Reflections on Christmas in Madagascar

Last December, we drove for more than two hours to the Christmas tree farm in Oregon, Illinois. We trudged through the snow and dug through the flakes to find the trunk of our “real” chosen tree so that we could chop it down. We drank hot chocolate by the fire before venturing out into the blizzard. We tied the tree to the roof of our car with gloved-hands before driving or rather sliding through blizzard-like conditions back to our home. We decorated the tree with the decorations we have collected in two years of marriage and hung our store-bought stockings in the living room.

This year, Christmas looks a little different. We haggled for our fake, three-foot tall Christmas tree in the famous Analakely market here in Tana. We even bargained for our decorations. I think we may have spent a grand total of $3. Instead of a winter storm, we wove our way, carrying our tree through crowds of sellers and buyers, often walking down the middle of the street, to find our way back to the taxi-be stop. We squeezed into the bus, and Daniel tucked the tree in the seat beside him. Good thing fake trees don’t lose needles! By the time we arrived home, we were dripping with sweat, and not just from exertion. The sun is incredibly hot here! Later, I sewed two red stockings to “hang” (you can’t pound nails in cement!) by our fireplace. They don’t sell stockings here. I never realized stockings are an American tradition. Apparently so are candy canes. Chocolate escargot is preferred by the French (that is, based on the imports we see in the grocery store).

This week we went to the post office in town to collect our Christmas packages from America. We spent more than two hours traveling to the city (it’s only 8 miles away!) and tested our knowledge of the bus system. We waited for buses at three different bus stops before finally catching one that took us about half-way. At this time of year, most of the buses just stop running all the way into town as there is so much traffic. Judging by the crowds, they can probably make just as much money only running half of their usual route. Eventually we got a bus to take us into town where we joined the throngs of people doing their Christmas shopping. I thought Christmas shopping in America was crazy! Add the sweltering heat, haggling in a foreign tongue, pickpockets galore, sellers everywhere you try to step, dirty streets, and complete disorganization; then you’ve caught a glimpse of shopping in Antananarivo.

Did I mention I had to go to two post offices to collect our packages? I walked down the main street (dodging potential pickpockets and the innumerable vanilla sellers that just don’t understand that I live here and already have plenty!) and climbed the steep stairs that are filled with child musicians, beggars, rubber stamp makers (stamps are extremely important in this country!), and that’s not to mention all the sellers of nearly everything imaginable and then some! At the “upper” post office, I had to present slips of paper to the postal worker and sign a book so that I could receive the necessary slips of paper to collect my packages from the “lower” post office. You guessed it! This means a trip back down the steep stone stairs through the hordes of people yelling, “Madame! Madame! Vanille! Vanille!” on the main street. After turning the corner, I wove my way through the most crowded street I’ve ever seen! The sidewalk is full of wares for sale and children playing and sleeping. Meanwhile, the street is almost always congested with traffic. That leaves a narrow pathway between parked cars and slightly moving cars to make one’s way to the post office.

At the “lower” post office, the procedure is very Malagasy. First, you present your slips to the postal worker in the middle who directs you to either end or both depending on what your little slip of paper tells him (it’s in French so doesn’t tell me much!). Sometimes he also has you sign his book; I’m not sure why. This time I got to go to both ends which resulted in language practice with all of the postal workers! One man received my slip then handed it to the woman next to him who collected my money (yes, we have to pay a small tax) while he made up the receipt. Then another woman went to fetch my package. I took the package back to the first man and explained that I would like to first collect my other package at the other end before returning to have them examined. He agreed so I went to the other end of the post office where I gave them the second slip of paper. They also had me sign in their book. Then I paid the cashier and received my package. Then I returned to the first man, who happens to be my favorite. He always asks me, “Inona ity?” or “What is this?” My answer is always the same: candy, food, books in English, papers in English, etc. Really, I only vary slightly depending on what is actually in the package. He really gets a kick out of my saying “in the English language” so many times so has started completing my sentences for me. He also likes to say, “From America!” with a big smile! He’s never given me a hard time about anything yet so I think he’s just curious to know what it is that we foreigners receive all the way from our home countries. He probably thinks we eat a lot of candy, too.

After collecting our packages, I met up with Daniel who had just finished his shopping. We returned to the bus stop at a little before 2 in the afternoon (very early) but there were no buses to be found. After watching people fight their way onto the first buses that arrived, literally jumping in through the windows and shoving each other out of the way, we became a little concerned but decided we’d just have to make a run for it. So the next bus that arrived, we ran up beside it, Daniel pushing me in front of him and me stretching out my arms to block the way of those who might try to slip by. We clambered into the back seat, laughing about the advantage of having much longer appendages than the average Malagasy.

So that’s just a little story of what it’s like to live in Madagascar at Christmastime. What I don’t understand is why the Malagasy are so crazy about shopping! Only the children receive gifts for Christmas, usually just a little candy. The adults give gifts on New Year’s Day which is when they have their family gatherings. Christmas is the day they attend church (mostly because it’s tradition and a chance to get all dressed up) and many of the children go to a Christmas party following the service. But there isn’t nearly the material hubbub that we have in America. For instance, a common Christmas gift is a live chicken because for most families it’s a treat to be able to eat chicken. Christmas doesn’t start in October here either. Rumor has it, gifts and decorations will continue to arrive through January, as they are a little behind and it takes a while to import things to this island in the middle of the Indian Ocean. In a lot of ways, it’s nice to see Christmas being a day celebrated in church though we definitely miss the American tradition of family togetherness. The question is not whether or not Jesus is remembered at this time of year but how? How many Malagasy truly understand the Gospel? Do they see Jesus as a traditional story or as a living Savior who came to earth to save us from our sins? Let’s pray that more hearts will be opened to the Savior.

Total Helicopters in Mada = 2

Today we were talking with our team leaders. They nonchalantly made a comment about there being two helicopters in Madagascar--one belonging to the president & one belonging to Helimission. That's when I burst out laughing! I find it hard to believe that I live in a country where there are only two helicopters.

There are also only 2 CAT-scan machines in Mada but only one is accessible to the public. As you can imagine, the line to get a scan is exceptionally long & the cost expensive. There are also few reliable blood tests here. Rumor has it, almost every test you take will tell you that you have malaria or typhoid when perhaps neither one is the case.

That's when it hits you that you really & truly live in a third world country.

Team Conference Photos

Here are some photos from our conference with our AIM team. The first is of a bunch of the single women missionaries & myself. We have some amazing women who have been in Mada for a long time! I think the longest is 15 years...and they are single to boot! The second one is of our entire AIM team with the addition of a couple of Malagasy guys that watched the kids & the exception of our Dutch teammate, Gerla. Carel & Annetjie, our team leaders, are pictured near the top with us. This happens to be taken at the center of Madagascar which was really close to where we had our conference. We went for a picnic there (also pictured). The last one is of Daniel & Canadian missionary, Kevin, introducing our guest speaker, Jannie, from South Africa to true Malagasy coffee.

Greetings from rainy Antananarivo!

Greetings from rainy Antananarivo! There is a cyclone just north of Madagascar which is causing some early rain showers--what a blessing after months of dryness! However, it is unusual to have cyclones at this time of year, so we are praying that it will not hit the island but remain off the coast. Surely, there will be more cyclones to come during the usual season beginning in January.

On Sunday, we will go to Ampefy, a town about three hours west of Tana, for a weeklong conference (October 26-31) with our AIM Team here in Madagascar. Please pray for our safety in travel as well as for our discussions & fellowship. This is the annual time of decision-making so please pray that we will have a fruitful, uplifting time together.

Our October prayer letter is attached. We are so grateful for your prayers! There are many stressful days as well as fun ones; we couldn’t do it without you!

Our House "Tenants"

At the beginning of this month, we moved into a house near our language teacher, the marketplace, and many of our AIM teammates. We initially thought the house would be too big and empty but have discovered some previous tenants—cockroaches, ants, geckos, spiders, and mice! We even acquired a dog along with the house (she previously belonged to one of our teammates). Fotsifotsy (her English name is Whitey) has a fierce bark which discourages anyone from entering our yard unwelcome but she’s really pretty easy-going. Unfortunately, she keeps trying to invite more tenants—fleas! In all seriousness, we do love our house. It is helping us to connect with the neighborhood as there is a soccer field next door (below) where tournaments are held every Saturday and Sunday. Much of our time has been spent studying the Malagasy language. On page 1 of our newsletter, we are pictured with our language teacher, Chantal, who teaches us four mornings each week. We feel good about the progress we are making and can converse easily in every day situations but not quite well enough to have deep, spiritual conversations yet.

We've Moved!

Photos Above: 1) view from our house; 2) our neighborhood 3) the soccer field next to our house; 4) our neighborhood omby [cow]; 5) our house which we have lovingly named "Cockroach Hotel" (all are welcome to visit our B & B!)

We've moved into our new home! We are getting settled with our own furniture and setting up house. We are really enjoying being closer to the market and our language teacher. Unfortunately, we don't have any internet in our new home as of yet so that means we may be a little slow in replying to emails but we hope to get it set up soon. Oh yeah, and our mailing address is still the same..
Daniel & Sarah Zagami
C/O Africa Inland Mission
BP 714
Antananarivo 101
MADAGASCAR

"Salt from the Heavens!"

I wish I were referring to a revival, but I'm just talking about the weather. The calendar says it's the end of September, but it's spring here in Madagascar. The rainy season of summer will officially begin at the end of October, but we had a taste of it earlier this week. We were in uptown (no one says downtown but us!) Tana late Monday afternoon when the sky started to get dark and cloudy. So we made a dash to the bus station to catch a taxi-be home. No sooner had we crowded into the aisle seats of the taxi-be than the rain began to fall. When we were about halfway into our commute, it started to hail. The windows at the front of the bus wouldn't close so the teenage girls sitting next to the driver began to shriek! They were getting drenched and pummeled by hail. Then some men began yelling for the driver to pull over so that the helper (the man who rides at the back of the bus to take the money) could close the window. After some maneuvering and more screaming, he managed to get the window to close most of the way. We got back on the road but had to pull over again a little while later to get some gas. It was then that the driver decided to close his window, for which the drenched passengers in the seat behind him appeared to be quite grateful. But his window wouldn't close so he tied a piece of cloth across it. Then we set out again. The hail continued to fall. The men in the seat behind me began to gasp and point to the sides of the road. There were big piles of pebble-sized hail, which they were calling "salt from the heavens." Truly amazing for a place that rarely sees the freezing point on the thermometer. Yet at that moment, I was more interested in the streams of water coursing down the walls from the window tracks, for once very happy to be in the makeshift seat in the aisle rather than next to the window. Along the road, rivers had formed, gushing with red soil-tinted rainwater. Unfortunate pedestrians still trying to make their way through the storm were sloshing along up to their ankles in water and muck. When we reached our stop, the rain stopped long enough for us to get home. Many tree branches had fallen and some flowering fruit trees were damaged, but the rice crop seems to have escaped unscathed. If it were any later in the season, it would be detrimental. We were without power for a several hours as the storm ensued on into the night. Overall the storm wasn't that bad but I can't help but wonder what the actual rainy season will be like. I'm just thankful this city built on hills doesn't see snow or ice. That would really be an adventure!