10 Things I Saw At a Mahafaly Funeral






Today, Grant returned from a short trip to the bush. He was invited to a Mahafaly funeral, in a hidden village. He did not have a friend with him to help with translation, so he had a tough time picking up a lot of what was going on. So he spent the day observing the event. He did not stay in town for the burial (which will be today), but was there for the pre-party...where everyone comes from all over and celebrates. It is like a giant family reunion (with a whole lot of alcohol)! Here are ten interesting things he saw:

1. The place was like an arsenal: I have never seen so many guns, spears, knives, and clubs
2. The little kids were drinking as much as the adults
3. Although we were out in the middle of the bush, they had hired a band (complete with an electric guitar and speakers) to play at the funeral-they must have had a generator
4. Lots of dancing, but the men and women didn't dance with each other-though, one man danced with his cow, holding it by its horns :)
5. It's good to be a fokontany (a leader of the area)-everyone had to bring him a gift to get into the festivities! (I gave him a coke-it was a big hit)
6. The older men would clean the guns for the young boys to shoot-but it seems they were always shooting blanks
7. One lady danced with a sewing machine on her head
8. The men found pleasure in shooting blanks at the cows hooves to watch them jump
9. Lots of ring-tailed lemurs in this part of the bush (the Mahafaly can even catch them!)
10. Amazingly, the babies could sleep through the persistent firing of guns!

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