if only, "mora mora" (slowly, slowly)

Eleven days is not nearly enough time to learn about, let alone adjust to a place, but I think it might just barely be enough time to get a small taste of the life, culture & incredible biodiversity here in Madagascar... Fortunately, we managed to have a somewhat diverse experience, given the short time and our limited funds, but unlike many foreigners who come here on holiday or on business, we did not spend all kinds of money to go on expensive tours, rent 4x4s, hire personal drivers, trample (too much) along the increasingly trodden tourist path between all the amazing national parks and pristine beaches, invest in the world's largest production of vanilla, or strip the land of its plethora of precious gems, metals and other natural resources... Instead, we stayed with 2 different families in the nation's capital (Antananarivo, or “Tana”), we met up with a few incredible Peace Corps volunteers, we packed into several very tight and deteriorating “taxi-brousses” (the public transportation much like the minivan-type buses of Mozambique, Malawi and South Africa, only they generally they board from the rear door), we took a short “vacation” in the glorious bungalows of Hotel Feon'ny Ala (or "song of the forest") outside of Andasibe (between Tana and the east coast), and we hiked through rain forests of Analamazaotra, Mitsinjo and Parc aux Orchidees (home to much more than the 6 lemur species, 3 gecko species, 5 bird species, 1 snake species, 2 spider species, 2 beetle species and 8 wild orchid species that we saw).

This quick pace and little time in each place is one of my biggest challenges in trying to keep up this blog. Aside from our rather limited access to cyberspace, I don't always know what to say and what not to say about a given place. As a cultural anthropologist at heart, I'm afraid of making any grandiose generalizations about a group of the people or painting such a minute picture of a particular landscape, especially since our experiences are so limited...

Unfortunately, though, that's the nature of this trip — we just don't have enough time to stay put... Nevertheless, I think we're still getting a good global perspective. Thanks to our hosts (e.g. missionaries, old friends, new friends, 2nd/3rd/4th degree friends, random other contacts), to the means by which we're introduced to them (e.g. Heather's call to do youth ministry, our online research, gracious passers-by, friends and family) and to our God-given ability to keep our eyes, ears and hearts open to the world around us.

Speaking of which, I suppose the only picture I can paint includes my first and lasting impressions of this place... even though I risk defining a place by the 2% I've seen:

• The Malagasy don't regard themselves as Africans, per se, but rather as "island people" -- both in culture and in attitude. They are extremely polite and kind-hearted, but they are somewhat reserved. "Politeness in general is very important[...], and impatience or pushy behaviour is regarded as shocking" (Lonely Planet 2004). We've noticed that men seem to help out a little more than in the other African nations we've visited, and the women are mostly seen as the dynamic force in the society.
• Extremely tight streets, alleyways, parking spaces and traffic "lanes" with virtually no fear of hitting something or being hit, and no city planning other than the feudal-like placement of the Queen's Palace overlooking all her town's people and their decreasingly scattered rice fields around Tana.
• Hints of a declining European culture and architecture (mostly French) like terraces, hanging plants, shudders, steep-shingled roofs, cobble stone streets, and excessive cigarette smoking... amid obvious elements of a severely underdeveloped nation (one of the poorest standards of living in Africa), like simple wooden shacks with tin roofs, some menial subsistence farming, a desperation to sell anything and everything on the street, a need to fit in the most you can pack in before going anywhere (otherwise you could wait hours to leave)... and so much more.
• Not a single functioning streetlight in the nation's capital -- all traffic (auto, bike, foot, rickshaw, ox cart, zebu and wheelbarrow) just flows, and everyone moves in cooperation with each other -- yielding, sneaking in and stopping occasionally (or when there's a rarely seen traffic cop).
• Everything "touristy" is 200x more expensive for non-natives, probably because their average income is only US$250 per year.
• All Malagasy adoptions are currently on hold because of a recently-uncovered scandal of people overseas trafficking children's organs on the blackmarket of medicine.
• Famadihana: a ceremonial exhumation and reburial of dead relatives every 2 to 7 years in the highlands region... the stone door of a family tomb is opened and one by one the corpses are brought out of the tomb, wrapped in straw mats and danced above the heads joyfully. The bodies are re-wrapped in pristine white burial scarves, sprayed with perfume and meticulously labelled by name with felt-tip pens... Joyous music and celebration is followed by solemn and quiet memorial before dancing around a bit more with the bound bodies and laying them to rest in the tomb again.

Well, there's so much more I could say, but I'm too tired to think anymore right now and I've got to get packed and ready to leave for India tomorrow.