My Home Life in Madagascar, As Told by Snapchat

My Home Life in Madagascar, As Told by Snapchat from Darcy Rae Jacoby on Vimeo.


What is a typical day for you in Madagascar like? How is the weather? What are your living conditions? What do you do with your trash? How is your cat???

At last, all these questions answered and more! This compliation of Snapchat videos and pictures offers a short glimpse of my little hut-life on a normal day. But for real, what could depict my life better than on-the-scene footage through a social media app?

Amongst the musical ambiance and to-the-death battles, you'll see quite a few stand-out characters of my homestead, such as my trusty appliance Grandpa Stove, my comically ferocious feline, and various invasive creatures. All-in-all, the Snaps truly do speak for themselves to paint a true picture of my true life (except for the part about the narcotic effect of mangos, but wouldn't that be something?)

Darcy vs. Nature: The Mango Tree

I've had an interesting problem at my house lately. 

Mango tree branches hang 12 feet over my tin roof, and while raindrops pattering on a tin roof sound nice, big fat mangos hailing down on it do not. It is full into mango season right now, and I love mangos, but many of these looming tropical frenemies have been gracing me with their booming arrivals. Either the neighborhood kids shake the mangos down while I'm inside the house, which sounds like WWIII has descended upon me, or the mangos go unshaken and drop on their own in the middle of the night to wake me up. So I've been caught in a lose-lose situation... Until today. 

Ex"Site"ing Times

At last, after 10 weeks of training and one week of traveling, I am moved into my Peace Corps site where I will live for two years of service. Revealing the diversity of Madagascar, my site is quite different from the community I lived in during training. Fortunately, I am fond of these differences, and am rather excited to be in this region. What's it all like, you ask? Well, here's a glance at my new life:

Secret Police

It is nearly impossible to remember every person you meet the first few days after moving to a new place. This is true at least for my experience of installing at Peace Corps site. There are few people I actually remember meeting, and even fewer names that I can recall.  Yet, even in the blurred flood of names and faces, there is one encounter from my first week at site I will never forget. 

It was my third day in my new home. While sitting in my doorway doing laundry, I heard a "hodio!" called from my gate. In Madagascar, "hodio" is the equivalent to a knock, meaning "can I come in?" I looked and saw I man I hadn't met yet, so I went to meet him at my gate to see what he wanted. He seemed a bit strange, but not threatening, so I commenced speaking to him with the gate in between us. 

Cat's in the Bag

Covered in blue paint and weary from my toils, I sat down with the setting sun, thinking I was finished with a long day of painting my kitchen. Indeed, the painting for the day was over... but the day itself was far from it. In fact, the most eventful part of my day was just then walking in my back door. 

Four neighborhood school girls, some of my newest friends in this first week at Peace Corps site, eagerly entered my half-painted kitchen. 

By their timing and excitement, I knew they had come for more than a casual visit. We exchanged a few words in Malagasy, and I came to understand they had brought a gift for me. They presented a tied-up, nearly empty rice sack...but judging by the size and shape, whatever was inside certainly wasn't rice.