Mind blown.

I have no expectations. I see the world as new everyday.

The idea alone of basking in hot springs in the wilderness in Madagascar made me feel like a goddess. Dipping in steamy mineral pools was exactly what I craved after a month of intense language and cross cultural training. When we finished our month of living with our home-stay families, we went on a technical trip in Antsirabe, the second largest city in Madagascar to visit schools, organizations, and to basically breathe. We were told there were hot springs in Antsirabe and headed for them as soon as we had an open time slot in our schedule.  If this is what some wells look like in this country, I couldn’t wait to see what sort of magical place the hot springs would be.

I was super excited. I  anticipated relaxing my back and having time to appreciate the outdoors in a steamy pool so much so that I CHECKED OUT OF REALITY for about 15 minutes. In the meanwhile, we had parked in front of a big European looking building, paid 1000 Ariary each, and sat inside an area and waited. I was still mentally checked out. I failed to realize that my outdoor experience was turning into an indoor mystery. My friends and I waited patiently when a frantic man called off numbers in French. Then he pulled my arm and signaled me to follow him. I wondered why my friends were left behind as I was rushed into a room with a tub and a woman pulled the plug to fill it with water. Ahhhh! Ha ha! Not quite what I expected. I had imagined soaking in a pool not only OUTDOORS, but also certainly with the company of my friends. I quickly asked if it was ok if two or three namana (friends) could possibly be together in Malagassy. The man rushed out.  It worked! Charlotte was pulled into my room and we laughed hysterically as we both sat in our hot bathtub. I wonder whose  ridiculous idea it was to enclose the springs. A third friend joined us in our tub. We overflowed it and had to be shown how to drain the tub. When the woman walked in and saw three “vazaha” (foreign) girls with our feet hanging out from the tub, she giggled a little. I hadn’t laughed so loud in a long time. And soaking in spring water is always relaxing, even if it is in a bathtub 

I was lost in the colors  of the abundance of fruit at the market when I curiously walked behind into the depths of the big market. Charlotte was shopping for basket hangings. I bought a pineapple and the vendor sliced open a passionfruit and handed it to me. There I was, mindblown, savoring a passion fruit in my mouth for the very first time. It was AMAZING! We went back everyday for the remaining days we had in Antsirabe to buy passionfruit. We had street food for lunch at the market and even prayed as people smiled and watched in curiosity at the two vazah (foreign) girls who admired the richness of the market and found market Nenys (moms) who greeted us everyday. I felt like a visitor at times in Antsirabe, rather than a tourist. Ironically, the Internet cafe was across the street from the market. There, I had the luxury of posting my first two blogs at while I sipped on South African red wine.

I enjoyed exploring the market world in the city. I loved walking around the streets just to see what sorts of food was sold, and what else was  around. It was fun and great to be able to  practice speaking Malagasy every time I got. The more we inquired about the individuality of each person by  asking what their name was, deferring the statement of “bonjour vazaha,” the less we were viewed as foreigners.