#Bloggingabroad
Written on 2/12/2016
My New Normal
“Miandry fa Gasy” We wait because we are Malagasy.
When I first heard this phrase, it was my second month at site (5th month total in Madagascar) and I was rolling my eyes at the phone store because I had been waiting for twenty minutes with my counterpart to get a new phone. My counterpart looked at me and said “I’m used to waiting. Miandry fa gasy.” I laughed and said I don’t think I will ever be used to waiting forever for something that usually only takes a few minutes.
I was wrong.
My patience today is similar to the patience I would assume Buddhist priests have. I could wait for hours for something that takes five minutes to produce. I count on waiting, I plan waiting into my day. Waiting has become a part of my everyday life.
This coming from an American who would get frustrated if my Starbucks coffee was taking longer than 5 minutes..oh..how times have changed.
I first noticed this change when I went home for the holidays. My family and I were at a hotel in Chicago and it was taking a while for our name to be called to check in. My dad was getting frustrated and said he was going to go up and talk to the woman at the counter, “Dad, it’s only been like fourty minutes!,” I said. He and my brother looked at me like I was crazy. I thought about it, laughed and thought to myself, “Miandry fa gasy”
This new found patience has made me much more comfortable here in Madagascar. Instead of impatiently tapping my foot in a line, I stir up a small conversation. Waiting happens, waiting is a part of life. But that time waiting doesn’t have to be wasted time. You can make a new friend, learn a new word, ponder life and all its complexities...
It’s just waiting. Miandry fa gasy.
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