Christmas in January

I was silly. I thought had finished my Christmas celebrating for the year. But, there was more Christmas! On Saturday the 24, I celebrated Christmas with Lyceé Masombahoaka. I spent the two weeks before preparing songs with some of my classes. Then, on Saturday, each class performed songs for the celebration. All of the classes sang a song or two in Malagasy, and then some also sang in English. It was wonderful to see them all singing and performing. There was also an auction as a part of the celebration. Most of the things for auction were food items (pineapple, cucumbers, red beans, bananas), but there was also a Malagasy basket that I bought. I was told later that my basket was “lafo” (expensive), but I decided that the experience of bidding in a Malagasy church auction (yes, in the middle of the church service of the Christmas celebration) make that basket worth the expense, 4,100 ariary.

Here are some pictures and videos of my students singing.

CE (in the primary school, these students are 7 or so years old). We sang Little Drummer Boy together. I tried to teach the whole song, but it was difficult. So, I sang the lyrics and the students chimed in for the “pa rum pump um pum.” It was a huge hit. We also all had awesome hats.

CM1 (also in the primary school, these students are 8 or so). We did a spoken version of C-H-R-I-S-T-M-A-S, a song that makes the word Christmas an acronym, “C is for the Christ child born upon this day, H is for Harold angels.” They did amazing for students who have not started formal English language instruction yet (I mean, I teach them English, but it’s not part of the regular curriculum).

6ce (these students are in their first year of formal English language class, and are about 11 years old)  sang Mary Had a Baby, which I taught using Pete Seeger’s version of the song. It was splendid. I have a video, but it would take days to upload with the internet here. So, you’ll have to wait until I get to the states.

I also had one of the students from maternelle (the youngest students, about 4 or 5) hang out with me for much of the morning. Mostly, she was really upset about something and I couldn't understand what, but sitting on my lap made her feel better, so then all was well. Sometimes events like this here in Mada get real long, mostly because I don't understand what's happening all the time. But, she made the day fly by.

It's Snowing in Mada

It’s Snowing in Mada.

As you likely know, each Monday here in Fianar I teach at Semafi. Semafi is a school for deaf children across town from me. I wake up early each Monday, hop on the bus to the bottom of the hill, stop for a quick street food breakfast on the way, and then walk the rest of the way to the school. By the time I get there, I am usually sweaty, tired and ready for a nap (an hour long walk up hill almost the whole way will do that to a person). I love hanging out with the students at Semafi, but it often takes me some time in the morning to get into the groove of teaching crafts. This past Monday was a different story. I arrived, I listened to the Bible story during the quick worship service, sang and signed the Malagasy National Anthem while some students raised the flag, then I was almost jumping up and down with excitement to get started. First, I had to find scissors, but that was only a minor obstacle. Armed with 800 pages of white printer paper and a couple pair of scissors, I was ready. We were going to bring January into these classrooms. I wrote, “le neige” on the board, showed the students a few examples, and they got cutting. At first, they didn’t really understand. But, after cutting random shapes and unfolding the first snowflake, they were almost as excited as me. As they each cut lots and lots of snowflakes, I hung the snowflakes on the wall around the foam butterflies that were already hanging. As if I needed to get more excitement going, I grabbed my camera to take a picture of the “snowstorm in Madagascar.”

 

I made sure to bring my example snowflakes home with me to add more decoration in my house. So, now of course it’s snowing in my house as well. If there’s snow where you are, I hope you are enjoying the cold and spending lots of time curled under blankets with apple cider reading a book next to a window where you can see the wonderful white stuff outside. Here, in the heat, I will sweat, drink cold juice, and spend lots of time outside for all of you. 

A Red and Green Christmas

Happy 2015 to you all! The Christmas season is often known as a very busy time, so as expected my calendar was packed for the month of December and the beginning of January! So, my apologies for the lack of blogging, but I have returned! I will just give you all a quick update on how I spent my Christmas holiday.

A small part of me was worried going into this Christmas season to be celebrating away from home, but my community and family here made the whole thing go smooth. Also, because there were so many celebrations, events and preparations, Christmas happened in a whirlwind.

The biggest Christmas celebration that I took part in was on Christmas Eve at the church I attend at Masombahoaka. We had an evening service, followed by a combination concert of Scouts (similar to Boy or Girl Scouts in the states but more closely associated to the church), Solofin’Davida (the choir I sing with), and English Club (that I teach with a group of Malagasy friends).  Being active in two of these groups made for a busy evening. Myself and my friend Marcella (who also sings in choir and teaches English Club) spent the evening running back and forth between singing with choir, changing clothes for the next choir song, and helping English club to perform (her conducting and me running the music). English Club sang 4 songs (Lord I Lift Your Name on High, Above All, Joy to the World, and We Wish You a Merry Christmas) and performed a mime of the Christmas story. It was amazing to see them singing together and see how they have grown and learned so much since English Club started in September. I sang and danced with more songs than I can count with choir, and even had some of them memorized in Malagasy (even though I don’t understand what they mean….).By the time the service was finished around 11:00pm, I was definitely ready to sleep, but I was so grateful for this time with my community. I am so thankful for the groups here at Masombahoaka that have invited me into their smaller communities.

On Christmas Day, there was a church service in the morning and then lunch with my family here. It was a lovely day to relax some after the busy-ness of preparing for Christmas. In the evening I prepared to head to Antananarivo with my host sisters, Nomena and Aina. In Antananarivo, we spent time with their other sister and her family and picked up my parents from the airport when they arrived. I was lucky to have my parents arrive in Madagascar for almost two weeks to visit and meet my community here (more on that later).

Here are some pictures from Christmas:

The English Club singing Lord I Lift Your Name on High 

The choir performing

The choir again

My friend Marcella dances and sings with the choir.

Christmas Dinner! Rice was in the big blue pot and the loaka (side dish, for this meal it was chicken) wasn’t quite on the table yet. You can see, we started the meal with a pasta salad, a salad like this, or something more like a potato salad, is very common for the beginning of a holiday meal. 

I hope you all are having a spectacular January! 

Let's Get Cookin'

I have been helping cook for large groups since I could walk. I don’t remember it, but my mom says that I started helping cook at church as soon as I could put salt and pepper shakers on the tables. As I grew up, I graduate to helping chop things, make lemonade, serve the food, and everything else in between. Sometimes, I am even allowed to add the garlic (I am known for adding too much garlic). Here at Masombahoaka the women cook together for groups of visitors too. Last month, I helped to wash dishes and serve rice to whoever walked in the door at church, and this week I have been helping to prepare meals for a group of visitors to Masomabahoaka. We have a group of vahiny (visitors) here for a two day meeting, they are staying in the dormitories that students used to stay in and the teachers are working together to prepare the meals.

So, after arriving just in time to help wash dishes last night after dinner, I decided I would wake up early this morning to cook breakfast. My alarm went off at 4:45, I quickly brushed my teeth and grabbed my lamba ohany (similar to an apron) and headed to the kitchen here at Masombahoaka. Having forgotten about ‘gasy time (again) I was the first one there, but the others arrived soon after, wearing their lambas and bandanas (not to keep the hair out of the food, but because they had just woken up and had yet to do their hair.) Instead of beginning with chopping vegetables, as we often do when we cook at church in Minnesota, we started with lighting the fires. 4 fires, one for rice, one for loaka (side dish, this morning was meatballs), one for coffee and one for tea. And of course, there was the far too common, “oops, we better run to the market” situation. After all of the visitors ate everyone who helped to cook sat down and ate together. Sure, it wasn’t stew or potato soup, and there weren’t any bars for dessert. But, the similarities were striking, even to the thin coffee that followed my rice. I drank 5 cups, I don’t usually like ‘gasy coffee, but because of the situation thin church coffee felt just right. Washing dishes was a group effort, as usual, but no industrial dishwasher, of course.

Tonight, I will help again to wash dishes after I finish with choir rehearsal. It is a blessing to spend time cooking here, and I am sure that when I return to Minnesota, I will arrive at the kitchen at Servant of Christ with my lamba ohany tied around my waist and wonder where the rice is.

Miandry (my host mom) starts the fire for the rice.

 Madame Hasina chops the greens that greens that go into the rice.

 Stirring the rice!

 Tending the fires. 

Merry Christmas to you all! I hope you are enjoying the season whether you are celebrating with white snow, red dirt, or somewhere in between! 

A Day of Celebration

This past Wednesday was International Day of Persons with Disabilities (http://www.un.org/disabilities/default.asp?id=1620). Wednesday’s are usually my day off, but instead I spent the day celebrating with the students and teachers at Semafi, the school for deaf students where I am a teacher. When I arrived, the day felt just like any other day I have spent at Semafi. We went from the yard by the house where the students and some teachers live down the hill to the building for school and had a short prayer service. As usual, I didn’t understand much, but at the end of the service instead of going outside to raise the flag, the students were separated into 4 groups and each given a Malagasy tribe name. Then, we headed back up to the house and the students got ready. There was face painting and the students put on their nicest clothes. By 10, we were ready for the dancing to begin. With the bass turned up and the volume high so the students could feel the beat of the music, the teachers began leading dances. We danced to Azonto, a very popular song around Madagascar right now, among many others. Then, the students split into their groups again and prepared a dance that was based on the tribe that they were given. After each group danced, we played a few games in the yard and it was time for lunch! We had a feast of potato salad (potatoes, carrots and green beans with mayo), pasta salad (pasta and ground beef served cold), and then rice with chicken as loaka (side dish), fruit juice, and mangoes for dessert. Everyone pitched in to help clean up and wash dishes outside after the feast. And, there was a soccer match in the afternoon. The day was filled with laughter, picture taking (once the students found out I had a camera, each one had a million picture ideas), a sunburn for me, practicing Malagasy and sign, and lots of celebration.

Some of the youngest students got their faces painted, but smiles are hard to come by!

One of the oldest students paints the younger students faces.

The boys had fun with all sorts of face paint designs! 

There are smiles!

I got my face painted too!

And the dancing begins!

Tired from dancing? Time for a piggy back ride!

I even dressed up in clothes from a tribe in the south of Madagascar.

And, all the students wanted a picture with me all dressed up!

The teachers too!

They ate all the rice! 

The feast ended with mangoes, of course!

All of the students and most of the teachers at Semafi! 

Thanksgiving, Mada Style

Holidays away from home are often a struggle, it’s difficult to sway from your routine for a holiday in a new place. So, I wasn’t expecting much for this Thanksgiving. But, the 8 MadYAGMs were together with Austin and Tanya (our country coordinators) in Antananarivo (the capital of Madagascar) last Thursday because we were just finishing up first retreat. We spent a relaxing week swimming in waterfalls, lemur hunting, eating lots of cheese and telling story. Then, we returned to Tana for the close of retreat and to celebrate an American holiday in a new place. And, it felt mostly like Thanksgiving at home. We did our best to combine all 10 of our Thanksgiving traditions into one Malagasy Thanksgiving. We began the morning with breakfast and lots of coffee. Then, the cooking began. There were appetizers of veggies, hummus and other dips, and pumpkin dip with ginger snap cookies. There were two turkeys (much smaller than the 20 pound bird I’m used to, these were ‘gasy turkeys, so not your average butterball). There was stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, mac n’ cheese, green beans, and fruit salad (with mangoes and other specifically Malagasy fruits).  Another volunteer, Kelsey, and I, spent much of the day cooking and being grateful for sharp knives, two ovens, hot water from the tap and other fancy things that Austin and Tanya have at their house. We ate outside with a wide variety of plates, silverware and fruit bowls that we gathered from around the kitchen to seat 12. The 12 included the 10 of us described earlier plus two dear Malagasy friends of the MadYAGM program, Sthela and Neilson. For Sthela, Thanksgiving was nothing new, she has celebrated in the states. But, for Neilson, it was his first Thanksgiving, so we made sure to explain each dish and make sure he got enough of each. After, there were pumpkin and chocolate pies and apple cider. In the evening I got to skype with my family celebrating their Thanksgiving in Minnesota. At, the next day I got to listen to the 2013 edition of Turkey Confidential (don’t worry, 2014 is downloading now!). The whole day was a great reminder of all the things I am thankful for around the world.

The mostly devoured appetizers.

The dinner table set with mostly plates except the one cake pan, which we decided to call the trough. And, there weren't quite enough forks so Tanya and Sthela took it for the team and ate 'gasy style with just a spoon.

Our Thanksgiving Feast!

And the turkeys!

Let's Make Feta!

On Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons I have time off. My host sister Nomena is usually free these afternoons as well, so we often cook. We always start with a quick run to the market to get the ingredients we need and then to my house to cook. Nomena and I both like to cook, and I especially love to learn Malagasy recipes. A few weeks ago, we spent Tuesday afternoon making feta, which is the Malagasy version of banana bread. Here are some pictures of our adventure and the recipe, it’s delicious!

First, the recipe is very simple.

½ kilo rice flour (which you can find in the states in Asian grocery stores or sometimes in the “Ethnic food aisle” of Cub, Rainbow, etc.)

Bananas, enough to make the batter like biscuit dough when they are all mashed in, if it’s not like biscuit dough, add another banana.

About a teaspoon or so of baking powder

Sugar, add a little and taste it, it depends on how sweet your bananas are, make it so the dough is just a little sweet

Unsalted and roasted peanuts, crushed (the Malagasy use a spice type grinder for this, but you could use a food processor or blender)

Banana leaves (okay, so you can’t use banana leaves at home, I’m going to suggest using plastic sandwich bags, definitely not ideal but they will work, let me know if you have other ideas!)

 First, you mix the batter together.

Then, we had to roast and peel the peanuts.

 And, crush them. I used a mug and a cutting board to crush these because I didn't have a Malagasy grinder yet. Your blender will be much easier!

 Then, to gather banana leaves. Nomena after she cut the leaf off the tree in my yard.

 The leaf was as big as me

Then, it was time to cut the sides off the leaf to get rid of the hard part in the middle.

We also searched for and cut up sticks to put in the bottom of the pot so to make a Malagasy steamer.

 Next, we had to heat up the leaves on the fire a bit to soften them so we could wrap them around the dough without breaking them. I was terrible at this part.

 Then, we tear off sections of the leaves about 4 inches wide. You need two sections for each piece of feta.

 Next, make a cross with the leaves and put a spoonful of dough in the middle.

 Then, add a teaspoon or so of peanuts and another spoonful of dough on top.

And, fold up the leaves to the center to make a neat little square.

 Then, we stacked all the feta pieces in the pan with the wood on the bottom and water under the sticks (you can use a steamer or make a 'gasy steamer, whatever you'd like.)

 Then, when the dough is cooked it's finished (the amount of time varies, and will probably be different when you aren't using charcoal). It's delicious!

 And, it tastes really good. You should probably take silly pictures of you eating like this too.

 Nomena thinks it's great too!

  

I hope you enjoy!