Deliveries and Dancing and Weddings

So in one week I watched three births…out of nine! I just quietly stood in the back and hoped no one asked me to do anything. The first birth was a difficult one, although what delivery isn’t? I’m not sure how many hours the woman was in labor but once she started pushing, the baby was out within 45 minutes. The midwife delivered the baby in her regular street clothes and flip flops. The friends and family of the woman were changing buckets of water and cloths…while barefoot. There was no option of an epidural and if the mother needed an emergency cesarean section, she would have had to get a taxi to the banking town which is 2-3 hours away. There were some difficulties when the baby came out as he wasn’t breathing. The doctor stepped in and worked his magic for a few tense minutes until the baby finally opened his eyes and began to cry. The baby weighed in at a healthy 5.1 kg! The other two births I watched went much smoother and were both girls. Also, none of the women made a single noise during their labor. I felt bad watching in the corner but the family would joke with me about how big my eyes were as I watched. There have been births since that week but have taken place at night or when I’m at my fokontany. I’m sure I’ll see plenty more in my two years.

One Sunday when I was attending church, I got called up front. I didn’t realize I was called up until the nice family I was sitting with urged me to stand up. I shook my head and said I was embarrassed-there were over 300 people there! The pastor called up the elderly to pay respect and then finally someone came and pulled me up front. As soon as I stood, everyone clapped and thanked me for my service. The pastor handed me the microphone. I paused for a minute and took a deep breath before speaking. I introduced myself and explained my purpose…in Malagasy…in front of 300 people. Then they put on music and had me dance with the elderly people! All I kept thinking was, ‘Now dance for us!’ The rest of the week, all the community members told me how they either watched my performance or heard about it. They did tell me how happy they were to see me dance with the other Malagasy and I just hope they were laughing with me, not at me.

I recently attended a Malagasy wedding. It worked out because I met the couple on a Monday afternoon, was invited to the wedding on Tuesday morning which took place on that Friday. I attended the wedding with my doctor, pharmacist, and one of the midwives. However I was very confused because they kept telling me that the wedding wouldn’t take place until August and they would throw another fete then. What took place on the Friday was the sorotra or civil marriage. Everyone was still wearing wedding attire, the pastor attended and spoke for a while, everyone ate lunch, and there was dancing. At one point the DJ announced that I would dance in front of everyone. I thought, ‘what!? Not alone!’ So two young girls danced with me for a few songs while everyone giggled at my moves. When I sat down, I was assured that I was ‘mahay mandihi’ (good at dancing). I’m going to have to get over this fear of dancing in front of people quick (I know I was a dance teacher but this is not choreographed jazz dancing!).

You know you’re a PCV when:
-You’ve literally swept chickens out of your yard
-On beautiful, sunny days you think, ‘What a perfect day for laundry!’