Having cooked for myself for the last 3 nights I decide to eat out at a local restaurant that the patron had recommended as being not too expensive. I thought it was slightly over the odds but then you think: I had a large pression of THB, my favourite, which came with a small bowl of olives and a plate of mixed nuts. Wanting to get over duck scratchings I went safe with half a chicken cooked over a wood fire with green beans and boiled then fried small potatoes....

For those of you who may wish to send me money, proper tea or cans of Guiness, my address for the next month is: c/o Hotel St. Germain, Antsahavola Tana 101, Madagascar. Somehow it doesn't look as though there are enough lines but I'm relably assured it's correct.

Today's lesson on Food went really well. The best bit was, having gone through positive and negative adjectives about food from delicious to inedible, I moved onto adjectives for flavour (sweet, salty, bitter, hot, savoury etc) and texture (crunchy, smooth, crisp, soft etc), We then played "Open your mouth and close your eyes and I will give you a big surprise" which they had to describe one or more of the given adjectives. I have to say the best result...

When I returned to my studio after writing a couple of emails and a brief blog, Eerie, the really nice manager of the studio said the patron had telephoned him and said instead of 40,000 Ar about (£14) per night I need only pay 35,000: except that I had agreed with them on Wednesday that I would pay 30,000 (about £10). We had words and I showed Eerie the bundle of notes that I had stuffed into my reading book ready to pay him "et je suis un homme honet&quo...

Picture: there is a huge flamingo population in Mondorova which I hope to visit before I leave. Went to watch a gamne of rugby at the national stadium yesterday. They were absolutely awful. I will go again next week and might even be persuaded to offer my coaching skills if they are no better. Don't know whether it's my French or their Englsih but it seems demain does not mean tomorrow here. Moving day now Tuesday. Apparently the guy who was leaving 'trompe l'a...