Majunga

We arrived in Mahajanga on February 16 and have been here for the last ten days. It is a beautiful coastal town and we are finally able to stay here with a host family for more than a weekend. Our classroom looks directly out onto the ocean and the beach is only 20 away. I finally feel at home somewhere. My host family is amazing to say the least. I live with Eva, 28 year old mother of two. We have pretty much become best friends because we spend every night hanging out and talking together. Her husband, Liva, works for a business that transports mainly tourists in luxury vehicles around the country. He arrived from one of the trips the second day I had been in Mahajunga and had to depart for another trip the following day. So it has just been Eva, myself and the two kids. Nomena is six and plays from the moment he wakes up until the moment he falls asleep. He is attending Catholic school and practices his French with me sometimes. He is getting pretty good at it and it helps me with my French too. FyTia (which means love in Malagasy) is a spunky two year old. She is adorable and she loves to joke. Frequently she calls me Abby Belou (Big head Abby) in Malagasy – hilarious.

Not only have I been learning Malagasy at home with the kids but also in class. It is making me much more confident in my French skills to learn another language taught in French. The Malagasy language is very beautiful and some of the words have funny translations. For instance, the word for fiancé is fofombady which literally translates to: smells like a husband but not yet. My name phonetically in Malagasy means together which seems so appropriate for this situation. We live in a one room house so alone time is something that has become foreign to me. The tight living quarters and modest bathroom situation is not nearly as difficult as I had imagined. I have grown to love talking to Eva before I fall asleep every night. I think I may do my independent study in April here so that I can stay with Eva again.
The other night we had moved the dining room table out on the porch to have lunch and once it came time for dinner, the mosquitoes were huddled in swarms outside waiting for their next meal. So instead I insisted that we have a “picnic” on the floor together. So we laid the table cloth out and set up a picnic inside protected from the mosquitoes. After dinner I decided to show Nomena a game on my ipod and sat on the floor near the picnic with him. Suddenly, Eva says, “Abby!” and I feel something slimy jump into my shorts. Immediately I start yelling and jump straight up into the air and rip my shorts off (because I was wearing them under a dress) imagining the things that could have made their way into my clothes. Once I calmed down and saw everyone laughing and staring at me I saw a tiny little frog the size of a quarter sitting on the floor… Mon ami le crapeau. Ever since this occasion Eva has joked with me about having another picnic with the crapeau – very funny 
The surrounding area has definitely taken notice to our presence here in Mahajanga. It has spread across the neighborhood that there is a vahaza (white foreigner) staying with Eva. On Sunday night the neighbor girls came into our house speaking quickly and with purpose to Eva. I hear Eva say to them, ask Abby. So the seven year old comes right up to me and says very seriously in French, “What would be the price for English lessons for one hour next Saturday?” I busted out laughing and told her that my French is terrible and she does not want lessons from me but again she continues in a serious tone, “What is the price, what is the price?” It was so strange to hear a seven year old so persistent to learn so finally I agreed to next Saturday only if they come together and do not pay any money at all. So great that now I have officially have found a job here – right out on the porch of our house! Now, I can stay here in paradise forever!