I wrote this post a few weeks ago.

May 13^th, 2012

As of last Tuesday, I now call Ampefy my home. I keep thinking that I must have done something right in a past life to be living in such an amazing place for the next two years. After four full days here I have already met some amazing and mazoto (Malagasy for hard-working and motivated) people as well as potential life-long friends. Of course the past few days have been filled with ups and downs – that is life as a Peace Corps volunteer – and I don’t want to paint everything as rosy but so far I find myself feeling overall optimistic and tamana (Gasy for well-settled and comfortable). I could go on attempting to explain my state of mind at this moment; however perhaps my experience so far is best told through an anecdote.

            I will start with this morning, as it is fresh in my mind. Though, to bring me to the events of today, I must begin with yesterday. I finally had time to accept a mandroso (it will be hard not to sprinkle Gasy words in here…this one essentially means come on in to my house and let me shower you with hospitality) from a woman with whom I had spoken briefly the day before. She showed me pictures of her family and we discussed religion over a bottle of Fanta and a pack of Saltos, all the while inducing stares and giggles from Malagasy children playing outside. I quickly became aware that religion, and specifically Christianity, is one of the strongest social institutions here in Ampefy and could not refuse an invitation to attend church the next day at Jesosy Mamonjy (‘Jesus Saves’).

            So this morning, I went to church with my newest community mother and her adorable 6-year-old daughter. It was quite a different experience than my previous time going to church here in Madagascar, in Mantasoa with my host family, and overall left me with a much more positive and communal feeling. After about an hour of singing hymns, the pastor gave a sermon (I apologize for my lack of proper religious terminology here) at the end of which he personally singled me out as the only “vahiny” in the crowd (the kinder term for foreigner in Mada) and as far as I could understand, publicly acknowledged and appreciated my attempts at integrating in the community and understanding Malagasy. All of this in front of probably about 100 adults and children, who promptly all turned and looked at me. It was only slightly terrifying but talk about a good introduction to my community! If I continue at this rate at every church in town – I believe there are seven – the entire population of Ampefy will know my face in seven weeks.

            And that brings me to the nature of the situation here in Ampefy. Every weekend, many tourists – both Malagasy and from abroad – visit the town and surrounding areas, which is known for its beautiful scenery, waterfalls and delicious fish. Needless to say, most of these short-term visitors take little interest in the local people, culture or language. I soon discovered that simply by saying, “Manahoana! Inona no vaovao?” (kind of like, Hey, What’s new? In gasy) evokes shock and awe among the people in town. So the fact that I went to church and sat through a 3-hour service and had apparent connections to fellow churchgoers was miles ahead of what the people of Ampefy have experienced with foreigners previously. Such low expectations have made my transition smooth and peoples’ overall perception of me positive.

            In terms of work, I have already met several fishermen (and women!) as well as fish sellers in addition to representatives of other associations and cooperatives that I would love to work with. Today I met informally with a woman who is the secretary of a newly formed cooperative of coffee growers and sellers interested in exporting abroad. I wish I could fast forward in my Malagasy language skills to be able to jump right in and start with projects. Peace Corps expects us to spend the first three months at site to learn about our community and work on language skills, which is both very necessary and ideal for integration, but I’m not sure the people in my community will let things move that slowly. And I can’t help but let their enthusiasm rub off on me.