The seasoned Ex pat

The seasoned Ex pat

So you want to be an ex-pat?
      Whether you are running from something or to something you will need to go through these four stages to be a seasoned expat here in Madagascar.

-----------------Stage one is the Honeymoon Stage.---------------
    Everything is exotic, the people, the language, the food, the money, the buildings even those things that seem bad really aren't, such as your taxi bush gets stuck in the mud and you have to push it to get back on your way again.
-----------------After a few years of that , comes--- Stage Two, the Frustration Stage. -------------
You understand the language more and you realize the locals aren't having conversations sharing ancient Malagasy secrets but talking stink about you or daily mundane subjects. Your language skills aren't enough to get your ideas across. Or Air Madagascar is delayed, people don't keep appointments---at all, electricity is cut in the middle of eating a meal, and all goes dark at night and no water....

After a few more years------------Stage Three- Adjustment------------------
Realizing that you are probably wrong and not the society around you.  You can't change what is going  on all around you so you learn more of the language.  Instead of being upset you ask yourself why are you upset , people here do what they do and that is the best they can do, so- like spit all the time or take a piss or dump on the road, trash everywhere and  different standards of what is clean.  Or they can't get the job right the first time or the second time or even the third time, its not because they are being mean it is more like they are uneducated.
It is at this stage you may wonder why you are staying here, for me it is because the positives out weighed the negatives.
---------------The last stage Stage Four is Acceptance------
Reality sets in and you see the balance and the way things are done here and you begin to fit in and you accept the good the bad and the ugly---and mostly tranquility follows.

This is just my general take of my 15 years here and each stage can be expanded on and hope others will share their ideas and expand on my take of being a seasoned ex-pat.