The Good People
I was pretty concerned about myself when I left Egypt because I had such a low opinion of the Egyptian people and society. It is very difficult for me to find fault with a whole group of people, but I have to admit that it becomes easier the more peoples I meet. (easier not in that I am finding a lot of messed up cultures, but rather easier to call the bad ones out due to plenty of counter examples.) Our cultures around the world vary significantly and of course I can only view a culture through my eyes and mind which I readily agree may be myopic and ill-adjusted. But I also know that I want to share my opinions and experiences and show who I am even if you may see my faults. Actually, I really do this blog for no one other than myself so in some amount I really do not give a damn what you think 🙂 Something like “take a walk in my shoes…”. I try to be honest to myself and I guess to any reader and that is the only promise I make. I can tell you that the more cultures I experience, the more I dislike about my own – that being the lucky elite of this planet. And yes, I do believe that 99.9% of people who would ever have access to this blog fall into that category. Please don’t compare yourself to Donald Trump when determining if you are one of the world’s elite. It would be much more appropriate to compare yourself to the people on subsistance farms with no shoes on their feet (probably by choice I would argue – might it not be OK to be able to walk in the mud with hardened soles rather than have a hundred pairs of designer shoes for every purpose to protect our pampered little toes???). I love (not) the increasingly more ridiculous little battles being waged in the upper crust of the world about who the really bad guys are – Americans and Israelis, of course! There are obviously too many bored people with too much TV time focused on blame and doing very little to actually address the real issues such as loving your family and treating your neighbors with respect. And this brings me to Madagascar and the Malagasy people.
The first thing I noticed with the Malagasy is their constant smiles. Maybe that doesn’t mean much to you, but I can tell you that it meant a lot to me after being in a country with so few smiles. I believe smiles are a fair barometer of the state of affairs if the individuals. I quickly learned that there is a genuine friendliness between the Malagasy people and more importantly for me that friendliness is readily extended to the vazha (foreigners/visitors). Warm greetings at the airport followed by the taxi drivers and hotel staff. Sure, these people work in the tourism business so they should be friendly, but coming from a place where this was not a given, it started things off right. Then I got into the streets of Tana, a city with 1.5 million people and I found only friendly people. Yes, this is Africa in many ways and I don’t want to hide the fact that there are beggars and homeless people in this city, but we are talking about a very small percentage of people in trouble as compared to similar cities on the continent.
The next thing I noticed about the Malagasy is that they are jovial with each other. They laugh a lot. I don’t know what they are saying, but body language says enough. They are also close to each other. They hold hands and touch each other. And this is within and between sexes. They seem to take care of each other.
So then we leave Tana and I am with Sandra our guide and she has lived here for a few years and speaks the language. She tells me how the women are treated well. The families are loose, but they take care of each other. Marriage is not real important here, but as relationships separate, people especially the kids are not falling into the cracks. The elderly are revered. They take care of the less fortunate. And I witnessed all of this in some form with the brief contact I have had. The villages we entered welcomed us with OPEN arms and warm greetings and smiles (of course!). We were vazha. We were the freaks. But they liked having us each time. And it had nothing to do with us buying anything from them. It was honest and genuine. From the kids, up through the adults all the way to the elders, we were fellow humans and not invaders. The kids ran freely in bare feet and not much clothes and it was obvious that the village as a whole takes care of the villagers. Their homes are small and close – just like their physical stature and hearts.
And they love the photographs. They want to be photographed. This is something very special. A fine line between welcoming visitors and being inundated by cameras. I don’t know, maybe the Malagasy are special and they will always welcome vazha to look at them. You cannot believe the laughs, hoots and hollers when we showed them their pictures – children, adults and elders. Again, just so genuine and so happy.
The Malagasy are in no hurry. Mora-Mora equivalent to Swahili’s Pole-Pole (slowly, slowly) is their motto and their way of life. It grated on some of the vazha. I loved it. Why the hell is everyone in such a hurry? To where we all racing? Our coffins, I believe. This is the tropics and these people know there is no hurry to get nowhere. I wish I could take mora-mora back home. And I really think it would be a great change for Egypt!!! Go slower and enjoy life more.
I am head-over-heals in love with this country because of the residents. They may be the best I have encountered. Sure, Madagascar has plenty of problems (don’t forget the hell counterpart to heaven), but the people certainly are focused on what really matters – family, friends, community, love, happiness… Mora-Mora…
Tags: Africa, madagascar, Travel
vagabondrick
How refreshing after Egpyt. I am so glad for you! Love Kathy
What a wonderful place to visit. I’m so glad that you found the opposite so quickly from Egypt which sounds dreadful. And the kayaking, how was it? Love, Julie