Frisbee, movies and mosquitos

Frisbee is one of the things foreigners and expats do to get some exercise and to get together. On a small field in the city centre everybody gathers for a game every Sunday. Afterwards there’s time for talk and drinks.
To us -still new to the Malagassi lifestyle- it seemed the perfect opportunity to meet some people, so we happily accepted the invitation of our German roommate Friedl to go and see what this frisbeeeing was all about.
After taking some stairs -and bus 166- we arrived at the court were the game had already begun. About 15 people sat in the shade and enjoyed the game, while the other half of the group was running around on the field, trying to score some points. In one hour we met around 30 new people (a mix of foreigners from all over the world, ‘spiced up’ with some locals).
After the game, and after sunset, a group of French students took us on a trip through Tana to show us some nice places. One of this places was the very European (or rather French) looking bar Sakamanga, where you can eat very European food (mostly pizza and paninis) for very European prices (compared to he normal Malgassi prices). Even though I liked the bar and found it nice to have a good (which means safe) meal after all the travelling and dragging around with our suitcases, I still couldn’t get my head around the fact that we were eating at this fancy French place, while the world outside of Sakamanga isn’t French or fancy or even safe at all: Especially at night the city is a dark, busy and –if you’re not used to it- scary place. Apparently even streetlights are a luxury product here, and the streets are really bad, so you have to watch closely where you’re walking. People suddenly appear from one of the many dark alleys, others are still trying to sell things from their little shacks at the side of the road, with only a candle to lighten their merchandise.
The hotel (also called Sakamanga and owned by the same French entrepreneur) where we concluded our evening out in Tana felt like an oasis after wandering around the busy streets outside: A nice courtyard with beautiful palmtrees, bamboo chairs and cane parasols made us forget about our first encounters with the dark city of Tana at night. We sat down, drank some wine and watched a French movie with some other (mostly French) hotelguests. The only thing that reminded us of the fact that we were still in Africa were the mosquitos that just wouldn’t leave us alone. They’re apparently the only ones that don’t care about the ‘borders’ between rich and poor, as long as there’s something to bite in ;-)

The City of a Thousand Stairs

Unlike the other GEP-teams we already managed to arrange for a house before even arriving in Tana. (Something I was already bragging about during our stay in Rome).
Tulika, one of last year’s GEP-pers put us into contact with the landlord and after exchanging quite a lot (and not really to-the-point) emails we got ourselves the house.
So, after waking up in guesthouse Jarivo -were driver Antoine dropped us of the night before- we moved to our new home.
I must say Laurentiu and I were a bit shocked by what we encountered there: Instead of having the whole floor for ourselves (like last year’s team), there were four more people living in the house now. (Even the livingroom was occupied by a girl that had turned the couch into a bed). Lala (the landlord) apparently saw some business in hosting foreign students and it was very obvious that he tried to put as much people in the house as possible for maximum profit.
Although this was still OK with us (we didn’t know anyone yet and it’s always fun to have some roommates) we got really worried when we tried out the beds: Instead of a normal (or at least a decen) matras, my bed was equipped with a foamy indefinable object that was totally indented in the middle. Didn’t really look like a proper bed to me! Although it was a bit of a disappointment at first, we quite easily put our worries aside and decided to go and explore Tana a little further.

Antananarivo lies at an altitude of 1300 metres above sea level, which makes taking a tour through Tana just a little bit different than walking around– for example- Amsterdam. Still back in Holland I was wondering whether it would be a good idea to bring my bike to Tana, or buy one here (I also had a bike during my stay in Paris and used it all the time). I can say I’m quite happy I didn’t: The city is build on very steep slopes and even on foot it sometimes takes you ages to get somewhere (especially for Dutchies like me who are really not used to a “hilly” environment). Besides that, Tana is one big network of lots and lots of little stairways, all connecting the few main roads. Unless you’re a pro-mountainbiker who’s looking for an adrenaline rush (or if like dragging your bike up and down all the time), a bike is not a very usefull asset in this city. (Next to all of this, you can be sure to get run over by a car in e few seconds- Malgassi drivers are not the most cautious and polite ones).
So, by taking these steps -by foot- you’ll discover a whole new side of Tana: Crisscrossing through people’s backyards you see daily life outside of the busy city centre, far away from all the polluting and honking cars. You pass by all sorts of little houses and gardens and see people that are busy doing the laundry, sweeping their doorstep or just enjoying the sun. Some greet you with a “manaona” or bonjour, others don’t even take notice when you pass by. It’s a wonderful way to relax a little and enjoy the Malagassi scenery.
Noro (our Jarivo guesthouse hostess) had told us earlier that Antananarivo means “city of thousand soldiers”, because Tana was the first city in the old days that had a thousand soldiers. I’d rather call it the city of a thousand stairs, which may be not so historically relevant, but describes the essence of daily life in Tana much better. And I don’t even miss my bike anymore!

Finally: A Malagassi Phonenumber!!

Hi Everyone!

I thought it would be cut off from Europe for at least the rest of the week, but I finally managed to get myself a Malagassi phonenumber!
So, here it is!

+261326130401

Stories about my stay in Tana follow, but I'm already quite busy at the office (and don't have internet at home)
Got much to tell though, so I'll keep you posted! ;-)

Bienvenu en Afrique!

After a very interesting 2-day training at the WFP head office in Rome and a - just as interesting- stay in the citycentre of Rome we finally arrived at our destination: Antananarivo, Madagascar. I was kind of tired from the partying in the hotel the night before (we had to get op at 5 to go to the airport, but got 'stuck' the night before on a birthdayparty of an Italian girl that turned 18). You can imagine that I couldn't wait to get to bed as quickly as possible ;-)
Lucky as we are, everything was arranged for very well. We didn't only have one, but two people to pick us up from the airport. The second person turned out to be the WFP driver -named Antoine- and he took us to a guesthouse for the first night. Driving through the city of Tana, we couldn't see much yet, it was around ten 'o clock and the sun sets around 6 in the evening.
Nevertheless, we felt that we entered a whole new world and that this was the beginning of a big adventure...
Next update coming up! ;-)