honestly there's so much to say i think my blog this week might be reduced to bullet points (if you take the pictures out the prior posts youll notice this blog has always been glorified bullet points)
~ So it's the holidays and the spirit of giving is everywhere, and by that i mean the spirit of me giving my camera to thief in an unwilling and unsuspecting manner, i. e. pick-pocketing. Dude saw me taking pictures with some kids at the balfot pitch (soccer field) and unzipped my bag and took the camera during a five minute walk from the field to a restaurant without me noticing a thing. Ain't even mad, just mostly impressed. i hear this is a very common thing that happens to missionaries here and the area we were in is incredibly poor so i hope my camera can help some at least get their feet under them, but i cant say a career in thievery bodes well for his or the community's economic future. So anyways thats why no pictures this week
~Shaved my head last week. Best. Decision. Ever. i cant even express how hot/flooded this pace always is, as least to an east coast boy like myself. My Cali comp says the heats not that bad but im dying. I dream of winter every day. I hope you guys appreciate having a cold side of the pillow to flip it over to in the middle of the night, i only have the slightly less sweaty side.
~ Hey remember when i said no picture, cause i actually meant misy pictures because my comp was a doll and sent me some
my aforementioned comp, Elder Horspool, me, and MY SWEAT-STAINED MANE
this is from a hike we went on to the top of a hill in the distant nether regions of Tana
Panorama of the view from the top of the hill (which is either a small mountain or stretching the definition of hill [and technically private property and inhabited by killer bees but its also a norm tourist destination so...])
MOST IMPORTANTLY i found out this week chameleons (and small malagasy children) live in the trees outside our apartment
Have i mentioned that Madagascar is the best place in the world? i get to do Indiana Jones crap every single day just to get around, and I live in the largest city in the country. I'm not sure this picture does it justice, but this bridge was so sketchy, tons of big gaps and tiny sticks holding it up over a decent sized ravine. let me reiterate that I LIVE IN THE CITY. on a mouintain and crippled by poverty in a less than 3rd world country, but in the city nonetheless. note my (black) dress shoes
typical Malagasy sidewalk (haha, sidewalk. Americans are so rich they pave stuff cars dont even drive on. idiots)
A bunch of the Elders serving in Tana, but not all. appreciate the front and back veiws. from left to right Elder Roush Morley Liao Koplin Babb Horspool Hein (a member from elder Hein's ward whose name i didnt catch) and McCrary (i know that guy!) You might hear stories about these guys later, the only thing i feel compelled to report is that Elder Koplin uttered the phrase "It's Carrie Underwood, baby!" to Elder Horspool today
kay, back to bullet points.
~for the second time in my life i saw someone have a seizure during a church meeting. difference was this time the seizee had a shaolin monk haircut and i had a little lifeguard training under my belt so i was able to help him out a little bit. He's perfectly okay now and doing well, thought he still has no sino ancestry or cultural links so i dont understand the hair, but doing great. funniest part was when some one ran out and and grabbed some mint leaves and threw them on him. i think he thought the smell would help resuscitate him? But it looked a little like black magic
~one of our members told me the other day before the church convinced him to change his life he slept with his aunt, except he said, in english, "my mothers brothers wife". I didnt need to know that but i appreciated his gasy phraseology
~We had an appointment for 7 lessons yesterday and every single one didnt show up. Thats a record for me!
~But other than that the works going great and i love it. we had a random guy on the street tell us to come in after a literal two word conversation and we taught one of our best lessons ever. his family is so interested in the gospel, way interested in religion but disatisfied with the the church experiences theyve had so far. They literally asked us about prophets first thing, uninvited, and me and Horspool just looked at each other and smiled.
~in a gasy accent, even when someone tells you theyre watching Uwe Boll's Zombie Massacre it sounds so elegant "zoom-BAY mah-SAH-crray"
~and to wrap it all up i got chased by a crazy lady who spoke unintelligible french for 20minutes this morning. she even tried to get in the taxi with us (the taxi we hired just to get away faster)
Never a dull moment in Madagascar. Y'all should really visit next time. Miss/love all of you, especially THOSE OF YOU WHO WRITE ME. *hint hint*
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