Wednesday, April 9
Lots of things happened on this particular day.
Walter and I decided to take a pousse to the Pritchards home instead of walking. On our ride, we passed by some drivers sitting by the road with no work at that moment. I noticed one of them point to me and say something to the other guy. The other guy looked at me and whistled at me and both were smiling! Awkward to say the least!
Our morning started out with a trip to the bank to convert money. However, the machine that connects to the USA was broken. So......no money. It was a good thing we still had some!
We went to the "good" hospital in Antsirabe. Ja was very sick and needed to be seen by a doctor. Turns out he had pneumonia! The hospitals there in Madagascar are not where I would want to spend ANY time! That was the first hospital I've ever been to where live chickens roamed the hallways! It's also the first hospital I've ever been to where the hallways were outside, too!
If you enlarge this picture you will see the chicken! Notice the maternity sign.
Walter and I decided to take a pousse to the Pritchards home instead of walking. On our ride, we passed by some drivers sitting by the road with no work at that moment. I noticed one of them point to me and say something to the other guy. The other guy looked at me and whistled at me and both were smiling! Awkward to say the least!
Our morning started out with a trip to the bank to convert money. However, the machine that connects to the USA was broken. So......no money. It was a good thing we still had some!
We went to the "good" hospital in Antsirabe. Ja was very sick and needed to be seen by a doctor. Turns out he had pneumonia! The hospitals there in Madagascar are not where I would want to spend ANY time! That was the first hospital I've ever been to where live chickens roamed the hallways! It's also the first hospital I've ever been to where the hallways were outside, too!
If you enlarge this picture you will see the chicken! Notice the maternity sign.
The picture above is where you have to go to pay before any services will be performed. Ja had to go there and pay for his x-ray before he could have it done (a mere $3.50).
After we left the hospital, we went to the market again. Remember, it's an open-air market. Nothing refrigerated. Not sure that I could get used to buying fresh meat that hasn't been refrigerated. Know what I mean?
We moved on to the area that sells grains, pasta, sugar, etc. First of all, the people are short. I felt like a giant in that part of the market because I had to keep my head ducked so I didn't hit the roof all the time. While we were waiting for our items, I looked over my shoulder to see a small "cafe," if you will, behind me. I noticed one of the customers. I looked at his plate to see it overflowing with rice (I mean, rice piled very high) and on top 2 small bites of meat. That's their diet. They must have rice with every meal. The Pritchards housekeepers were much smaller than us and they ate about 3 times as much as Walter! We tried to tell them they need to eat more vegetables and protein and not so much rice and they said, "No. We must have rice with every meal."
From that area of the market we moved over to the fruit. We passed by a small shop that sold what I think was cooked meat of some kind. All I know is the smell was AWFUL! There were more flies on that meat than on the raw meat and the smell was WORSE than the smell of the raw meat! It actually made me want to vomit!
I admire all the missionaries there in Madagascar and around the world who are willing to live in countries where this is normal everyday life. I can tell you that I was willing to live there if the Lord would have led that direction. These kinds of things didn't sway us in either direction as far as our decision. We would have learned to live with it and get used to it.
The day before, I had given out recipe cards translated into Malagasy to the church ladies that attended the cooking class. We decided to have them laminated. Funny thing is that you don't have things laminated in Madagascar. You have them plastified! Hence the picture below.
After we left the hospital, we went to the market again. Remember, it's an open-air market. Nothing refrigerated. Not sure that I could get used to buying fresh meat that hasn't been refrigerated. Know what I mean?
We moved on to the area that sells grains, pasta, sugar, etc. First of all, the people are short. I felt like a giant in that part of the market because I had to keep my head ducked so I didn't hit the roof all the time. While we were waiting for our items, I looked over my shoulder to see a small "cafe," if you will, behind me. I noticed one of the customers. I looked at his plate to see it overflowing with rice (I mean, rice piled very high) and on top 2 small bites of meat. That's their diet. They must have rice with every meal. The Pritchards housekeepers were much smaller than us and they ate about 3 times as much as Walter! We tried to tell them they need to eat more vegetables and protein and not so much rice and they said, "No. We must have rice with every meal."
From that area of the market we moved over to the fruit. We passed by a small shop that sold what I think was cooked meat of some kind. All I know is the smell was AWFUL! There were more flies on that meat than on the raw meat and the smell was WORSE than the smell of the raw meat! It actually made me want to vomit!
I admire all the missionaries there in Madagascar and around the world who are willing to live in countries where this is normal everyday life. I can tell you that I was willing to live there if the Lord would have led that direction. These kinds of things didn't sway us in either direction as far as our decision. We would have learned to live with it and get used to it.
The day before, I had given out recipe cards translated into Malagasy to the church ladies that attended the cooking class. We decided to have them laminated. Funny thing is that you don't have things laminated in Madagascar. You have them plastified! Hence the picture below.
I saw this sign in the "Kodak" store and thought it was hilarious and had to get a picture! This is where I sent Rado to have the recipe cards "plastified!" The ladies loved the "plastified" ones but the ones I did in English were taken much faster. I made sure I got one of the "plastified" ones to bring home with me as a souvenir.
On to my second cooking class. I was teaching how to make potato pancakes. Since the Malagasy people don't usually have electricity, I couldn't show them how nifty a food processor was in shredding potatoes (I used Rachel's food processor before my class because it was so much easier than the Malagasy tool). So....I had to go to the market and find the tool they use to shred vegetables. Not sure what they call it but it only cost 50 cents. Thankfully I had Sophie with me so she could get it. I just handed her the money and away she went!
I decided that since the interactive cooking class was such a hit the night before that I would have the ladies do everything again. I told them they needed to wash their hands (sad thing that you have to tell grown women to wash their hands but....I don't want to get sick!). Lickety split, they were all at the sink washing their hands with soap and water! I showed them everything; Sophie interpreted; they took over; we had a great time! And the best part - they LOVED the recipe again! Enjoy the pictures below of the class.
Sophie interpreting for me
The ladies had a great time. They had smiles on their faces the whole time we were together.
On to my second cooking class. I was teaching how to make potato pancakes. Since the Malagasy people don't usually have electricity, I couldn't show them how nifty a food processor was in shredding potatoes (I used Rachel's food processor before my class because it was so much easier than the Malagasy tool). So....I had to go to the market and find the tool they use to shred vegetables. Not sure what they call it but it only cost 50 cents. Thankfully I had Sophie with me so she could get it. I just handed her the money and away she went!
I decided that since the interactive cooking class was such a hit the night before that I would have the ladies do everything again. I told them they needed to wash their hands (sad thing that you have to tell grown women to wash their hands but....I don't want to get sick!). Lickety split, they were all at the sink washing their hands with soap and water! I showed them everything; Sophie interpreted; they took over; we had a great time! And the best part - they LOVED the recipe again! Enjoy the pictures below of the class.
Sophie interpreting for me
The ladies had a great time. They had smiles on their faces the whole time we were together.
The ladies enjoyed this recipe so much that they asked Ja if they could make them and sell them the following week during Walter's creation class that he was going to be teaching! I was very flattered! Ja told them yes and that's a whole other post!
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