August 25, 2014

I have so much to say, so I’ll get right to it. I’m in Madagascar and it’s crazy. I’ll try to relate to you everything that has happened to me in the last four days or so. It has been absolutely wild.

First off, our trip was absolutely awful. It was so long. It wasn’t so much that anything bad happened but when we got off the plane I thought I was about to die. London was cool, but I didn’t really get to see anything. All we could see was from the plane. The airport was cool though. I was amazed at how many different cultures were there. I met someone going to Kazakhstan. I talked to him about the church and gave him a Book of Mormon. Johannesburg was absolutely insane. We had to go through customs there, and I thought I was going to get arrested. Johannesburg, to summarize, is a cross between New York City and a demilitarized zone. Our bags almost got lost there, but thankfully we got it all figure out. But I know you don’t want to hear about the airport.

This story pretty much summarizes my first week in Madagascar (Mada). We see the plane we’re going take and it’s just a little puddle jumper. It’s probably the smallest plane with a jet engine in the world. Once we entered the plane we entered the lawless world of Mada. There were tons of crazy people (because who would go to Mada unless they were crazy). I slept almost the whole way to Mada. I woke up as we flew over the island, which was also crazy. If I could describe Antananarivo (Tana), it would be that it’s crazy, crazy. When you fly over it looks like a mass of huts, animals, and people, with the occasional garbage fire. When we arrived in Tana one of the Elders was having trouble getting through customs. As travel leader, I went over to help him. The first thing that happened to me in Mada was the customs official asked for candy or coffee to let the Elder through. Yes, I had to bribe a public official to get into the country. Thankfully you sent me a package of Milky Ways. It was hilarious, but a little scary, because he didn’t speak English. After that we drove across town to the compound (mission home) where we stayed the first night. Other than my international crime (which I should say was sanctioned by our AP’s because bribery is a fact of life around here) that was the second craziest part of possibly the craziest day of my life.

There are no traffic laws in Mada. Tana is essentially two million people, taxis, and scooters, all trying to get around a city that has more hill than San Fran, animals absolutely everywhere, and infrastructure that barely qualifies as infrastructure. People drive as fast as they can, weaving around everything. It is really an art. It was so cool. I felt like I was in a movie. We drove by a field of kids playing soccer barefoot in the dirt. We saw tons of rice paddies, and women carrying baskets on their heads. The street markets are also really cool. There are sausages and full sections of cow and goat hanging in the windows. There are also amazing fruits everywhere.

When we arrived at the compound an armed guard let us in.(Everywhere has guards, not because it’s dangerous, but because people will steal everything.)We had a great dinner with our mission Pres. and his wife. It was the only American food we’ve had here. The Pres. and his wife are super cool. They’re really supportive and very helpful. That night we stayed at the AP’s house in the heart of Tana. It’s weird because our homes are almost nice. We’re really taken good care of. But right outside the apartment there are kids running around naked and a whole slum tucked in between two building. I call it a slum, but pretty much everything in Mada looks like that. There were wild dogs and chickens running around everywhere. I also forgot to mention the smell. It’s so strong, especially in Tana. It really started to affect me because the air was so dirty. All the cars are from the 50’s, so they don’t run very clean. And everyone burns their trash. I am now intimately familiar with the smell of burning trash.

The next day we were assigned to our locations. I’m in Tomatov (Toamasina). It’s awesome! It’s right on the coast. We had to take a nine hour bus ride to get here. That was also scary.  The bus would weave through traffic along the mountains. I was really surprised that our bus didn’t run off the road. It’s just so wild. We would go super fast. And because there are no road markers it didn’t matter which side of the road we were traveling. We’d just hope that the oncoming traffic would move.

On the way we stopped at a little place to get dinner. I’ll try and upload it. That was my first Malagasy meal. I had beef (or something close) over rice (what a shock). I had my first cup of burnt rice water. I can’t remember what it’s called in Malagasy, but it’s the left over stuff in the bottom of a pan of rice, burnt black, with water added. It doesn’t taste as bad as you would expect. It actually really settles your stomach.

Back to Tomatov. It’s definitely the best place to start your mission. It’s the largest port in Mada. The part we work is in the city. The city is in the middle of the jungle. It looks much more like the cartoon than Tana. We have coconut and banana trees growing really close to us, great seafood, and awesome people. The people mostly live in tiny little wooden shacks. Their homes are so small that most people are out in the street. The people are the best. I can’t really explain over email how much I love them. They’re awesome, and funny, and nice. The little kids chant vazah as we walk by, which means white foreigner. It’s a little weird, but you get used to it. Also everyone here shakes hands. The little kids “dumah” or pound it. The kids are really funny.

Our investigators are great. We have already invited one to be baptized and he said yes. And we’ve set another baptism date. It’s amazing. We’ve taught a ton of lessons. My Malagasy is much better than I thought it would be. I can’t understand much of what people say, but I can usually get the idea, and I can speak fairly well. I can’t wait until I’m fluent. My trainer says I’m learning quickly.

Another story, on my first day in Tomatov we went to a little Muslim place to eat. There are tons of Muslims in Tomatov. I had mutton with hair still on it. I ate most it, hair included, but then I thought about it too much and almost threw up. That’s the trick with a lot of the food we eat. You just can’t think about what you’re eating. All the food we eat is safe, but not all of it is palatable. Also, I’ve had this great stuff called something like seedap. Mom, you’re not allowed to look it up online. I’m pretty sure it’s the most unhealthy stuff ever conceived. It’s not legal in the U.S. because of all the msg. It’s like Top Ramen’s creepy cousin who is in prison. It’s awesome. We eat seedap often because it’s sooooo cheap and filling. I’ve been eating really well. We go to this little place called The Panda for dinner almost every night. You can get a huge meal for less than a buck. They also sell sugar cane and wild types of sodas that I’ve never seen before for ten cents.

We also have huge banana spiders here. I almost picked one up, but I chickened out. Stay tuned, I will pick one up before I leave. They’re crazy; you should Google them. I’ve seen a lot of weird animals. You’ll see a huge tortoise or chameleon randomly. It’s cool. Okay, I’m almost out of time and I want to send pictures so goodbye. I love you very much.

Here are the answers to your questions that I haven’t already addressed:

My bags arrived. Everything was intact and I can’t see that anything is missing. But I could only bring one bag with me to Tomatov, so I crammed as much as I could into one suitcase and my linen bag and left the rest. Don’t worry, it’s safe in Tana and I got everything I needed.

My companion is from Orem

The primary language in Tomatov is Malagasy. French is spoken by many people as a second language. All of the signs are written in French. I have used French a few times. My language is good for a beginner, which probably means it’s bad. I have a long way to go, but the AP’s said I’m really good for starting out and I’ll probably be one of the best speakers when I leave. My companion is awesome at Malagasy so he helps me a lot.

I’m pretty sure my weight has stayed the same. We have tons of food and tons of money.

I’m in a big house. It’s good. It’s actually nicer than some homes in America. Mada is like that. People either live in shacks or fortresses. We live with two other companionships.

I rode in a cart attached to a bike. It was pretty awesome.

Lastly, I should say that I’m so thankful to be here and so happy. Mada is the best mission and I’m in one of the best places. The people want to learn. We’ve already had 10 new investigators since I’ve been here and taught a ton of lessons.