Without any bennies at all!
He HADN'T stopped Marriage from coming! IT CAME!
Somehow or other, it came just the same!

And the Grinch, with his grinch-feet ice-cold in the snow,
stood puzzling and puzzling: "How could it be so?"
"It came without lawyers, no papers to sort!"
"It came without licenses, came without courts!"
And he puzzled three hours, till his puzzler was sore.
Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before!

"Maybe Marriage," he thought, "doesn't come from the court.
Maybe Marriage...perhaps... comes right from the heart.
Maybe Marriage comes from all the words the Gays say.
Words like Husband, like Wedding, and Spouse who is Gay."
And what happened then...? Well...in Gayville they say
that the Grinch's small brain grew three sizes that day!

And the Gays had their Weddings. They promised for life.
They swore to be faithful, to Wife and her Wife.
The Husbands were happy, to each other they vowed
To be Out and be Honest, be Gay and be Proud.
They told all their neighbors and friends of their Spouse,
They told of their Marriage and sharing their house.
They said "We got Married." They shouted it loud.
Their marital status was "Married and Proud."

And the minute his heart didn't feel quite so tight,
He whizzed with his load through the bright morning light.
And he brought back the rings, cake and Gay birdseed bags!
And he... ...HE HIMSELF... hung the Gay Rainbow Flag!
...
The Lord looked down, at the proud and the tall,
and said "These are my children, and I love them all."

Everyday I see example of the circle of hate continuing. Ignorance breeding ignorance. The parents’ misconceptions, hatred, beliefs and biases get forced upon their children. Rather than teaching children to think for themselves, they become yet another one of the many clones and drones indigenous to Planet Earth. While this runs rampant in the USA, it is most certainly not isolated to it. This closed-mindedness parallels a strong religious belief. Nothing is healthy in large doses and religion is no exception. The world would be better off if we took everything less literal and much less serious.