A Good Day for Language

Soon to be my new home for 2 years.

Sunday, 19 March 2023 (35)

There is so much going on here in a single day that it is difficult to keep track of it all. I usually keep track of some of the details by writing them in one of the many small pocket-sized notebooks I carry around with me.

I'll start with the shower this morning. I thought it was very kind of them to heat up some water for me but unnecessary. Poured some on my leg and discovered it was scalding hot. Now I'm assuming it was for me to throw on the shower floor for sanitizing purposes. Instead I had 1st degree burns that I felt until late today.

This morning's breakfast was a little lackluster where I said little and probably ate even less. The food is usually luke warm, if at all, except for the rice which I'm assuming is cooked last. Meals always seem to take an hour or two to prepare and served barely warm. Charcoal is used instead of gas here and only a single cast iron pot is used.

I had mentioned a few foods I like or had help translating with my Peace Corps staff member when they dropped me off. But I think they overdo it by preparing too much of one thing. I said I liked tomatoes so a big plate of sliced tomato's are served. I'm likely going to try some but not eat much. The same with lettuce. Also, it was mentioned I should have water boiled for virus control. Turns out they think I'm interested in drinking hot water, which they do at some meals, but I do not.

Raymond and Odette's son went to Catholic church with me this morning. We left at 8:30 for a service that starts at 9:30. So we set out south to the next town and went quite a ways - several kilometers. We had a good time talking or at least me fumbling with some creative Malagasy. I really expected that he was going to church for himself and then I was just tagging along. But then we must have past the church a kilometer when I said I think we past it. He agreed it was in the last town we walked through and didn't have any good reason why we kept walking. I was confused. Maybe he was confused. So we turned around and eventually stopped in a church which was very, very dark - spent three minutes and left. I made jokes that I didn't sing and that it was too dark. There also wasn't a single seat available. We got some water, soda and chocolate and immediately handed them out to children. Went to another church, sat through another song then they passed around the collection plate - or I should say a man with a bag on the end of a stick went around and collected offerings. I had been told about this and had my few hundred Ariary ready.

More chocolate, most of it given to kids and back down the long haul back again. I spent a whole lot more on chocolate for kids than I gave as an offering in church. I was tempted to put a small chocolate in the collection bag but I was out. In all it was three hours to walk there and back and just a few minutes actually spent in church.  But we had lots of fun and I learned some silly Malagasy words. This was also one of the first days where I actually used more verbs and constructed more sentences, even if they were simple four and five word sentences.

Back home I did laundry and took another shower after that three hour hike. Another hike (15 minutes) into xxxxxxxx and talked with most people along the way. Probably connected with 50 or more, some kids, mostly adults. Avoided as much as possible one man who appears to be inebriated and tried getting money from me yesterday and today. I'm feeling like I'm finally slowing my speech down, getting understood more, and feeling casual and not nervous in my conversations. Yes, I am still using my printed materials but only a glance to remind me of the next phrase or where I'm going with the discussion. It is usually always the same dozen questions or phrases - WHat is your name? Where are you from? How old are you? Married? Children? What do you do for work? Hobbies? and so forth but there is more winging it and expanding out or moving things around more. What I really need is another dozen questions.

I am still very much a novelty in town. The kids follow me around just to see what I may do or if I'll pull out my camera again and film them. One or two of the adults call me by name and remember me from the other day, but then I am about to disappear for a month before returning for the two years.

I did run into the Doctor again. He was having a drink with some others visiting from another CSB. I bought a liter of Coke and some cookies and joined them. I seemed to hold my own with mostly Malagasy, some French and bit of English. 

Home again where we had a thirty minute discussion about me going into Antsirabe tomorrow. The Doctor is planning to be out of town tomorrow so I won't have much to do. I wanted to hit the banking town on my own again. Getting on a Taxi-brusse isn't a problem - it's getting back. Not sure where I'd pick one up but I think Odette is planning to go into town with me and show me. I'm trying to insist on paying but I don't think they will let me.

Dinner was a two hour affair to cook. Then the power went out. They we ate and sat around the table like so many other families would on a Sunday evening talking about Malagasy and funny words and bad language apps that seem to be making up English words that don't exist. The difference being that the kitchen and dining room is as dark as a cave (even when there is power), food is cooked over charcoal near an open door, and it all is cold by the time it is served - in the dark. This is just the kind of conversation, kindness and sharing going on all over the world. But of course in America - the advanced comforts and luxuries we take so for granted may get in the way of the connection one-on-one that is happening here.

A good day for language.

Definitely a "Fixer-Upper".