My Christmas Abroad

                   My Christmas in Madagascar was something different from what I knew of. Because Madagascar is located in the southern hemisphere near the equator, snow never falls and December is in the middle of the rainy season in Madagascar. No snow and no coldness. Even as I was decorating my Christmas tree, I could not have the feeling that Christmas was approaching. However, my second Christmas in Madagascar became the most exciting Christmas of all Christmas I have ever had abroad.

                   That year, my friend’s family and my family decided to go to Ampefy, a tourist site famous for its hot spring and geyser. We used cars to go there, and the trip seemed to be going smoothly, until we reached to the end of the suburbs of Antananarivo, the capital city. Unfortunately, it was raining heavily on the day before and the unpaved road was sloppy. Even my family’s car, which was a 4WD, lost against the muddy road and became unable to move. All of us excluding the drivers got off the car for the time being and made some effort trying to push the car, but there was nothing we could do as the car stubbornly refused to move.

We were all completely at our wits’ end, but a miracle happened. All of a sudden about 15 people came out from nowhere and gathered around our cars. Our family’s driver said something to them in Malagasy and one man stepped forward and exchanged some words with him. At once, the crowd started to push our car. Dynamically splashing the mud, our cars finally started to move. I was quite moved by those altruistic people, who helped a strange foreigner in a trouble. However the crowd’s real intention was revealed when they gathered around the car for the second time. This time, they were sticking their hands towards the passenger’s seat, demanding some tips of money for their work. I learnt that act of kindness is not always offered for free.

My friend and I had a lot of fun at Ampefy, where we happened to meet our friend and his family. The geyser was sulfuric, and everyone’s hair became extremely stiff. I never had my hair that stiff since that day. I struggled for over 10 minutes in the shower to get rid of the stiffness by reiterating shampoo and hair conditioner. We also ate dinner together, as our friend was departing Ampefy the following morning.

I could not have a typical Christmas-like event in Madagascar, but my Christmas at Ampefy was a memorable one which I can still recall vividly. I hope I would be able to have a wonderful Christmas this year as well.