Well Christmas and New Years were just about as far from home as one could possibly get, not just distance wise but experience wise as well. Though I missed my family and all our Christmas traditions this was by far the best way to spend Christmas if I couldn't spend it at home.
I spent Christmas on Madagascar's west coast in the city of Majunga. Instead of eggnog and wine I had THB (Madagascar's national beer, it is by far one of the 1st beers I have ever had in my life) and Gin and Tonics. Instead of lamb kabobs, sita rice and Christmas cookies we had French fries, la sary (a type of salad that is mostly grated carrots and vinegar) and all kinds of fried street food. Instead of opening Christmas presents and hanging out with the family we went swimming in Madagascar's largest swimming pool. It was really the only way to spend Christmas if I couldn't spend it with the family.
The day after Christmas I began the long trek back to site, I had promised I would be back at site for New Years and I wanted a day to rest before I had to start celebrating again. This is how I got back to site: went to the Taxi Brousse Station in Majunga at 5 am, waited until about 8 when the Taxi Brousse for Tana finally left, the trip back to Tana was pretty un eventful though also slightly scary. The windshield wipers decided to break and we got caught in a number of torrential downpours but instead of trying to fix them or pulling over or at least slowing down the driver just continued to barrel threw the storm - I closed my eyes- and some how we made it out all in one piece. We arrived in Tana around 7 pm made a quick dash to the grocery store so we would have something to eat smashed our fat white butts and large bags into the already over full mini van that serves as public transportation in Tana and headed to the flop house for the night. I was up again at 5 am to catch the Brousse to Brickaville. That ride was painful, it was horribly hot and only about 30 km before Brickaville the driver decided to stop for lunch, so I had to stand around and wait in the burning hot sun while he had lunch. I spent the night in Brickaville at a friend's house. While it had been in the 100's all day it decided to rain extremely hard that night and of course the roof that I was sleeping under decided to spring a lot of leaks. Lets just say I didn't get much sleep. I got on the boat from Brickaville to Anivorano around 8am and was back at site by 1. As always the boat ride was excruciatingly slow and hot, but I had made it only 2 days and 8 hrs later I was home.
New Years was a blast, the party lasted about 4 days. There was a lot of drinking and eating and visiting and dancing. There was also a lot of kissing. The tradition is to say Tratran taona (get caught up in the year) give three kisses on the cheek and then say Samy Tratran ouavy (and caught up in the next)/ I think there were at least a couple of young men who took advantage of the fact that I still have a hard time remembering people and kissed me more than once, it was fun none the less.
New Years also involved a lot of visiting friends and "family" you are expected to pretty much go and visit anyone you had ever exchange more than a simple hello with. At every stop the people you are visiting are required to supply you with drinks and snacks I was afloat by the time I was done visiting. I avoided the harder drinks for soda, the majority of my village indulged and spent the 1st week of the new year in a drunken daze or sleeping off their hang over. But then is that really all that different from home?