That's all folks

Hello everybody! I hope you’re doing alright and that you’re getting ready for Christmas. This is my last post, but before I write the beautiful words that you are all expecting to read, let me tell you what I’ve been doing these last few days.

First of all, last week we went to the beach again, to a place called Manakara that lies to the east, by the Indian Ocean. It was my first contact with this ocean and I have to say that if you were expecting paradisiac beaches like those you’ve seen in previous posts you are going to be a little disappointed by the pictures that follow. The thing is that the Indian Ocean is too wild, with sharks, strong currents and winds, making it impossible to go for a swim there. However, we deed enjoy visiting the fishermen villages that are connected by a water canal called Canal de Panganales and we met Andrea and Peter, a very nice couple from Czech Republic.

Then we went back to work. Last week was exam week and now I’m going to have to spend these last days correcting them. By the way, the results are really awful; it’s obvious that just 8 or 9 from the 150 students that I teach actually studied for the exam. But hey this is Madagascar! The land of mora mora! (which means something like “Don’t stress me”). I’ve decided not to take it personal; people here are just like that. I know that deep inside they have learned something from my classes and I hope they can use it in the future.

Either way, last Saturday we threw a party for the students! It was so much fun! We played sports, we invited them to lunch and we sang karaoke. The students had a really good time and they showed us how grateful they through a lot of smiles and laughter. Watch the photos if you don’t believe me!

Finally, yesterday we had this meeting with the Rector, the dean and all the directors of studies in order to choose the students who were going to receive a scholarship from our foundation, Zukunft Madagascar. In the end, after 5 hours of meeting, Zukunft Madagascar helped finance the studies of more than 60 students and this, my dear friends, was the most rewarding experience I’ve had in Madagascar. It was the perfect end to a perfect stay here at the ESSVA.

So it’s time to say good-bye everybody! Or , it’s time to say hello! Because I will be seeing you guys very soon! I can’t wait to tell you all these stories in person and to laugh together about all of the experiences I’ve lived here. Thank you very much for your all support and extra special thanks to Edu, Blanca and Maria for their deep and meant emails. A lot of you guys have written me telling me how much you admire me, but let me finish this story by telling you this:

The road to happiness isn’t made up of the countries you visit or the people you meet along the way. The real challenge in this life isn’t going to a third world country to try to help the poor, that’s easy, the real challenge is trying every day to become a better version of yourself, to be happy and thankful for what you have and to try make those around you happy, whether they are friends, family, colleagues or just someone that you’ve met on the street. Those of you who think that you’re going to find yourselves if you travel around the world, you are mistaken. If you don’t work on yourself, on who you are, you are always going to stay the same, no matter how far you travel, and you are always going to carry yourself with you.

What’s difficult for me, and what I admire the most, is to live a normal life, with everyday’s routines and difficulties, and still be happy and have the strength to try to become a better person each day.  That’s what I am going to try to do as soon as I arrive home, and I hope you’ll be there to help me! 

See you guys! And take there!

Keep moving it moving it!