At her new village & excited!

Cindy says: We had a long conversation with Corie this evening. She sounds wonderful.....happy and healthy. Her solo entry to a new village has been much easier than what she had anticipated. The dialect is quite different from her last village, but she is able to effectively communicate and understand. Her Malagasy community has been much more welcoming than what she experienced upon her arrival last year. Since the village is only 2km from a "developing resort area" built by the French, the Malagasy are accustomed to seeing "white people," which makes her less of a spectacle and allows more room for privacy. The view from her village is awesome and reminds her of Smith Rocks in Central Oregon. Her words were "insane natural beauty."
Corie loves her new home, "so cute" she says. Two rooms, each 7x7, with concrete floors and a tin roof over her head. From what she has described, I imagine that she has enough space in one room for her bed, and for a table, propane stove and a few shelves in her "kitchen." Her treasured possession from home is her pillow, which she gravely missed last time. Her friends the rats are back in her house, but of little concern to Corie. Such a strange child! Her bathroom and shower are much nicer than the ones in her last home (not really IN her home). Still a hole in the ground, but walled in much better, and the shower "room" has "really cool" bricks on the floor.
I suspect that Corie will soon be losing some of the weight she put back on while in Eugene. She says she hasn't been able to find much to eat besides rice, beans and leaves. No wonder that Cafe Yum and Burrito Boy seem like gourmet meals to her! She promised me that she is filtering her water, which comes from a well close to her home. If any of you happen to write to Corie, feel free to nag her about filtering her water. You could even remind her about her susceptibility to giardia and intestinal worms.
The village is small, about 400 people, very poor. The homes are scattered and far apart from each other. The climate is less wet than her last site, so the rice harvest comes only once a year. Rainy season there is Dec. thru March. We failed to ask what people do the rest of the year.
Corie said the natural landscape is indescribably beautiful. She said she was awestruck when she arrived. Tall limestone spires (Tsingy) surround the village and provide a home to the lemurs. It is no surprise that the area is under development as an eco-tourism destination. Corie's work in the next year will be to assist in this development of the tourist campsite adjacent to her village. She has met many of the people she will be working with from other NGOs and says they seem to be energetic and committed.
Corie was taken on a tour of some of the caves below the Tsingy that the tourists visit. She relayed this long story about a king and his people who hid in the caves during a tribal conflict that took place in the 1800's. I assumed that her French guide had told her this story in English, only to find out that he had spoken Malagasy to her. The ability to quickly acquire a new language when there is no other means for communication is amazing. Anyway, as Corie listened to the story, she assumed it was just that....a story. When she entered the caves, she saw bones laying on the ground positioned as they probably have been for well over a hundred years. The bones were not in piles, but laying in the forms of full body skeletons. She saw the king that she had learned about and his son. The guide explained how they were able to determine gender, age, and identity....just like a National Geographic story.
Corie's return to Madagascar, though difficult for some of us who like to worry, is exactly what needed to happen for her. I have no question that she is in store for an unforgettable and life-changing experience that will undoubtedly forever shape who she is.....and she is a beautiful person.
The best news.....Corie has cell service. She can leave her phone on all the time and she doesn't have to put it on the roof, or stand on a table to talk to us.
More later......a somewhat relieved mom, Cindy