1,153,649

That is how much I spent (in Ariary) on food and supplies today. It's the first time that I'v ever spent over a million of anything. Maybe my next multimillion purchase will be something more fun. An island. Or a boat. Thankfully A was with me so that we could push two carts filled with our crap for at least the next 3 months. Hopefully at least three months. A made a complete list, but it included 25 kg of rice, 30 kg of beans, who knows how much pasta, tomato sauce, garlic, onions, carrots, buckets, brushes, soap, on and on and on. Supply runs are so exciting!

Today has gone pretty well. A and I had breakfast at the hotel (we're at St. Laurent to stay close to the MICET office) where the staff, for some reason, pretty much rolled themselves down the stairs cackling at something that was apparently hilARious. We went down to MICET, picked up a car, went shopping spent millions of ariary, and went to the airport -- to find that our bags, again, were not there. The guy told us that they will come in tomorrow on an Air Madagascar flight (we flew South African) because the plane was bigger, and therefore can hold more weight. I am still skeptical.

While shopping we picked up some shiny new cell phones. I have now decided that all phones in the US are a racket since I spent 7.50 on the one here. I have no idea why I didn't do this last time around.

We met briefly with Jn. who is the the biodiversite coordinator for the forestry department at the Univ. of Tana. It was nice to check in with him and see how things are and catch up quickly. We learned that despite the general calm in the city, all people are not happy, especially many of those who have worked with Beza for a long time.

Tonight's dinner was interrupted with power outages -- so A and I enjoyed a lovely candle-lit dinner. Lights were back on in our room for all of 10 minutes, and then out again. The power outages are new to me, but may be more common in this neighborhood than where I stayed before.

Tana has been nice so far, but I'm already itching to leave. I've had my dose of diesel fumes, so I think that once all of the people and possesions are here, then we are going to hit the road. The goal is still to leave Friday morning, and I really hope that the baggage cooperates with us.