Continuing on the Theme of Shakespeare: if all the world is a stage then these are some of the actors in my play.
Jean-Marie
Jean Marie is the secretary of the kohlorena that I am working with and one of my favorite people here. He is about 45, and originally hails from Tana. He moved to Anivorano about 7 years ago because he was looking for a place where he could practice his craft. Jean-Marie makes amazing complicated furniture out of bamboo; he has plans to mail me an entire household of furniture once the house is done to put the furniture in. It is amazing to watch him work, with nothing but a large knife a drill and a chisel he can quickly turn a couple of humble pieces of bamboo into a chair, table or pretty much any other piece of furniture you could imagine. Jean-Marie lives with a woman whose name I can never remember. He is estranged from his wife, who if I understand correctly his father forced him to marry when he was only 16 or 17. He has 4 children with her and they all live in Tana where they are going to school. Jean-Marie is perpetually short of money as he is supporting two households, but unlike most people around here he never complains about it or asks me to give him money he just continues to work hard and hope that eventually one day he will get ahead.
Julés
Julés is the president of the kohlorena and a true incarnation of a Betsimisaraka farmer. He is missing most of his teeth and doesn’t have a pinch of extra fat , he works hard but never harder than absolutely necessary. He enjoys his toka gasy (moonshine) and as I recently discovered is a pretty decent dancer. Sometimes I really like him and sometimes I don’t know what to think. I recently found out that he used some of the money that was meant to go towards building my house to buy a big pig, part of me was pissed as all get-up and part of me had a good laugh at how much my life feels like it comes straight out of a parody most days. But the house is getting built and he probably really needs that pig so for now I am going to let it go.
Richardo & The Band
Richardo is the eldest son of the mayor, 19, with dashing good looks (and all his teeth) he is very out going and was one of my 1st friends here. Richardo lives in Tamatave most of the time where he is studying at the Lycée (no high schools in town). Richardo is the lead singer in a band named after himself. His girlfriend and cousin are the backup singers and they are supported by an whole host of musicians. They are not particularly creative but make a fantastic cover band playing all the super popular Malagasy Pop hits which are great fun to dance to and they are a great group of people to hangout with.
Lola and her family
Lola is the mayor’s niece and secretary and has been here since day one, helping me out and breaking into my self imposed isolation when I was bored out of my mind but still wanted nothing more than to be left alone, but she knew better than I that what I really needed was people around. Lola is 28 and the eldest of 6 or 7, sometimes I have a hard time figuring out who belongs to who. One sister and possibly 2 brothers go to school in Tamatave. Lola was also studying in Tamatave until about a year ago when her father died and she had to come home and help support her family, so now she works so they can go to school. There is another sister who helps support the family and I am ashamed to say I have no idea what her name is. The two youngest are Julio, 7 and always getting into trouble and Papouse, who just turned 4, she is one of the sweetest little girls around, when the other kids drive me crazy she still makes me smile.
Adel
Adel is my stalker. Yes I have a female stalker. I would hope that I would at least rate a good-looking guy but apparently this is the best I can do. Adel is from Tamatave and works at the bank/credit union. She has been living in Anivorano for 2 years, hates it and doesn’t have any friends, says there is nothing to do there. Scarily she knows everything I do, who I talk to where I go etc.
The Mayor
What to say about David, the Mayor? Certain aspects I like and some I hate. He is kind and has a great extended family but he is also extremely demanding and a lot of people are afraid of him. He has also made promises that I will teach English without ever asking me how I felt about that (and I don’t really have any desire to teach English). He speaks extremely quickly and mumbles a lot so I have a lot of difficulty understanding him, and then he gets frustrated and tells me I need to study more, arrgh! He and Julés are political rivals, which makes my life difficult, and he never seems to be around when you need him.
The Bouncer
I don’t know what this man’s name is or what his job is, but he can always be found at town events carrying a big stick and whacking people who he thinks are out of line, child and adult alike. When there are dances this is the man who controls the door and at other events all he has to do is wave his stick around and the kids get out of the way fast. He fits the role of town bouncer well being one of the tallest people I have seen in this country and big and beefy, though he has a very kind face that belies his tendency to whack people really hard.
These are just some of the people I interact with everyday. There are all the vendors in the market who sell me my rice and veggies with a smile and cheerful “what’s new.” There are the hundreds of children who call my name wherever I go and drive me crazy coming into my room and breaking my stuff and asking me for candy. The young men you try to get in good by saying they want to learn English; not knowing that is one of the quickest ways to alienate me and the hundreds of villagers always wanting to know where I am going and what I am doing. They all make for an interesting and lively day.
You should write a book some day.