I.C.E. Club – Madagascar

We used to have it every second Saturday of the month but we had to put on stand by due to the unrest. It was with a great pleasure then that the ICE members had the first session of this year. With a new start and a new host, we knew it was going to be special. Dago, kindly accepted to receive us at her place.

After the meeting, we all ate at a Malagasy restaurant close to our room 11. I forgot its name but it has tasty and cheap food. The ICE members took a whole long table and ordered turn by turn what they wanted to eat. Then, we took a bus to go to Ankandindramamy. We were numerous enough to fill almost all the seats of the little taxi-be 135 lol. I saw on the conducteur’s face the smile of satisfaction.

We chose “Enchanted“, a choice that honestly didn’t motivate me at all. It is a mix of cartoon and musical at the same time. You know the Disney kind that girls adore. But it turn out to be interesting, englishly speaking (does that exist?). The story is kind of fairytale so the English spoken in it was a bit formal. The actors spoke slowly and clearly. I guess the guys could understand most of what they said. I chatted with Tija, a facebook friend, last week and she asked if we put subtitles when we watched movies. I said no. She made a good point tough. Subtitles can help members remember and properly write the words that they’re hearing. For our first MS we asked the guys if they’d like to have (English) subtitles and the answer was “no”. They said subtitles may attract more their attention than the dialogue thus they may miss the story. Pretty true.

At the end the movie, the girls were still glued on the screen hypnotized by prince Edward loool :p while the boys ate all the food lool :p Next time we’ll chose bloody film.

We’re working on a new photo gallery that we hope will be operational soon. Therefore, the only MS5 available photos are on our facebook gallery.

[View with PicLens]

Often, winter is related to some events depending which country or city you live in. In Madagascar, this season carries out some of the most important moments in Malagasy people’s life. Thus, I’ll try here to enumerate them knowing that I may miss some (important) points so I’ll be glad if you notice that in your comments.
The most common thing in winter season is the cold and fortunately (or unfortunately depending on each one) it doesn’t snow here. Usually, it starts in the middle of May till August and in this span the weather looks like this, the mornings and nights are cold but the rest is sometimes pretty warm. It may also rain when you happen to live those damn days.

Independence day

The “Anjely Mainty” at the lake Anosy by Ariniaina

Madagascar got its Independence on June 26, 1960 right in Winter. Since my childhood I’ve associated this season to this important day. On June 25, everybody goes out to have a lanterns parade. Lamps of different colors come out with “jiro kapoka”, a can in which you put a candle and that usually little boys play with like they were driving bikes. And while you are eating maskita (barbecue) around Mahamasina, for you must fill your belly unless you want to have gas, there’s a chance that your ears get blown by the explosion of “tsipopoka”.
Eventually, the moment everybody’s waiting for comes, the Fireworks start, launched from the “Anjely mainty”, it lights the lake like a huge umbrella of thousands of mini lamps and gives it a incredible merge of colors.

Exams and winter break
Not very exciting for students, this period is the exams’ one. The time to put in question what you’ve learned all through out the school year. Actually, the state makes you sit for official exams.
It’s often the time where you have lots of chocolate and gifts to encourage you, wish you good luck and also where your mom is always on you saying “Are you ready, do you know your lessons, how about maths and sutff”, you know what I mean. Your nervous till the D-day, eager to be through with it and enjoy your more than deserved hollidays. The winter break is called “Grandes vacances” here and it marks the end of the school year.

Circumcision
The circumcision is among our tranditions – may be due to the fact that most of the Malagasy people are christian, and is practiced in winter, it is believed that injuries heal more quickly during this season (I think it may be true). Families queue up very early in the morning at the doctor’s door step. The little boys are wearing “malabary”, it’s a kind of robe made of Malagasy clothe, and most of the time accompanied by their father and uncles. Once the operation is finished they go back home and he will be rewarded with toys and congratulations for his courage and because he’s become a real man. This is an important event in a Malagasy family life that they celebrate with joy and happiness.

We played this game at José’s place while waiting for the rain to calm down. In fact, we wanted to visit Croc Farm early in the morning but the rain spoiled the plan. José already proposed his place for taking lunch when we organized the outing so we went there to have a shelter and play some (crazy) games.

The goal of the game is simple, you take everything you’re wearing that could be tied up together. Then, you try to make with them the longest possible rope. It’s a team work. It’s at the same time a kind of race (you guys need to be quick) and strip tease :p (take all of them off). A judge, someone who obviously doesn’t play the game, will check the rope when a team is done.

You can also play it in two rounds. The first one, making the rope and undressing and the seconde one the opposite way. To spice it up, the players should not go find additional clothes when they are aware of the rules. If the only thing you’ve put on are a t-shirt and a pair of jean … then you’ll have to manage it. It’s also a way to see who’s boldest among you all.