2007 April 1--Greetings

As it turns out, Elder S didn't actually E-mail this morning, because he couldn't figure out how to reconfigure the keyboard from French to English. The problem was he didn't tell me that until now. So here I am again, so I might as well write while I'm waiting. Here's a story ( sort of, more of an experience I guess) that actually happened the way I will tell it, I just thought it was kind of poetic the way it turned out.

The other day, as I walked down the street, I was greeted in 4 different ways;
The first to pass and say "hello" was an older woman, she said cheerfully, " Manahoana Tompoko!"
She called me " lord "
The second to pass by said just as happily, " Manahoana Namana!"
He called me " friend "
The third to greet me smiled as he said " Manahoana Rahalahy!"
He called me " brother "
But as I walked further, I anticipated the next to pass by and I began to say "manahoana....." but I was cut short,
He said simply, (and apathetically I might add), " salut "
He called me " Sally " (Editor's note: I wrote back to Toby reminding him that "salut" is "hi" in French. He told me he knew that but that the way the Malagasy's pronounce "salut" sounds a lot like Sally.")

But I don't know why he said that, I mean...... I don't even look like a " Sally ," do I?
Furthermore, to anyone even remotely familiar with what French people look like, I really don't look at all like a French person either.

It used to bother me a little bit that I was associated with my least favorite European Nationality. I honestly wouldn't mind if they thought I was from anywhere else. I love it when they try to say " Guten Tag!" or " Welkommen", I've even gotten an "hola" once or twice. But now I've even developed a respect for the French that I have not had before. And this is due to the association I've had with Elder Prouteau, President Gaya (who is technically Spanish, New Caledonian, that grew up in France), and Soeur Gaya. Elder Prouteau is quite possibly one of my Favorite Elders in this mission, and I feel lucky that I got to be in the Empty Sea with him and spend the first 2 months in the country in the same house. I've also come to really respect President Gaya with a respect that goes beyond the mandatory respect of authority, I genuinely look up to him as a person. Soeur Gaya is a hilarious French woman who likes things to be clean, so basically this country is kind of a slap in the face for that particular personality trait, but I admire the effort she puts forth. She couldn't speak English that well when she arrived (frankly neither could President, and Prouteau's first words to me at the MTC were " I"m sorry, but I don't understand" So I guess they've all come lengths and strides), but she's come a long way.

So, I've decided that since I've almost been on the mission a year now, I have started studying French because there is a lot of French people I've met here, but I can't really hold I conversation with them. It's actually a lot easier than Malagasy was (I’m still learning Malagasy). And in the words of Elder Prouteau, after I had unloaded all the French I knew on him, he said " Wow, you sound French man, but you can't speak it" this was after telling elder Jenson, who can speak French, " you are really good at French, but your accent is terrible" Gotta love the French. Anyway, I'm excited to really start learning French, because I have the time and the means to do so, it's a worthy undertaking I think, and frankly, everybody thinks that I'm French anyway, so why not?

Ok, enough of that.

I just remembered, I can get pomegranates here, and Basamiti rice, and yogurt and cucumbers and ... well, I think you may know where I'm going with this. Anyway, I was wondering if there was anyway you could transpose what ever it is you do when cooking Persian food onto paper so that I could try to cook it some time in the future for a special occasion :) Specifically Fasanjan? and how to prepare the rice. Just a thought. or more of a request really I guess.

Well, other than that, life's good, today I taught S a few tips for how to argue down a price, which I think he appreciated. He had been trying to get a hat for a specific price, but they wouldn't budge, and he started getting a little frustrated, but then I started talking with them and was able to get the price down to where he wanted it pretty quickly. So I think he appreciated that too.

Love ya,
veloma!

Elder Draper