“The adventure has begun!” seems
like the appropriate thing to say though is inaccurate in capturing the true magnitude
of the journey that I have committed to having.
To help you understand, I should start off with this:
My
sister asked if I had meant to use the first Hobbit movie title and I explained
that indeed I had. I can explain this by
stating that my journey seems to be one of similarity to the one taken by Bilbo
in the movie/book. It is not an everyday
thing, to commit to a year of service in another country. It is tough, dangerous,
amazing, and all the other descriptors you can think of. I can liken it to a conversational
journey. YAGM claims that I am a
missionary though this is in my humble, but correct, opinion wrong. The connotation associated with the term
missionary is one of being above the people you are working with. This is problematic in the accompanying model
in which I work. I know that I am not
better then these people and I hope to allow them to teach me. This is a chance for me to work with and in a
new culture and circumstance to better both those I work with and myself. I guess that I should say that this may very
well be a chance to redefine the term missionary as a walking hand in hand term. Though, this is something for me to explore
further over the next year.
My
experience to this point is maybe one that I did not expect. I left my family for Chicago and all through
my orientation in Chicago it seemed to be a struggle for me to define my
feelings. I have come to understand that
I am scared, nervous, excited, and at peace with this chance, which as I have
continually been told is a good place to be.
It would be a lie to say that there are not people at home who are
holding me up but also calling me home.
I miss that which is my sanctuary.
The balance of new experiences and trying to build a foundation of
strength and support here is tough. I am
admittedly a complex human with many deep and shallow facets to my personality. The dualism is palpable. (If it is not clear
to you now, it soon will be clear that I use Buddhism to understand my
experiences.)
The 2.5 days in which I have been in
Madagascar have been abuzz with new experiences and familiarity. For the sake of my current sanity, I will
explain just a little of my road to here.
We spent 3 days in transit visiting 4 countries on 3 continents (Chicago,
USA to London, England to Johannesburg, South Africa to Antananarivo,
Madagascar). After 35 hrs of travel, we
were greeted in Madagascar by Austin and Tanya at the Tana (short version)
airport. After the night there we
traveled to Antsirabe, Madagascar which is about 3 hrs south of Tana. The air here in Mada smalls of soot, dust,
trash, and human/ animal waste. Though,
unappealing it is a fond reminder of my experiences in India. It is a welcome experience. One that almost wakes you from the mindless
slumber of the daily fresh air we Americans are so familiar with. It brings you to the present and makes you
realize that life is occurring and the city is being used. The dust and haze greets your nose with a tickle. People gawk and yell “Vazaha” while kids
giggle and point muttering and sometimes yelling at us saying “Vazaha, Vazaha, Vazaha”
and greet us in French, although we are English speakers. We reply with a Malagasy greeting of “Salama Tompoko- pronounces Salama Toupco (I think)”
and as if that was unheard of most Malagasy smile and reply with more Malagasy. The probable reasoning for this has to do
with the lack of desire or need for French to learn Malagasy. If you don’t know the French colonized
Madagascar and have since granted them independence. Though French are still the majority of white
people the Malagasy interact with. This
will be a continual experience and I foresee it being a struggle.
The
food is rich and made up of a main portion of rice (huge portion), a side of
meat with a salad containing seasonal veggies, and for desert is fresh fruit
like papaya, pineapple, and bananas.
This is at least my experience of Malagasy food. Delicious and filling! More to come for the road is long the journey
has just begun.
Much love!