These are a couple short ones about the culture here. Life is good...
The Malagasy people have a culture of
sharing and gift giving that I wish existed in the US and I plan to
bring back with me. Here you don't just give gifts on birthdays or
Christmas but all the time. And if you have some extra of something
you give it to neighbors or friends. Or even if you don't have extra
you still share.
If you go somewhere that is far enough
away that you have to stay a night it is the culture to bring back
gifts. They are called “voandalana”. They can be something as
simple as a banana or a loaf of bread. It is more about the idea that
you were thinking of everyone when you were gone. If you go far
enough that you are in a different region you should try to get
something that is unavailable in your region. Or just something that
is made in the town you visited that might be more rare in your town.
It can actually be overwhelming all of the things people bring you.
Just today I got a voandalana from my neighbors aunt who I had never
met before. She is in town to visit our doctor (who is an incredible
doctor and human being) and she knew there was a new volunteer in
town so she brought me a gift. She lives in a town called Maromandia
which is a good 6-8 hours from here so she came far with this thing
just to give it to some one she has never met and who she might only
see a couple times ever. My landlady/neighbor's husband travels a lot
for work and he always brings back something. It might be as small as
a bag of onions or as big as a pineapple which is kind of expensive.
It is also fun the go to the market
when you are out of town and find gifts for people. It gives you an
excuse to shop in a place you probably wouldn't normally and to walk
around a while to find good, unique stuff. I'm already looking
forward to gift shopping when I head to the capital for a training in
mid-July.
It is also a big thing here to share
things. Whenever I come back from the market I usually have a few
snacks or small pieces of bread that I share with people. Kind of
like mini voandalana. Another good example is, it is orange season
right now. The trees have a ton of fruit on them. They are very cheap
at the market. But some of the people I have become friends with in
town have some trees they harvest from and on more than one occasion
they have come by to get me before harvesting to bring me along and
give me some of what they get. They could just as easily sell me some
as they are dirt cheap. But they give them instead. It's quite
amazing.
And here's a little something about fried things:
I think one of my favorite things here
so far is the street food and drink. There are so many good things to
try. And most of them are breaded and fried. All of them are cheap.
If I lived in a bigger town and didn't have to bike/walk so much to
get anywhere I might be the first person to move from the US to
Africa and gain weight. I guess there's still time to accomplish that
goal one deep-fried snack at a time.
If I had to pick a favorite...I
couldn't. But the fried bananas are especially delicious. They are
breaded and called “mofo katakata”. I can't get enough. When they
are still warm, but not molten lava hot, they are incredible. There
are also “mofo boulinas” or bread balls. Just fried dough shaped
in a ball. Another, who's name escapes me, is an actual piece of
bread (usually a piece of baguette) that's been breaded, then deep
fried. So, so good. There is also “mofo sake”, fried bread with
spicy peppers in it. Or even “mofo crevette”, fried shrimp bread.
The collection of fried goodness makes me cry tears of joy sometimes.
It's not all fried though. At night people make bruschettes that are
awesome and are usually served with a spicy green papaya slaw,
although that can differ depending on the region. The real cou de
grace though is, in a big town, you can often find some weird stuff.
I'm talking cow esophagus, bat, pig insides, eel, you name it. I love
trying the weird things. And Malagasy people love a vazaha who tries
weird things. There is another member of my group who is even more
adventurous than I am. It's pretty fun to walk up to a stall at night
and see what is the craziest thing they have available. Sometimes it
is great. And sometimes cow esophagus tastes like cow esophagus.
There are also good drinks available.
Everything comes with a liberal dose of sugar. Some of the best juice
I've ever had has been here with the pineapple juice at my local
hotely (kind of like a small local restaurant) being especially good.
But it is also served cold and I'm often hot so maybe I have clouded
memories. There is also some pretty decent coffee or tea which is
great for my caffeine fix. I also make “Cafe Pele” instant coffee
at home. It's named after the famous soccer star and there are
posters with him in a lot of places advertising it. I guess he is
still a big deal here. There is also a tea made from the kola nut
that I really like. It's kind of spicy but hard to describe. It's
strange too because the kola nut itself is kind of gross but the tea
is very good. I've only had it in Antsohihy so far which is a bummer
because that is a little far away. But I can always have some
whenever I have to hit up the bank or get some more seeds for the
garden.
Hopefully for my heart's sake I'll get
tired of the deep fried goodness. I actually don't think I eat too
much of it but am probably lying to myself. I think I need to go on a
run...
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