First Day in Tana

Lovely to wake up this morning, feeling refreshed but a bit wierd, like floating in a time warp. We were in this same room a year ago, and it feels like both like yesterday and eons ago. We spent the morning taxi-ing from office to office, applying for our long term visa with the help of Linah a very experienced woman in matters of red tape. The head of the "Fokantany Isokaka” - ( Community Administrative Center ) smiled as we left,

“It is wonderful when foreigners can speak our language.”

Madagascar used to be a French colony until 1960 when they won their independence, so one can pretty easily get along in French except in the countryside. However, when one speaks Malagasy, folks light up with appreciation.

We had lunch in one of our favorite restaurants, and went on a long walk afterwards. I found the name of one shop really funny. Kokoloko. Try saying it fast over and over. “Kokolampy” means an ancestral spirit in a southern dialect. “Loko” means color. So it is probably a very clever play with words.

One never gets used to the poverty. It is heart-breaking, especially seeing kids begging, and young teenage girls on the street nursing babies. There is an average of four babies per woman in Madagascar compared to two babies in India, so we see babies everywhere, The tragedy is that many grow up in dire poverty, and yet, we experience a level of friendliness here which is touching.