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| Us at a dinner party at the Thai Restaurant Ozone. |
Seven weeks and counting, our time here is soon coming to an
end. In just three years, I was able to
pack in more memories than I can believe.
Like getting married in a ghetto mayor’s office downtown, chaperoning
students around the world, meeting incredibly diverse people, speaking French
on a daily basis, and having a gorgeous black and white ruffed lemur poop on my
head; it’s been incredible.
If Madagascar wasn’t interesting enough, we decided to push
the envelope further by going to an even less traveled place, Saudi
Arabia. Just those two words paint an
immediate picture for people. All of the
reactions I’ve received upon sharing this news has been well, predictable. Predictable for those (all of them) who have
never been there or really don’t know much about the culture except how the media
portrays it. Let it be known to all who
read this; Saudi was not an accident for us; we chose it! But
more on that in the next blog entry.
Living in Madagascar has been wonderful and terrible. I am not afraid to say it, you know, those
not so nice things about a place; I am just not “pc” enough to hide it I
guess. This is my first developing
country experience and let me tell you, Madagascar is rough. Maybe not for those visiting on vacation or
those who have lived in Africa before, but for me, it has been challenging. If you are a sensitive person like I am, you
might have a hard time with what you see (and smell). I won’t even go into how many times I’ve been
sick or the intestinal worms I’ve had :). I’ve developed a sort of “social
armor” you could say to prepare me for the city. I put it on mentally as soon as I leave the
gates of our beautiful home. The long
stares never end, no quick glances here!
The begging from every child that sees you’re a Vasah, and the garbage
carelessly thrown about for someone to eventually pick up. Oh and let’s not forget the occasional dead
dog carcass on the side of the road that is left all to see the magic of
decomposition. I’ve become deaf to the
“pssss, psssss” as I pass by a group of Malagasy men on my daily walks around
the neighborhood. But all of this I’ve
described doesn’t compare to downtown or the open outdoor markets. Most of the time I stay clear of them and I
avoid Avenue de Independence as much as possible, but it is necessary to go
through it to get anywhere downtown. The
biggest problem is that there really is no urban infrastructure here, change
happens incredibly slowly, and most of all - the government is a joke. There is nothing good about the government
here, it’s ripe with corruption, and doesn’t give a damn about the Malagasy
people- that’s the most depressing thing of all.
At the moment, due to the desperation increasing amongst the
people, crime is rising. I just heard
yesterday that more Vasahs are being found dead. Sometimes naked on the side of the street,
sometimes in their homes, and if the victim happens to be a women, you can bet
she was raped as well. This is mostly a
very peaceful place, but this is a sure sign that the desperation tipping point
is coming to a head. I think it’s a good
time to leave and I am glad I came when I did (after the crisis). I feel a kind
of heaviness in the air because the people simple can’t be pushed any
farther. There are more people
aggressively begging, yet the Malagasy spirit to work hard is still as strong
as ever. Everyday the streets are filled
with people going about their business.
The traffic is slow as people dart across the road every minute and walk
with heavy loads on their heads or pulling heavy carts by foot. The vendors crowd the traffic, the traffic
slows, the people rush into the streets, scooters whiz past through tiny cracks
in the traffic and the sun scorches all of us in the processes. It’s pretty normal to get sweaty in our
non-air conditioned Suzuki with no power steering. Driving can be exhausting and we typically
only do one-errand days due to this. I also
have to be sure to think for everyone else as I drive. There is no common sense when it comes to
traffic here. Everyone feels they have
the right of way (especially scooters and motorcycles – look out!). Thankfully (knock–on-wood) I haven’t had an
accident because surely I will be at fault; I am Vasha afterall.
Am I sounding like a Debbie Downer yet? I don’t mean to. I am simply painting a picture of what I see,
feel and know.
Another issue that needs to be addressed is the
out-of-control birth rate. People, this
is Baby Nation. I understand one is
considered “fortunate and blessed” to have a baby, but 4 or 5 or more? Most of the current population is under 20
years of age. This is truly an island of
children and they need help in the most desperate way. This island is already boasting a population
of 20 million and it’s looking to double in the coming years. I don’t
understand how this island will get any better with so many starving mouths to
feed. If I could wave a magic wand and
do one thing for this island it would be to make sure everyone is using birth control
– effectively.
Ok now on to the good stuff.
First of all, I will dearly miss the climate. If ever there were a perfect climate to
retire in, it would have to be here.
It’s sunny and hot during the day and then cools down at night to allow
all of us to sleep comfortably.
Vegetation grows incredibly well in the red soil. We have the most gorgeous trees in our yard
and we LOVE going to the rain forest for some R and R. The potential to make Tana a gorgeous travel
destination is absolutely incredible, but poor governance, poverty and lack of
social and physical infrastructure make it impossible at the moment.
If you ever have the chance to visit Antananarivo, do
it. You will be very surprised at all of
the restaurant choices and nice hotels.
If you like fois gras, you’re in luck. It costs a fraction of the price
as in Paris and is just as good. If you
like massages, facials, manicures and pedicures – you can get all of this done
affordably with top- notch products.
Malagasy cuisine is good, but the French cuisine trumps it any day, and
there are so many restaurants to pick from.
If you like African-style music and dance, there are so many talented
Malagasy to watch. They are born
performers. It’s uncanny how so many of
them are good at the arts. There are endless arts and crafts, gems stones, and
fossils to purchase. I’ve featured some
of my favorite already on my blog. If you have a soft spot in your heart for a
special breed of dog called the Coton de Tulear, you’ve landed. There are many breeders and Cotons are the
breed of choice for many Vasahs. They are pretty darn cute and again are a
fraction of their normal price of $1,500.00 in the states.
If you haven’t heard, Madagascar is also known for vanilla,
coco, cloves, flavored rum (rum arrangé), coffee beans, gold silk from the
Golden Orb Weave spider, jewelry made from zebu horn, mangoes, small super
sweet bananas, spicy peppers to add kick to your food, and giant crystals
(specifically rose quartz) – this is just to name a few.
The biggest gifts we treasure from this place are our two
lovely cats Rascal and Snowball. Their
mother walked into Mark’s classroom one day.
She was a very pretty calico with a very pregnant mid section. As kids teased her and a few teachers
apparently kicked her, I took over.
After hearing the disturbing treatment she was receiving I had her
follow me home where we fed and took care of her and her little bundle. I made her a birthing box large enough to
hold a big litter and give her privacy.
I got out my cat books and researched online the best way to hand a cat
birth and to our amazement seven kittens where born. One died shortly after birth and we made sure
to take excellent care of the remaining six.
After finding homes for them all and keeping two, they have had such a
big impact on our lives! I am so happy I got their mommy to follow me
home. I can only imagine what her fate
may have been. It’s my only really good
deed in Madagascar. Bad karma is coming
back as an animal (cat or dog) in Madagascar.
It’s really painful to see how they have to live. They are the lowest of
the low on the status pole. Most animals
are feral or wild and they are in bad shape.
People can’t believe how healthy our cats look and I just remind them
that this is how they are supposed to look.
I almost clocked a guy for kicking a deformed cat using its only back
legs to stand up and beg for food. I saw
red, I felt rage, and I wanted to hurt him and knowing me – I would have
–especially since I was two body sizes bigger than him, and something inside of
me would have been incredibly satisfied.
Luckily, I wasn’t alone and I bottled up my intense rage to hide what I
was thinking of doing and walked away quickly.
I did yell at him though.
Snowball has an unusually long ringtail so he’s now our ring-tailed
cat from Madagascar, pretty exotic if you ask me.
Madagascar has incredible beaches and gorgeous rich ocean
life. We are water people, so we feel
really lucky to have been able to swim and snorkel here. Places like Nosy Be
and Ile Sainte Marie will always hold wonderful memories for us. There is a lot to see and do here if you have
the money and the transportation to do so.
The guidebooks are full of so much information and there is so much we
weren’t able to do or see that we’ll always feel a little sad about.
All in all Madagascar will hold a very special place in our
hearts. We totally started tearing up as
we watched the BBC’s series on Madagascar with Sir David Attenborough
narrating.
We feel grateful and fortunate because there’s been just so
much to our experience here. I haven’t
even talked about all the cool people!
We have great friends from the U.S., India, Germany, and France. Everyone came here for their own reasons and
as we laugh together and lament over frustrations together we are in this
together. We are together in sharing the
birth of friend’s children, the engagement of lovesick couples, the stories of
separate adventures around Madagascar, the coffee-talks about anything and
everything, and let’s not to forget, the hours upon hours of strategy
gaming! From dinner parties to just
full-blown fun house parties we’ve created so many laughs together and only
just a few tears. The memories will be
with us forever and the relationships we’ve made will have a lasting imprint on
us forever and for that we are eternally grateful.
Our next adventure is exciting to anticipate. We don’t know who we are going to meet, how
we will react to the culture, what life will feel like their yet, but if we can
get so much from a place like this so completely off the grid of the world,
there’s an excellent chance things will be even better in Saudi.
