Holiday in Madagascar

Having mom here in Madagascar has reminded how completely strange this place is, and yet how completely normal it has become.



For example, a few days ago I heard one of the bungalow/restaurant staff members talking to mom. When I asked her what he had said... "Oh, he just needed to get past our bathroom so he could get some chicken." As she finished telling me this, we heard the unmistakeable sound of a squawking chicken before it meets death. Mom had expected him to go to a freezer and pull out some frozen chicken. When the sound registered we looked out to see the beginnings of our fresh chicken soup lying dead beneath our window, and proceeded to laugh to the point of tears.

We spent part of the morning wandering through the market looking through the 'frip'... piles of second, third, or possibly even fourth or fifth hand clothing that were likely Value Village and Salvation Army rejects. The skill of bargaining has become very useful here, and since mom has been here we have negotiated decent prices for a flannel bush shirt, a pair of flip flops, a variety of fruit, and a three foot long tuna.



Mom had flashbacks of her childhood when seeing the overwhelming popularity of the game of marbles among the kids here. However, the feelings of nostalgia only went so far; we've also seen a kid carrying a leashed chicken on his head with a younger sibling following behind holding the leash in her teeth, boys playing soccer around their herd of goats, and I've even seen kids climbing on the bloody head of a zebu. Some games just don't translate.



Mom has also been introduced to the endurance test that is a Malagasy road trip. I knew she she was becoming accustomed to it when on the road back from Andohahela National Park she groaned when seeing a sign saying Fort Dauphin was still 22km ahead of us. At home, we could cover 22km in a mere 10 minutes. Here, I'd say we'd be doing well if we covered 3km in 10 minutes. And a road trip wouldn't be complete without getting stuck in the mud, having to scout out a partially collapsed bridge, or having to walk multiple kilometres around sections of impassable roads.

It has been a great holiday for both of us, and time has slipped by very quickly. Mom's flight is "scheduled" to leave tomorrow morning, although 'schedule' is a loose term when talking about Air Mad. Soava dia!