Scrub-A-Dub-Dub & Some Culture

Other Lovasoa happenings since last time..

September 7th, I learned how to do my laundry the Malagasy way. This involved two large buckets, a bar of soap, a brush, and my hands. I went on this adventure with two other Mada sisters. We really had no idea what we were doing, but jumped right in. The Malagasy women in the wash room would occasionally grab a clothing item from us, and show us how to really scrub it clean, or how to use our hands to better scrub it that way. I felt pretty lost in the beginning, but knew I needed some clean clothes! Eventually I got a "tsara be" from one of the women, which means very good. So I continued to scrub my clothes clean as best I could with the soap, brush, and my two hands. Then you put the soapy clothes into the rinse bucket and just keep swishing them around, dumping the water and then refilling the bucket with clean water, and repeating these steps until you thought your water had no more soap in it. Then it was time to line dry. This was a very long process, but I felt so accomplished afterwards. 

Rachel & I scrubbing away


     

       Culture Night
One of my favorite nights at Lovasoa was Culture Night! This was soo much fun, and full of you guessed it, culture! In the audience alone were people from at least 4 different cultures: Norwegian, Malagasy, Canadian, and American. What a wonderful show we all got! It started off with an African drum, or Djembe performance by a group of young boys and their teacher. What talent!! After their performance, they invited people in the audience to come up and try a traditional Malagasy tune. Of course I went up right away. It was SO much fun!! After the drumming we saw a group of talented dancers perform a few traditional dances. During one performance (pictured below), they dressed up in the customary outfits for 6 different tribes. In the picture, my region is represented by the girl second in from the right, in pink. After their performance, pretty much everyone in the room got up and danced the traditional Malagasy dance of "Afindrafindrao" around the room.  What a spectacular night!

Amy, myself, Serena, Katie

Traditional Dances and dress from 6 different tribes. 

Happenings through 9-6-2017

                                Hike in Antsirabe to the Mary Statue  

     I feel so behind in my blogging. I have been in Madagascar about a week and a half now and so much has already happened! We started our journey in Antananarivo, the capitol of Madagascar. We stayed at the FLM (Lutheran Church of Madagascar) headquarters and guest house. While we were there we promptly started working on obtaining our work visas. Our second morning there we loaded 3 cars and headed to Antsirabe, where we will stay for the remainder of our in country orientation. While we are here, we are taking language and culture classes. Our first Sunday in Antsirabe we went to a Lutheran church nearby. Pastor Kirsten (country coordinator) told us that church was a place where a lot of the wealthier families went. The service was OK, and not as long as we were anticipating. (so that was nice 😊) During the service there were 3 baptisms and 2 announcements of marriage (weddings happen on Saturday's).

9-2-17

     Today's task for the group was to plan and cook dinner. To do this we all needed to conquer the market! The night before we sat around and planned what we would cook. It divided up nicely where each person needed to buy one thing at the market. To do this we would walk in pairs and each practice speaking in Malagasy to purchase what we needed. I was SO nervous! The day before we went to the market in 2 groups with some guides who were going to help us navigate the market. That was my first time in the big market and it was pretty overwhelming for me. I didn't get the practice in that I had hoped for, so I was worried on Saturday. Luckily for me, I had an awesome market mate. :) She knew I was nervous, and reassured me on our walk there. When we got there, we walked around a little just to take it all in. Then we started on our mission. Her job was to buy the sakamalao, or ginger which she did with perfection. We came across a power strip that she had her eye on the day prior. She asked how much it was and was told 7000 Ariary. She told the seller she would think about it and come back. We had talked about this on the way to the market and I knew she was looking to spend only 5000-6000 Ariary. Part of our market class was on how to barter. So I asked the vendor if she would take 5000, she answered no, but 6000. So my friend ended up getting the power strip. This was all done in Malagasy, and what a confidence booster it was for me! I felt great! Then it was my turn to buy the ove, or potatoes we needed which went well. The lady selling the ove was so nice, she even came down to shake our hands. I left the market that day feeling so accomplished! I went to the market, I spoke in Malagasy, I got what I needed, and I even bartered!!

Serena and I after conquering the market!

     






     





     This past Sunday 9-3-17, we walked the 30 minutes to the Toby church also connected to the FLM. This church seemed to be much more inviting and even invited Pastor Kirsten up to the alter to talk about us a little bit. Although this service was longer, and of course all in Malagasy, I enjoyed it more. We took communion at the church which was our first time since being here. Communion was nice. You get handed a "ticket" for lack of better terms and go up in small groups when you get your signal. They still do communion kneeling at the alter which was nice since I haven't done that in so long. I think this service was about 3 hours, with lots of singing of course. I tried to follow along with the hymns as best I could. We also had an order of service in Malagasy and English to help us follow along which helps. My favorite part of church that day was making friends with a little boy about 4 rows ahead of me. We played peek-a-boo, raise/lower eye brows, and open your mouth as wide as you can! haha. 😁
     After church we changed out of our skirts and loaded a bus that took us to the bottom of a giant hill. We hiked up the mountain with the Statue of Mary being our destination. The walk up was amazingly gorgeous. We stopped often to take it all in and snap some pics. When we reached the top, we had a picnic lunch. It was SO nice! It was nice to get out of the hustle and bustle of the city, and enjoy it from afar. And as you all know, I love being outside so it was a very enjoyable afternoon for me! 

9-6-17

     Yesterday, our noteworthy task was to go out into the city, completely on our own for an hour! We did not know about this task until right before we were sent out. It didn't matter what we did as long as we were by ourselves. I felt a little unsure about this. A couple days before this, I ventured out to the "western" store all by myself and made it back just fine. I felt good about that. However, I had a task and a place in mind. I went there, and came right back to Lovasoa. This time, I had a whole hour and no real task.
     I set out towards a Karaoke and snack bar place we passed on our walk to the Toby. My thought was I could order a Fanta and read my book while the time ticked away. When I got there I thought it was closed at first, but then heard some music. I quietly headed in, and quickly saw there was no one else in the place except the guy behind the counter. So I just as quickly turned around and left. I continued my walk and saw a grassy area with a bunch of benches. I picked one facing the street that seemed less busy. I pulled out my book and maybe read half a page when I realized several kids that were there playing, were now playing as close to me as the could. Soon after they were climbing onto the bench and saying "bonjour!" I replied with "Salama" and a smile and soon had great friends for the rest of my hour. Thankfully I had my notebook from class with my limited Malagasy in it. I was able to ask their names and ages and if they were brothers/sisters. We then had fun taking pics with my phone. I can't post the pics, so just take my work for it that they were cuties. Before I knew it, my time was up and I needed to head back 
     I walked back to my home for the next two weeks with the biggest smile on my face. I so enjoyed my time with those kids! As I walked back I got excited thinking about meeting the kids I would soon be working with. I was absolutely thrilled in that moment thinking of my year ahead. In that moment, there were no worries clouding my thoughts. I was really, really happy and I loved it!