Thankful

This year I am celebrating Thanksgiving in Madagascar, the first time I've been away from my family and outside of America for the holiday. It's also only the second time I have missed the traditional family reunion Thanksgiving that my dad's family has been doing for over 50 years. So, I asked my cousin to say a few words on my behalf to all the family members that I won't get to see. Here's what I wrote:

This year marks my first Thanksgiving away from America, and only my
second time missing the big family gathering. It's rather interesting
to look at the holiday and its meaning in a completely different
context-- both geographically as well as mentally. Here in Madagascar
I find myself living in a land of indescribable beauty, but also among
heartbreaking poverty. I see school-age children running around or
working in the market, instead of sitting in a classroom, because
their family can't afford to pay the school fees. I see people with
distended abdomens and lack of pigment in their hair because they
don't eat enough protein. I see families looking longingly at the
fruit trees behind my house to see if there is any food to be gleaned.
And yet, even with all of this despair and need, there is still
beauty, and friendship, and happiness. Families spend time together
just sitting and enjoying each other's company. Kids find creative
ways to turn found objects into toys. Men get together in the evenings
to sing traditional songs. And Malagasy people show a touching
generosity to myself and one another, even if they can ill afford it.
Living this way for the past 9 months has taught me many things, but
one of the most important is an appreciation for the simplest things
in life. I find myself thankful not for a computer, a cell phone,
clothes, an iPod, or any other material things. Rather, I am grateful
for the fact that the water pump by my house is no longer broken, and
I and my neighbors can access clean water. I am grateful for my good
health, and the fact that I have the resources to deal with any health
problem that I may encounter. I am grateful for the fact that I have
just enough money to buy vegetables and fruit and the right kind of
food to keep me healthy. I am grateful for my friends back home, who
have not only not forgotten me, but have in fact shown such
thoughtfulness by sending me care packages and letters. And finally, I
am grateful for you, my family, because no matter where I am in the
world, and no matter how small my salary is, I know that you are
always a presence in my life-- and that is one of the most precious
things we can ask for.


Happy Thanksgiving to all of you, wherever you are, and may you have a wonderful holiday filled with family, friends, and a bounty of delicious food.

When in Madagascar, do as the Malagasy do

As I near the 7 month mark here at site, I’ve gotten to establish a fairly good daily routine, which has helped me to feel at home here. Because some of you have expressed interest in what daily life is like here, here’s a description of my day-to-day routine is.

First of all, when you live somewhere without very much electricity, life’s daily rhythm tends to revolve around the daylight. Right now it’s dark here by around 6:30PM, and people are in their homes for the night as this point, cooking dinner and spending time with family. Even though I have electricity (usually) at my house, I like to be home by 5pm, because otherwise the roads are very dark. By 8:30pm I’ve usually taken a bucket bath in my ladosy (outdoor shower hut), eaten dinner, and washed the dishes, and then I spend the next couple hours checking email on my laptop (I have a USB modem, but I pay by the megabyte so I have to use it sparingly), reading, writing, or watching a movie on my laptop. I’m usually tired and in bed by 10 or 10:30, which is obviously a huge change from my night owl ways back in the US!

In the mornings I wake up around 7, although my neighbors are usually up and making noise by 5 or 5:30 (when they start banging around I usually put in earplugs to prolong my sleeping time.) For breakfast I alternate making oatmeal (thanks to people’s generous care packages!) and coffee at home, or going to my local mofo (fried bread) stand and having mofo balls and coffee there, eating while standing up and chatting with my neighbors.  When I eat at home, I usually have a leisurely breakfast and read a few pages of The Economist, my subscription to which my mom has graciously been forwarding a few issues at a time. Then after breakfast I clean up and get dressed, slather on sunblock, and do some work at home on my computer, or bike to the COLDIS or TIAVO office. I try to work in the office of one of my two counterpart agencies every day, although at this point my work projects are still taking shape. For COLDIS, a collective that buys spices and exports them abroad, I am starting to work on a sustainability project (more on that in a separate blog post); for TIAVO, a microfinance organization, I am hoping to work with some of their clients to do business consulting and advising on credit usage.

One big facet of life here is the sieste, the 2+ hour break in the middle of the day when offices and schools are closed and no one works.  Part of the reason is the heat, but another reason is that students and workers go home to eat lunch. Things close up between 11:30 and 12, and most offices and banks reopen between 2 and 3. They close down again by 4:30 or 5, so as you can see, the workday is not like your typical American one. Usually I go into the market after the office closes at 11:30, in order to pick up food for that day’s lunch and dinner. Then I bike home to cook and fetch water, and then I usually do a bit of reading or studying before heading back to work, or working on a project at home.

On the weekends I am a bit more leisurely and tend to spend either Saturday or Sunday at home, cleaning my house, reading or watching movies, or hanging out with the local kids who drop by to draw pictures or goof around. I always spend one weekend morning entirely devoted to doing laundry, which takes about 2 hours, and I also like to go for a long bike ride every weekend to keep in biking shape. This weekend my plan is to ride to my friend’s site, Lopary, which is 21km north on a very hilly road. Because I’ve been traveling and not biking every day I am definitely out of shape right now, so 21km is going to be a “long” ride for me right now!

So that, in a nutshell, is what daily life is like here in my town. When my brother was just here visiting, with him slightly incredulous at how early I wanted to go to bed every night, I was reminded on just how different my routine is from how it was back home. It was a bit surprising to realize how much I have adjusted my lifestyle and internal clock to the rhythm of life here. But as they say, when in Rome—or in this case, when in Madagascar…