After the bonfire, smores, and Madagascar vanilla cake last weekend, I can now say my birthday week has officially concluded! My birthday packages finally arrived! I was so filled with joy, I almost cried. Sometimes things come right when you need them, and that was most definitely the case yesterday. I have been suffering from some GI problems for the past few weeks (don’t panic, I’ll be okay, and yes my mother is already aware…) and Saturday I hit a point where I just couldn’t deal with the daily pain anymore, but an hour later my packages arrived, and it was just what I needed to turn my day around. Because in all honesty, there is no place I’d rather be than right here, right now.
Madagascar is probably the most magical place I’ve ever been, well … besides Disneyland of course. And I’m not just talking about the lemurs, chameleons, witches, mermaids, or centaurs we have on this beautiful island off in the Indian Ocean. The magic and beauty is in the everyday encounters with the people here. I’ve never met a group of people or culture that understands the meaning of hospitality like Malagasy people do. They have opened their homes and their hearts to our entire group of volunteers. Not only are they beautiful people on the outside, but on the inside as well. Every person I have interacted with here has made it feel more and more like my home, like I belong here.
Sure, we get called vazaha, (white person) because we stand out. There’s no question about that. No matter how tan I get in the next two years, there is no way I’ll be able to blend in. I will always turn heads and be that strange person that definitely isn’t from here. And there won’t be day I’m not called vazaha as I walk down the street. At first it bothered me, all I want to do is be a part of this community, yet all I can do is turn heads. When the children line up against the fence to watch all of the vazaha Americans play a game, you can’t help but feel like an animal in a zoo or a goldfish in a bowl.
I’ve more or less become indifferent to it now, although it truly depends on the day. Some days it can still be very irritating, but I try to just hold on to what my Neny (Malagasy mom) said to me - At first you’re a vazaha and then when you live with a host family, learn the language, and live as other Malagasy do, then you aren’t a vazaha, you’re a part of the Malagasy family. And although my new site that I will move to in 2 weeks will present it’s own challenges, I’m so excited for the next big change in my life and my Peace Corps experience.
I still have 2 more weeks of waiting, so I think I’ll try to enjoy the time I have left by spending it with my fellow trainees, using the internet as much as possible, enjoying the food being cooked for us 3 times a day, and eating all of my birthday goodies I just opened. Hopefully my tummy improves soon so I can begin eating my goodies instead of staring at them at the end of my bed!
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| Mimi - My Malagasy family's cat |
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| The view on my daily walk home during homestay |