mamaky

Dear and most dear friends:
To start right in—
not that it’s actually possible to media res you, because it’s all
very, very different here, and the past two weeks have lasted at least
half a year—I’m going to take Mark’s advice, and just tell you the
aspects of my usual day (as well as a few of my favorite things about
the language) and save the sappy stuff for my letters and (occasional)
phone calls. Just a shout out for my first letter-writers: Matt and
Sarah, how appropriate that you were the first two that I wrote! I
carry your letters with me at all times, and I wish you were here.

Ok, so, my typical day starts at 6 am. PCVs live with host families
during training, and my family is quite young—Noeline, Jose (both 25),
Fiti (2) and Fitiavana (7 months). The baby starts crying at about
4:30, and that’s when I should get out of bed. But I don’t. Anyway, I
wake up, straighten my room and wash out my “po” (due to the high amt
of rabies / slippery path to the kabone (latrine), it’s not safe to
use the outhouse at night. hence, the universally used “po.” Chamber
pot has a lid, thankfully.) Of course, in order to wash my po I have
to draw water from the well, which fortunately is quite close to the
house. Then there is breakfast, consisting of about 4 oz of coffee,
and either dry bread or rice and leftovers. In order to wash, I boil
water & sort of sponge myself. Thankfully it’s between 40 and 50
degrees at all times and therefore I do not (yet) smell. At least that
I can tell.

We then have language class from 8-12, and let me tell you—Malagasy is
like no language I’ve ever heard. Originating from the Austronesia
area, written down first in Arabic and now using the romantic
alphabet, it’s quite a treat to remember. Just some examples: “Namana”
means “I had” as well as “friend;” “mamaky” means “to read” or “to
break” (ya’ll gotta know how much I love the fact that reading and
breaking are the same action. . . ) I really like the language, tho
it’s a challenge, especially since I’m now trying to learn the dialect
spoke near my site as well as the Standard Malagasy spoken at home.

Lunch is spent with the host family and consists of rice and “loaka,”
or any side dish. In Madagascar, there are two kinds of food: rice and
everything else. I don’t like rice anymore. We eat it at every meal,
including breakfast. When I am living on my own, I will be able to
control my own diet a lot more, to which I am certainly looking
forward. . . the fruit here is incredible (even in the winter), as are
the fish.

The afternoon consists of technical classes (like: how to avoid
getting malaria. or how to write a lesson plan. or how to make sure
you’re safe at night. have I mentioned that I’m suffering from intense
bouts of hypochondria.) and then we’re home by 5 or so to help with
dinner and sleep. I’d like to pretend that the reason I sleep so much
is an extended jet lag, or is a result of my super intense mental
exercise every day, but it’s really just the fact that the only warm
place I ever am is my bed, and then only if I fall asleep before 9.
I’m also having crazy dreams every night, which more than make up for
the lack of entertainment here. My favorites so far are: Matt refusing
to drive me to the airport because he wanted to watch Dumbo, Judy Lord
telling me that she was my grandmother, trying to pack for my site
ONLY being able to buy things at that TrueValue store at Northport in
Fargo, and being faced with a whole counter of Ben&Jerry’s, that I
bought and only being able to eat the Strawberry Cheesecake. Ew.

So that is my typical day, except for Thursdays, which we spend at the
Training Site outside the village (which has showers, so I do wash my
hair 1/week). Next Thursday we will actually spend the night at the
Training Site and then Friday we leave for our week-long “site visit,”
when we get to go see the places we’ll be living for 2 years! I’ve
been placed in the (whoop) RAINFOREST, in a village called Ifanadiana.
I’ll have a two-room house, but I don’t yet know what grades I will be
teaching—so more on that after site visit. I wish I had more to tell
you about my site, but my knowledge of Madagascar is right now limited
to my drive through the capital and my host family’s house. So instead
I will tell you about my house.

We have a total of three rooms, their bedroom, my bedroom, and across
a little courtyard the kitchen. I think I would kill for an oven at
this point, but we have a little one-burner coal stove thing that
makes me want to cry for warm bread. My host dad’s parents live
upstairs (but I’ve never seen the upstairs so I don’t count it as part
of our house) and his brother lives next door. My host parents are in
the process of building their own house in the backyard, but from the
looks of things it’ll be a while til they move.

Ok, so just a few more things before I go—I was asked before I left to
make a list of the most useful things that I brought with me, and the
things I should have brought. I’m sure this list will change as I
progress throughout my time here, but here it is:

Most Useful Items (qualified by at least daily use)
1. Watch
2. flashlight
3. coat that separates into a fleece and a raincoat (I wear the fleece
all day, even to bed; and it rains every day.)
4. boots and underarmour—thanks dad!
5. Purel
Most needed items (send these if you can!)
1. attention
2. purel
3. silica gel packets—you know those packets that keep things dry?
yeah, I’m going to the rainforest, and I’m gonna loose my computer and
camera if I can’t figure out a way to keep things dry, and the staff
here says these are best.
4. music—I left without the Wu Tang, without Beruit, without Phantom
of the Opera.
5. FOOD. I know it’s only been two weeks but I eat rice at every
single meal. I miss: oatmeal, chocolate (its seriously not the same
stuff here!!), granola bars, popcorn, salsa, KETCHUP, butter (no
refrigeration means no butter, no cheese. . ack ack ack I must stop
thinking about these things!)
6. pictures.

Alright everyone, I need to go cause I’m writing this on Thursday, at
the training site, in order to post it tomorrow when we go into Tana
for our yellow fever shots, and my friend needs to use it (while we
have electricity) to write her blog post. I hope this wasn’t too dull,
and I know it was long but. . . just think of how much I can talk at
you in person, and imagine me NOT being able to talk unless it’s in
class or in Malagasy! But I do miss you all dearly—and if you read
this please for the love of love leave a comment! I don’t like
imagining an audience of posterity, but I do like remembering your
faces.

could look up and I so miss cooking dinner for you and Matt and
listening to what you learned that day.
hoothoot,
Rebekah Rose


sound so definitely becomes
us

as
right you have the right
body. she felt her face on the face
of the earth
and fell off