80% of the island's flora and fauna are only found in Madagascar including lemurs (a primate related to monkeys) and the rose periwinkle plant which is the source of 2 anticancer drugs.
The 2 official languages of Madagascar are Malagasy and French. Malagasy is a mixture of Indonesian, Bantu, Arabic, and Malaysian.
Some famous Malagasy proverbs:
"Even one grasshopper is to be shared." Malagasy are prone to share, no matter what little they have.
"Foolish is he who is not better educated than his father."
"Without ancestors, the living would not exist; and without the living, ancestors would be forgotten." One way that the hearts of the children turn to their fathers is in the Famadihana tradition (turning of the bones): a family exhumes an ancestor's body to wrap it in a new red burial shroud. This is a joyous celebration with a feast and traditional music; it represents the continuity of life.
The capital of Madagascar is Antananarivo. Arivo means 1000. So Antananarivo means "city of the thousand." Actually, now there are over 2 million inhabitants.
I am sure you are already practicing your French! It sounds like an amazing place to be! Enjoy!
ReplyDelete