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Print In a society saturated with choices, sometimes it’s nice to receive some knowledgeable recommendations. --------- Perhaps you are thinking of visiting a foreign country. Or perhaps you’ll be staying for an extended, if short term, period. You need to prepare yourself that circumstances and cultures may be quite different from those you are accustomed to in the good ole USA. The Stress of Language Upon entry into a foreign land, one of the hardest difficulties to overcome is the language barrier. Desperately wanting to better myself in this area, I began to study the Malagasy language (for Madagascar). Host missionary Paula Richardson set me up with a local pastor’s wife to tutor me and help me along in my undertaking. As I encountered many difficult words like “famataranandro” (meaning watch or clock), my tutor encouraged me with loving smiles of warmth. During one lesson I attempted to use another new word that I had just added to my slowly increasing vocabulary. My sentence was “Sis. Vohangy (my tutor) is my friend.” My new word was “namana” for “friend.” I placed the stress on the wrong syllable and soon found out that I had made a major mistake, as the look on her face was not a smile, but a deep giggle. It seems that the added stress made my sentence become “Sis. Vohangy needs to go to the bathroom.” You must be careful where you place that stress or your friend may become a bathroom. I’m still working on the stress of the Malagasy language. Entertainment of Various Forms In the USA we take for granted the thought that people will take care of their animals and keep them properly secured. Little did we understand that such is not the case here in Madagascar. While my husband and I were sitting on a hill one afternoon enjoying a neighborhood soccer game, our five-year old wandered off to the basketball court below. There Micah encountered a bull. Micah, being the little sanguine spirit that he is, decided to make friends with the bull. The bull was not as thrilled to meet Micah—it head-butted him. The scene created quite a hoot for the locals as they watched the events on the basketball court. Only after it was over, and thankfully with no injuries, did they come to give us a report of the rodeo events starring our son. Transportation of Many Means In the Western world, we take for granted that most vehicles on the road will be motorized and move at a somewhat safe speed. Imagine the surprise to us fast-paced Americans when we encountered oxen, herds of ducks, goats, carts pulled by humans, bicycles, and people meandering as they enjoy the sights occupying as much of the road as automobiles. On one memorable day, we were zipping down a curvy mountain road. As we rounded the curve, we found ourselves basically on top of a cart being pulled by oxen. You can only imagine the praying going on as we attempted to maneuver around the near catastrophe. Thankfully, we were successful. We later found out that if you kill someone by way of an auto accident, you automatically go to jail, no questions asked. The good news is that if you travel to a country such as Madagascar your options of travel are many. You can be transported by means of car, bus, push-push carts (carts pulled by humans), oxen, horse, or bike—just about anything and the road belongs to everyone. Insects…Our Friends Learning to coexist with a variety of insects may be somewhat of a challenge for even the most “country-bred folk” out there. Having grown up in the South and lived among bugs of many types, I didn’t think much of a few ants crawling around in our apartment upon our arrival. It seemed the longer we stayed, the more numerous the ant population became. In the night hours when we slept, the ants disappeared. As daylight broke and we awoke, so did the ants. They marched 10x10, instead of the usual 2x2. (If you don’t have small children, you may not get that one…). We found them everywhere—every corner, ceiling, floor, under carpet, on top of kitchen counters, window seals, and even the shower. We tried every conceivable product to rid ourselves of them. We even started quoting scripture at them. Finally, we gave up our fight and accepted the fact we must learn to coexist. As the cooler weather settled in, the ants gave up their conquered ground and left us in peace—until the warm weather returns again in September. Beware of the Delicious Roadside Fruit Stands Perhaps you cannot pass up the sight of freshly-picked fruit as it gleams on the seller’s cart beside the road. Such a temptation recently allured my husband and me. Returning home from a conference in the northern part of the island, we came across a roadside vendor selling his wares of oranges, too good and too cheap to pass up. Forgetting about the warning we had received from our host missionaries, Chris and Paula Richardson, about the “country fruit” not being sprayed for bugs, we purchased a basket full of these delightful fruits. Upon arrival at home, I carefully washed the exterior of each orange with bleach. After anxiously sinking my teeth into what I am sure is God’s chosen fruit and enjoying it immensely, I realized about half way through that my “pulp” was wiggling. Upon closer inspection, I discerned that my pulp was actually little worms. There is no telling how many worms I ingested in my moment of ever-so-brief pleasure.
ninetyandnine.com © 2004, Danan Benson --------- Danan Benson and her husband and three children are AIMers to Madagascar. Besides learning new things daily, she enjoys the humor of adjusting to the everyday life in Madagascar. |
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