Red Tape

I had a nice conversation with Victor, the man who works with visas for the Minister of the Affairs of Foreigners. The main bit of information is that my tourist visa can be extended for either employment or investment. Actually, I want to go to school and to farm in the countryside. But I really don't want to leave Madagascar. I can get a student visa if I leave for a short time.

That depends on getting a police report from the FBI. The process takes around six weeks. I expect a response in August. My current visa expires on the 30th of July. I arrived here on the second of May with a ticket for an early August flight. Somehow I got a two month visa. I extended that visa last week. After the last day of class, July 2nd, I am going to look for a way to farm without leaving the country. My plan is to apply for a teaching job. I want to get a school me to send me to the bush as part of my training. The purpose will be to learn Malagasy. I will be able to deliver lessons more effectively with that skill. Right now,  we often use French for clarification.This sometimes creates another problem. I believe that using two languages is more efficient than using three. So, I am also interested in requesting a police report through an FBI approved channeler. If the turnaround time is within my current visa, and if I get a job, I might be able to stay.

The aim is to stay for a year as a teacher, then become a student. Right now, I am more interested in computers than teaching. I also have not found a place to do Kung Fu, so I am not tied to Antananarivo. I want to help my students. SEC is not a registered academic institution. A contract with a registered company is essential for a work visa. I am somewhat attached to my students. I am going to try to get them some English movies to watch. 

I met a teacher from a different school, CNEZA, on the bus last week. She asked if I want to teach for them. There is one British boy working for their school, so she is sure they can get me the required documents.  Going that route enables me to build a computer, learn martial arts, and remain slightly affiliated with SEC. Those are all nice activities. I came here to live in the bush. If I can have all of the above, then that option is more attractive than leaving the country at the end of July to get my student visa. 

Sample

Today is Sunday then 16th of June. I went to Andohanfotsy to practice wushu. The kun is in a forest on a hill. To get to the area I took a bus south for about 20 minutes. After a short walk through a street, we crossed a rice paddy before climbing the hill.We practiced outdoors. I was warming up right away. I practiced with a pretty strong guy around my age. He shozed me a form. The we started punching and blocking. This was really fun; I hope to continue, but of course, all depends on the visa.


Yesterday, I went to an Assembly of God church to help with the foundation for an addition. A student named Freddy in my two pm class invited me. Many people who use the church help to renovate the church. I like this custom. I felt welcome and I was very comfortable but for one mishap. The wife of the pastore wants me to come teach English at their church. I dont really have the time since I teach English all week. I want to work with computers, study, and practice martial arts too, so I cannot teach English on Sundays. Also, I was very near Andohanfotsy yesterday.


I tutored Nadia yesterday afternoon. She is a young woman that works for a coalition of civil societies that support the governance of natural resources in Madagascar. One problem she faces is that foreign compines who wish to exploit the resources here have only to make a deal with the government. Since the contents of these deals are never made public, there is no way of ensuring that the government distribute compensation for the locals of an area affected by the exploitation. She is trying to set up a system that requires foreign companies to meet the standards of her alliance before making a deal with the government.
 

I like tutoring Nadia. She tells me about her personal life and she is not prejudiced. She offered to get me help with my visa, building a computer, and a math problem I am struggling to resolve by consulting some of her acquaintances. When she gets tired, she starts to speak in French. This is a problem because she is practicing for a discussion in Germany that will be conducted in English, therrefore there is no garauntee that French will be any use to her there. This will be her first time abroad so I am excited to help her make the journey successful.


Renee is in Tulear setting up a second school. I liked Toliar so teaching there is pretty appealing to me. I am in contact with a policeman about getting the visa. Also, I am preparing the documents that the ministry of interior indicates are necessary. I like teaching alongside Johnathan because he really cares about English. Sometimes he asks me to talk to his classes. I found that even newcomers to SEC are good at English. People here receive education in English from eleven to eighteen years of age.

Ankle deep

I am teaching classes alone now. I use a lesson plan Rene gave me. It is really fun. I get less than eight hours of sleep. I am very energetic. I miss talking to native speakers. My Malagasy is improving slowly.

The visa application demands a certificate of residence and the certificate of residence demands a visa. I am staying in La Karthala guest house at the moment, but I may have to leave due to money issues. I like it here. The staff is very friendly. I have access to the Internet, a computer, and the kitchen. My clothes and my room are cleaned once a day. One problem is due to the luxury of this hotel. I am rarely in a situation where I need to communicate with someone who speaks only Malagasy because there are many rooms and many multilingual people here. 

Spoken English Course was not an authorized employer when I arrived. This authorization is required for issuance of a work visa to me. Renee said he is doing everything he can. He wants to open a school in Tulear. I don't want to be in the pollution of Tana for too long so this suit me. But something needs to change in the way we teach English in order for me to sign a contract, which is another condition of the visa. 

The school advertises that someone can learn to speak English like an American in two months. We do not currently issue Tesol certification. I think we should offer Tesol certification. Then we can justify offering courses beyond the two month course. A big problem with two months of lessons is that revenue depends on new students. If we offer certification, revenue will be divide between the fees of new and those of old students. That is the project of the Advanced class that I am teaching. Supplementing my service with American Tesol certification will attract the the thousands of students who have completed the two months course back to SEC.

My parents are sending me a new screen for my Nexus so that my tendonitis doesn't flare from flipping this hunk of circuitry every time I need to press a button on the opposite side of the screen. In the package will also be both a camera and an external hard drive. I let a cat get to my camera while it was perched precariously close to the edge of the table. I didn't bring my external hard drive because I wanted to be in the bush, where there are no devices that have power to use such a memory bank. Now I know how hard it is to get a visa for any purpose. I don't know how to get one for learning how to farm rice. So I will stay in the city to teach English, because it is enormously fun. I want a computer so I can watch movies and TV shows. To that end, I asked to get my external hard drive here so I don't have to buy another.

Rewind

I manage to get everyone talking in the noon class of Johnathan.The debate was about life in Tana. It was their first debate. I had everyone choose whether they though it good or bad. Then I asked people of the same opinon to sit on the same side. Two girls, Tsinta and Mbola, did not decide. I asked them to explain why they could not decide. Mbola does not like it here but she wants her children to have the education that the rest of the coutnry lacks. Each student said one point to persude Tsinta and Mbola to come to their side.



The Saturday before last, Rene and I argued about the Illuminati in English Club. Afterwards, a beautiful girl asked me to help her with some vocabulary. I had to run to meet Yvonne for dinner, so I told her I would help her in the morning on Tuesday, which was the next day of class. I was unable to get out of bed that morning; In fact, I did not make the six oklock class once that week.


Last Saturday, both Johnathan and I told riddles in English Club. I asked Emily about her vocabulary. I helped her a bit on the terrace. She likes to watch the news in English. She has a little notebook with vocabulary written in blue and words she does not understan in red.We did not come close to adressing all the undefined words. We separated. I felt horrible because I wanted to see her again but she does not have class this week.


Yesterday, I was reformatting old blog posts instead of hanging out with Yvonne, who was in my neighborhood for his last afternoon here. On my way back from the cyber cafe, I was calling someone whil I was walking to the big staircase dozn from Isoraka. I heard, "Hello, Joseph", from someone walking the opposite way. I turned to walk with Emily. I offered my help this week since there are not many classes; She took my number. Today is the Tuesday, the twenty eighth of May. It is two days after the Malagasy Mother's Day and it is two days before my dad's birthday.


The week passed without word from her. I must have been too eager.


It rained two days ago. There are lots of mosquitoes. The kitchen where I cook is home to at least seven cats. 


The currency here is an Ariary. With a new, big bill, one US dollar is worth about 2200  Ariary. But people here quote prices in FMG, the Franc of Madagascar. One US dollar buys 11000 FMG. So, every transaction involves dividing the quoted price by five.


Another peculiarity of this country is linguistic: I have yet to meet a native who does not speak Malagasy, a Malayo Polenesian language. Yet; despite gaining independence from France over fifty years ago, university classes are conducted in French.


There is a lot of pollution here in Antananarivo. There are no highway loops for this multi million person capital city. The best way to get around is to take a mini bus for less than a quarter per trip. I pray for the electric mini bus to save me from cancer. Also on the topic of transportation, I think intercity trains will boost the economy in this country by increasing the rate of trade.


There was a graduation ceremony at SEC. I shook hands. Boy was I underdressed! After, I went to dinner with both Jonathan and the family of Renee. We talked about how to approach interviews. Rene and I discussed how to sell the story of Madagascar. Rene is a good marketer with big dreams.


I am trying to get a long term visa. The current project is to get a police record from the FBI. It needs to be done through the mail!!! Also, I am visiting a lot of martial arts schools in order to choose a new art to practice. Tomorrow, on the third of June, an advanced English class starts at SEC. I feel comfortable engaging the students, but I do not feel comfortable doing so with the teaching style of another teacher.

Settling in Tana

I heard someone on the street whistling Pachbell Cannon. It is hot during the day here. Attempting to learn Malagasy, I started to teach English.

Taken from the Spoken English Course establishment.

This is the view from the top of the staircase next to my hotel. Can you make out the opposite staircase in the distance?

There are people singing next door when I go to sleep Moonlight Hotel at half past ten on the evening of the fourteenth of May. When I awake at half past three, they are still singing. 

The night before I switch hotels after 10 days in Moonlight, an overturned charcoal tub for streetside cooking sets a nearby secondhand book stand on fire at the bottom of the hill on which my new hotel, La Karthala rests.

Some of the rubble is still there when I got my camera out a few days after the fire.

 

On the walk from one hotel to the other.

There seems to be a big difference between the bush and the city in Madagascar. I can't really compare it to the United States because I have experienced neither a downtown area nor the countryside in America. Also, I haven't spent enough time in the city or the bush Madagascar to extrapolate. 

I was confronted with this situation: I gave someone a gift. The person to whom I gifted something offered a return that I did not want. Was I right to reject the offer? I think not for the following reason, it is best to exchange. If the person to whom I gave freely seeks another gift from someone else, then discomfort will follow when someone asks for something in return. If so, I should give to those from those who will return a gift and receive gifts only when I will offer on in return. 

I have trouble getting people I knew at different times to know each other.

The students tell me English is an international business language. When people of two countries do business, even if neither country is an English speaking country, and instead of learning the language of the other, each group will learn English in order to communicate. Some said this because of the size of the US economy. Is that right?

Would you like some English?

I get a whistle; a honk, or a "monsieur, taxi?" pretty often. I was frustrated, but now I can use the extra qttention to attract business for SEC.

 Where Anna will work, if she comes here!

Ugh. I cracked the screen on my Nexus 7. I was not using any external protective case when I was walking around with it, amongst other things, in my hands. I dropped it. In trying to catch the falling tablet, I pushed it against a window with force. I broke the fall with my foot. Half of the screen still works...

I am cooking dinner for myself in the new hotel. I got lessons from some boys. Beans need to be soaked for 24 hours BEFORE being cooked! It is great that I now have the option to avoid going to a restaurant.

These picture are taken from the terrace at La Karthala.

I worked a stand for the Spoken English Course at a fair for the last four days. People were not encouraged to learn English when they found out that I do not speak Malagasy. Lalaina, who practices Jeet Kune Do, taught some polite greetings. A Comorran man, Nanasy, helped me develop a sales pitch that I could repeat.  Rene, the SEC director has a good pitch. Le Gastronomie Pizzaria has the best pizza I have eaten in Madagascar.

Right now I am focused on a more economical living situation, a long term visa and how to teach the advanced course next month. Enjoy life;°)