December 9th to December 15th 2023
Hi everyone, a lot happened this week and I am excited to share all of it with you. The week involved killing a chicken, buying a moto, and participating in a radio show.
On Sunday, I got to experience a part of Malagasy life by eating lunch with Andry and his family. A typical Malagasy meal involves rice and a protein, such as chicken. This is what we had, but preparing the meal was the exciting part. First, we went to mass in the morning at 6:30am. Afterwards, we headed to the market, where we bought a live chicken. At the market, they have a bunch of chickens in a cage, and we got to pick them up, feel if they were fat enough to eat, and buy them. Once we picked a chicken, they tied the legs up so it could not move around anymore, and then we left. Andry drove, and once we were done at the market, we threw the squawking chicken in the back of his car and drove back to his house.
Once we were back, we prepared our lunch. I learned how to crack a coconut by hitting it really hard a bunch of times and then use a Malagasy kitchen tool to scrape all the coconut out. After that it was time for the exciting part… killing the chicken. Andry gave me instructions. First, I had to stand on the chicken’s wings and legs so it couldn’t move. Then I had to pluck away the feathers to expose the skin. Next, I had to cut the chicken’s head off. It took way longer than I thought, and the chicken struggled for a while, so it was definitely a bit unnerving. After I was done, Andry showed me how to defeather the chicken and cut it to prepare it for lunch. I also learned that here in Madagascar, they eat everything that comes with the chicken, including the blood and eggs that were in the chicken. That part was a little bit unusual to me, but I did try some of the blood and the eggs and they didn’t taste too bad. The entire chicken from buying, killing, and eating was new to me and I don’t know if I would willingly kill a chicken again; however, it was a really good experience and I think it is important to know where the food I eat comes from. Plus, it was the freshest chicken I have ever had in my life.
Another exciting part this week, was buying a moto. Andry helped me with it because I didn’t really know what I was doing. I was able to get a used moped that wasn’t too expensive. While I was buying it, I took it for a test drive. I had never driven a moped before, and during my test drive, I almost threw myself and the moto seller off. I am good now. I practiced some more and can drive it now without falling off. It is really nice to have a moped here, and I have already been able to drive around and explore parts of the city a little bit more. After I bought it, I also found out that it is Malagasy custom to celebrate getting something new by going out and buying drinks for everyone. Of course, I had to keep to this Malagasy custom, and I took Andry and my one friend from the American Corner out for drinks to celebrate.
This week, I also got to participate in the American Corner radio show. This was a program that Grace helped start. Every other Saturday, members of the American Corner go to the local radio station and put on a talk show in English for people in the community. This week I was able to help and we read and talked about the article Being Home for the Holidays. I had never been on a radio show before, so I’m glad that I got to experience that for the first time here in Madagascar.
Overall, it was an eventful week, filled with different parts of Malagasy culture. I’m learning a lot being here and I’m excited to learn even more throughout the rest of my time here. Now, there is only one more week until my family gets here! I’m excited to show them Madagascar, but maybe I won’t have them kill a chicken while they are here.