July 7th to July 14th 2024
This week was filled with a lot of emotions. It was my last week in Madagascar, which meant I had to say goodbye to all my friends, my apartment, Mahajanga, and everything I had come to know over the last 9 months. Saying goodbye was really sad, but I was also filled some excitement because I knew I would see Sophie in Germany soon.
Monday was a really happy day because Andry’s wife, Manisa, had a baby the day before, and Mbola and I went to congratulate them. The baby was super cute, and both were so happy to welcome a baby girl into the family. Going there, I also learned a little bit more about Malagasy traditions. It is custom that the people visiting give money to the mom, followed by a short speech to the dad about how their baby is blessed and welcomed into the community. After we gave the money, Mbola did a little speech, then we gave Manisa and the baby some space and drank some John Peters to celebrate. It was a very wholesome time and a good start to my last week in Madagascar.
On Tuesday, I played tennis for the last time. All the guys there were sad to see me go, but I was able to take a really good picture with all of them. I’m not sure if I am good enough to beat my dad yet, but it will certainly be close, and I have to thank them for that. I spent Wednesday and Thursday packing up my stuff, and spending time with Mbola and Rochel. I really don’t like packing, but I was able to get almost all of it done before Friday because I wanted my last full day there to be fun, without having to worry about anything.
I was excited for my last day on Friday and to spend time with everyone I cared about. I woke up early in the morning because I still needed to go to the bank to get money to pay my rent and finish packing. I wanted to get all of this done quickly so that I could spend the rest of my time with my friends. Unfortunately, Madagascar had one last surprise for me.
Around 6:30 am, I was speeding on my moto to get to the bank and as I turned around the corner, I slammed into one of the hand-pulled taxis called pousse-pousses. Chickens that were being carried by the pousse-pousse went everywhere, and I was on the ground in the blink of an eye. I was super dazed, and my lip hurt really bad. I was instantly surrounded by 20 people who were trying to pick me up, telling me I had to get out of there before the police shows up. I jogged-pushed my moto down the street and found a bench to sit on. My lip was bleeding pretty bad, but other than that I was okay. I paid a guy to get me some water, called Mbola who came to help me, and who also drove my moto back to my apartment. Overall, it could have been a lot worse, but it was still scary and not a great way to start my last full day in Mahajanga.
The rest of the day was much better. I took some time to recover and finished packing up my stuff before heading to lunch with a couple of my teacher friends. Afterwards, I hung out with Mbola and Rochel, before heading to a farewell party that the people from Operation Smile and the American Corner planned for me. It was such a sweet goodbye party, and I’m going to miss all of them so much. The Operation Smile people gave me a shirt which they all signed. The American Corner people gave me some really cool goodbye gifts. Overall, we had a great night, with Karaoke, dancing, pictures, and spending time together. We eventually headed home from the bar around 3am. It made me sad to think this was the end, but this party was something so special and I’ll never forget that.
On Saturday, I packed up my last things, grabbed my final chicken sandwich from my favorite restaurant, and stopped by the American Corner one last time. I went and gave people final goodbye hugs before heading to the bus station. I was pretty sad, but I was also lucky because Mbola rode the bus with me since he had some work to do in Tana. Andry dropped me off at the bus station, and I waved a final goodbye to him and Mahajanga as my bus headed for Tana.
After a 16-hour ride on the bus, Mbola and I got into Tana around 10am. We dropped our stuff off at the hotel and went to find some food. The entire day was filled with sadness because we knew it would eventually come to an end. We did make the best of it, walked around Tana, and spontaneously decided to go see a movie. In the evening, we had our last dinner together before my taxi showed up to take me to the airport. I gave Mbola one last hug before heading to the airport and saying goodbye to Madagascar. I was sad to see my time come to an end, but it was also a little bit of a relief to know that I had made it through the 9 months.
Everything at the airport went well. I checked in, got to my gate, and my flight was on time as well. I was there early which gave me some time to reflect on these past 9 months. It was hard, but I did appreciate my time and experiences there. Having some time at the airport also made me process everything, and I felt more and more excited to go to Germany and give Sophie a big hug.
Well, this is pretty much it for Madagascar with Charlie. I’m in Germany now, which is amazing, so I’ll write another blog on that. Once I am home, I will also write one more blog on my final thoughts on Fulbright and my time in Madagascar. Thank you to everyone who followed along on my journey.