That’s what I had for lunch today. Turns out it’s not actually that difficult to be creative with food here. It is difficult to cool down sometimes though.
So, I am at my site now! I have been for 2 weeks and 2 days now. I know, I know, I have neglected the blog, but I promise to be much better about it from now on.
Ok, water wise: I have a ceramic water filter which holds 6 liters, after the filter I bleach the water I’m going to drink, I bleach all fruits and veggies I’m going to eat, and I don’t worry about water if it will be cooked and will come to a boil. When they first told us everything we had to do, I thought for sure I would be sick every single day, but I haven’t met the mark yet where they consider you actually sick.
I actually really enjoy cooking for myself here. During training I said I was going to eat only pineapple for a week; unfortunately it’s the end of the season and the one I bought was probably as far from being ripe as possible. So, I’ve altered my plan a little. I eat lots of veggies, but even more fruit. Banana pancakes are really good and really easy to make; add some nutella on top and you won’t know what hit you. One disappointing thing, when I was at Jumbo (the Madagascar version of Wal-Mart) I bought cereal instead of oatmeal. Sad I know, but it’s still good to eat. The Malagasy really like really small fish fried whole. Now, the first time they put a large plate of these fish in front of me with its tiny eyes staring at me, I thought heck no I’m not touching those! Well, turns out if you don’t think about what you are eating and just eating everything in the fish, its actually really good. I also ate cow tongue the other day, and I will be ok if I never have it again.
Church is very important to many families in Madagascar, whether they are Adventist, Protestant, or Catholic. My first week in country I went to a Protestant church with my host family; we left early and were there for 4 hours. That is apparently the norm. The Adventists are usually at church all day long on Saturday. I haven’t been to the Catholic Church yet in Manakara, but sometime this week I am going to go visit with the people in the Catholic Library/Gift shop.
Laundry. During training my host family and I washed our laundry by hand in the rice fields. Much more work than I was expecting, but if I do laundry every week it is not bad at all. It’s when I wait 2 weeks, or what I had to do 2 days ago, 3 weeks’ worth. It consists of 1 large bucket with detergent in it, 1 bar of soap, and 1 scrub brush. After washing all of the clothes, you rinse them 2 times but some need 3. It almost never fails to rain every time I put my laundry out to dry, but I just consider it a free rinse. Most people when they get to site hire a “mpanasa lamba” which is a laundry person. It’s not expensive at all and it helps create a job for a less fortunate family. I’m sure eventually I will get one, but I’m gonna stick with it for a little while.
Pam Savy. Now, this is a Malagasy legend that is more prominent in the small communities around Madagascar. These are “witches.” There is a lot of debate as to whether they are real or not. During the day, they are normal people just like you and me. At night, said to be from midnight to 5 am, they go outside naked and lather up in oil and run around. The oil is so it is hard to catch them if someone were to try. They say that if they catch you or someone outside, they will put you on all 4s and ride you like a horse for 5 hours or so. They supposedly then kill you. It sounds a little silly to us, but many people are seriously afraid of it, that’s why I was not allowed outside after dark and why I had to be home before sundown. This leads to an awesome quote while walking outside after dark through a large town. “I will protect you from anything that is not supernatural. But if there’s a Pam Savy up in this bitch, it’s every man for himself,” I’m leaving it anonymous.
“The Olympics.” We formed teams for this so we could do real things that pertain to living alone here. This consisted of fetching water from the lake, carrying it on your head with a “baby” on your back and handing off both to the next person, making peanut butter and killing and cleaning a chicken, and making a fire with wood and charcoal to roast peanuts on. Definitely, killing the chicken part was the worst. I won’t go into detail, but it is not quick and painless. The first time my host mother made me watch her through the whole process, I knew I would never be killing chicken at my house. And I don’t see myself buying meat to prepare for myself at all. If I need animal protein, I will go to a restaurant.
“Demyst.” A group of 4 trainees were sent to spend the weekend with current volunteers. Chacha, Eddie, Dan, and I stayed with Binh just outside of the capital. So, Saturday night we made hamburgers by candlelight! There was a thunderstorm so we lost power, but it all worked out. They were little sliders on baguette bread and they were really good. We made some guacamole and some shrimp chips Binh had sent from home. For dessert we had smores! Sunday morning we had some Quaker oatmeal from the states with bananas and soy milk; all amazing. Later that day we met up with another group and hiked to some cascading waterfalls. We had a picnic with Skippy peanut butter and banana sandwiches, spam mosobi (sp?), pistachios and pixie stix! All awesome. We walked back and stopped at this epicerie for cold drinks. The Mayor happened to be there; he also thought one of the trainees was Sean Kingston. While we were sitting down, the mayor kept bringing over free snacks. We weren’t sure if it was because we were all volunteers or because he thought we were with Sean Kingston. Monday morning we headed back to the capital and back to the training center.
Our American Food. The last Saturday we had at the training center we got the chance to cook for the staff. Most people go home on Saturdays, so it was some of the kitchen staff and the trainees. I made the chili for the thing. When it started, I didn’t have hardly any of the things I needed for it. Luckily, there was a pretty well stocked storage pantry out back with plenty of tomato paste and tomato sauce. Another problem, no chili powder or spice to make it actual chili and not just meat sauce. But, Jean found this big plastic bag filled with left over ramen noodle seasoning packets that they never use. Lo & behold crushed red peppers! Could not have gotten more lucky that day. The full menu: Jambalaya, while and cornbread, salad with cheese and peanuts and an amazing homemade orange vinaigrette dressing, grilled steak and chicken and veggies and 2 kinds of cake for dessert! Everything was a huge hit and everyone had a great time. The atmosphere was perfect and it didn’t even feel like we were in the kitchen for 7 hours!
Site. My site is beautiful. I am officially a volunteer! Installation was interesting/fun/quick! Most days are miniature roller coaster for me. I was definitely ready to be on my own; to cook, to not have a schedule set by someone else, and to sleep whenever I wanted. I do love being at site and on my own, but the novelty has worn off. My first day here was a Sunday. And now I know that it is impossible to find food anywhere on Sundays, so I scrounged for food day 1. On Mondays there are more options than Sundays, but still a little restricted. That day was Anna’s birthday so I called her and talked to her for a while. It was also Mother’s Day so I called mom. Dad called me from Austin. He was visiting Uncle Brent with Aunt Lori and Uncle Kenny. I got to talk with all of them and Aunt Elena that day. I think I am definitely in culture shock here, but I feel it fading daily. The more I go out and interact with people and the community the better I feel. Sometimes I most definitely have feelings of “what in the world am I doing here?” but it would be un-normal if I didn’t have those. It didn’t help that the first week I went into the office of the organization I was supposed to be working with and they really didn’t know what to do with me. I was not there long. The head guy was out of town so they kept asking me what they could help me with and told me to come back another time. 3rd time’s a charm! My second week I stayed in Manakara but visited 4 different weavers. They all make similar items, but they are talented. I will let you know when I work with an artisan who is not a weaver.
Ok, so that’s all I have for now. Sorry it’s so long and plain looking. I promise formatting and pretty pictures for the next post.
