May 6, 2014—First Letter from Mada
I finally got access to the internet (at the mission home),
just today. We don't have it at our house and was only able to use the air card
for short our short call the other night. The couple we are replacing have just
left for the airport, and I'm taking a minute to e-mail. The "keys"
(I mean keys to the pharmacy cabinet--as well as the mission nurse
duties) have been officially turned over to me and I have the
responsibility for the missionaries on my own now...I'm still a bit overwhelmed,
but I'll just "dig" in and let the Lord guide me...probably something
I need to learn better!!
There's so much to tell, and so little time!! I will send some pics as soon as I get time to take some!! ha!! We have been so busy getting trained, that I haven't had time to do anything!! We live in a pretty nice place down an alley. The dirt in Mada is red (like St. George), so the paths are either packed red dirt, or uneven brick roads; interspersed with packed red dirt!. Steve waits in the car while I unlock and open one gate/door, re-lock it, then walk up the drive way and open the 2-sided car gate for the car. This requires me to unbolt two bolts, top and bottom, and a big padlock in the center. Once Steve is in, I close the two gates and lock them the same way. Then on to the front door. I unlock the outside door, then the inside door (each lock requires a "two" turn unlock), then when Steve finishes parking the car, he comes in and bolts the outside door in three places and then the inside door (we hope there is never an emergency requiring us to get out quick!!). This is our daily ritual (as many times as we go in and out--it's such a pain--I hope to only do it going and coming, as no matter how short we stay, we have to perform the "lock and unlock" ritual the same--it can never be left open or unlocked!) Obviously I hate this part, so just out of curiosity, I've decided to keep track of how many times I do this while we are in Mada--it will be over 1500 times in the two years!! I'm sure we will be so happy to see our remote garage door opener when we get home!!
Our house, in general, is pretty nice (for Malagasy standards). It's the first story in a two story home. There are poinsettia bushes outside in full bloom (beautiful!) and purple bougainvillea bushes (also beautiful). We have a small bathroom (but adequate--although no tub, so if dad get's sick I don't know what he will do without one!) The kitchen is small, with no drawers, so the silverware is sitting on top of the counters in a silverware divider. We have a pretty nice fridge, small stove, and a stackable washer and dryer. We have filtered drinking water, but must soak all fruits and vegetables in bleach water before using them. We must also rinse all dishes in bleach water after washing since we don't use filtered water for washing. There is a rather large living room and dining area with a nice wood floor. Off of the main living area, there are two bedrooms. One is used as a storage room as there is no bed, and our room which is pretty roomy and has a lovely parquet wood floor in there. The bed is hard and the pillows flat--so glad we brought our down pillows!!
The weather has been amazing!! It's a little cloudy in the morning, but quickly clears up to beautiful blue skies and a balmy breeze--getting just a tad chilly, but otherwise PERFECT! Mada is a very "hilly" city so it can give you a work out; you’re either walking up or down something all the time. But we have a little truck with a shell on the back that we get to drive. Steve has been driving for two days now and is really getting good at it quickly...it's a real "nail biting" experience each time we go out--dodging people; people with baskets on their heads, people driving zebu carts loaded with "whatever", people on little winding streets selling their wares by the side of the roads, and people dodging cars while trying to cross the street everywhere...no rhyme or reason!--then we dodge cars who are dodging other cars, who are dodging people on two lane roads that they make at least 3 lane roads, or maybe four lanes--get the picture? There are no street lights, signs or anything. There are 2- way streets that turn into one- way streets half way through, with NO signage--It's definitely a wild ride! It is crazy!! Keep praying for us!!
We have visited a few clinics and a hospital, the large pharmacy downtown, and the Madagascar Ministry of Health. This is where we will be teaching English every Wednesday morning @ 7:00 am!! We will teach doctors and others who work there who want to learn English. It is a good relationship and it's always good to have friends in high places!! So dad and I have to come up with some English lessons--thought I would turn to you for your expertise and ideas!! There are several hospitals, but there is one that is very nice!
We have been to the grocery stores and the larger ones are so nice! They are expensive, but clean. A half a loaf of whole wheat bread is about $6.00--just to give an idea. (Guess I'll try my hand at bread making when I get a minute--but I'll miss my Bosch mixer!) There are also many street vendors who sell local produce in either make-shift stalls or on blankets on the side of the roads; I will buy from them this week. Of course there are the meat stalls where all types of meat hang out all day with flies on them...appetizing! (needless to say, we buy our meat in the nice grocery stores!) We took a walk through our neighborhood last night and it's really hard to describe it in words. The winding, red bricked walled alleyways, are a maze with every manner of "houses" tucked in behind the alley walls. Many are skiwampus and are covered with corrugated tin roofs with tires on top (keeping the roof from blowing off!) --I'll try and get pics soon! We wake up at dawn to the roosters crowing and then we hear the children's voices and the clanging of pots and pans as the day begins and breakfast is being prepared. We say hello, well actually, "manahoana" to everyone we see. The kids are beautiful and fun to talk to as they laugh so readily and are so cute--of course they think we are hilarious when we attempt to speak Malagasy! They run and play on the dirt roads barefoot and are always filthy--but happy! We gingerly cross over the open sewers on broken pieces of wood planks or concrete slabs (and try not to think consider the sludgy water just a foot below us!). It's fascinating and we love that part of the exploration and adventure! The people are friendly and love it if you try and speak! Because they are so nice, it makes it easier to try and talk, even though we are not good at all! We see skinny chickens running around from time to time, roosters, too, just to keep life interesting! At night, the air fills with the smell of fires--these are cooking fires, as most Malagasy people cook outside in a lean-to kitchen off their homes. They cook their rice over a wood fire and the distinctive smell fills the air. Steve finds this charming in an unusual sort of way. At the corner where we turn to our house, there is a dumpster. Behind the dumpster lives a family--a young woman and her two children. She is often beat up, which is heart breaking...even more so is watching the baby girl (teeny--about 16 months old) play in the garbage and the 3 year old little boy also playing and starting to sort the garbage looking for food and anything that can be recycled. I'm starting to separate our kitchen stuff and saving some better food in a separate bag for them....keeping it cleaner. Our heart breaks for them, and I will do what I can, but unfortunately their plight is bigger and more prevalent than we can begin to fix.
There's so much to tell, and so little time!! I will send some pics as soon as I get time to take some!! ha!! We have been so busy getting trained, that I haven't had time to do anything!! We live in a pretty nice place down an alley. The dirt in Mada is red (like St. George), so the paths are either packed red dirt, or uneven brick roads; interspersed with packed red dirt!. Steve waits in the car while I unlock and open one gate/door, re-lock it, then walk up the drive way and open the 2-sided car gate for the car. This requires me to unbolt two bolts, top and bottom, and a big padlock in the center. Once Steve is in, I close the two gates and lock them the same way. Then on to the front door. I unlock the outside door, then the inside door (each lock requires a "two" turn unlock), then when Steve finishes parking the car, he comes in and bolts the outside door in three places and then the inside door (we hope there is never an emergency requiring us to get out quick!!). This is our daily ritual (as many times as we go in and out--it's such a pain--I hope to only do it going and coming, as no matter how short we stay, we have to perform the "lock and unlock" ritual the same--it can never be left open or unlocked!) Obviously I hate this part, so just out of curiosity, I've decided to keep track of how many times I do this while we are in Mada--it will be over 1500 times in the two years!! I'm sure we will be so happy to see our remote garage door opener when we get home!!
Our house, in general, is pretty nice (for Malagasy standards). It's the first story in a two story home. There are poinsettia bushes outside in full bloom (beautiful!) and purple bougainvillea bushes (also beautiful). We have a small bathroom (but adequate--although no tub, so if dad get's sick I don't know what he will do without one!) The kitchen is small, with no drawers, so the silverware is sitting on top of the counters in a silverware divider. We have a pretty nice fridge, small stove, and a stackable washer and dryer. We have filtered drinking water, but must soak all fruits and vegetables in bleach water before using them. We must also rinse all dishes in bleach water after washing since we don't use filtered water for washing. There is a rather large living room and dining area with a nice wood floor. Off of the main living area, there are two bedrooms. One is used as a storage room as there is no bed, and our room which is pretty roomy and has a lovely parquet wood floor in there. The bed is hard and the pillows flat--so glad we brought our down pillows!!
The weather has been amazing!! It's a little cloudy in the morning, but quickly clears up to beautiful blue skies and a balmy breeze--getting just a tad chilly, but otherwise PERFECT! Mada is a very "hilly" city so it can give you a work out; you’re either walking up or down something all the time. But we have a little truck with a shell on the back that we get to drive. Steve has been driving for two days now and is really getting good at it quickly...it's a real "nail biting" experience each time we go out--dodging people; people with baskets on their heads, people driving zebu carts loaded with "whatever", people on little winding streets selling their wares by the side of the roads, and people dodging cars while trying to cross the street everywhere...no rhyme or reason!--then we dodge cars who are dodging other cars, who are dodging people on two lane roads that they make at least 3 lane roads, or maybe four lanes--get the picture? There are no street lights, signs or anything. There are 2- way streets that turn into one- way streets half way through, with NO signage--It's definitely a wild ride! It is crazy!! Keep praying for us!!
We have visited a few clinics and a hospital, the large pharmacy downtown, and the Madagascar Ministry of Health. This is where we will be teaching English every Wednesday morning @ 7:00 am!! We will teach doctors and others who work there who want to learn English. It is a good relationship and it's always good to have friends in high places!! So dad and I have to come up with some English lessons--thought I would turn to you for your expertise and ideas!! There are several hospitals, but there is one that is very nice!
We have been to the grocery stores and the larger ones are so nice! They are expensive, but clean. A half a loaf of whole wheat bread is about $6.00--just to give an idea. (Guess I'll try my hand at bread making when I get a minute--but I'll miss my Bosch mixer!) There are also many street vendors who sell local produce in either make-shift stalls or on blankets on the side of the roads; I will buy from them this week. Of course there are the meat stalls where all types of meat hang out all day with flies on them...appetizing! (needless to say, we buy our meat in the nice grocery stores!) We took a walk through our neighborhood last night and it's really hard to describe it in words. The winding, red bricked walled alleyways, are a maze with every manner of "houses" tucked in behind the alley walls. Many are skiwampus and are covered with corrugated tin roofs with tires on top (keeping the roof from blowing off!) --I'll try and get pics soon! We wake up at dawn to the roosters crowing and then we hear the children's voices and the clanging of pots and pans as the day begins and breakfast is being prepared. We say hello, well actually, "manahoana" to everyone we see. The kids are beautiful and fun to talk to as they laugh so readily and are so cute--of course they think we are hilarious when we attempt to speak Malagasy! They run and play on the dirt roads barefoot and are always filthy--but happy! We gingerly cross over the open sewers on broken pieces of wood planks or concrete slabs (and try not to think consider the sludgy water just a foot below us!). It's fascinating and we love that part of the exploration and adventure! The people are friendly and love it if you try and speak! Because they are so nice, it makes it easier to try and talk, even though we are not good at all! We see skinny chickens running around from time to time, roosters, too, just to keep life interesting! At night, the air fills with the smell of fires--these are cooking fires, as most Malagasy people cook outside in a lean-to kitchen off their homes. They cook their rice over a wood fire and the distinctive smell fills the air. Steve finds this charming in an unusual sort of way. At the corner where we turn to our house, there is a dumpster. Behind the dumpster lives a family--a young woman and her two children. She is often beat up, which is heart breaking...even more so is watching the baby girl (teeny--about 16 months old) play in the garbage and the 3 year old little boy also playing and starting to sort the garbage looking for food and anything that can be recycled. I'm starting to separate our kitchen stuff and saving some better food in a separate bag for them....keeping it cleaner. Our heart breaks for them, and I will do what I can, but unfortunately their plight is bigger and more prevalent than we can begin to fix.
We enjoyed our church meetings and Steve and I both bore our
testimonies in simple Malagasy. I was nervous, but I think it went OK. The ward
here at the mission home (which is just about a half mile up the hill from
where we live), is a very mature ward with well established members. Our bishop
is the one who was featured in the Ensign Magazine several months ago. The
people were warm and welcoming, and yes, Melanie, I was singing hymns in
Malagasy and in French!! ha!! don't know a lick of French!! We are going to
have the bishop and his wife and daughter over for dessert soon. Their daughter
is 20 and is learning English very well. President Adams has also told us we
can attend church wherever we want to go and we may try a few outlying wards,
too, to see if we can be of help. We attended a discussion with the missionaries
after church and felt the spirit there, and bore our testimony in Malagasy. It
was all good!
As far as the missionaries go, we have met a few. They are a
good lot, friendly and sweet. I haven't had my first sick call yet (alone), but
they do deal with lots of diarrhea (which I knew), colds and some things I know
little about. But, as I said, I'll learn!! Steve has been given some
responsibilities that the other couple has had, but he will get more
assignments when the Mission President returns from South Africa.
The senior couples are GREAT, and we enjoy getting together
with them. We have had several opportunities to get together since the Shupes
were going home, and they had a welcome to Mada dinner for us, too. All are
wonderful, warm and welcoming and we will enjoy working with them.
Please write to us, as we don't have
much contact other than here at the mission home as we don't have internet at
home yet. Remember, we are 9 hours ahead of you. We are hoping to get the
internet into our home soon.
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