I feel like this is something that goes through my head all the time…
You want me to do what with my food?
We have to rinse, soak, peel, and cook all of our food… or forget it. And unfortunately the water isn’t much easier - you have to fetch it from a hole in the ground that’s not close to home, wait a few hours for it to filter, then add bleach. I love drinking water that tastes like a swimming pool!
You want me to do what with that chicken?
Oh, no problem! I can take it from it’s coop, kneel on its wings while I tie its feet together so we can kill it, and eat it later. Although I may name it, take photos with it, and hold it in my arms like a baby in the meantime… Yes, the LCFs (Language/Culture Teachers) may have laughed at me…
You want me to do what with that lamba hoany?
They somehow wrap beautiful cloths around as a dress and manage to not have it unravel… I still haven’t figured this one out, but I sure hope mine doesn’t fall down in front of the Ambassador on Friday at swearing in…
You want me to do what with my hips?!
I started learning a traditional Northern Malagasy dance last week for swearing in. And I’m sorry, but there is absolutely no way I will ever figure out the feet, with the hip rolls, and then dancing with a partner on top of all of that … Apparently they picked the easiest one to learn, but I highly doubt that. At least every Malagasy that watches swearing in on tv will be able to laugh!
But I think the most profound question I asked only 3 days after getting off the plane was - You want me to do what with my nonexistent Malagasy?! I will never forget the panic I had when I realized that they would be dropping me off in the middle of Mantasoa on a Saturday to live with my homestay family for the weekend and then the next 6 weeks. I wasn’t quite sure how I would survive for a day and a half until we had class on Monday morning much less the full six weeks. But I did, I made it, and I even made it all the way through training!
Here’s a glimpse into the daily life of my homestay. I lived with my Neny (Mom), Dada, brother, and 3 sisters. They taught me a lot about life in Madagascar including Malagasy food, Malagasy culture, holidays, and how to really appreciate the small things in life.
Life in Mantasoa was simple. Breakfast was at 6 am and usually consisted of some fried bread or rice with peanut butter. Then I swept my room and sometimes took a bucket shower in the ladosy before language class began at 8. Class ended at noon so I walked home for lunch which was rice with a loaka (side dish) and a salad. (My favorites were the zuchhini with ground beef and the carrot salad). Then I would try to help with dishes, although usually Neny wouldn't let me, before heading back to class at 2. Class ended at 5:30 and then it was back home where I either studied, sat by the fire with Neny while she cooked, or played Skip-Bo (the best game ever) with my family before dinner. (Dinner was always more rice often served with pasta or french fries and maybe another loaka. Yes, sometimes we ate the carb trifecta where we had all 3). After dinner I made sure to take my malaria prophylaxis, brush my teeth, and be in bed by 8. Sometimes I would read or do homework by headlamp, but usually I was exhausted and asleep by 8:30.
Although I loved having a routine, homestay was still filled with many firsts and an abundance of surprises. Most shocking to everyone is probably that I slept on average 9 or 10 hours a night. I’ve never slept that much in my entire life! I took my first bucket shower in an outdoor ladosy and used my first kabone. I had 4 cows, 3 pigs, 2 ducks, 2 dogs, 2 cats, and more chickens than I could count. A few surprises included actually having a little bit of electricity, finding out that our baby cow lives on the first story of the house, and that the chickens like to climb our ladder to the second story to jump off of the veranda. There was never a dull moment at my home in Mantasoa!
Even with the firsts and the surprises, the best part about homestay was how much better our communication became over time. As my vocabulary expanded so did our conversations. The simple questions of asking “what time is class?” turned into “who is your teacher?” and then eventually I could talk about what I learned in my classes that day. By the end of homestay I could express my opinions, talk about American culture, talk about the environment and the deforestation happening in our community, as well as the importance of gender equality. Although I learned more from them than I will ever fully comprehend, it was nice to finally be able to reciprocate the learning in a small way as my language improved. And when the 6 weeks of homestay were finished I left in tears because I wasn’t ready to leave my new family I had come to love. So in response to my own question of - You want me to do what with my nonexistent Malagasy? I can now say that Peace Corps wanted me to look beyond the language barrier and simply love.
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| My Malagasy Home |
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| Oomby Kely |
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| Me tying up the chicken! |
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| My Malagasy family including my mom, brother, sisters, and cousins! |