Saturday, March 14, 2009
Miandry Faty - Waiting on the Dead
Over the last weekend, one of our elderly neighbors passed away (we’d never met him). The family is very poor and lives in a thatch-roofed hut just down the hill from us. People started arriving in the afternoon and stayed all night. They moved the body outside since the house is so small and began the miandry faty or “waiting on the dead." The ceremony stems from the idea that if you leave the dead body alone the witches will come and evoke bad spirits. Yet the families cannot afford to keep the corpse at a morgue.
A couple of the men came up to our house to ask a favor. I was afraid they would want to use our house to display the body, but thankfully they just asked to use our electricity (they have none) by running a long extension cord up to our house so that people would be able to see the corpse. The cord wasn’t wired correctly so after numerous tries our night guard eventually got it to work. He kept joking that they didn’t know anything about electricity though I must admit I found it pretty funny that they had purchased a light bulb and extension cord not having electricity themselves. They began singing sad, mourning songs around the corpse at about 9 p.m. and didn’t stop until almost 5 a.m. Needless to say, we didn’t get much sleep, but it was fascinating to hear some of their cultural funeral practice. To add to the excitement in the neighborhood, a drunken fight broke out near our house, interrupting the ceremony and keeping our guard entertained. In the morning, before we were up and about, they embalmed the body and placed it in a simple wooden coffin with red flowers decorating the top (pictures below). When we began watching again, they were waiting for the car to arrive to take the corpse to the countryside to be buried. Later we learned that we could have gone to visit, even though we’d never met the man, as it is common practice for neighbors to pay their respects. However, as foreigners, we weren’t sure what to do. They won’t take offense because we are foreigners but next time we will eagerly attend to learn more about the Malagasy practice of caring for the dead.
A couple of the men came up to our house to ask a favor. I was afraid they would want to use our house to display the body, but thankfully they just asked to use our electricity (they have none) by running a long extension cord up to our house so that people would be able to see the corpse. The cord wasn’t wired correctly so after numerous tries our night guard eventually got it to work. He kept joking that they didn’t know anything about electricity though I must admit I found it pretty funny that they had purchased a light bulb and extension cord not having electricity themselves. They began singing sad, mourning songs around the corpse at about 9 p.m. and didn’t stop until almost 5 a.m. Needless to say, we didn’t get much sleep, but it was fascinating to hear some of their cultural funeral practice. To add to the excitement in the neighborhood, a drunken fight broke out near our house, interrupting the ceremony and keeping our guard entertained. In the morning, before we were up and about, they embalmed the body and placed it in a simple wooden coffin with red flowers decorating the top (pictures below). When we began watching again, they were waiting for the car to arrive to take the corpse to the countryside to be buried. Later we learned that we could have gone to visit, even though we’d never met the man, as it is common practice for neighbors to pay their respects. However, as foreigners, we weren’t sure what to do. They won’t take offense because we are foreigners but next time we will eagerly attend to learn more about the Malagasy practice of caring for the dead.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Q: Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road?
A: To get to the bus stop so he could board the taxi-be.
On Saturday we were riding the local taxi-be (bus). When we stopped at a bus stop, I got up to move seats. That's when I heard a loud squawk in the seat next me. I looked over and noticed a chicken nestled between the legs of his owner. There was a woman and a child seated next to the man but neither seemed to notice the chicken. Having poultry on the bus is just part of everyday life in Madagascar. Someone was going to have a nice dinner but first he had to carry him home. I wonder if there is bus fare for chickens...
On Saturday we were riding the local taxi-be (bus). When we stopped at a bus stop, I got up to move seats. That's when I heard a loud squawk in the seat next me. I looked over and noticed a chicken nestled between the legs of his owner. There was a woman and a child seated next to the man but neither seemed to notice the chicken. Having poultry on the bus is just part of everyday life in Madagascar. Someone was going to have a nice dinner but first he had to carry him home. I wonder if there is bus fare for chickens...
The Political Saga Continues
Today Madagascar still has two presidents: the real one and the "wanna-be." There are now two militaries as well. Yet it seems the majority of the people are still behind the elected-president, Marc Ravalomanana. However, the opposition leader and former-mayor of Antananarivo, Andry Rajoelina, refuses to end his battle to overthrow the president. So the gatherings continue as does the watching and waiting. Saturday the buses were not running into the city. On Sunday, we rode the bus and went to church in the city. Today, the buses are still running, a rally was held, and the looting has started again because some of the military, tired of accusations that they were "fighting the people" decided to stay at base camp. What will tomorrow hold? Only God knows. Is the end in sight? It's difficult to tell. So we watch and wait...and pray.
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