March 16th to March 22nd 2024
Hi everyone! Welcome to another edition of Madagascar with Charlie. This week I got back into my teaching schedule and worked on some projects at my house. I also got to play more tennis this week so I’m on the path to beating my dad.
Teaching was fun this week at both the public school and the private school. One of the classes at the public school was giving presentations in English on Malagasy Culture and Customs. I really enjoyed this and they had some demonstrations that were really funny. The big events in Malagasy culture are a babies first haircut, getting married, and the burial ceremony. However, my favorite cultural event to learn about was the circumcision tradition of the boys. Here in Madagascar it is common to not circumcise your baby boy until he is at least 2. Sometimes they are not circumcised up until 10. When they do get circumcised it’s a big party where family and friends come to celebrate the boy becoming a man. Also as part of it, the uncle of the boy has to eat the cut off skin with a banana which is super crazy and wild. I don’t think I will be bringing this tradition back to the U.S. but it is super interesting to learn about.
I also had a good time at the private school this week. On Thursday the entire school had a big relay competition because they were going on break the next week and the director wanted to do something fun for the students.
For the competition, each class selected 4 girls and 4 boys to compete for them against the other classes. I really enjoyed seeing all the students compete and they all took it really seriously. It was pretty hot, and I think one or two students passed out from the heat and dehydration.
On Thursday, I had to pack my bags again to prepare for my trip to Senegal. I am going there for a conference with the other Fulbright English Teaching Assistants in Africa. I was flying on Madagascar Air to Tana, before I flew to Senegal. I was a little stressed and anxious that they might cancel my flight again, but everything worked out and I made to Tana safely. I am a little worn out from all the travel but everything here is good and I’ll talk about the conference and my time in Senegal in my next post.