So yesterday I had the worst and best experience thus far of my adventure here in madagascar, all in one day! In the morning I woke up to go teach at 7am and noticed that there was an assembly going on by the office of the school. All of the students were lined up outside, military style, listening to the Proviseur, head principal, give announcements. He said that the new stairs that were being built were almost finished, and that the people from a small island just off the coast of Madagascar, called Reunion, were going to play a basketball game against the teachers that afternoon. He then pointed at me and said I would be playing... and since I was an American that the other team was really scared of me because I am really good. Ha.. luckily, I actually know how to play. Then he had one of the older women teachers come up to the microphone and she called out a boy's name to come up to the top balcony. I thought he was going to be rewarded for something. But, instead he was pulled by the ear and then smacked across the head by the Proviseur. Evidently he had seen this teacher in the market, FAR FROM THE HIGH SCHOOL, and he had not said hi to her, or addressed her. Then they called out to the student crowd for the girl that was with him while he commited this act of disrespect. She shyly came up the stairs and the seemingly nice old lady wound up and slapped her across the face. This was in front of the entire school. I almost started crying. I was shocked, appauled, scared... and felt so bad for these students. I could not believe that they were hitting the students.. and for such a stupid reason. Imagine seeing one of your teachers outside of school, like at the grocery store and not saying hi, and getting to school the next day to be hit by the principal or that teacher. Its just crazy. People here think its ok to hit kids.. and they don’t understand why it upsets me so much. So after that I went to my class to teach.. and still shaken up I promised them that I would NEVER ever hit them.
That afternoon, I donned the school bball uniform and headed the outdoor court which is basically a big field of sand and dirt. The boundary lines were made of buried bricks and the hoops were just metal rigs attached to wooded backboards. The entire school was there to watch... I’m talking about 2500 students and 50 teachers. Probably the biggest crowd I”ve ever played in front of in my life. All of my students were there watching my every move. It was amazing though. Compared to them, I was Michael Jordan. As the only girl playing... I made sure to show that I could play the same or better than any male there to show the girls a little American gender equality! Ha! So, without braggin too much, I had a lot of assists, steals, and points, and I am now known as the basketball star in our school. Our team won easily and all of my students have a little more respect for me, which is kinda cool and kinda crazy. I am definitely settled here now and loving it, despite some of the things that are hard to understand culturally.
