So people always ask me… what is a typical day in your life in Madagascar? An impossible question to answer, but I thought I would give an example of my last few days, visiting a fellow PCV in a small town nearby.
Last Sunday I went to the parkage to wait for a brousse to Ali’s town. After standing in the sun for half an hour, I found a shady spot to sit and watch people pass by. An old man came and sat by my, practicing his English. He worked for years on a sambo (cargo ship) and had been more places than I would have guessed. A lady passed, selling Eskimo ice cream bars so I bought us each one. A girl came over and sat next to me. So close that she was basically in my lap.I shared my ipod headphones with her. The truck pulled up, and because I was fifteen feet away, I was one of the last to get in, and had to stand awkwardly half-bent over in the back until someone would make space for me. My new best friend, the eleven year old girl from outside, made sure that she sat next to me. We shared my ipod the whole way. The best part about sharing an ipod with a Malagasy child – they still belt out the songs at full volume, the same as you would if you were in your car listening to the radio with the windows up.
On Monday we got upearly and hit the road to head to a nearby town where we were planning on teaching local health workers about composting and gardening. Ali had been the week before so they were prepped. They had said they were excited to learn. We arrived, and .. no one was there. Hmm. Well, there were acacia trees planted on top of a hill that we wanted to look at, so up we went, looked around, enjoyed the fresh morning air, and back to the health hut. Hmm. Had a homemade yogurt at an epicerie. The male worker shows up. “Oh, you want to teach us about composting? You should have told us before. No one is here today.” Just keep smiling. Made an appointment (again) to ocme back the next day. Home to Ali’s earlier than planned – more than enough time to make homemade bagels! Delicious and reminiscent of mom’s cooking. Shared one with the wonderful woman at the epicerie in Ali’s town who wouldn’t take any money for the ¼ kilo of flour we got because “Ali was her friend”. When we brought her the bagel (and some Swedish fish), she declared that it was delicious. “You haven’t tasted it yet” we pointed out. “I can see that it’s delicious” she clarified.
Next day, two health huts to do, since one was not on the same page as us yesterday. Felt so good to actually have good, solid teaching programs to do. Both centers were interested, asked lots of questions, seemed like they would actually start composting and gardening. We gave out seeds as a cadeau, and Ali told them she would be back to check in a couple of weeks. In between teachings we also delivered composting papers to a farmer that I had met a year before on a brousse ride to Ali’s site, but hadn’t seen since. We made a vegan cake and baked it in a solar cooker. We played a Swedish block game with some CEG students. At night we watched satellites, listened to acapella singers, krayshawn, kanye, and Disney music all within an hour span.
A typical day in my life? There isn’t one. But a good couple of days none the less.
xoxo chan
Last Sunday I went to the parkage to wait for a brousse to Ali’s town. After standing in the sun for half an hour, I found a shady spot to sit and watch people pass by. An old man came and sat by my, practicing his English. He worked for years on a sambo (cargo ship) and had been more places than I would have guessed. A lady passed, selling Eskimo ice cream bars so I bought us each one. A girl came over and sat next to me. So close that she was basically in my lap.I shared my ipod headphones with her. The truck pulled up, and because I was fifteen feet away, I was one of the last to get in, and had to stand awkwardly half-bent over in the back until someone would make space for me. My new best friend, the eleven year old girl from outside, made sure that she sat next to me. We shared my ipod the whole way. The best part about sharing an ipod with a Malagasy child – they still belt out the songs at full volume, the same as you would if you were in your car listening to the radio with the windows up.
On Monday we got upearly and hit the road to head to a nearby town where we were planning on teaching local health workers about composting and gardening. Ali had been the week before so they were prepped. They had said they were excited to learn. We arrived, and .. no one was there. Hmm. Well, there were acacia trees planted on top of a hill that we wanted to look at, so up we went, looked around, enjoyed the fresh morning air, and back to the health hut. Hmm. Had a homemade yogurt at an epicerie. The male worker shows up. “Oh, you want to teach us about composting? You should have told us before. No one is here today.” Just keep smiling. Made an appointment (again) to ocme back the next day. Home to Ali’s earlier than planned – more than enough time to make homemade bagels! Delicious and reminiscent of mom’s cooking. Shared one with the wonderful woman at the epicerie in Ali’s town who wouldn’t take any money for the ¼ kilo of flour we got because “Ali was her friend”. When we brought her the bagel (and some Swedish fish), she declared that it was delicious. “You haven’t tasted it yet” we pointed out. “I can see that it’s delicious” she clarified.
Next day, two health huts to do, since one was not on the same page as us yesterday. Felt so good to actually have good, solid teaching programs to do. Both centers were interested, asked lots of questions, seemed like they would actually start composting and gardening. We gave out seeds as a cadeau, and Ali told them she would be back to check in a couple of weeks. In between teachings we also delivered composting papers to a farmer that I had met a year before on a brousse ride to Ali’s site, but hadn’t seen since. We made a vegan cake and baked it in a solar cooker. We played a Swedish block game with some CEG students. At night we watched satellites, listened to acapella singers, krayshawn, kanye, and Disney music all within an hour span.
A typical day in my life? There isn’t one. But a good couple of days none the less.
xoxo chan
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