Easter Malagasy Style

I know this blog has been a long time coming but many things in this country take much more time than they ever need to. Maybe it is a sign that I am adapting into this culture. You should all be afraid of this. (Laughs inside)

Ok, so Easter Malagasy style is a long weekend affair that stretches across a time run of Saturday night, Sunday, and then Easter Monday which is the large holiday that closes off whole towns, and opens large over sized parties accompanied by a massive amount of music, volleyball, sports, and food, and of course, drinking.

Our Easter weekend started Sunday with a rugby game at large dirt field just outside of Maevatana. Featuring our own local team of small Malagasy people dwarfed only by the large team from Antananarivo who had scary thigh muscles larger than some cows I have seen in this country (true story) we watched as the men pummeled and beat each other to a set of rules I never figured out. Blood, sweat, and a random featurette of a goat wandering across the rugby field, I gained a new appreciation for the sport that is 10 times scarier than football and twice as mean as water polo. It was awesome. Standing along the lines of the field with students, friends, and neighbors we cheered, groaned and hooted at the players and the referees ( all of which were friends of mine from school). When the game had ended we watched the players do a circle dance among the teams to show sportsmanship and walked ourselves back into town.

After relaxing and resting for a few hours we prettied ourselves up (entailing putting on fresh clean clothes) and headed out to a friends house to get ready to go out for a night of dancing and partying. At her house we were quickly out dressed by our fashionable Malagasy counterparts for the evening, ate a quick meal of tomatoes salad, steak frite and some egg and some beer and headed to our pre-party destination.

Pre-party destinations are recquired for any Malagasy outing as the Malagasy evening of true partying doesn't actually begging until around 11pm. Until then any dance floors, dance halls or bars are empty except for a few parties of people eating or drinking and watching others arrive. Our first location was a restaurant with some older teenage boys dancing together. I watched them dance then watched as our friends, in their mid to late 30's got up to dance with them. There is no qualms here about age or even sex for that matter, although the preference is to dance with a partner of the opposite sex, age has no relevance and my friends were quickly partnered up with teenagers having a blast on the dance floor. I conserved some energy, danced a few songs and drank down our first few rounds then we headed out to the true party destination. Stopping for a Malagasy bathroom break ( which I will not explain except to say its urbanization meets camping) and we headed into a large and entirely empty dance hall blasting its Malagasy music. New rounds of drinks were brought and we danced a few lonely songs. The next thing we know, around 11pm both rugby teams and a slew of locals arrived at the same time and the party truly began. We danced all night being passed around the floor by one partner after another, taking breaks to dance with the few 10year olds who were braving the dancing with the rest of us and breaks to sit and drink while we would quickly sweat out all the water in our bodies.

Malagasy dancing is an active blend of traditional dance moves danced entirely with bent knees slowly lowering yourself and your partner to the floor, mixed with hip hop moves seen on tv, lots of butt moves (not so scandalous here but seen as somewhat scandalous even in the states) some interesting blends of reggae and modern dance as well all rolled into energetic fast moving music. The dances include line dancing in trains around the dance floor where the leader initiates the move for the dance sequence and the rest follow, couples dancing that mix ballroom with swing with hip hop, or just single group dancing. The reggae dance is a weird hop swing style of dance that I just cant get myself into and so would improvise with my own smooth moving style that caught quite a lot of attention and shortly had more than one person trying to imitate my moves which only cracked me up more as I was entirely trying to imitate them. The boys handled themselves well, only needing to be put back int heir place rarely. One of my dance partners was phenomenally good and respectful and I danced with him more than a few times through the evening much to the dismay of many of the onlookers. Joanna did the same and more than once we sought out the 10 year olds that would watch the old boys and imitate their moves, sometimes dancing with their hands out in front holding their imaginary partners as they danced across the floor. The smiles on their faces when we would seek them out for dancing lit up the whole party.

When we had finally worn ourselves out we headed home amid groans and multiple friends telling us to stay longer as the party wouldn't end until 4 or 5am. We were completely worn out and I wanted nothing more than my bed so we all said good night. The next morning, ever muscle in my body aching from the strain oft he night before I stumbled out to the water spicket to get my water for the day and ran straight into the entire Antananarivo Malagasy team, much to their delight, and my more than slight embarrassment as I was still in my PJs and all of them were half naked washing in my water spicket. I sat and waited my turn trying to remain invisible with the family that lives near me on the school grounds wishing that I was still asleep, that it was not 6 in the morning and that I didn't have anything to do that day. As it turned out I did and around 8am I headed back into town ready for a day of Malagasy picnic at our local gigantic river. I had no idea what to expect so I brought a change of clothes to wear in the river and playing volleyball. We sat at our friends house again and watched as a slew of supplies were brought out, pot after pot of delicious smelling mixes, soups, pots of raw meat, a pot with 4 shopped chickens staring out at us, a small charcoal grill and flatware followed by two families worth of children with the promise of more to come. We all piled in and headed out. We set up massive speakers, our grill, a food area, and a large plastic tarp that would keep us in the shade through the heat of the day. Then the food started. Rounds of grilled cow heart, grilled chicken, tomatoes soups, beer, a mint juice made with ice water and mint syrup, rum and tomato salad. The food never stopped all day. One round would bring our large part of over 20 people together, we would eat and finish, heading back into the river or to the other side that hide quite the elaborate set up, only to be called back to camp for another round of food, fried rice mix, pasta mix, more meat, more drink. We couldn't have sunk into the river if we had wanted what all the food we had consumed. As the morning turned into day the river bank filled with families, the smell of food drifting with the laughter of the children playing and splashing in the river and the constant roar of conversation from the families perched along the banks. We wandered the river stopping to talk with friends and acquaintances that were eager for us to come join their party and eat food which we obliged, much to our stomach's great discomforts. Small gambling games, food vendors, and candy vendors littered the shady area of the river and a volleyball net was quickly constructed with teams lining up to compete. I wanted to try my hand in it but the sun quickly rose and began to burn the bottoms of our feet as we walked. We retreated to the shade, ate more food and relaxed for a small time in the shade of the mango trees protecting the pools of the river. I played with my students, teaching random English phrases, songs, and splashing massive amounts of water in every direction. The day wore on and our energy level dwindled to a mere spark telling both Joanna and I that it was time to sleep. We still had one more party to go to that evening. Heading back into town I felt some of the most intense tiredness that I ever remember feeling. I stumbled into bed managing only to pour a few scoops of water over myself to wash away sand and sweat and fall into bed. My dog, quite thankfully, seemed to sense my sheer exhaustion and contented herself to chewing on a flip flop since I couldn't put an argument.

That night was the Easter ball. Since we are the local Americans we got in under the invitation of our friend and found ourselves in the midst of men in jeans or slack and ties and shirts, and women in anything from a prom dress to jeans and a cute blouse. Like the night before the dancing started off slow and reserved but as the drinking and food eating continued the floor quickly filled with people, couples and singles. My neighbor and friend came with us and we found ourselves turning to him for safety as the night wore on and one man in particular overstepped the line of acceptable. It was a fun night of laughter and food, I myself abstained from the drinking as much as possible as I had already had my limit of everything the night before. As I put myself through the dance moves yet again I felt everything connecting my body together send out one complaint after another but I pushed myself to the next extent anyways, feeling myself caught up in the wave of energy that pulses through the Malagasy dance floor. You don't want to leave, you don't want to stop, you just push forward and only stop when you feel your body reach a new limit. The heat pushed it for us and we found ourselves leaving before 1am this time. Again I fell face first into my bed, feeling incredibly satisfied and thoroughly enjoyed out with everything that I had been through for the weekend, and looking forward to the next day of absolutely nothing to do.

And what did I do the next day. Nothing. I went to market in the morning, stocked up on some delicious veggies and eggs and rice and crashed the day at my house, took three naps, stretched at least 5 times, listened to music and completed my book of Hidato puzzles. And then went to sleep again.

What an awesome experience.

I get to do it again.... June 26th...Malagasy Independence....My friends are already requesting the dances.

Hope you all had a great time too!