puddles, bumps, and bruises.

March 3, 2011

So today started off with the boys and I trying to fight to get onto a taxi-be. Didn't work out too well at first. During our pushing through the crowd to get to a taxi-be my one foot fell into a puddle that I hadn't seen. I totally lost my balance! Thankfully there was a man on the other side of the puddle who I fell into, but stopped me from falling on my butt! Finally after 20 minutes of waiting we shoved our way into a taxi-be. It was quite an exciting morning.

I dropped the kids off at school and got back onto a taxi-be to go home, usually I walk but I was too exhausted from the trip this morning to walk! I got dropped off at our taxi-be stop in Imeranavofoany (pronounced “eh - mare -na - phone”). I walked up to our gate and walked right into our door. Literally walked into it people...boom. Seems the guard went out for a while and locked the gate door. Great. I never take the gate key with me because Mr. Jean Piere, our guard, is always at the house! The gate is always unlocked. Not knowing how long he was going to be, and anxious to get to my God date (because I knew I had to leave the house in 1 ½ hrs to meet a friend) I decided the only reasonable thing to do was to break into the yard. I didn't need to break into the house as I had a key to our house. So I looked at the gate. There was a place that looked to me like a good place for a foot hold. I had to hoist myself up and then carefully over the fence that had pointy arrows all along the top to keep robbers away (notice the gate with the pointy things in the background of the first picture). Hmmmm. I hoiseted myself up but the part that I stepped on just bent and I landed on the ground. As I looked around I noticed two malagasy children about 10 yards away just staring at me. What could I do? I just looked at them and greated them in Malagasy and then ran behind the side wall of our house.

Now, our land lady owns the lot next door, but this lot, the front of it, is covered with thorny plants as a anti-theft mechanism. What to do? I went as close to the wall as posible and just used those God given long legs of mine to step over-ISH the thorns. A few pricks and holes in the jeans later (my favorite jeans AND one of two that I have here) and I was over the first hurdle. Breathe Megan, you can do this.

Now to hurdle the wall. UM....those of you who know me know that i'm about as graceful as a five legged giraffe. I found an old paint can, one of the bonuses of having trash everywhere, that I used to step up on to give myself a little “umph” trying to climb the wall. Got myself half way up propped on my stomach. Ok, this is good, half way there. I then throw my left leg up and over the wall. Great, perfect time for a leg cramp. Really? Now? Try straightening a leg while it's halfway hoisted over a wall. I finally was able to get myself in a sitting position on the wall.

Oh boy, I forgot about having to jump down. Um. Ok so I very gracefully go from a sitting position to rolling over on my stomach with my legs hanging over the side of the wall that our yard is on. Slowly slowly...umph...ground....ahhhhh lovely ground. I HATE heights, even small ones. So I go inside the house, wash off my scrapes and sit down to have my God date. The gate door opens up and in walks Mr. Jean Pierre 5 minutes after I leave half my skin and pride on the prickle bushes, the wall...and the ground. Well, at least it made for a good blog story.