An unexpected birthday present

It’s official—I spent the entire 25^th year of my life in Madagascar.  Last month I celebrated another birthday here.  I’m not going to lie, my birthdays have not been a highlight of my time in Peace Corps for a number of reasons.  The Malagasy don’t really celebrate their birthdays, so this is the second year I’ve spent with my birthday passing like any other day in Ambohimanarina.

This year my birthday fell just after a 3 week absence from my village and the day before a big party for World Environment Day, so leaving the village just wasn’t realistic.  I spent the morning cleaning up my house and yard.  Everyone else was doing the same—they even lined the streets with flowers for the holiday—so I don’t want to look like the chump with no village pride.  By the afternoon I had pretty much forgotten that it was a special day.

Every holiday means a “soma” from the women’s groups, and my adopted group takes this incredibly seriously.  Personally the dances amuse me because they remind me of something you’d perform at your middle school talent show.  But the women take it as seriously as the middle schooler would—people will be talking about your soma for days to come and why risk your reputation with a half-assed soma? So I try to take it somewhat seriously too.  On the night of my birthday we had our final practice for the soma.  My neighbor passed by, saying “I am going, my daughter.”  I took this for what it really meant—come on, you need to learn the soma too—and followed her down the road.

The party, and therefore the soma, was for World Environment Day.  So, our soma was a song celebrating Madagascar’s green environment, its various plants, and Marojejy National Park.  I have to give the women credit, they are very creative with their somas.  For this one we all carried a plant grown here in Madagascar—everything from vanilla to eucalyptus to native “tsararavina.” As we were gathering for practice, half the women were frantically searching for their plant and/or a receptacle to hold it.  So of course it was dark by the time everyone was ready to actually practice.  Someone produced a small light and I handed over my headlamp.  There was a shuffling of the plants and I ended up with cassava.  The cassava they collected was a long stem with 4 or 5 large roots hanging off the bottom—by far the largest and most ridiculous prop.  It was made doubly funny by the fact that the “vazaha” was carrying it, and the thought of a white person eating cassava is hilarious to any Malagasy person.  Here are some stereotypes that you just can’t seem to bust, and I’ve come to realize that a large part of my life here is spent as an entertainer.  Thirteen months of life in Ambohimanarina had prepared me for being the comic centerpiece of the soma.

Before long the singing and dancing was underway.  Here I was, carrying someone’s dinner and dancing with it like an honored partner.  Up ahead, Zanamine (the soy tea seller), dressed in her usual “kisaly” wrap, had my headlamp on and an entire vanilla plant balanced in a bowl on her head (a point of argument later, because everyone should be carrying their plant in their hands for uniformity).  Mama nyFredo, the lead singer, was shining her lamp down the row of plants to direct the song.  In addition to singing, Mama nyFredo takes the dancing part super seriously, and she was hopping around and shaking her booty like her life depended on it.  To add to it all, the group’s president took the opportunity to tease Mama nyFredo.  The pres, in her hot pants, was booty shaking in circles around the singer for an entire verse of the song.  Like I said, I try to take the soma seriously, but all this was too much.  I couldn’t stop laughing at the sheer ridiculousness of the situation until long after rehearsal ended.  I’m pretty sure the women thought I had lost a few marbles, but really I’ve come to a point where I can’t hold the laughter in.  Sometimes the customs here are so foreign that I find them hilarious.

So thanks, ladies of VLF, for putting a smile on my face for my birthday.  I don’t think I have ever laughed so hard.  I don’t think any birthday party can match the truly special (and silly) experiences I’m having in Peace Corps, and until next year, when it’s back to cake, that’s enough.

It's been a while...

Sorry for the long hiatus.  First there was training, then vacation, then I came back and disappeared to the land of no modern communication for a busy couple of weeks.

I went to harvest the SRI rice.  Beating the rice off the stalks put my body out of commision for most of a week.

Madagascar National Parks had a party for World Environment Day which was very well attended, but a slightly stressful day for me so I didn't manage to get too many photos.

The Environment Day parade of women's groups, soccer teams, students.

Madagascar's Independence Day, commonly known as "vingt-six" was on June 26.  It wasn't quite as "miresaka" (noisy) as last year, for a number a of factors.  The vanilla market hasn't started yet so people have less money and we had just had the MNP environment fety.  I enjoyed myself.  There were a variety of "soma"s (song and dance numbers), including performances by kids along with the women's groups, and I spent the rest of the day being stuffed with food from every one of my friends in the village, so for me it was more "miresaka" than last year.

A brother duo dancing their "soma."

One women's groups learned drills with wooden guns.

Some girls doing their "soma," complete with homemade grass skirts.

Family dinner (lunch really) on "vingt-six."

I thought it was funny that this girl's Independence Day shirt was actually an American Independence Day shirt.

I also accidentally managed to teach someone that "Jewish" meant "religious" (why the hell was I teaching the word Jewish to a bunch of people who have never seen a Jewish person, I will never know) and almost fell into my latrine.  I wish I was joking.

The news of late

I’m headed out for a small break from village life.  I’ll get some training from the PC, spend some time in Tana, and get a little breather.  A short update on what’s been going on to hold you over until I’m back…

Our new PCVs arrived safely in the region.  They have all been left to figure out what life is like out here ambanivolo (in the countryside).  It was interesting to reflect on what I was like a year ago and where I’m at right now.  I also celebrated one year at my site!  I fried soanambo (breadfruit) with a friend, while wearing a new dress she sewed for me.  Soanambo is quickly becoming one of my favorite foods and I’ll be sad when it is out of season in the near future.  I finished the day by being invited by to eat at my Malagasy mom’s house.  It felt like I came full-circle, so to speak, because she also fed me dinner on my first night in Ambohimanarina.

Cookstove interest is ramping up.  I just completed a training in Amboangibe, a village 7 km west of mine.  People seem genuinely interested in learning so I’ll be headed to a couple other villages for more trainings in the future.  Building the stoves is becoming like second nature to me, and I hope it helps save a few trees here.

The rice is ripe!  This is excellent news—the price for a cup of rice is less than half of what it was last month.  I harvested rice with my neighbor on a hillside overlooking Ambohimanarina—beautiful!And sweaty.  I’m really sorry I forgot my camera, but the day went well.  I had some flashbacks to fieldwork in Florida, but couldn’t help but smile to myself about the glaring differences in my Malagasy and American life working outdoors—especially when I ended the day carrying a basket of rice on my head.   Unfortunately my agroforestry demo plot rice is looking pretty sad.  However, in the coming weeks the SRI rice will be ready for harvest and I hear it’s looking like it will be a good yield!

I’ve left a few other things to linger in the planning stages while I’m away, and I know the few faithful English club students will be chomping at the bit when I return.  I only wish I was a better instructor.

And now, I’ll finish with a few random side notes on life in Madagascar.

Transportation:  I’ve decided that SAVA is where automobiles come to die.  They make it across the terrible road that connects the paved road to Tana to our region and stay here until they can’t run any longer.  I’ve ridden in permanently hot-wired cars, taxis where the gas is in an old water bottle up front, watched the road passing below me through the floor (when I’m not too crammed in to get a peek).  Then there are the few anomalies when I am able to hitch a ride in someone’s private vehicle.  On this trip to town I caught a ride with a local driver who often transports the local researchers.  I’m pretty sure I’ve never owned a vehicle that nice in America, and couldn’t decide if I found driving fast mildly terrifying because (a) I’m no longer accustomed to it—broken cars can’t handle those speeds, or (b) the roads are so curvy and just big enough for 2 cars, but really probably (c) all of the above.

Food:  I’m still a big fan of the coconut.  My newest coconut adventure: zucchini cooked in coconut water.  Yum!

Newest topics of conversation with Leslie in Ambohimanarina: No, I don’t know what I’m doing when I get back to America.  It will not involve marriage.  My family is very far away, so I am not likely to ask for another 2 years of service despite all the encouragement from my Malagasy friends.

The kids are currently on hiatus from playing with toys at my house.  The house next door finally gave up and fell down, which left lots of old bamboo for constructing ramps.  After the kids returned the cars but left the bamboo ramps and went home, this was not looked upon as a good idea by my other neighbors.  We’ll play again when I return.

Another PC milestone...

I’m in Sambava to welcome two new environment volunteers to my corner of Madagascar.  Having more Americans in the area is exciting.  Ultimately, it means that I’ve been a PCV for a year now.  Thursday will officially mark my one year anniversary in Ambohimanarina.

What does one year of Peace Corps service mean?  It means halfway to the end.  It means 12 months of living in the midst of a foreign culture.  Hundreds of cups of rice and dozens of new foods.A new language.Many new friends and family members.

I also now can enter my second year with some sense of what to expect.  I already know the name of that strange fruit in the market.  On vingt-six I’ll be ready with my new outfit and Malagasy flag hanging in front of my house.  I’ve gotten used to shopping in the market.  The kids have gotten used to visiting to play with my HotWheels.

My life here is one where a neighbor girl runs down the hill with a grapefruit peel hat, a sight as absurd as it is hilarious.  I stop on my walk to take a video of a chameleon slowly crossing the deserted road.  It’s normal to have a conversation about the chicken standing nearby—how it’s beg enough to eat, how you would cook it.  Somehow I don’t think I’ll every quite know what’s coming next.