April Something....

As the semester goes on, I am apparently getting worse and worse at blogging. But right now, I am officially in the Independent Study Project period, where we chose our study site and our topic, and during 4 weeks we have to do 120 hours of field work and whip out a project at the end, which is typically a 30-40 page paper on our findings and analysis. I have already been working for a week on my project, and I can't believe how quickly everything is going by, and how much more complex field work is than I thought it was.

My project is focusing on Sakalava (one of the 18 ethnic groups that exists in Madagascar) wedding ceremonies in Mahajanga, a city on the West Coast of Madagascar. I am living with my host family that I lived with when we were all in Mahajanga as a group, becaue they have been absolutely fantastic. I have been busy essentially working a full time job with my research, and it has proven to be very rewarding work, but also very challenging. I have run into the normal language and cultural barriers that would be expected in work like this, but I have also run into the problem of differing information with each person I interview, simply because even within one ethnic group and so called "culture," there is a lot of variance that exists relating to wedding ceremonies. I was initially told that the wedding ceremony was discreet and small and there wasn't much to it, so within the first few days of my field work, I decide to open up my topic to Sakalava Muslim wedding ceremonies, since Islam has a large presence along the North and West coasts because of the Arabic trading routes that brought Islam to Madagascar. Since the North and West coasts have traditionally been inhabited by the Sakalava ethnic group, there is a correlation between the two traditions related to marriage and weddings. However, after I decided to open up my scope, I discovered more information about Sakalava ceremonies that is complicated, in depth, and detailed, so now I'm trying to decide what angle I'm going to take with my paper, and if I want to include the Muslim culture or not. Looking at the two also poses challenges because at times it is challenging to see which customs are traditionally Sakalava and which customs are traditionally Muslim.

At this point in my stay, it's difficult to decide what to blog about, simply because I've been here for a while, and initially everything was new and exciting and I felt like there was so much to share, but now everything seems very common place, and I just have my daily routine here that doesn't seem too interesting to blog about. However, I did have a request to talk some about the food here, and that is definitely something I can do. :) If anyone else has any requests or questions that you'd like me to answer in my last 4 weeks here, feel free to comment or FB me or something.

As far as food goes, I can certainly say that my diet consists mostly of rice. In Malagasy, there are two categories for food, one is "vary," which means rice, and the other is "loka," which is anything that is served with rice. A lot of families eat rice for all three meals, but some have something different for breakfast. In Tana, both of my host families served bread and jam for breakfast (of all things to take from the French culture, they should have chosen something different. haha), and once in a while they would serve vary soasoa as well, which is rice that is cooked with more water, so it is sort of soupy, or perhaps comparable to a type of oatmeal. The first time I tried it, I thought it was disgusting, but now it has definitely grown on me and is often one of my preferred meals. My family in Mahajanga however, serves "mokary" each morning, and I think it's mostly because I'm obsessed with it. haha. It is sort of like a pancake, except of course, it is made with rice flower. Tea and coffee are always served at breakfast, and I have fallen in love with the two of them more than ever before. Especially concerning the tea, because I have discovered a type of lemongrass tea that is absolutely scrumptious.

Back when we were all having classes together, pre-ISP period, we also had two snack times a day, which usually consisted of things like Saltos, which are like Ritz crackers,  some sort of fruit, like banana, papaya, pineapple, apple, oranges, magoes, etc, tea and coffee, sometimes hot chocolate, sometimes juice, chocolate and vanilla wafers, sugary coated peanuts, something that translates in English to pigeon shit, which is sort of difficult to explain, but it made from flour and water, and they are a bunch of little sticks. Sometimes it is spicy, or has raisins and peanuts in it, or perhaps dried banana chips. Once in a while we'd have mokary for snack, or yogurt, or fried banana or fried pumpkin things that are so delicious that I was always sick after eating them because I simply couldn't stop myself. Once in a while we'd have chocolate bars or something like that as well. And when it's someone's birthday, we have cake, which is pretty good, but I definitely miss the cake from back home because it just doesn't compare.

Then lunch time and dinner time roll around, and is almost always a given that they both will consist of vary and loka. Once in a while we get some sort of pasta, but it's sort of rare. I've been told by many Malagasy people that they simply can't get full if they don't eat rice. The loka varies a lot, but one of my favorites, is a very simple mixture of thinly sliced cucumbers, with a vinagrette made of limes, oil, pepper, onions, and salt. It is so good, especially when it is hot out, which is essentially all the time. Usually when this is served, there is also another kind of loka to go with it that usually consists of some sort of meat, or beans. It's almost always delicious. I love the food here in general, with one exception, something that is called "ravtoto." It is made of manioc leaves, which I find to be disgusting. I believe it is the only food here that I really really don't want to eat. My host mom always teases me when she makes it, and has another loka made for me. Another interesting surprise that happened the other day when I wanted my own loka, was when the loka that was served was a full pig's head, with the teeth and eyes and everything. I looked at it, started laughing, and then the whole family cracked up. Then they tried convincing me that the ears are delicious, but I wasn't feeling too interested in being adventurous, although I did try a little bit of the meat that was there in order to be polite, but I mostly just stuck with the vary for that meal. haha. Luckily there was also the cucumber dish that I mentioned. :)

Also, just to mention, the meat in this country is so so so much better in the US. Back at home, I don't care much if I eat meat or not, but here, the taste of it, without any spices, is amazing. I'm not sure if it is because it is more fresh here, because of the meat industry back home, or what, but the difference is suprisingly large. However, things that are better in the US, are definitely pizza, ice cream, and candy, the things that of course are super fattening, that's the American way. Haha.

And lastly, a little bit of a cultural difference that I have run into, is that Malagasy people want their guests to eat A LOT, in general. I could easily get fat in this country with all of the food I am told to eat. Sometimes when I say I'm full, I get the response "no you're not," and more food is put on my plate. haha. I have learned that it is best to leave some rice in my bowl, which has been advised by our teachers, because that signals that I am really full, and they believe me a little more that way. It's a little bit of a challenge for me to do that because I was always taught that if you leave food on your plate, it's wasteful, but I would rather do that than constantly be uncomfortably full. Sometimes I'm also forced to simply say that I don't want it, which to me sounds a little bit rude, but I don't know how else to communicate that I don't want to eat anymore. Sometimes they think I'm just being polite by saying that I don't want something, but I always mean it when I say it. haha.

Well, for now, it's lunch time! Let me know if you all have any topics you're curious about! :)