Week 4:
I Think We’ve Got This

June 15, 2019

We were really feeling the absence of Angela and Andy this week.  I do not know about the others, but I was so nervous about making a mistake without them here.  Monday was another holiday, but we prepared the budget as usual.  Last weekend, we sent our first bi-weekly report to Omaha. Angela told us what files were required to be attached to the email, so I think we did it right.

They started splitting us up this week.   Tuesday we moved seedlings, put 25 in a basket and men will put two baskets on a wood or bamboo branch, and carry them to the planting site.  They are so strong, and most of them do the work barefoot!  I can barely move one basket a few feet!  Wednesday, Carol and I went to one planting site.

Jonathan left on Tuesday for a really far-away nursery and planting event for forest species. He returned Thursday evening.  Jonathan had a good time but said if he were to go again, he would do a few things differently in his preparations. On Thursday Carol did the small nursery check, and I helped moved seedlings for the Friday planting event. We each went to a different site for Friday’s planting events.

I have found that when people first see me, they think I am a man because I have short hair. However, when they get closer, they discover that I am a woman.  I get a lot of people staring at me, especially at planting events with people I have not worked with before.  In America, I am accustomed to being mistaken for a man, mostly in airports and restaurants, but once corrected no one stares or whispers to others nearby.  I was really not expecting such a reaction to my hair, but it is a cultural thing here that men have short hair and women have long hair.

Today we went to Manazari.  It was a 2-hour taxi drive each way. This did not make for a pleasant start or end to the outing (I get quite carsick). Nelson went with us to guide us around, but he did not where to go to get Oreos and cereal! Angela said that American snacks could be purchased in Mananjary.  So when we returned to KAFS without having obtained any, I was upset.  I am suffering a kind of sugar withdrawal here, the food is not processed, and I do not have access to the snacks I usually eat.  At home, I regulate my blood sugar levels by snacking. I think I will be okay, but I am dreaming about food, and am making a list of foods I want to eat when I get home!