Update- I made it!

I've been in Madagascar for almost a week now, and it feels like much longer so much has happened. I don't have time now to share the photos and experiences from the last week, but hopefully I'll have the free time this weekend to get caught up. The flight was extremely long, my first time flying internationally and the experience of a 15 hour flight- from JFK to Johannesburg was surreal, with a small screen on the seat backs that tracked the progress across the ocean and gave random statistics like flight speed, distance travelled, outside temperature. Made it successfully through the Johannesburg airport with the help of 3 other students after only a little bit of wandering and onto the much shorter flight to Madagascar. We spent the first night in Tana, the capital and flew the next evening to Fort Dauphin, where we stayed at a small place in the country which used to be a boarding school. We're now in Fort Dauphin, I had my first night last night with my homestay family for the next month. So far everything has gone well, no illnesses, or other maladies although it's truly bizarre to be readily recognized as foreigners by everyone. Sorry for a short update, but for now- I'm alive and well, hope all is well at home!