September 6, 2007
Leah flagged down a white SUV in front of Ankarafantsika NP. Two guys working for an import/export company agreed to let us join them for the two hour drive to Majunga. We tried to give them money, but they said they had to drive there for work anyway and that other people had been nice to them on the road, so now it was their turn.
Briefly, Majunga (officially known as Mahajanga, however like most cities in Madagascar the proper name is rarely used) is a large city on the northwest coast, boasts the biggest baobab tree in the country and has a long, newly re-built boardwalk (after a cyclone destroyed the old one), friendly locals, a sizable expat community and plenty of tourists, both Gasy and Western. With all the tourists you may think the setting is ideal, but it's not. It's scorchingly hot during the day and muggy. And, the sea looks unappealing in two opaque colors: brown and grey-green.
At the end of our visit to Ankarafantsika, you may recall, we met a group of teens in a summer program who had expressed interest in improving their English. Since we were on our way to Majunga next, we agreed to give some English lessons as part of their summer program. On our first day in Majunga we called Jules, one of the kids who has exceptional English, to set up teaching times. Jules and two of his friends, David and Rado, met us right away at the baobab (really, it's massive and unmistakable) and gave us a tour of the town.
They were so nice, we've seen them everyday since. Usually, they drop in at our hotel and we all walk around the boardwalk for a few hours practising English. Often, David and Rado walk on either side of Leah, so that each can hear her equally; they've named themselves her bodyguards. Leah and I learn about Madagascar, albeit from a teen's perspective. Before coming to Majunga, I never realized how little I knew about the WWF (the World Wrestling Federation). Apparently, an important figure in this drama, among many others, is a character named John Cena:
I first saw the name on the brousse ride to Toamasina. A young man climbed into the brousse wearing jeans, a black, John Cena T-shirt, a gold chain and a serious expression on his face. Undermining his outfit and expression was his Cinnabon sun visor. (Americans donate the most unlikely clothing and much of it ends up in Africa. Sadly, I am told that clothing is often donated to retailers, who sell the items to the poor. But, that's another post.) I noted the name at the time, since 'cena' is an Italian word, for 'dinner', if I remember correctly. Since then, we've seen lots of Cena clothing.
Along with WWF, Hollywood action films and rap music rounds out most of the teens' understanding of American culture. Which reminds me of two points. One, the dialog in action films is largely terrible. I appreciate this strays from the purpose of the genre, but with all that money couldn't there also be good writing? And two, rap music, on the whole, is terribly misogynistic and the 'slang' so thick as to be nonsense. But we translate as best we can, although, we include caveats and warn that vulgarity is often used by those who are unable (or unwilling) to express themselves in a less trite manner.
We taught on our second and third days here. There were around 15 students in class, each with a wildly different level of experience with English. We had them do introductions, played word games and tried to get them moving around and talking with each other so they wouldn't fall asleep in the heat. It was rewarding. But mostly, it was exhausting.
But we've had excellent teachers, who were nice to us in the past and now it was our turn.
