March 8, 2012

Continuing off of my last post, the television visit was quite interesting as well. The man who gave us a tour around the station was actually one of the other student's host dad, and he was great. He explained to us some issues that journalists face and how even if there isn't any official government censure right now on what can be reported, the journalists self-censor their work so that they don't face issues in the community. The concept of "fihavanana" here, which can be translated as community is amazing to watch and understand.

Side note: I actually bought a lamba the other day, which is a piece of cloth that is worn as a dress or skirt or shawl, that has a saying on it that translates roughly to "no commerce before community."

It was also interesting that the first time that I have been in an air conditioned room was at the television station, because the computers cannot handle the crazy heat and humidity that exists in Mahajanga. The station was very small and very simple compared to tv stations in the US. It was awesome to have been able to go there and then watch that tv station at home with my family and know what the rest of the studio was like.

The visit to the port was fascinating. It was a little bit of a challenge for me to understand the man who was giving us the tour because his accent was a little challenging, and there was a lot of background noise at the port, including pouring rain. But it was amazing to see huge ware houses and men busy at work. Being in an important port city like Mahajanga was a great experience because we could really see the importance of the port and how it helped to shape the culture there.

Lastly, I did an individual visit to city hall to interview the first assistant to the mayor, who is responsible for conducting civil marriages. I talked to him about the process of civil marriage and different laws and customs involved in civil marriage. He was extremely helpful, although the language barrier definitely limited a little bit of the information that I was able to receive. Before actually finding the man though, I had to get to the city hall, and figure out where I was to find this man, since city hall was a huge building. Once my taxi dropped me off and I went inside, there was nobody at a sort of a reception desk to help me out and tell me where to go, but there was a big group of random men standing around. They asked who I was looking for, and I told them, and they told me that he wasn't there yet, but if I waited, he would show up soon. Then they offered me a seat with them and told me to wait there. I waited for a good half hour, while being chatted up by a man who said that his goal in life was to make foreign friends, so he wanted to get my email address if I would give it to him. It was a strange encounter. After a while, when the man I was interviewing still had not showed up, I called my academic director, who let me know that the assistant to the mayor was in his office and had been the whole time. So I ended up finding my way to his office and learning some pretty interesting things about marriage. I learned basic things like the day of the week someone can get married, the cost of getting married, etc, and I also learned some interesting laws that the couple has to sign agreeing to, like the man is the head of the household, the couple has to educate and teach values to their children, and they have to feed their in-laws. I also let the man I was talking with know that I am going to go back to Mahajanga to study Sakalava wedding ceremonies in April, and lucky me, he said he was Sakalava and would love to take me to the doany to help me learn about it. Great success!

Now, we're all in a wonderful place known as Nosy Be, with a hotel on the beach and a day and a half of free time. It is amazing! I'll post more about that later. For now, I'm off to find some lunch!