Rachel is feeling much better, though she is still pretty weak. She said she found out how weak she was when she was not able to ride her bicycle somewhere but ended up pushing it instead. She said she’s okay walking and when we were talking to her she was out in the street, judging from the background noises. She went out to get food for supper she said. While we were talking a little girl from her village came by and said hello!

She went to the post office to pick up the four packages she knew were waiting for her and saw something on a shelf that looked like another package. The clerk rummaged around and in the end she went home with 10 packages–not all the ‘missing’ ones, but a good start. Only one of them had been tampered with, and even that one was not missing anything, just showed signs of having been opened. A couple of the packages contained chocolate which she was able to share with her American friends right away.

While we were on the phone with Rachel today, Teresa received an email from Kevin, Rachel’s friend from Brandeis who very kindly set up and maintains this blog. Teresa was able to read that email to Rachel right away. Rachel also received a letter from another Brandeis friend, Marli, and a postcard from Grandpa, Dorothy, and Mike. She said that she treasures every piece of mail from the US!

In one of the packages she opened (she is saving some that don’t contain anything edible to open back in the village) there was a copy of a relatively recent Discover Magazine with an article on an American woman, a lemur expert who lives and works Madagascar. There were photos of two animals Rachel has in fact seen in Madagascar: a leaf-tailed gecko and mouse lemurs. She said that the leaf-tailed gecko she saw made a display and jumped at her to scare her away, looking just like the photo in the magazine. (It’s a relatively large gecko, she said, and very well camouflaged by its leafy look.)

Back in the village, Rachel has been drinking hot water with forest honey that she bought from a passing vendor and Vitamin C powder. She never liked coffee (a Malagasy favorite) or tea, so she drinks that mixture instead. She says it tastes a bit like apple cider. We have sent some packages of herbal tea that she can use for variety, when they get there.

She said she had someone in her village make her a sort of bench to open/grate coconuts on–was not very clear to us what was meant, but she said that the coconut milk and shavings made a delicious drink as well.

She asked us to send her a rainproof cover (sort of like a big shower cap) for her backpack for treks into the rainforest. I found one at HTO today and will include it in the next letter/package. Also found a lot of copies of National Geographic for Kids for ten cents each at our local library and will send those bit by bit, minus the ads. Apparently kids and adults alike are really enjoying the National Geographics we have sent–a real window on the world for rainforest dwellers in Madagascar. We are so proud of Rachel for being there and opening that window!