Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Tamatave!
Monday, July 18, 2011
Transfer to Tamatave!!!
Hey mom!
Sorry I haven't taken any pictures yet I just couldn't because of everything that has been happening, but I promise I will send you a bunch next p-day! It's not like I am being lazy about it, just the only times that I could take pictures, well I left my camera at home so it wouldn't get stolen and blah, because that is probably the best thing to leave it at home if I were going to leave it in my back pack unsupervised.
So this past week was awesome! Well since in my old area there is the Norwegian embassy I went there last week, and also the Thai embassy and there is a lot of cool things there. I also went to a place that is kinda like a Chinese version of an American fast food place and have been just doing whatever until I got here.
So yeah, I visited quite a few people before I left Ankorondrano, I love the people there. A lot of them were sad to see me go, but they wished me the best of luck here in Tamatave. It was sad to say good bye, but oh well, I may or may not see them again in the next year and a half, but it was fun, and I got a good bye book for them to write a little something and so I can keep in contact with them in the future, since Malagasies never ever change houses. So that was my good bye to them, and a few wanted to write me letters after I leave so that is what I am going to do.
So what else, well I got here on Thursday, after a long 350km bus ride... it seemed like it dragged on forever, which I guess it did because we left at 7:45 and finally got here to Tamatave at 3:45, only stopping about 30 minutes for lunch. So for a couple hundred miles, that was a long time! It is only like the distance between our house and San Francisco! Well the sad part is, I slept a lot of the ride because I had a head ache, but for the parts I was awake, I saw a lot of people living really simple lives, like in the pictures I sent you a week agoish, and a lot of other cool sites. Madagascar is a lot prettier than the valley of California for sure! There were so many things I was able to see and everything, so I was happy. I just didn't take any pictures because I had the dreaded aisle seat.
Okay, so my new companion is Elder Foster. I also live with a malagasy albaino, a scottish guy ( We both play the same guitar stuff ) Elder Wall, and Elder Galeai. That is my new house!
So yeah the place here is so much different than Tana, in Tana, everyone is poor, begs you for money, and is just disrespectful of anything that isn't themselves. Whereas here, it is awesome because everyone is so nice to everyone, and people are more open to talk to you, and actually pay attention to you when you speak Malagasy. I really love it here! I met someone named Bema, which sounds like their cheese named teama here, so I started calling him Fromage, and he started calling me Mananasy (pineapple) which comes from the French word ananas, which Bryan would know. The houses here are way different, everyone has a decent sized house, and isn't crammed into something the size of a closet, they live pretty comfortably.
So something cool, I met with the branch president here in Morarano (haha, both of my areas have been talking about water, first at the water front, Ankorondrano, then slow waters, Morarano) and guess what! HE IS THE BEST! I love it! Since people not getting married is a problem here, since it is so hard, the missionaries have a hard time baptizing couples, but he is getting the branch missionaries to help us with everything so we can get people baptized and good to go! It is awesome! And now we actually have people that help us teach, unlike in Ankorondrano where everyone saw it as a chore, people here want to help as much as possible!
Well, I think that is it for today, we well see what happens this week. I am going to go to a market today, and I will try to take pictures this week so you have something to see next time!
The weather here is pretty warm, I would say 75-85 degrees when it isn't raining... but it rains a lot.
I haven't gotten anything since the package with the Yoshi Shirt, and I won't get anything until people drive up here to drop off stuff, which will be a couple weeks. that is the only bad thing that sucks about being out here, is that I don't get anything till people come out, but I got the Journals Jamie sent so tell her thanks,and I guess that's it...
Sorry I haven't taken any pictures yet I just couldn't because of everything that has been happening, but I promise I will send you a bunch next p-day! It's not like I am being lazy about it, just the only times that I could take pictures, well I left my camera at home so it wouldn't get stolen and blah, because that is probably the best thing to leave it at home if I were going to leave it in my back pack unsupervised.
So this past week was awesome! Well since in my old area there is the Norwegian embassy I went there last week, and also the Thai embassy and there is a lot of cool things there. I also went to a place that is kinda like a Chinese version of an American fast food place and have been just doing whatever until I got here.
So yeah, I visited quite a few people before I left Ankorondrano, I love the people there. A lot of them were sad to see me go, but they wished me the best of luck here in Tamatave. It was sad to say good bye, but oh well, I may or may not see them again in the next year and a half, but it was fun, and I got a good bye book for them to write a little something and so I can keep in contact with them in the future, since Malagasies never ever change houses. So that was my good bye to them, and a few wanted to write me letters after I leave so that is what I am going to do.
So what else, well I got here on Thursday, after a long 350km bus ride... it seemed like it dragged on forever, which I guess it did because we left at 7:45 and finally got here to Tamatave at 3:45, only stopping about 30 minutes for lunch. So for a couple hundred miles, that was a long time! It is only like the distance between our house and San Francisco! Well the sad part is, I slept a lot of the ride because I had a head ache, but for the parts I was awake, I saw a lot of people living really simple lives, like in the pictures I sent you a week agoish, and a lot of other cool sites. Madagascar is a lot prettier than the valley of California for sure! There were so many things I was able to see and everything, so I was happy. I just didn't take any pictures because I had the dreaded aisle seat.
Okay, so my new companion is Elder Foster. I also live with a malagasy albaino, a scottish guy ( We both play the same guitar stuff ) Elder Wall, and Elder Galeai. That is my new house!
So yeah the place here is so much different than Tana, in Tana, everyone is poor, begs you for money, and is just disrespectful of anything that isn't themselves. Whereas here, it is awesome because everyone is so nice to everyone, and people are more open to talk to you, and actually pay attention to you when you speak Malagasy. I really love it here! I met someone named Bema, which sounds like their cheese named teama here, so I started calling him Fromage, and he started calling me Mananasy (pineapple) which comes from the French word ananas, which Bryan would know. The houses here are way different, everyone has a decent sized house, and isn't crammed into something the size of a closet, they live pretty comfortably.
So something cool, I met with the branch president here in Morarano (haha, both of my areas have been talking about water, first at the water front, Ankorondrano, then slow waters, Morarano) and guess what! HE IS THE BEST! I love it! Since people not getting married is a problem here, since it is so hard, the missionaries have a hard time baptizing couples, but he is getting the branch missionaries to help us with everything so we can get people baptized and good to go! It is awesome! And now we actually have people that help us teach, unlike in Ankorondrano where everyone saw it as a chore, people here want to help as much as possible!
Well, I think that is it for today, we well see what happens this week. I am going to go to a market today, and I will try to take pictures this week so you have something to see next time!
The weather here is pretty warm, I would say 75-85 degrees when it isn't raining... but it rains a lot.
I haven't gotten anything since the package with the Yoshi Shirt, and I won't get anything until people drive up here to drop off stuff, which will be a couple weeks. that is the only bad thing that sucks about being out here, is that I don't get anything till people come out, but I got the Journals Jamie sent so tell her thanks,and I guess that's it...
Love, Elder Nash
THE FOLLOWING IS A LETTER SENT TO ADAM'S SISTER....IT'S JUST ADAM BEING ADAM!
Whoa, there was a lot of things I had to read twice, but that is because I am just worse at english now, I really am warping into a malagasy minded person, I want to say things their way and have to focus just to say it the correct way! hahaha how funny!
Man it seems like it is changing a lot out there, I am probably going to be amazed about all the things out there! And if you take me to Denios I will try to argue in Malagasy with the people... but in America they would just punch you, where as here making fun of drunk people is the way to go. There was a drunk guy that was talking to me but all I would say to him is: I don't understand in Malagasy. So no matter what he said, I said that, he told me I was good, I don't understand, he told me I understood him, I don't understand, he told me that I needed to talk to him, the people next to me said he's gonna say it!!! Then I said I don't understand... everyone was laughing but him hahaha and then I turned to some people, started talking to them in Malagasy, he talked to me and I turned back to him and just said I don't understand :D He just started saying: Too much tsy azoko!!! too mucho tsy azoko!!!! and I would just say, I don't understand, or tsy azoko. Funny stuff huh?
Man it seems like it is changing a lot out there, I am probably going to be amazed about all the things out there! And if you take me to Denios I will try to argue in Malagasy with the people... but in America they would just punch you, where as here making fun of drunk people is the way to go. There was a drunk guy that was talking to me but all I would say to him is: I don't understand in Malagasy. So no matter what he said, I said that, he told me I was good, I don't understand, he told me I understood him, I don't understand, he told me that I needed to talk to him, the people next to me said he's gonna say it!!! Then I said I don't understand... everyone was laughing but him hahaha and then I turned to some people, started talking to them in Malagasy, he talked to me and I turned back to him and just said I don't understand :D He just started saying: Too much tsy azoko!!! too mucho tsy azoko!!!! and I would just say, I don't understand, or tsy azoko. Funny stuff huh?
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
So sunday the deaf guy came again! So this time he taught me more signlanguage, AND I had to translate for him when he bore his testimony! I was so freaking scared! He kept telling me thank you so much, and that God helps me with it because I am a missionary. I really like him, and I wish I knew signlanguage, but really I am not that good, and malagasy signlanguage is nothing like any other kind, since malagasy isn't anything like english. It's a whole different way of thinking! crazy huh? Your son can communicate with deaf people in madagascar now, just not really really well.
At our ampefy trip (I saw a road sign and realized I spelt it wrong in the last email) we had a lot of fun. I saw that huge waterfall and some gysers. I really enjoyed it and I saw how people live without electricity! It was really cool!
The people were actually really surprised at the gysers! They had rarely if ever seen white people before, then when they saw some that spoke their language they were even more shocked! They gave me a piece of sugarcane which tastes really good by the way! It's called fary here (fah-ree but the r is flicked a little) which was really really cool!
Also, back at the water fall, I was attacked by souvenir sellers, so right before I got in the car to go to the gysers, a little girl asked me if I wanted to by one, so I started asking her prices, and this is how our conversation went:
Free!
No
10 ariary
no
20
no
30
no
50
no
100
no
200,000
no.... yes!
and I laughed because she told me that 200000 wasn't enough money for a souvenir, which was pretty funny! she was a little bitter about it, but thery sold a lot of souvenirs to other missionaries so I didn't feel too bad.
That's about all I have, there are a lot of pictures, but that's it. I will write more next week!
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