Deja vu, back in Tulear

Well there has been a slight change of plans, in that we have not yet returned to Anosimparihy, and we are now in Tulear again. It’s starting to get hot especially here in Tulear, and it’s usually best to avoid going out in the midday sun until after 4pm, when things start to cool down. Piles of unripe mangoes are popping up everywhere on the tables in the marketplace and roadside vendors, but supposedly they’re not safe to eat for those not adapted to unripe mangoes until rain falls for the first time this season.

Mango stand in Mangily

Also, had a strange experience of deja vu, running into the group of SIT students doing the same program I had done exactly 2 years ago, and repeating all of the same experiences; same bus, same restaurants, same staff. It was great to see some of the program staff from when I was in Madagascar 2 years ago, and was happy to be recognized by them.

Also had a little bit of déjà vu, in another trip to Mangily, the tourist village north of Tulear, including another hour long taxi-brousse ride in the back of a small pickup, although this time with a real seat of sorts. This time didn’t get to profit quite so much from the beach, as with the warmer weather and warmer water, the ocean is packed with medusas, or jellyfish. Supposedly they’re not poisonous, but can cause some serious itching if they’re ruptured, and it’s still pretty unnerving to swim surrounded by jellyfish. We took advantage of Hotel Solidaire, a hotel restaurant in Mangily with a pool that non-clients can swim in with the purchase of a drink.

Vezo children playing with miniature pirogues at low tide

Beach in Mangily, Vezo pirogues at sunset

 

It’s funny after spending time in a village, where on a good day you can find eggs, flour, phone credit, or a refrigerated drink after walking 3 km, there is no lack of epiceries or markets here.  Even the difficult-to-find luxuries of ice cream and wifi, which we searched for all over in the towns of Mananjary and Manakara on the east coast, are plentiful here.

Anosimparihy has been in my thoughts, missing the greenness, not to mention the mango and lychee trees that will be coming into season, coffee from the trees surrounding the village, not being heckled by pousse-pousses every time you leave the house (although it seems to be a real source of entertainment for the pousse-pousse pullers when I use my Malagasy to tell them I’m not going far, and it’s apparently not convincing enough, as they still insist on offering a ride, even though my destination is across the street to an epicerie.)

Not sure exactly when we’re going back to Anosimparihy, but until then…. Veloma!

A series of Culture shocks

I’m currently in Tananarive, the capital city recently arrived from going to Reunion Island for a few days in order to get a second 3-month visa for Madagascar.

Before we left Anosimparihy, the general English class was still going strong, and as a result I would be greeted by a series of “Hello, how are you?” when walking through the village to buy rice or oil at one of the village “epiceries.”

Also, as a result of our conversations in Anosimparihy, it sounds like Hope for Madagascar will be taking on Anosimparihy as another village for their projects, which will include putting in a couple of wells before the rainy season arrives.

Going from rural village in the Southeast to Antananarivo the largest urban center in the country, is needless to say, something of a change. Now instead of mango and lychee trees, banana plantations and rice fields, the landscape is full of buildings, cars, motorcycles, and people. The traditional lamba hoany worn by almost all women in the village are a rare occurrence found among a few street merchants. While I still get a fair number of greetings directed at me because I’m a vazaha, it’s a far cry different from the tradition of greeting every passer-by with the exchange, “akory aby!” “tsara be” that was exercised in the village.  And then the sheer size of Antananarivo is always astonishing to me. The trip to the airport takes a good half hour, and the paysage alternates between roundabouts, street side markets, tall buildings and stretches of rice fields.

Going to Reunion was another culture shock in of itself, altogether more drastically different from Madagascar than I would have guessed. In fact, having never visited Europe, I was reminded much more of the United States than the island that was a mere 2 hour flight away. Reunion’s population draws a strong base from Malagasy people, in addition to French, Chinese, Arabic backgrounds. I was told that the island takes only a few hours to drive around its circumference, and it’s possible to hike from one coast to the other in a full day randonee (although didn’t get a chance to attempt either of these trips during my stay). Saint-Denis, where I stayed, was full of high-rise apartment buildings, roundabouts, with a gravelly coastline. Going further inland on the island, takes you straight uphill, among expanses of fields of sugar-cane, and you can almost always see the ocean. 

Sugarcane fields of Reunion

After my brief sojourn, I was eager to get back to Madagascar, even if that means I’m taking cold bucket showers, drawing water from a well, and that the nearest ice cream is a good 15-20 minute walk. Being in the city is a good change from the village, having constant access to a fully charged battery and a strong cell phone signal in all locations. Not sure when exactly we’re heading back to the village, but enjoying the change of scenery and “civilization” while it lasts. 

Parc Zoologique in Tana

Vaovao

*I wrote this about 4 days ago when my computer battery was dead, we have since successfully taught our first English course for the village, and am in currently in Manakara attempting to fully charge up all electronic devises before going back to Anosimparihy on Sunday.

Creating an "affiche" advertising free English course

 Well its been a while. I don’t really know where to start. How about now? I have gold dust on my ankle, mixed nicely with a smudge of dirt. Did I already mention that there’s gold in the river here? You get little flakes of it that stick to you when fetching water, and you can see it sparkling in the sand alongside the river. Some of the people here spend their time in the river searching for gold when the river is low and season is wrong for bringing money from their crops.

One of the rainy days in Anosimparihy

What else? Today is hot. One of the hottest days since I’ve been here, about 90 degrees F inside. I don’t think it’s just because of my Oregonian background that I’ve usually enjoyed the times it rains here. The rain also means we rush to put buckets outside under holes in the gutter of the school building. And on a good day, that means we won’t need to go to the river to fetch water.

My English class of 3ieme

I’m done as the teacher for the class of “3ieme” for the time being. We will start doing an English class for the general public this Friday and I’m slightly terrified, but it’s great to see how much interest there has been. The results of my teaching (although most of the credit goes to the other teachers here) was a success in respect to the standard “BEPC” test that my students were preparing for. This was the first time there has been a class of 3ieme in Anosimparihy. 7 out of 9 students passed, a result everyon was pleased with- including an organization of parents, whose “thank you” to the teachers included a quantity of toka gasy.

Fete for the teachers, for the success of the class of 3ieme

We’ve been able to spend some time talking to the mayor and fokontany (sector) president about what development issues there are in Anosimparihy, and what kind of projects have already been undertaken. From this we’ve learned that potable water is a big issue here. While there aren’t too many problems using the river water now, then the rainy season comes, the water level rises so much that the village becomes an island at times. The name Anosimparihy literally translates to mean “island of the lake” (anosy= island & farihy= lake). When the river is high, the water gets contaminated and leads to health problems in the village.

Maka rano (fetching water)

 We also finally got the chance to visit Ambalona, the village where most of Hope for Madagascar’s projects are targeted. We joined a going away get-together for a Peace Corps volunteer, Rebekah, who has been helping with Hope for Madagascar’s projects in Ambalona. Between visiting Ambalona and the discussions in the village, we have something of a better idea of what we’re doing here in Anosimparihy.

Laundry in the river

 

I can’t believe it’s September already, and that I’ve been living here for over a month. It’s been enough time that I understand maybe the topic of conversations in Malagasy, maybe 50% of the time. We’ve had the occasion to eat copious quantities of bananas, try a “pocannelle” and pick a few raspberries off of bushes that grow alongside some of the paths. I’ve also now done laundry in the river several times, and seen coffee trees bloom and then wilt, three days later. I never knew that coffee flowers are incredibly fragrant until walking through a coffee plantation in full bloom on the path to Bac Namorona.

Tropical fruit galore: pocannelle, bananas, Jackfruit

I still haven’t gotten my bronze bracelet to swim in the river (they were apparently lany or gone when we searched for them in the city of Manakara the last time), and luckily haven’t spotted any crocodiles in the river either.

Banana pancakes, pineapple, jam & coffee for breakfast= : )

I’ve gotten really good at creative baking for the village kitchen. Besides frequent pancakes and crepes, I’ve also managed to figure out baking a basic scone in the marmite (pot), as well as an invented banana cake for breakfast this morning, which turned out quite well despite having no eggs.

We were also happy to discover that you can purchase films to put on a flash drive for 1000 Ariary (50 cents), at the video clubs that sell CD’s of pirate movies. The films are often translated into French, or poorly translated into Malagasy- meaning that I’ve now seen The Matrix and How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days in French, while in the village.

So there you have it, the vaovao (news) from Anosimparihy. Gotta find a way to charge my computer battery so as to put this online. Until next time, hopefully sooner than this time. Veloma!

A very full classroom for our first general English course

Living in Anosimparihy

It’s pretty obvious that I fell behind on blogging a bit, I don’t know quite where to start… but how about some stories about the village where I’m now living? Our staying in the village of Anosimparihy was arranged with the help of Hope for Madagascar but also with coordination of the regional school director, so it wasn’t a complete shock when we arrived in the village, welcomed with speeches in Malagasy and a lunch in one of the school’s classrooms. After spending the first night in the office for the local schools, we walked the 3 km route back to the main road to buy supplies before moving into what is our house for the time being.

 

Supplies needed for living in a Malagasy village? Beyond our bed, pillows, a stove and a few dishes we’re able to borrow, the essentials include: buckets (used for water uses everything from showers, cooking, washing dishes, and drinking), a basin to wash dishes, pots for cooking rice and loka (basically whatever is eaten with the rice for that meal), kopys (large plastic cups for using water in smaller quantities), charcoal for cooking, and food.

Home for now- shower, bedroom, kitchen

Anosimparihy is not too small of a village, in addition to being the location of the primary and secondary school of the local area, there are also a few epiceries (small shops selling the essentials- rice, beans, dried fish, oil, cookies, with a rotation of availability of spices, onions, eggs). There is also a local village hospital, which I have thankfully had no need to make use of as of now. The village and the region is known as being friendly and honest- there is not too much concern about theft in the village. (Someone said that the biggest threat was probably the mosquitoes.)

There are a number of local beliefs and stories that call for caution, no matter if they seem fantastic to foreign beliefs. For instance, according to local stories, there are “pygmies” with long hair, long nails that may enter in houses at night to eat the leftovers and rano’ampongo left in the pot. If they are confronted and annoyed they can turn against the person and do some injury. (However, it is said that they can also grant wishes if they so please as well). To prevent the pygmies from entering , a doll at the entrance of the home will prevent them from entering, as it is almost the same height, which the pygmies don’t like. We went ahead and found a small doll to install in our kitchen to guard against this risk after spending a night hearing rustling pots in our kitchen (although it was most likely a rat).

There are other stories as well, about “living dead”, about spirits who may cause problems which mainly call for caution traversing the road at night, without taking precautions. Additionally there is a fady of sorts for me to swim in the river, as supposedly the river dislikes white skin. I was happy to hear that there is a potential antidote to this by wearing a bronze bracelet, hopefully I’ll be able to find one somewhere.

Fetching water

Namorona River

 

With all of these it’s not difficult to follow along in local beliefs, and believe them myself to some degree. It’s nice being slightly less of a novelty, although I still get plenty of “Bonjour, vazaha!”, especially amongst children when I’m out. Spending the last of two nights in Manakara, about 3 hours south of Bac Namorona, for a bit of vacation from village life and to profit from an opportunity to charge phones and computer batteries. 

Oh, and I also got the opportunity to see a few movies in the village last week too. There are some families with generators that they turn on at night, play a movie and charge 200 ariary (about 10 cents) a head to watch. It’s not exactly the cinema experience, in a small room packed full with children on the floor, all available seats and benches otherwise filled, but its an additional distraction. Both films were American, but the first played in French, and the second, dubbed roughly in Malagasy and some odd changes to the soundtrack. Surprisingly for me, I understood the two about equally, but that may have been the nature of the films and an inability to understand true rapid French.

Ok, I think I’d better stop it there… but until next time!

Classroom where I've been teaching English, just behind our house

Foret Humide!

Visit to Bac Namorona

Intro to Anosimparihy

Whoa, well I'm long overdue for a post, sorry to say that my internet connection isn't too great, but I've been living for the last 2 weeks in the village of Anosimparihy where I am now "Prof d'anglais"- English teacher for the upper levels of the school, although most students are finished and on vacation now, so I've just started teaching the highest level a couple days a week. This class is staying in school to prepare for an exam to go on to high school, and English instruction before was lacking from what I've heard. It's been interesting, teaching the students know a small amount of French and can read english to some degree, I've learned really well "mazava"- is it clear? In addition to teaching we're hoping to do some sort of environmental project(s) but still working on getting ideas. It's amazing how much time and energy village life can take, especially with cooking, fetching water, and the need for a sieste(nap) in the afternoon, I've been surprisingly not bored so far and amazed that it's already August.

The village is about 3km from the main road, which means we have access to go into town, but it's a bit of a hike, and luckily there is a hotspot for phone service in our house. We are located between Mananjary and Manakara on the east coast of Madagascar and have had the opportunity to visit both. I'm getting the intense version of a village stay, except with a real bed and house (although there are holes, termites and mosquitos) but I'm learning how to become a legit Malagasy- I now know how to light/cook on a charcoal stove "clean the rice" with a sahafa, fetching water from a river to cook with, drink and use for bathing- although that only happens about 50% of the days, the rest of the time we pay someone 300 ariary (15 cents) to do it for us, because it's a bit of a trip.

Sorry it's a bit brief and without photos, but hopefully next time, and until then- veloma from Anosimparihy!

Vacance in Tulear

One of the main roads in Tulear

Salama! I just got back from a few days in Mangily, a tourist village about 20 kilometers north of Tulear for a bit of change in pace and to profit from the beaches there. It’s funny how Tulear is on the coast but there really aren’t any beaches, and also that most of the fish consumed here comes from fishing villages surrounding the area. It’s hard to believe that I’ve been here for two weeks already. So what have I been doing? Still enjoying the chance to relax and pick up some more Malagasy phrases, I’ve also managed to have a few adventures both at Tulear and Mangily.

Salt-making in Tulear

I’ve gotten the chance to explore some parts of Tulear, including finding the coastline, visiting Tulear’s cultural museum with artifacts and information on some of the ethnicities in Southern Madagascar, and visiting salt flats in Tulear where salt is made/harvested for export to other parts of Madagascar. Additionally I had something of an adventure in an attempt to make a carrot cake, which included tracking down ingredients at various vendors and shops, and then figure out the means for putting it together in the Malagasy kitchen. The most challenging part of the experiment was figuring out how to make cream cheese frosting, as cream cheese is not something one really finds here. We ended up with a passable substitute for frosting in the end after much discussion and searching for suitable replacements for cream cheese (we used something similar to laughing cow cheese wedges), and a three person job in beating the frosting into suitable frosting form. Not exactly the same as a U.S. carrot cake, but delicious nonetheless.

Carrot cake= success!

Getting to Mangily, the tourist village was an experience in of itself, while the village itself is not terribly far from Tulear, the roads make an otherwise short trip into an hour and a half journey, for which I was wedged in the back of a covered pickup truck with perhaps 12 others for one of the less comfortable forms of taxi-brousse transportation. Luckily the return trip was more comfortable, in a larger bus with actual seats and windows. (It seems like the method to taxi brousse is catch whichever vehicle passes by with seats available, but it could be in a many number of forms.

Street in Mangily

In Mangily we got to enjoy the beach, swimming in the bright blue water of the Mozambique channel at high tide. It was funny for me the change from being a vazaha at Tulear, to being a vazaha in Mangily. In Mangily, to be a foreigner isn’t such a novelty, but the problem is being immediately labeled a tourist and having everything from necklaces and lamba hoanys to massages, snorkeling trips constantly pushed on me. In addition to the beach at Mangily, we also visited Mangily’s dry spiny forest full of baobabs, cactus, aloe, and numerous other plants adapted to the dry climate. The other highlight of Mangily was meals: daily seafood, fish or shellfish with rice for lunch and dinner, hotely coffee and fried bread for breakfast, and the occasional toka gasy in between meals. Also: I can now add zebu tail and zebu foot to the list of strange things I have eaten, thanks to Mangily. (I’m not so sure how I feel about them yet, definitely a different sort of taste).

La plage!

I’m not entirely sure what’s in store for the next week, my last week in Tulear, but I need to start thinking about what’s next, starting to work with Hope for Madagascar, getting to the site where we’ll be staying, and for me, accelerating the pace of my Malagasy practice. I've added the Malagasy phrases for "I don't know", "I don't understand" and "maybe" to my vocabulary, tsy haiko (I don't know) has quickly become one of my most commonly used phrases. Until next time, veloma from Tulear!

Mangily Forest

Tonga soa à Madagasikara!

I’m happy to say I’m arrived and more or less settled, and mostly recovered after the day and a half of plane travel, followed by a 17 hour taxi-brousse (“or bush taxi”) ride. It’s been interesting adjusting, since I first arrived there has been both the feeling that I’d never been to Madagascar before and at the same time, the feeling as though I had never left.

 Exiting the airplane at Antananarivo (or Tana), I was hit by the smell in the air, which seems so distinctly of Madagascar for me. I’m not quite sure how to describe it, something of smoke, cooking meat, spices, sweat, and something else I don’t quite know. I quickly got back into the swing of things with a bucket shower at 2 am, and Malagasy mofo (baguettes) for breakfast the next morning.

The taxi-brousse, took us across half the country, from Tana in the central highlands, town to Tulear (or Toliary) in the southwest. Despite being long, wedged between two people on either side, and still tired from my plane voyage, the taxi-brousse ride wasn’t all-together too unbearable, with a chance to see some of the countryside, and stops for meals and to stretch our legs.

Right now, I’m enjoying a bit of vacation for a few weeks in Tulear, attempting to brush up on my Malagasy bit by bit, before we go out to the region in the Southeast where we’ll be working in villages with Hope for Madagascar. So far, after recovering from travel this has meant meeting family and friends, mitsangatsangana (walking around and exploring), as well as plenty of occasions to sleep and eat.

I’ve already had the occasion to experience multiple forms of Malagasy transportation, including a taxi-be in Tana (basically a van, in which as many people who could wedged into seats, to get to different parts of the town), the taxi-brousse ride from Tana to Tulear, as well as two versions of pousse-pousse, man powered carts (either by foot or bicycle) found all over Tulear. I’ve also explored a number of Malagasy foods, from fried fish, to goat, to fruits that are growing in the courtyard here, to cassava, to homemade yogurt, to avocado eaten with sugar as a dessert (so far all of it good). Not to mention the rice, which I’m re-habituating to: a heaping plateful accompanying most meals.

So not much to report in terms of work I’ve been doing yet, but it is definitely been a nice chance to relax. I haven’t had too much opportunity to take photos of Tulear, I’ve been too busy taking it all in, but hopefully there will be more photos to share next time! Ok, à la prochain!

Nostalgia & Excitement

I can’t believe I’m finally about to start my journey back to Madagascar! Ohmygodohmygodohmygod keeps running through my head, in some ways it feels like Madagascar the first time was just a dream and now going back… I don’t know. But in a shout out to all of the wonderful people and things I am leaving, this post is in honor of all those I will miss (or miss already!)

1. Oregon State- It’s the first time in my life when I’m not looking immediately ahead to school, and while it’s amazing to be done I did love my experience as a student and all of the different areas I got to explore while I was at OSU. I had the opportunity to work with a lot of amazing faculty, meet students of all different backgrounds and aspirations, and have been really proud of my accomplishments both in and out of the classroom.

 2. My job at Sibling Revelry- when I was first hired  years ago, I had no idea that I would be sticking with this job through the rest of my college career, but I could not have asked for a better job with more amazing people. It’s been a fun change from everything else I do (horses & school). There has been so much laughter, joy, and wonderful conversations with my co-workers and bosses, and I have learned a lot from my experiences working with all of our customers.

3. My horse, Sonny, and the “horse world”, and my horse friends – I have mixed feelings about this one. I’ve had my horse Sonny since I was 12, so I’ve pretty much grown up and learned from him for half my life. Sonny brought me from “nervous novice” all the way up through the levels of my sport, beared with me hauling him all over the place for pony club, lessons and competitions, and helped teach me to deal with the unexpected and remain calm no matter what life throws out (whether it be a spook, bucking fit, or something more relevant to the rest of my life). There have been plenty of tears, plenty of tumbles over the years, but I’ve learned from all of them. I know Sonny will make a great match for his new partner whoever they will be, and I hope they get the chance to learn as much from him as I did. In addition to the horse himself, the network of friends I have in the horse world, who have supported me, taught me, or ridden alongside me over the years- it’s so strange to be leaving, and I miss you already! We’ll see how I do in a world of horse deprival- I may be back :) but I am excited about the options opened up by being horse free for the first time as an adult.

4.Oregon. Although, with the rain at the moment it’s not too hard to imagine going to a tropical country, but I know I will miss a summer of bike rides, evergreens and blackberry picking, fall colors, possible snow showers, fellow environmentalists…       

 

5. My amazing ex-roommate and other friends- My roommate was a lucky craigslist find, after returning from studying abroad. From bike rides to Dutch bros, tabata, summer adventures, Western bar nights, fondue adventures, pizza and wine…it’s been a perfect match and so fun living together the last year and a half! And lots of love to those friends I didn’t see quite so often (everyday), and also to those long-term friends I have seen far too few times over the last couple years. 

6. My family- who have been supportive of me, despite my announcement of my intent to go (again) to the other side of the world with a less than 100% concrete plan. I know this is hard for you, and that I have answered, “I don’t know” to more of your questions than you would have liked. Thank you for sticking with me. I love you!!

 

That all being said… I am so so so excited, so ready for this adventure. So long for now, and maybe for the last time posting from the U.S.! Now looking forward to my day and a half of travel before I’m in Madagascar! Wish me luck!