Antananarivo to Antsirabe

Hello! Manahoana!

It’s hard to believe that I haven’t even been in Madagascar for two full days!! We have already seen and done so much. After almost 36 hours of travelling, my cohort and I landed safely in Antananarivo at around midnight Friday.

WE MADE IT!!

We drove to the headquarters of the church in Isoraka, where we were going to be staying for two nights. After getting settled in and catching some shut-eye, we were up and ready to go at 9am Friday morning! We had a delicious breakfast of vary amnanana (rice with greens), eggs, and meatballs. When we finished breakfast, we made our way to our country coordinator’s house to begin processing paperwork we will need for the rest of our time in-country. We took passport photos, visited an official government building, and got our phones!

This is my bed where we stayed in Isoraka!

We got to bed early last night, so I woke up this morning feeling pretty well-rested! We had breakfast with the ELCA’s regional representative, Pastor Themba, his wife  Kwena, and their two kids. After breakfast, we went to an MVola stand to test withdrawing money. MVola is the way we will receive our monthly stipends while in-country. Pastor Kirsten, our country coordinator, gives money to an MVola stand and then we receive a text message on our phones. We will then go to an MVola stand in our towns, show our text and type in our pin number, and the person working the MVola gives us our stipend! After verifying that we could all work the MVola, we headed back to the headquarters to load cars.

The view outside of our room at the church headquarters.

At around 11:30am, we hopped into three cars and began the three hour trip to Antsirabe, where we will be spending the next three weeks taking culture classes and learning Malagasy. The drive was beautiful and astonishing. We passed rice patties and strawberry patches and carrot fields and potato plots. We passed artisanal shops and restaurants. We passed huge, colorful houses and one-room, red-clay houses. We passed kilns for firing bricks and two herds of cattle. I was so very grateful for our driver, Njaka; he was a pro at navigating the narrow, windy roads!

Heading out of Isoraka.

Fields on the way to Antsirabe.

When we arrived at the Cross-Cultural Competence Center in Antsirabe, where we will be living for the next three weeks, we unloaded the cars and settled into our rooms. We had dinner and a little bit of orientation as to what the next three weeks will look like. Our first task: assembling the water filters!

Today, I am grateful for so many things. The wonderful group of women I’ve been living and travelling with, our drivers that got us here safely, vary amnanana, and the grace of God that has brought me thus far. Now, it is time for bed! We have our first Malagasy church service in the morning!

Lots of love,

Katie

PS: Manahoana (pronounced like mah-nah-OWN-ah) is a greeting used in and around the capital city, Antananarivo. It is the equivalent of saying good morning/afternoon/evening.