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Well… we had a little room left in our budget. So, we threw a second party!

Check out the pictures.

Tags: IT, party
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Well this was definitely a party to remember.  It was a lot of fun with dinner, dancing, and a lot of socializing between the IT team.  I gave a little speech in Malagasy that went something like this…

Roa taona lasa zay olona efatra ny IT Izao isika enimpolo.

Tena faly be aho miara-miasa aminareo.

Enga anie ity taona vaovao ity hitondra soa sy fahombiazana feno ho anareo.

Now I know the speach was short, but it took a lot to memorize that little thing.  It more or less means…

2 years ago we started out with only 4 people in IT and now we have 60.

I am very proud of all of you.

I wish you a very happy new year filled with great things.

I added a few pictures to the pictures page.

Jeremy

Tags: dancing, dinner, New Years, party
Posted in Madagascar | 1 Comment »

Now I realize that I have been pretty poor at updating everybody on what it is like in Madagascar, but I figure it is important that you see the rough living conditions…

The Bar

The bar and kitchen in the bar

The lounging area in the bar

The
The Gym

The Pool

Common Area outside my room

My Bed

My Bathroom

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Strike Strike Strike

I have never seen so many strikes in my life. It seems that each company associated with this project wants to have a strike. Just as soon as one is done another starts. Today I left the construction camp to walk across the strike line to catch up with my driver and head into the office. Well in previous days they just lifted up the rope and I walked under. Quite friendly all things considered. However today they had the road filled with rocks and trees into a giant barricade and there was no chance of getting across. Not quite so friendly. I think I am going to have to head out of here a day early to make sure I make it to my flight back to Canada at next Friday. 🙂

Tags: madagascar, strike
Posted in Madagascar | 1 Comment »

Well it seems we are just rotating between cyclones and riots. Unfortunately the riots have started again in Tana. I have a couple of pictures, but they are not ones I want to share. It is really quite sad for this country. Today they called for medical students to come and help in the hospitals and for people to come and give blood. Here is a picture of people in the streets today.

< lost picture 🙁 >

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Well first there was a cyclone, then riots and now guess what another cyclone… This one doesn’t look like it is going to hit Tamatave, but it is huge and it looks like it is a 3.5 on the cyclone scale.

< lost picture 🙁 >

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I was just thinking about how nice the weather is around here. It can however be a bit hot at times. Before moving to the camp we had to empty the office of any computers, extra server equipment, files/folders, and so on. Just in case the office got attacked. It sweated so much that it looked as if I had just gotten out of the pool. Then again I got this email from Kim today,

“today it got up to about +5 and tonight it started raining so everything is getting pretty slick…well, our entire driveway is a skating rink…there isn’t an inch that isn’t ice. i went to take out the garbage and fell about halfway down the driveway, then slide the rest of the way to the bottom. i almost didn’t stop at the end! then on the way back up i literally couldn’t move. i had to put my hands down and crawl up the driveway. i thought for a minute i was going to have to slide back to the bottom and trudge my way up through knee deep snow!”

So the bottom line is I am missing my family and friends, but I can’t say I am missing the weather. 🙂

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It appears to have gotten a little more intense. There is a fair amount of trouble around the country, but we are quite safe here in the camp. If you want to see updates visit: http://www.sobika.com

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Madagascar Riots

Well in case any of you have googled it you will find that there are riots going on int Tana. Not the whole country. Last week I was in Tana, but this week I am safely tucked away in Tamatave (Toamasina). There are a lot more stories flying around about what is going on then what you will find in the news, but I will save those till we see what actually happens. Here is a picture of the main TV station burning.

< lost picture 🙁 >

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Currently I am living at the camp by the plant site and my commute back into the city for work is about 20 minutes. However it can be delayed if they are moving equipment from the port (which is in the center of town) to the plant site. This is a video of a converter (I believe) being moved to the plant site.

For some reason I can’t get it embedded into the web page so click here to Download it. (2MB)

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