Majunga 1!

10/17 Been settled into Majunga now for a few days. It is hot here.. Hot enough that I sweat no matter what I do, even sit down. Hot enough that you don’t dry off, ever. Hot enough that everything closes at about noon and doesn’t open again until 3:00 in the afternoon so that nobody has to be outside and they can go take a nap.

It is quite beautiful here, located on the Northwest coast of Madagascar, I get to walk along the beach on the way from my house to our program center. I am staying with my largest family yet: my father is an accountant and my mother a seamstress, there are 5 kids in the house between the ages of 12 and 15 (although I think 2 are cousins who live with us) and a house keeper making 9 of us total. In addition, the uncle has spent two nights at our house and his wife and child joined us as well last night. For a single child in the US, it has been quite interesting eating with no less than 6 other people at any given meal but I think I am adjusting pretty well.

Our house is a big courtyard with a large mango tree in it. They put up a basketball hoop on the tree that is only at 8ft with no backboard but we have made good use. On one side of the courtyard there is a cement house that consists of a dining room, my bedroom, my parents’ room and a bedroom for a few of the children. Off of that building, there is a temporary wooden kitchen offshoot and facing both those is another cement building where some people sleep. One of my brother’s has a bed outside where he sleeps, not sure how he handles the mosquitoes though! On the other side of the mango tree is our bucket shower, a few outdoor spigots for sinks and a Turkish style outhouse. The 9 of us (plus guests) live in this compound-esque property where we watch TV occasionally and mostly hang outside in the shade.

One of my favorite parts about Majunga is that we can walk around after dark! In Tana it is too dangerous to be out anywhere but here it is much safer. In addition, on account of the weather, it is much more bearable after the sun goes down and the city is still quite busy until about 8 or so at night. There is a boardwalk with a couple small Ferris wheels (that don’t have motors but are actually pushed by people) and a lot of places to grab a beer and kebobs. The first full day here was a Sunday and my parents and I woke up at 5:30 am in order to get to Church by 6:00. It is so hot, even early in the morning, that wearing a nice shirt and pants would be cruel and unusual if we went to a later service. After church, we went to the house and essentially just sat around doing nothing until the sun began to set and the kids took me on a small tour including the boardwalk.

We are heading into our last week and a half of class before we begin our Independent Study Project. I will post pictures of my house and family when I can. Trying to remember if there were any story worthy things that happened recently but none come to mind. Just living like a Malagasy person, I guess.

Catch some pics above of some of my family and some sunsets.