Laura -- Kafe Discussions

Life here in Manakara really is about building relationships. There’s no time schedule here. Stores and restaurants don’t have set hours; they open and close whenever they feel like it. In fact, most everything is shutdown from noon to 3:00 or 3:30, sometimes 4:00. 

This is a foreign concept to Americans. We need to have a set schedule, laid out hour by hour. We know that Publix is always open 7am-10pm and that Chick-fil-A is closed on Sundays. We live a go-go-go lifestyle. And when it comes to relationships with others we’ll pencil them in and meet for coffee for an hour or grab lunch. It’s quite difficult to find time in our busy schedules to hang out with friends and just chat and ponder about life without setting a time limit.

Today we spent lots of time just hanging out with new friends and there was lots of coffee involved and it was awesome. Following up on Dannielle’s post yesterday, we met Fonja at Om Snack to learn how to make Malagasy kafe. When we got there, she asked us to give her a couple minutes. A few minutes later, she motioned for us to follow her through the kitchen and out back. Out back she had green coffee beans in a pan over a fire…we were going to roast the coffee. As a coffee connoisseur, I thought I had died and went to heaven. We took turns roasting the coffee. After they were roasted, Fonjy poured a cup of sugar over them and caramelized the beans.  Dannielle and I believe this is the magic ingredient. We truly appreciate a great cup of coffee and this coffee is unlike any coffee we’ve ever tasted. This coffee will make converts. After the beans were caramelized, they were transferred to a huge mortar and we all took turns grinding them with a pestle. The smell was a perfect blend of smoky and sweet. Once we finished grinding the coffee, we took the grounds inside and we all sat around a table in the kitchen. Fonja took a little basket lined with linen, poured the grounds in and said “Here, we make coffee.” Wait…what?!? She held that basket over a bowl and poured boiling water into the basket. Done. It’s that simple. She gave us each a cup filled with sweetened condensed milk and poured the coffee over it. HEAVEN. We all “oohed” and “aahed.” And what came next was the sweetest part: “discussion” as Fonja and Pela (Fonja’s co-worker) put it. We went back and forth in French, Malagasy, and English. Communication is a beautiful thing. We were helping them with their English and they were helping us with our Malagasy. We shared a lot of laughs. It was such a special moment.

It’s so awesome how something as simple as coffee can bring people together. I could tell God was working in that moment. Fonja looked at us and said, “In December, you speak lots of Malagasy.” I could just sense her excitement at knowing that we will speak Malagasy really well by the time December rolls around. We invited Fonja, Pela, and the rest of the staff to church on Sunday and told them we would come by to get them. As we were getting ready to leave, we wanted to pay Fonja for the coffee and she said, “No, this is my present to you.”

After we left, we met Mika and went to his house to spend time with him and his sweet family. Hary (his wife) was making mofo akondro (fried bananas) and kafe. We all sat around on the floor and helped Hary peel the bananas and then we started playing Heads Up, a team favorite. Mika was the bomb at it! He loved playing it. We had such a fun time together!

God is working in the hearts and lives of the people around us and it’s so exciting to see. Please be praying for our new friends Fonja and Pela.

grinding the beans 

  more grinding

 the "coffee maker"

the finished product

Dannielle's Post

Before I cover today, I have to mention something pretty awesome that happened yesterday that Paige failed to tell you all. It was the first night the boys decided to cook for us girls. It was quite the experience. We were all very impressed! Not only was the food really yummy, but they ventured out and cooked something none of us had ever consumed before. We had garlic mashed potatoes! We have all had that…but I was just really excited about those. So good! Good job, Kai. Matt took on the sautéed vegetables. Also very good. But the best part of the whole meal was the entrée. The boys made us shark! It was really good! Cooked to perfection, as far as I know anyway. Good job, boys!

Okay, now on to today…

It was a fairly eventful day here in Manakara, Madagascar. I have to say it was my favorite day thus far. The day began with our last day of language training. Mika, our language teacher, stayed for lunch. We cooked rice and beef with coconut curry. It tastes better than it sounds. Well…it was okay. Mika liked it though, so that’s what counts. We also tried to make him his favorite dish, cassava leaves. That didn’t go quite as well. It’s a good thing we looked up cassava leaves on Google before hand, because apparently they’re toxic if eaten raw. We were all in the kitchen with the bag of raw cassava leaves, not sure what to do with them. We decided that the best course of action would be to ask the expert. So we asked Mika to help us out. We boiled them until the water was completely gone, leaving this stuff that looked like freshly cut grass in the bottom of the pan. The taste was what I would imagine freshly cut grass to taste like too. We asked Mika if he enjoyed our cassava leaves. He said “no.” We all laughed. He said it was okay though, because it was our first attempt. But we ended the lunch with his favorite American snack, chocolate chip cookies.   I think that helped remedy the situation.

After lunch we went on our “field trip” that we had been planning on all week.  And the planning went as far as “we’re going somewhere Friday, and we’re going to call it a ‘field trip.’” So we decided to head to the beach, and we walked. And walked. We ended up walking roughly 6 miles.  It was beautiful. On our way back we walked on a red dirt road that runs parallel to the beach. Along the way, we walked through a few villages. It was such an interesting experience. Honestly, it’s really hard to describe what I saw. So just go with the mental image you have in your head, and know what I experienced was ten times better!

I’m not sure anyone has mentioned the coffee here in Manakara in our blog. It’s definitely worth mentioning. There’s a restaurant here called “Om Snack.” We’ve been a few times. There’s a woman who works there, who seems to be there every time we go. Tonight we learned her name is Fonjy (Fon-zee). Laura and I, the ones who truly appreciate this coffee, have been planning to ask Mika to ask Fonjy what kind of magical coffee this is. So we remembered to ask Mika on our last day of training and were able to ask Fonjy tonight. Instead of just giving us the name of the coffee, she offered to take us to the market herself, buy the coffee, and then bring us back to the restaurant to make the coffee with us! So we ALL look forward to that tomorrow. 

That's all for now. Veloma!  

Paige- He Provides

I know Tiffany posted about our language teacher Mika yesterday, but I really want to share this with all of you.  Every Wednesday we get together for our team Bible study and today, we invited Mika to join us.  We are going through the book of Romans and today we discussed Chapter 2 (the oh-so-convicting Chapter 2).  Throughout this chapter Paul reminds us of the sin we commit when we pass judgment on others and that “God will give to each person according to what he has done” (Romans 2:7). 

We sat around the table where we usually have our language lessons.  It is a big table with 6 chairs, one for each of us.  Mika usually stands and teaches us, but he pulled up an extra chair from the kitchen so that he could sit with us during the Bible study.  We opened our time together in prayer and we all shared what stood out to us from the week’s reading.  When I thought we were almost finished, Mika added something so simple but so profound-- Now, one thing about Mika, he is very unassuming.  He is so quiet and soft-spoken.  He is like that kid in the back of the class who didn’t say anything all year and then on the last day of school he just busts out with all this wisdom and knowledge.  Hopefully you understand who I’m talking about-- So before we closed, Mika asked us how we planned to share the Gospel since we don’t have a full grasp of the language yet.  We gave him our answers and he told us (in his own words) that we must be mindful of other people’s perceptions of Christ because as verse 24 says, “God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles…” (Romans 2:24).  These were very sobering thoughts and I was not expecting it, especially not from Mika. But then he gave some encouragement.  He said, “You came to this house and there are 6 chairs at this table…there are 6 of you.  This is proof God has been working and providing for you even before you arrived in Manakara.”  So simple, but so powerful. Despite all of the obstacles that we will face while on this mission, like language and people’s pre-conceived notions of the Gospel, God has already been at work and He is still at work.  He’s good.

For the Kingdom,

plc

Tiffany- Meet our language teacher, Mika

A native to Madagascar (obviously), Mika (pronounced like meek), is 26 years old and will turn 27 on September 26^th. He was born in the capital city of Madagascar, Antananarivo. He grew up in a city called Fianarantsoa, which is about 5 or 6 hours away from Manakara. His father was in the military, so he and his family moved around quite a bit when he was growing up. He is married to a petite woman named Hary and has 2 children, Tony who is 2 ½ years old and Mevasoa who is almost 1 year old. Tony means calm, and of course, as many 2 year olds are, is not calm at all.

The past week and a half, most of our days are spent with Mika.  He teaches us for 2 hours in the morning and 2 hours in the afternoon. The mornings have been dedicated to learning vocabulary and numbers and the afternoons are dedicated to learning more about the culture of Manakara. Today was a special occasion. I knew I wanted to write about him and let you all have a real person to pray for, so we interviewed him. We asked him all sorts of questions like, “what is your favorite movie?” It’s Pearl Harbor, if you were wondering. His favorite song is Voice of Truth by Casting Crowns and his favorite American food is chocolate chip cookies!

Mika has a quiet, meek (no pun intended) spirit, and absolutely loves the Lord above all things. He became a believer at 17 years old, which he said “God had already softened my heart towards the message, so it was easy for me to accept.” He now lives his life, providing for his family by teaching Malagasy. His real job, if you ask him, is to share Christ with everyone he meets. His dream job is to be a missionary, which I believe, he already is.

I asked Mika what he wants our friends (that’s you!) in America to know. He pondered the question for a few minutes and replied “give your life to Christ and live for him, don’t just say you’re a believer. Live every moment for Christ.”

I think we can all learn a lot from Mika. I know I already am! Learning what it looks like to be a missionary where God has you, in the job He has you in, the family you have, the friends you see every day, in everything you do. Mika is making a difference in Manakara, what are you doing to make a difference in Orlando, or wherever you live? Being a missionary isn’t always about going across a body of water. Being a missionary means riding your bike for 3 hours into the jungle to share Christ in a village that has never heard. Being a missionary is walking to your next door neighbor, knocking on the door, and sharing the hope that changed your life. Yes, we can all learn a lot from Mika.

He is our brother. He is part of our family. Now you have met our very dear friend and family member. The body of Christ in Manakara is growing, can you feel it?

Mika’s favorite Bible verse:

            “And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the Lord, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”                

Joshua 24:15

Matt- Is it a market or an auction?

     In the life of a privileged American, we tend to hit up Walmart, Meijer, Publix, Kroger, Winn-Dixie, etc. for our weekly groceries. Families designate 1 to 2 days out of their week for this endeavor and every once in a while there is the quick trip for milk or bread. We have grown to know this way of life for so long that we seem to forget how things are in most parts of the world. I say all of this to provide the comparison for what I'm about to speak on.....the Malagasy market.

     

     If you were to walk about 10 minutes from Kai's and my house, (F. Norbertine aka The Lion's Den aka Nklo Ya Mesume!!) you would run right into the heart of Manakara....the market. Between the times of 7am and 6pm you'll find most of the town's people bartering for their food and running between different sellers for better prices. Each day is chaotic as cars, pouce pouce drivers, and sellers crowd the few roads making it up. The smells are interesting, the food is fresh (I mean FRESH), and the people are many. Entering the market for the first time is overwhelming and it is hard to maintain composure in such small spaces. But once you get use to the way things work...you become accustomed to the chaos and call it home.

     Today was the first day Kai and I were able to venture into the market with a plan to buy groceries. As of yesterday our house was furnished with all the amenities needed to call it a home (furniture, appliances, etc.) So in a mood of excitement he and I decided to head straight for the market after language training. Within seconds of entering the place people had already spotted us and called us vazha's or 'foreigners'. With this specific title comes the tendency to overcharge us. Also, since most tourists who visit Madagascar are French, we were bombarded with "Bonjour", "Merci", etc. (French....the language we AREN'T studying). After getting past the language barrier we were able to meet with our vegetable sellers whom we befriended in the beginning. We try to purchase all of our vegetables in one area so that the sellers may give us the proper change without the hassle of searching for the right bills. In doing this, we were able to talk them down on certain items, since they received all our business (ex: we bought a pineapple today for 1000 Ariary or 45 cents, but it started out around 1500 or 2000). From there we had to travel between different vendors to find beef (killed and cut daily) and refrigerated items such as cheese or butter. When we didn't like one vendor or price or if they didn't have what we needed, we just went to the next one and talked them down or agreed on a price. After about 30 minutes in the chaos we got out with all the ingredients and cooked a home cooked meal of burgers and potato chips!!

     I would like to apologize for my long windedness (haha), but this is actually a daily task of our team as the food is never pre-mixed or made and ready to go. It truly has given each and every one of us an appreciation for the way in which our markets run in the U.S. and it has humbled many of us to see how the Malagasy people function. Keep a close eye on our blog as we continue to post throughout our week on our daily activities here in Manakara!

Kai - Settling in.

So, if you haven't figured it out yet, we're each picking a day of the week to create a blog post, then taking Saturday off.

I'm going to use this post to let you know what our living situation is like. We've had some questions like, "Are you living in tents?" or "Is living there hard?" But let me assure you, although we are certainly dealing with some differences, we aren't making huge sacrifices in our quality of life. Our houses both have running water (Not potable, and mostly not heated, except one shower in each house) and electricity. (Malagasy electrical engineering could use some work though…) 

As for the houses themselves, we were all impressed and surprised at the size and comfort of both houses.

The girls live in a nice house that apparently used to be inhabited by a German family, because there are still a few pictures in the bookcases, and they had an impressive collection of terrible VHS tapes in German. (Actual titles from this collection: American Tiger Ninja VI, Kickbox Terminator, and Ninja Invasion 2.) They have a small courtyard with a gate, and they have a guard to keep their little compound safe from anyone who might try to bother them. The house is really nice, with a double staircase in the front hall, a large living/dining room, and 2 toilets. Upstairs, Paige and Tiffany have their own bedrooms, and Laura and Dannielle share the 3rd.

The guys' house is owned by a local Chinese man, and isn't quite as classy as the girls', but we make up for it with an incredible view over a field of rice paddies. We have several bedrooms, but up until this afternoon, it was almost completely unfurnished. We've been sleeping on cots and focusing on trying to catch the rat living upstairs. It grew to an obsession, and we've been popping out of bed at 5 in the morning when we hear him scurrying up there, and running upstairs with brooms and flashlights to try getting him. We set a bunch of traps, but he is a master at getting the bait off without springing it. But this afternoon when we got home from church, we celebrated victoriously, because he was stuck in the mousetrap we bought at the local marketplace. We've been walking to the girls house each evening for dinner, but today the truck finally arrived with furniture for our house, including a refrigerator and stove for preparing food.

This week, we are still in language and culture studies as we prepare to start doing ministry here.The internet here is prepaid, so we need to monitor our bandwidth and how many photos we upload, but I'll try to get some photos of our houses up here asap.

See you next week!

Kai

Laura- It's Friday!

Salama!

Today, we got up earlier than usual (just 1 hour earlier for us girls) to watch the sunrise on the beach. We made it to the beach at 6:00 am. You’d think that most people would be in their beds at 6:00 am or getting ready for work. Well, here in Manakara the roads were bustling with people and the beach was filled with lots of activity. There were quite a few people running and doing circuits. There were some tourists taking pictures. And here’s the biggest surprise, there were hoards of children on the beach running and playing…at 6:00 am.

As the sun crept out of the Indian Ocean, we watched from the jetty as fishermen paddled their way out into the choppy waves in their wooden canoes. This reminded me of a scene out of Life of Pi. The fishermen were bathed in an orange glow from the larger than life sun. Absolutely spectacular. 

I didn’t think we could trump the sunrise this morning…BUT let me tell you, us girls, we are fabulous chefs, I mean we have to be. We prepare 3 meals a day from scratch. We headed straight to the market after the beach and bought plantains, bananas, pineapple, eggs, and bread all for under $5.00 US. The menu this morning: Scrambled eggs with onions, fried plantains, pineapple and banana salad, and sliced bread. It was a glorious feast; so glorious we just had to take a nap afterwards.

Speaking of food, a good portion of our day is dedicated to food. Going to the market is always an adventure between negotiating and attempting to avoid vazaha (rich people) prices and communicating with our limited, but growing Malagasy vocabulary. The produce at the market is glorious; it puts Whole Foods to shame. Everything is so fresh and tastes so good. Right now, we’re all going crazy over pineapple. It’s about $0.50 US for 1 pineapple! Coconut and bananas are awesome right now too!

That is all for now!

~Laura

 on the jetty

fisherman under the sun 

misty morning