Three Times the Malagasy Nailed Texan Lifestyle

As Texas is globally famous, I often entertain humorous conversations with people when they find out I hail from the great Lone Star State. Most people naturally turn the topic to core Texas stereotypes, such as cowboys and guns, or whatever they have seen in the movies. Some people, however, seem to have a broader understanding of Texas culture, and their ideas about Texas are hilariously accurate. Such Malagasy people thus nailed Texan lifestyle...


1) When they understood the love for steak and BBQ...

Neighbor: Where are you going?

Me: I'm going to the market to buy meat. 

Neighbor: You really like eating meat. Is it because you're from Texas?

I'm sure there's a few vegetarians in Austin or something, but otherwise... Yes. Nailed it. (We're not the largest beef cattle producing state for nothing!)

2) When they totally comprehended the capricious nature of Texas weather...

Friend: Does the weather today feel hot to you?

Me: Yeah, it does feel hot. 

Friend: Yeah, it's hot every day here. But in Texas the weather is hot-cold-hot-cold?

Cold today and hot tomorrow... Or, as I would say, chili today and hot tamale. Yeah, you nailed it!

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. 

Laughing Linguistics

Learning a new language takes patience and practice. The process of mastering foreign tongue is often challenging, frustrating, confusing, and exasperating. My experience of learning Malagasy is no exception. Fortunately, however, in my plight of this arduous task I have encountered moments of happy sunshine beaming through in the forms of hilarious-sounding vocabulary and phrases. Even more fortunately, enough of this candescent hilarity has occurred to inspire a list of my 10 favorite Malagasy words to say, which I now present. I am also sharing 10 of my favorite Malagasy proverbs (in their English translations), which I value for both humor and wisdom.


My favorite Malagasy words

» Adaladala (ah-dahlla-dahlla): adj. Kind of crazy

» Migaka (me-gack-ah): v. To drink (Antakarana dialect)

» Madinky (ma-dinky): adj. Small or Tiny (Antakarana dialect)

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: