Saturday, I made a mistake. I went downtown Antananarivo mid-day. Friday afternoon, some friends and I had caught a cab from the other side of the city and passing through downtown, Michelle, a New Yorker, commented: “Wow, downtown Tana and downtown Long Island aren’t much different the weekend before Christmas. Frantic shoppers crowding the street!” However, the shopping culture looks a little different…Mall don’t really exist here. And most people here do most of their shopping in the open air markets…food, clothes, toys, house wares, electronics, everything you could imagine!
So downtown Tana is a hectic place any day of the week, add Christmas shoppers and it is kind of like the nightmare on Analakely Blvd. Rachel and I needed to get some pictures developed for friends at site, so we naively walked into the mess of downtown. It was like a raging river of frantic shoppers. Sometimes Rachel and I were going with the current, weaving through people, gripping each others’ hands so we wouldn’t be lost; other times we were going against the current, trying to find a pathway to keep moving foreword.
I have never been so happy to actually arrive on the Analakely, which is like the tourist center of town. Usually, Analakely is pick-pocket and beggar central, but it was one-forth as crowded as the streets surrounding! And therefore a haven of comfort. Rachel and I found the Fuji film place ordered our pics…and went back through the mess to get some lunch and hang out at “The Cookie Shop,” also know as PCV heaven. We had Bagel Pizzas for lunch followed by a snack of delicious, creamy chai tea, and she a brownie, me an apple crumb delicious thing. It kind of made us forget that we were in Madagascar for a few hours! After reading for a few hours and chatting with friend that passed through the café, we went BACK to Analakely to get out pics. It was worse…we took a taxi be (like a bus…) and have never been so happy to be squished into those child sized seats!
As much as I loathed that trip to Analakely, it did make it feel a little like Christmas! Until arriving in Tana I hadn’t seen a single holiday decoration…except at the Chef CISCO’s house. It is interesting, in Tana to see a “middle class” of people with extra money to spend, but not in excess. Two weekends ago I had a conversation with Madame Noro, the Chef CISCO’s wife, and she was spelling out the differences between “the have nothings” and “the have excessivelys” in the majority of Madagascar. I have to say it is a refreshing year, to not be surrounded by purchasing excess and the need and expectation to purchase and receive. With that said, Merry Christmas and Happy Channakah to everyone at home! I miss you all dearly and hope that the season is joyous and memorable for you all!
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Saturday, December 20, 2008
Market Day in Marovoay!
This is my friend Clarisse. She sells some delicious Tilapia...mmm.
Mangos! Mangos! and more mangos! Each of those piles of mangos is about 10 cents! Delicious!
I thought this woman and her daughter were strong, beautiful people. She was really into her product placement for the photo! She was selling kida (bananas), mahabibo (cashews), and ravitoto (ground cassava leaves that make a sauce out of here, I'm not a big fan of it...)
This is Madame Iarlalaina and her husband. Probably two of my most favorite friends that I have made. She serves fresh coffee, tea, mokary (the bigger bread) and ramanonaka (the smaller bread) all day from this little stand. I eat breakfast and chat with her three or four mornings a week. I have learned so much vocabulary from her! and She is pregnant and due in February!Famadihana: Dancing with the Dead
Early December, I had the awesome opportunity to experience a FAMADIHANA as a family member. A famadihana is a 3 day celebration of the deceased here in Madagascar. It is not practiced by all of the tribes on the island, but by many, and each tribe has their own special take on the “fomba” (culture) of the event. My friend Tina, invited me to be a part of her family and attend, and of course I was thrilled and honored to attend. (Sakalava famadihanas are known to be exclusive at times…)
Step one of the event: get your outfit! The day after I was invited, Tina came to my house with 2 meters of fabric and we went to the Mpanjitra (tailor) to have a dress made. For about $9 dollars, fabric and sewing, I had a new dress that I would match the rest of the family and it was ready in about 4 days. I joked with Tina and said that had she picked blue instead of pink fabric, I wouldn’t have gone. She laughed.
Day one of the fety: Dine and dance everyone you know. Tina’s family invited 800 people to dinner at her sister’s house…so at 2pm we walked down to the house, tied on our salovanas (big pieces of fabric women wear) and got to work cooking rice and beef, traditional famadihana food. My favorite part of the cooking venture was where we put the rice once it was cooked…it was shoveled into huge gunny sacks to wait until dinner time! I had a good time, cooking and chatting with the women. One thing I really love about Tina is that she doesn’t treat me like a “vazaha.” She has no issue telling me to wash something or get some water, whatever. She just treats me like a friend.
Once everything was cooked, and people started arriving I just sat back, and played with kids mostly. Of course the two terribly drunk men couldn’t stay away from me and I didn’t end up staying for the “Ball.” My patience was low…and I decided to rest up for the days to come.
Day two of fety: Dancing, dancing and more dancing. My sort of event but I didn’t actually make it. Very sadly, one of my friends, Mampihava, lost her mother the week of the famadihana. Friday, they held the funeral in Marovoay, and I really wanted to go and support her through her loss. It was heart wrenching. Needless to say, when it was over and I had cried my eyes out for my friend’s loss, and I wasn’t in the mood to party all night long. So I conserved my energy for the final day of the fety.
Day three of the fety: I met Tina’s family at her house at 6 am to trek out to Antanimora, a little village about 12 k from Marovoay. We hopped in the back of a pick-up that provides local transport in the area and were there shortly. The morning involved more cooking and eating. By 7am when we arrived, the cow had already been killed, slaughtered and was cooking…of course so was the rice. I spend most of the day lounging around and eating copious amounts of rice and beef. It was all very gasy. After everyone was voky be (very full) around mid-day, we changed into our “complete,” matching pink outfits, to prepare for the real party to begin. The DJ started up, and the dancing commenced. (well, actually it started again, a band had arrived at about 10am and played until about 2…the people never stopped dancing!)We danced and danced…and then we took the show on the road!
For the actually famadihana, everyone dances all the way out to the fasana (tombs), we left the town, went down various dirt roads and hiked across numerous fields to arrived at the family tombs. Seven bodies we exhumed, remembered and celebrated. People here are buried with just cloth wrapped around their bodies, so they decompose quickly. Every seven years, or so, family’s exhume the bodies and re-wrap the bones in new clean lambas (large clothes). I attended a famadihana during training, and there they just placed new lambas over the old ones. In my region however, they unwrap the bodies and separate and sift out the bones. Some of the “newer” bodies were just transferred to new lambas as there were still clothes and the bones we not “ready.” But another body, which was buried in 1960, was just a few chards of bones. Everyone watches the process of separation, and when the body is finished and re-wrapped, it is hoisted above everyone’s head and the whole family dances and rejoices before it is reburied.
The famadihana is a really fascinating custom. “Fady” or taboos, are a huge thing here. There are many and they change between regions and sometimes cities. Moving bodies in my culture is extremely “fady;” we very much believe in letting the dead rest in peace, undisturbed forever. Whereas here, the famadihana is another chance to get the whole family together again! Everyone comes, eats, and enjoys each other for 3 days and then they visit the rest of the family, and celebrate together again. I was really surprised how unaffected I was by seeing the bodies and bones so close up. I had worried that I would be bothered or upset by it, but the mood of the event is so light and joyous. People view the bones as what they are, they are not scary or gross, they are natural and they are family. The attitude was definitely transferred to me. I really enjoyed myself. It was an amazing view into Malagasy culture and I feel so honored to have been welcomed so openly by the whole family! After that weekend, I have gained a truly large Malagasy family here, and they a vazaha…
I'm in Tana with fast internet so check out all the pics of the event below!
Step one of the event: get your outfit! The day after I was invited, Tina came to my house with 2 meters of fabric and we went to the Mpanjitra (tailor) to have a dress made. For about $9 dollars, fabric and sewing, I had a new dress that I would match the rest of the family and it was ready in about 4 days. I joked with Tina and said that had she picked blue instead of pink fabric, I wouldn’t have gone. She laughed.
Day one of the fety: Dine and dance everyone you know. Tina’s family invited 800 people to dinner at her sister’s house…so at 2pm we walked down to the house, tied on our salovanas (big pieces of fabric women wear) and got to work cooking rice and beef, traditional famadihana food. My favorite part of the cooking venture was where we put the rice once it was cooked…it was shoveled into huge gunny sacks to wait until dinner time! I had a good time, cooking and chatting with the women. One thing I really love about Tina is that she doesn’t treat me like a “vazaha.” She has no issue telling me to wash something or get some water, whatever. She just treats me like a friend.
Once everything was cooked, and people started arriving I just sat back, and played with kids mostly. Of course the two terribly drunk men couldn’t stay away from me and I didn’t end up staying for the “Ball.” My patience was low…and I decided to rest up for the days to come.
Day two of fety: Dancing, dancing and more dancing. My sort of event but I didn’t actually make it. Very sadly, one of my friends, Mampihava, lost her mother the week of the famadihana. Friday, they held the funeral in Marovoay, and I really wanted to go and support her through her loss. It was heart wrenching. Needless to say, when it was over and I had cried my eyes out for my friend’s loss, and I wasn’t in the mood to party all night long. So I conserved my energy for the final day of the fety.
Day three of the fety: I met Tina’s family at her house at 6 am to trek out to Antanimora, a little village about 12 k from Marovoay. We hopped in the back of a pick-up that provides local transport in the area and were there shortly. The morning involved more cooking and eating. By 7am when we arrived, the cow had already been killed, slaughtered and was cooking…of course so was the rice. I spend most of the day lounging around and eating copious amounts of rice and beef. It was all very gasy. After everyone was voky be (very full) around mid-day, we changed into our “complete,” matching pink outfits, to prepare for the real party to begin. The DJ started up, and the dancing commenced. (well, actually it started again, a band had arrived at about 10am and played until about 2…the people never stopped dancing!)We danced and danced…and then we took the show on the road!
For the actually famadihana, everyone dances all the way out to the fasana (tombs), we left the town, went down various dirt roads and hiked across numerous fields to arrived at the family tombs. Seven bodies we exhumed, remembered and celebrated. People here are buried with just cloth wrapped around their bodies, so they decompose quickly. Every seven years, or so, family’s exhume the bodies and re-wrap the bones in new clean lambas (large clothes). I attended a famadihana during training, and there they just placed new lambas over the old ones. In my region however, they unwrap the bodies and separate and sift out the bones. Some of the “newer” bodies were just transferred to new lambas as there were still clothes and the bones we not “ready.” But another body, which was buried in 1960, was just a few chards of bones. Everyone watches the process of separation, and when the body is finished and re-wrapped, it is hoisted above everyone’s head and the whole family dances and rejoices before it is reburied.
The famadihana is a really fascinating custom. “Fady” or taboos, are a huge thing here. There are many and they change between regions and sometimes cities. Moving bodies in my culture is extremely “fady;” we very much believe in letting the dead rest in peace, undisturbed forever. Whereas here, the famadihana is another chance to get the whole family together again! Everyone comes, eats, and enjoys each other for 3 days and then they visit the rest of the family, and celebrate together again. I was really surprised how unaffected I was by seeing the bodies and bones so close up. I had worried that I would be bothered or upset by it, but the mood of the event is so light and joyous. People view the bones as what they are, they are not scary or gross, they are natural and they are family. The attitude was definitely transferred to me. I really enjoyed myself. It was an amazing view into Malagasy culture and I feel so honored to have been welcomed so openly by the whole family! After that weekend, I have gained a truly large Malagasy family here, and they a vazaha…
I'm in Tana with fast internet so check out all the pics of the event below!
Over the course of the fety, three cows are killed and eaten; one for each day. Why a full cow? I have no idea, and no one knew the orgin of the tradition either...but every scrap of meat was prepared, cooked and consumed. The most suprising part...the tail. It became the most sought after toy of the day. Eww.
Pics
Lounging and staying "cool" with the Gasy family...
The whole fam, in matching "complete." It's kind of a big deal to have the matching outfits for "fety" (celebrations).
The opening dance to every Malagasy fety...
Communal Breakfast and Lunch! Grab a spoon and dig into the heaping bowls of rice, beef and broth! Men first of course...Famadihana Pics
Seven family members were exhumed and honored for the Famadihana. This is a really joyous and happy event where families remember and celebrate the lives of their realative.
After the body is cleaned, they wrap it in a new, clean lamba before putting it back into the tomb. And all the men from this family were buried with hats! People were wearing the hats while at the tombs, I found this a little odd...
The trek out to the tomb was "lavitra be!" (very far) But we did have the accompaniment of the Gasy band to dance to!
Friday, December 19, 2008
More Famadihana pics
Men spent all day digging up the fasana (tombs) by hand!
"The Dancing of the Bones," that is the remants of
a body being joyfully hoisted into the air!
The Sakalava people sort through their loved
one's remains seperating out the bones to keep.
Other tribes wrap new lamba (clothes) on top of
the body each time a famadihana is held. This
person was buried in 1960.
One of the more recently deceased couples.
(Generally husband and wife share a single tomb
in the Sakalava culture.)
Enjoying myself with friends. :D
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