The first stop was to get some of my US currency exchanged
over to Malagasy Francs (FMGs). The exchange rate is 1 US
dollar = 10,000 FMGs. The largest bill they have here is
for 50,000 FMGs, the equivalent of 5 US dollars. So when
I changed my money over, I walked out with q huge brick
of Malagasy money. I felt like it should’ve been in a briefcase
handcuffed to my wrist. I guess it is just one sign of the
huge difference between our economy and the one here in
Madagascar.
Out on the street, people are always trying to sell us
things, fro, strawberries to Malagasy flags. We definitely
stick out as vazas (Malagasy for foreigner) because we are
the only white people around. This makes the vendors try
even harder to sell us stuff.
Women are carrying HUGE baskets on their heads just by
balancing them with no help from their hands. Their ability
to balance such heavy loads while walking barefoot through
busy city streets is amazing. Some men pull carts called
“pus pus” loaded with people of goods like I’m used to seeing
horses draw carts. The men are also barefoot.
The part of Tana that really shocked me was a neighborhood
that ran parallel to a water drainage ditch. The people
live in tiny huts with aluminum roofs, in very tight quarters
to their neighbors. I saw a man going to the bathroom near
the ditch; in broad daylight, while children were playing
nearby. This apparently horrible hygiene problem is shocking
and sad to me as an outsider, but it seems normal to the
people passing in the street. Just one example of how different
everyday life is here in Madagascar compared to our Western
lifestyle.
