Sunset…
Trying to catch the sunset light from our yard. It was a bit challenging as I used no tripod. I had to hold everything, my breath included lol.
Dry
Ikopa river seen from the bridge of Ampasika
Dry. We need rain. Everyday I pass by Ampasika’s bridge and take a look at the Ikopa’s level that is alarmingly decreasing. I took this picture in debut October in 2008 during still during the dry season – actually, we’re not sure anymore of the exact start of seasons[fr] here – and today as far as my eyes could reach the area covered by water has halved. People are going down farther to be able to wash their laundry and you could see the trace of the former river’s level onto the dike’s shore.
During this month of February which is supposed to be right in the rainy season the rain pourred only three of four times and the effects are felt in daily life like an unbearable heat and a stifling atmosphere. I had a talk with a friend last week and he said that one of his uncles in the country side is ready to sell his fields because of drought.
It’s funny, I wrote this post yesterday (but didn’t publish it) asking for rain to come and it did lol. I hope it will bring some fresh inspiration to me too 
BOMBS 2K9 Released :D
Congratulations to the winners. Click on the poster to see who the are and to visit their blogs.
It Was A Year Ago
As I’m reading my posts during that Monday January, 26 I still remember the ambiance while going home. There were few buses working so I had – not only me – to make it on foot. So I saw the TVM/RNM premises burning, I came across the looters in 67ha and people fighting each other on goods stolen from shops. And the rush to gas and basic foods that followed it.
As I expected, no HAT-newspapers talked about it today. Obvious. Yesterday, though, TVM said it would have a special session on this “Black Monday” but I don’t know if they kept their words or not.
If you pass by Anosy the builinds still carry the marks left by the flames from the broken windows and doors that day. It’s just heartbreaking and till now the main responsables of those horrible things are still wandering out there.
Eclipse You Said?
I heard of it yesterday on the bus. People said few words about it while mainly talked about the mourning of the Archbishop Gaëtan Razafindratandra[fr] who passed away last Saturday[fr]. Compared to the (total) one we had on June 21 2001, there wasn’t much buzz. In an interview on Allafrica a responsible of the Astronomic Observatory of Ankadiefajoro said people are more focused on other things and this one isn’t total thus doesn’t attract much attention.
Partial eclipse in Madagascar - January 15, 2010 by @irindra
This is a photo taken by @irindra who said he got help from friends and then sent on twitpic. This is my second eclipse and even if I was still young in 2001 I can say that they way we lived this 2010 one was quieter though the same uncertainty upon ”should we put on special glasses to watch it” was still on people’s mind. A famous entertainer even said on radio he burnt a plate with a candle and used it. For my case, my friends and I just took a photographic film, you know the one we use at hospitals for radiography. And it worked fine. If you didn’t look up in the sky today you wouldn’t have noticed this eclipse. This is to say it did have visible effects on the light and stuff. It looked like any normal day.
