Living alone

I just finished watching the anime Clannad After Story. It is about a couple. There are two stories about the same couple. In the end, one turns out to be the actual story, but it is not the one in focus. In fact, there were three stories, but one was about the daughter and the dad. This one is related more closely to the sad story that was the focus of the second half of the series. Lastly, there was a drama put on by the wife in the year she met the main character. It romantisized the city in which the anime takes place. The effect this had on the main character, the husband, is that the city was personified, trying to please people. It might seem sad, but even though this was a drama, the action was awesome. The anime wasn't too realistic: there were triplets with purple hair and different eye colors. But one of them, and the class president, were good fighters for some reason. Anyway, the main struggle for the protagonist is having the confidence to be happy about his relationship with the main girl. You know, he keeps thinking she would have had a better life if they didn't meet. In the end, even of the sad storyline, he thinks the joy of his love for her was worth the pain.

One thing about Madagascar is that men and women do not always use separate toilets in public places. Actually, it is not easy to find toilets. They are around, but they are not so well advertised as they are in the US. But when you find one, often, you are looking at something that doesn't exactly flush. Some toilets have buckets of water outside the stalls. Lastly, some places, like the sport center and some of the public toilets where peeing costs 2.5 cents, have tubes on the walls. The tubes spray water down the wall, and there is a tile barrier between the wall and the floor. Guys can just pee on the wall. I think that is pretty efficient since even most urinals require finding a sweet spot where you can pee without spraying yourself.

Let's see, what is is going on. Well, I am almost done applying for my visa. I have a permit to stay while the Ministry of Public Function prepares the last document I need to submit to the Ministry of the Interior. In this process, I had to write to three ministers and one prefect. They weren't personal letters, everyone who so applies has to write them, but the style is crazy! I have the honneur of soliciting your great benevolence... It wasn't not fun at first. But after, it sort of became a game. I met lots of nice ladies working in different offices. I also met a great guy who works for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. I mentioned him before. It is an important realisation for me that these sort of administrative tasks, which meant nothing to me, are actually fun and educational. They really gave me a chance to think about what I want to do here. I learned that it is best never to hide my desires and that it is important to prepare people to give thought to my situation in order for them to understand my desires.

I am paying for my internet as I use it. So far, I think it will be about as expensive as accomodation. If I settle down, I will get a long term plan that is more reasonable, because the fee is lower and it is unlimited. Today, I opened a bunch of pages I wanted to read, then shut off the internet because I don't really understand how the count works: is it all done by the quantity of data transfered to the computer or is there also a price per unit of time?

There is no water at my place right now. It has been at least 12 hours. I am going to move in with someone like a friend of a friend of a friend. He is 27 and lives near the school. The lack of water isn't really the cause as I made the decision beforehand. I finally built a computer. It is a desktop. I wanted it that way. Right now, I live on the third story of a sixteen classroom complex. The nearest family lives on the first floor. I talk with them everyday, but I don't live with them. In the new place, I hope to learn Malagasy from the flatmate while in the comfort of my own desktop environment.

This is Koba. It comes in logs wrapped in banana leaf, which you can see. It is really expensive but very delicious. It is made of peanuts, flower, and honey. 

Mofogasy

I am in love with these sweet rice cakes. They costs somewhere between a nickel and a dime.

Mofo Akondro 

This is a fried banana; a good idea that is widely available here. This particular specimen is has exemplary thickness of the fried shell. If it is also sweet dough, you are in for a real treat.