Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Lunch with the President


It’s been a busy past few weeks. I feel my work and my life here beginning to clarify as I become more comfortable with the culture and the language and begin to develop more meaningful friendships. A few weeks ago was the first annual Festival de Barohoah in Ampefy, a celebration of a type of fish that is famous in my region and throughout all of Madagascar. It was quite an event – on the first day of the festival, the President of Madagascar, Andry Rajoelina, arrived and gave a speech. It was very interesting to hear what he had to say, especially with elections scheduled for next May, and then to hear the responses of people in town to his words and ideas. I was even invited to have lunch with him, granted amongst nearly 100 other people, but I was very clearly the only non-Malagasy in the crowd and for that reason certainly stuck out. It was a tasty fish lunch at a beautiful hotel in Ampefy, and luckily a good friend of mine who speaks English was invited as well so we sat together and were able to chat about politics and the food so that no one else could understand.
That same weekend, I went to my first concert here in Madagascar of a group called Mahaleo that has been around since the 1970s. It was really neat to see Malagasy people of all ages at the concert – older people who knew the group from their early days, but also a fair number of younger people who nevertheless knew every word to every song. I promised myself to learn the lyrics before the next concert so that I can sing along with them. It was a great time, largely because many of my Prosperer co-workers also attended and they are a really fun group, dancing and singing the entire time. Since the concert, I have had many people in town compliment my dancing skills – for better or worse, it’s impossible to be invisible here!
Today, I biked out to a neighboring town called Ambatomboro where I have been spending quite a bit of time lately. It’s about 7 or 8 km outside of Ampefy and is located right on Lac Itasy. It’s a beautiful place and I really enjoy spending time with the people that live there, including a women’s association of basket weavers and the Directrice of the local elementary school and her husband. Every time I go out there, I inevitably return home with bags full of fresh green beans, tomatoes, and cucumbers. I anticipate continuing to spend quite a bit of time out there; not only is it a beautiful bike ride along the lake, but it’s a town where I see a lot of potential to develop and really improve the lives of the people that live there. Additionally, it’s the place here where I feel the most at home – it’s hard for me to describe exactly how but I feel that my sense of connection to other people is the strongest when I’m there, perhaps because it is more rural (about 300 people) and they are very open and kind to me. Regardless, it’s a place I think will stay with me for a long time.
On my bike ride home, an older man insisted on walking back with me for the part of the journey. He’s a funny man who I’ve befriended through my visits to Ambatomboro and from seeing him from time to time in Ampefy. Inevitably, on the ride home, there are little children who say to me, “Bonjour Vazaha!” which means “Hi there, foreigner!” Every time, this man yelled back at them “Tsy Vazaha fa Gasy!” which translates as, “She’s not a foreigner, she’s Malagasy!” I was not only honored to be considered Malagasy, but got a kick out of how offended and quick to defend me he was. These outbursts were peppered with comments about the inefficiencies of the Malagasy government and further animated by the occasional spitting out of remnants of chewing tobacco. So, perhaps he’s just a bitter old man, but I hope that I was able to brighten his day or at least provide some comfort by listening to his ramblings.
Finally, just a few quick snippets of life here. I have recently been conspiring with one of my neighbors to steal guavas from her neighbor (not really stealing, we have permission to take them, but still it’s fun to pretend) and goodness are they delicious. Also, one of my closest friends and I joke that when we have children, my son and her daughter will get married, a prospect which never ceases to be entertaining. Another friend of mine left yesterday for a 3-month Prosperer training about farming that I helped him sign up for, walking for over 12km to get there and carrying enough rice on his head to last him two weeks. There is a little crew of 8 and 9-year-old boys with whom I create all sorts of secret handshakes and whose faces light up whenever I see them. And of course the little girls that are too young to really speak Malagasy but are able to yell my name when I walk past (thank you to my parents for giving me a name that is easy to say, in any language). Above all, I feel like I am finally starting to break through the barrier that people here have put up regarding foreigners and although I recognize that can’t change that overall perception, I think we are making progress in that direction.

1 comment:

  1. Emma, Love your blog. So glad to read that you are feeling a bit settled and connected to the place. I can only imagine how people light up when they see you...I light up just reading your words. Lots of love and hugs, Aunt Judy

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