Jul3rd2007

RSM DC 2007

Well I attended my first RSM and enjoyed myself tremendously. I certainly have the hoarse voice to show for it.The event was masterfully organized by competent and cheerful Farrah M, Bakoly R, and a whole team that worked so well behind the scenes that no glitch happened and you would have never known that a team of youngish amateurs put together the 500 + people event ! They managed to feed the whole stadium lunch (sandwiches and sambosas for everyone!) and a delicious sit down dinner (ravitoto, vary maina, akoho ritra, lasary, cake, …), professionally catered by Embassy Chef Nina and everything for free of course.

This is America, land of the opportunists, and I hope the RSM stays what it is : a mainly familial like event. Not an event where some hope to strike it rich by overcharging for food or anything, fihavanana notwithstanding.

There was free bottled water, free watermelon and oranges for anyone during the games. The atmosphere was very informal and friendly, none of the showing off some might find the Gasy guilty of.

I enjoyed listening to the Canadian kids speak French with the Canadian accent, and the US kids speak English while cheerleading. Funny how kids speak the environment’s language among themselves and Malagasy with their parents.
The Canadian contingent arrived very numerous and amazingly fresh after the 10+ hour drive. There was an Ottawan team and a Montreal team. My opinion is that they reflect the younger Malagasies that are in Canada. They dominated the Volleyball and Soccer tournament. Apparently they play in leagues in Canada too and are used to playing together. They trounced DC in the final 3 to 2. :-(

The New York team was amazingly tame and small, considering that New York is but a 5 hour ride from DC. They did not play very well either. The Malagasy ambassador to the UN attended with his family.

But this being North America, the most awaited game was the Basketball final. That is where I wore out my voice and my shoes by shouting and stomping inelegantly, and generally misbehaving. I love the verbal baiting and the general hilarity that ensues. DC wore red and Canada wore white (with names and numbers in red and green to reflect the national colors).
The game started bloodily : two seconds into the game, Zo, a DC player, was spitting blood after a Canadian player hit him on the mouth with his elbow, accidentally or not. This prompted calls of mischief by the DC side and a short stay off court by Zo.

But in the end, the DC team proved too much for Canada and the game was mostly one sided with a difference of 20+ points at its conclusion. GO DC !

The best player (DC side) was Ranto, a teenager with oversized arms and feet, who is also an excellent soccer player. Canadian side, a lanky, gangly player named Rudy, the only one to shoot several three points.

There probably was some other kind of action aside the games, but having been out of that kind of arena for quite sometime now, I couldn’t tell you more about the kotikoty & sipasipa.
I heard that last year’s RSM (held in New York) was just as nice, as orchestrated by the very beautiful Ramy R. I am certainly looking forward to travel to Montreal next year for the next Games. RSM DC 2007 will be difficult to top. Let’s see what Montreal is capable of.
Maybe one day we will have the US-Europe RSM? One can dream…

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55 Responses to “RSM DC 2007”


  1. 1 lova Jul 3rd, 2007 at 5:40 am

    Thank you much for this post ! I was spying for the new post all day ;) (shhhh don’t tell my boss ) and boy did you come through !
    It’s a bittersweet feeling though. I can totally picture all the fun you had and the convivial atmosphere but that made me even more frustrated for being stuck in nowheresville, IN. :D
    Kudos to the organizers for masterfully handling the event.
    Any memorable “verbal baiting” that would be suitable for posting on this family-friendly blog :) ?

  2. 2 Su Jul 3rd, 2007 at 3:09 pm

    Great coverage, SipaKV, pictures and all. You promised and you delivered beautifully.

    I didn’t know about this RMS until you mentioned it in your blog, but I’m not very surprised as here in Canada, it seems that every Malagasy event is centred in Montreal!

  3. 3 tomavana Jul 3rd, 2007 at 3:14 pm

    Misaotra amin’ny lahantsoratra :) Maimaim-poana ! Enga anie ka tsy hiova ho toy ny RNS izay lasa vaventy be ary misy resaka fikaroham-bola be indraindray :(

    Vao avy nitsidika ny flickr-nao aho ;) mahavariana ireo “personalized car plates”

  4. 4 sipakv Jul 3rd, 2007 at 9:08 pm

    Lova, hey, let’s meet up in Montreal next summer. Some people from the Midwest came and teamed with Canadians to play Volleyball and Basketball.
    Verbal baiting ? I heard nothing really incendiary, just stuff along the lines of sending the incompetent home, laughing at some players’ attire or long hair (and making sure they hear it especially at crucial moments), etc… and of course the customary “vato iray ve dia mba ho aiza”, “jereo kely ny tableau”, etc…

    Su So should we count on your presence in Montreal next year?In which province of Canada do you live? I was surprised to see so many Canadians. I am very curious as to how the Gasy community in Canada is like. I am sure it is different, the community gasy here in DC is very different from the one in NYC, CA and other states I have seen. Let’s not mention how different from the one in France it is.

    The MidWesterners were very happy to see that many Gasies especially those who live in states where there are only 3 Gasies. Lol.

    Tomavana Ie, tena na izaho koa ary mba nihomehy ery, indrindra amin’ilay anankiray teny anankiroa, aleo tsy averiko eto fa ireo liana te hijery, aoka hamoha ny sary flickr. Tena niezaka be mihitsy ny tanora teto nikarakara iny RSM iny satria efa taorian’ny RSM NY no nikofokofoka ry zareo. Toa vola $9000 no budget nanaovana azy ary fund raising daholo no nahazoana an’izany. Asa be sy finiavana be satria tsy natao hahazoana vola mihitsy sanatria fa fitiavana fotsiny sy faniriana hampivory Malagasy maro. Iny no fihetsiketsehana Gasy lehibe indrindra eto Amerika avaratra.

    Asa tokoa raha hampiova ny RSM fa efa mihabetsaka ny Gasy eto. Manao ahoana ny RNS any aminareo any e ? Toa monstre be ilay evenement amin’ny sobika sy madanight?Tsy ambiance be ve?

  5. 5 sipakv Jul 3rd, 2007 at 9:22 pm

    By the way, I saw a blogger there. This one. :-)

  6. 6 Cinthia Jul 3rd, 2007 at 10:45 pm

    What?! You saw me and you didn’t come say hi?! boohoo :( I wish I knew what you looked like …

  7. 7 sipakv Jul 3rd, 2007 at 10:53 pm

    Yes, I did. I wasn’t sure if you wanted to be “outed”, as you were sitting next to your dad. Only a handful of my relatives know of my blog’s existence.

    So which player is your brother?

  8. 8 lova Jul 4th, 2007 at 6:48 am

    Montreal it is :) .
    “Vato iray ve dia mba ho aiza” :) ah the good ol’ days….
    I also like “mampalahelo izy e, mampalahelo o….” a bit cruel but lots of fun.
    I need to get in touch with the 3 Midwesterners so that we can start a team ( of what, who knows ? ) :)
    PS: thanks for linking to Cinthia’s blog. I thought she quit blogging.
    Hi Cinthia :) .

  9. 9 sipakv Jul 5th, 2007 at 8:35 pm

    Yipee ! Montreal looks promising indeed. And if I see Cinthia there I promise I will introduce myself.

  10. 10 Vola Jul 5th, 2007 at 9:17 pm

    Merci pour le compte-rendu !
    Ca donne vraiment envie d’assister à la prochaine… Qui sait :-)

  11. 11 Cinthia Jul 6th, 2007 at 12:15 am

    sipakv — I understand. My dad knows about my blog and he doesn’t really care. I’d be more uncomfortable if other Malagasy folks I knew found out about it. You know how people can be…

    My brother’s the one with the short poufy hair. He didn’t play much as he was a sub.

  12. 12 sipakv Jul 7th, 2007 at 8:19 am

    bon vola, j’espere j’espere…

    cinthia, yes I remember your brother, I think he is even in one of my pictures. Guys sure like their hair long these days.

  13. 13 Izaho Jul 8th, 2007 at 1:32 pm

    From a very old timer.
    I attended the very first RSM in France long time ago (I forgot the year). At that time anything “cultural” was organized by the AEOM (someone remembers the AEOM?) . It was more or less like it is now in DC. As the french malagasy “diaspora” grew and it became more commercial and a little bit less a family event. I never attended the “new” RSM.
    I attended the RSM 2005 in Montreal and the RSM 2006 in NY. They were both family events. The funny thing is that even if everything was organized by malagasy people, you can feel the french touch in Montreal (a little bit disorganized but a little bit warmer) and the american touch (better organization but a little bit impersonal) in NY. Unlike in DC this year, these previous RSM managed to bring malagasy artists: Bessa in Montreal and Rija, Luke and Mahery in NY.
    Note that the mid-western guys are from Minnesota. Chapeau bas to Tsitsi for organizing the Minnesota team. Not an easy task. With much more youngsters, the Texas people were unable to have a team to attend ;0(

  14. 14 sipakv Jul 8th, 2007 at 9:25 pm

    Hi Izaho,

    I have heard of the AEOM. In fact I know someone who reminisces very often about this association still. :-)
    It seems there are more and more of Gasy in this area. The most encountered reaction used to be “Where is Madagascar?”, but now I have met several people who upon learning of my nationality have said that they know of one Malagasy person (their bank teller, florist, etc…).

    I think the scheduling was key in that the previous RSMs were organized around the same time as the other Malagasy artists’ concerts, for the purpose of reaching out more Gasy obviously. These artists were not called by the RSM committees per se.

    I am hoping that the Texans will be present next time. Tsitsy really is one enterprising young man and a very nice and smart and good looking one too. Check him out, ladies ! Lol. Just joking, Tsitsy !

    For more pics and interviews, check out this site.

  15. 15 koto Jul 11th, 2007 at 2:01 am

    this was a very nice entry, and i like how much of a dc fan you are lol
    and im guessin you live in dc, am i wrong?? anyways i was reading through your entry and i was just noticing that you spelled Ranto wrong (instead you wrote Rado) but thats fine. Minambary aza misy latsaka hahaha
    well im a new york b-ball player and all of the above is true, our two best players couldnt make it and being as young as we were, we were called Fanantenana lol
    well keep it up and hopefully we’ll see you in Montreal next real

    am-pitiavana hatrany

  16. 16 sipakv Jul 11th, 2007 at 2:25 am

    I stand corrected. HOpe you will have better luck next time. See you in Montreal.

  17. 17 'Mday figo Jul 11th, 2007 at 4:57 am

    Tena, nahafinaritra tokoa ny revy tany DC. Yeah, those guys from the Minnesota really spark things up…they seem to know how to have a good time out of anything, fa toa hoe mety tsy afaka makany Montreal hono ry lerony, domage :( Ary lerony avy any Minnesota reny anie raha ampy ekipa dangereux ihany e, angamba ho alaina ataon mercenaire amin’ny manaraka.
    Tena fohy loatra kosa aloa le fotoana e, tokony mba misy hirahira dia mba lava ny revy. Manjary tsy amy le maha-malagasy rehefa tsy mihira.
    Ary ahoana ‘lay DJ RSM rangahy tena tsy lol ahahah…?

    Mifankahita any Montreal zany e…

  18. 18 sipakv Jul 11th, 2007 at 7:24 am

    GO MN ! fa ahoana e, tsy maintsy tonga any Montreal, any indray no fotoana. Tsy hihetsika angaha hono ryzareo any TX?

  19. 19 Ranto Jul 11th, 2007 at 9:27 am

    hey!! i see you wrote me up there as the best dc player or something lol thank you, i really appreciate it :) who are you? i prolly saw you at the rsm if i know who you are
    well thanks again for the entry
    tohizo fa tsara eh

  20. 20 sipakv Jul 11th, 2007 at 7:03 pm

    wow ! faly ery fa tsidihanao e. lol. amin’ny manaraka mihaona indray !

  21. 21 Farrah Jul 11th, 2007 at 10:46 pm

    Hey sipakv! Thanks a lot for your blog. I’m glad you had great time at the RSM. It was most unfortunate it had to end but we’ll see everybody again next year in Montreal.
    Bonne continuation

  22. 22 vaomiera Jul 12th, 2007 at 6:27 pm

    Ah.
    Sipakv> bienvenue dans le microcosme malgache où tout le monde se connait et s’apprécie!
    Je me demandais juste si ça t’a vraiment manqué ces festivités?
    D’apres ce que j’ai compris, c’est la premiere fois pour toi!
    Pour tous les autres> bonne continuation et faites nous rever encore et encore!

  23. 23 sipakv Jul 12th, 2007 at 8:25 pm

    Farrah en personne sur mon blog. Congrats on a job well done and I’ll see you in Montreal.

    Vaomiera : comme j’ai tres peu d’occasions de voir des Gasy, j’ai bien aime le RSM. Et surtout l’esprit convivial sans pretentions, a preserver, qu’il y avait. Viens donc nous rejoindre a Montreal l’annee prochaine.

  24. 24 Su Jul 12th, 2007 at 9:26 pm

    sipaK

    I surely will try to get to Montreal next year. I’m in Ottawa, just two hours away from Montreal.

  25. 25 vaomiera Jul 16th, 2007 at 11:48 pm

    Sipakv>Mmm… je vais me renseigner sur la possibilité de venir à Montréal.
    Qui sait? Cela va peut-etre changer ma facon de voir les gasy d’andafy que je cotoie, il faut l’avouer, tres tres peu ces derniers temps!

  26. 26 sipakv Jul 17th, 2007 at 3:10 am

    Su, well maybe I will see you there, this will remove the veil on my anonymous state.

    Vaomiera,

    Il y a beaucoup d’opinions negatives sur les Gasy d’Andafy sur le web et la blogosphere, je ne vais pas reprendre les arguments repris ailleurs, de toute facon, en general, je suis de l’avis que si on n’a pas de bonnes choses a dire, mieux vaut se taire et que de toute facon if one bends down far enough, there will always be s*** to be found anywhere, and this task is more than easily done in one such tiny close knit community as the Malagasy one. But then I may add also that whoever looks for dirt deserves to find it, right ?

    This said I have to agree that the Malagasy communities I have found here in the US (cannot speak for the Canadian one as I don’t know it very well), are vastly different from the Malagasy in France. Maybe it is due to its reduced size, maybe it is due to our environment, maybe it is due to the background of most Gasies who have ended up here, who knows?
    I for one have found our Malagasies here to have a less elitist state of mind and to be more tsotsotra.

    If you disagree with me, you Canadians or other Be Kintana, then you certainly have the right to do so and to comment on my observation. Something that has always fascinated me how our surroundings shape us…

  27. 27 Izaho Jul 17th, 2007 at 6:51 pm

    Oh yes. As always size matters.

    Of course the environment plays a big role but it is the size that gives the tightness of the community. Mingling with the malagasy community in NY or Montreal now is like mingling with the malagasy in Paris 30 years back. To give you an idea, 30 years back in Paris, for the malagasy there was ONE Bal de Reveillon and ONE protestant church (ah… the Xmas service with all the gals montees specialement de la Province sur Paris). Someone can give me the number of the Bal de Reveillon and the protestant churches in the region parisienne right now? At that time (little bit less now but then again …), the people from the Province complained about the gasy Parisian miavonavona tsy mba mahalala miarahaba ny havana. I was Parisian at the time, so my answer was that there were as many malagasy people in Paris than in Ambatolampy (not quite true but close enough), so do you wave to anyone in Ambatolampy?
    Definitely, the size matters. Even in North America, I can feel the difference between NY, Washington, Texas, California, Montreal where I had the opportunities to deal with malagasy communities. In addition, the size brings back all the clans from Dago (ex- LFT, ex-ESCA, Tamatave, Tana, catholiques, anglicans, Taranak’i Rahanona, zanaka am-pialezana avy aroa etc…). And since more and more malagasy are settled down, more and more we have the divide between the valo-votaka et les vao tonga …

    Oh no, too long already. I am feeling so old telling you guys all theses old stories.

  28. 28 sipakv Jul 17th, 2007 at 9:08 pm

    I agree with your point about not waving to everybody in Ambatolampy. One is so blase about Malagasy festivities in Europe, there are so many of them and one is a bit disillusioned about the Gasies who go to those festivities so much so that one is branded as not integrated, not assimilated enough if one attends one too many of those.

    One thing that I hope will be different here in America is that even when our community grows to be as large as Ambatolampy :-) , and it is only a matter of time, especially if the current family based immigration policy holds, one thing I hope will be different is that the complex of the recent immigrant, the wanting to integrate and assimilate and disappear in the landscape, as the Gasies are known to possess in spades especially in France, will tend to be less strong.

    Call me naive, but I still believe in the diversity touted in America and the melting pot, despite everything.

  29. 29 sipakv Jul 17th, 2007 at 9:08 pm

    And no, you are not old, just experienced :-)

  30. 30 Rajiosy Jul 18th, 2007 at 5:07 am

    saika tsy hanoratra aho fa velom-panontaniana : “the Gasies” no iantsoantsika an-dry zareo sa “the Gasy” fotsiny ihany ? sa “the Malagasy” ?

    efa tena marobe aloha ny malagasy any amerika avaratra raha ny fahitako ny sary e

  31. 31 harinjaka Jul 18th, 2007 at 5:16 am

    wow misaotra @ lahatsoratra sy ny sary ;) mahaliana be ko ny adi-hevitra :)

  32. 32 Su Jul 18th, 2007 at 7:26 am

    I’ve never lived in France, so I had no opportunity to mingle with the Malagasy there (Rajiosy, I prefer to use this appellation to the Gasies or the Gasy), but I can say that Europeans and Americans behave differently, the former being more formal. I think the Malagasy in North America have adopted the very casual attitude of the region, and that explains a lot of the, I wouldn’t say happy-go-lucky behaviour, but a very pleasant way of establishing relationship among just human beings.

  33. 33 sipakv Jul 18th, 2007 at 7:50 pm

    izaho aloha rehefa mahita Gasy dia miteny gasy dia miantso azy hoe “Gasy” e !

    But then in more formal settings, I would also write and say “Malagasy”.

    And yes, Izaho may be right that North America is like France 30 years ago. When I moved to this country with the proverbial two luggage, nisy olona gasy tsy fantatro avy amin’ny Adama sy Eva akory nanontany ahy raha mila tsenaina aho, raha mila trano hivantanana, raha mila fanampiana draps vilany etc…, fa izaho moa no nisy ambo sy te hanao aventure tamin’izany.

  34. 34 vaomiera Jul 18th, 2007 at 8:40 pm

    “One is so blase about Malagasy festivities in Europe, there are so many of them and one is a bit disillusioned about the Gasies who go to those festivities so much so that one is branded as not integrated, not assimilated enough if one attends one too many of those.”
    May I add another explanation?
    Integration doesn’t mean the same thing in the USA and in Europe (especially in France).
    In France, you are invited to become part of the french republic: you have to adopt the french culture, to wear the same clothes, to speak the same language with the same accent, to drive the same french car etc…
    I’ve never lived in the USA but there, imho, integration requires you to bring your culture and your identity.

  35. 35 Rajiosy Jul 18th, 2007 at 9:43 pm

    “In France, you are invited to become part of the french…” tena marina tokoa izany, mba miova kely amin’ny mahazatra fa misy fotoana mahatofoka ny maha-malagasy. Somonga gasy : ny toetra ratsy azo ovana fa ny tarehy ratsy tsy :-) ).

    “nisy olona gasy tsy fantatro avy amin’ny Adama sy Eva” fa nitady Eva handravaka ny tokantranony na ny an’ny zanany lahy angambany ?

  36. 36 sipakv Jul 18th, 2007 at 10:52 pm

    Vaomiera, you are spot on. One is also invited to become American here, by adhering to their values of freedom and pursuit of happiness (another word for working hard to consume more?!), to the Constitution of which they are a juste titre very proud of. Assimilation is more gradual than in France, and multiculturalism is not a dirty word, far from the danger of sameness that Vaomiera mentions. These make assimilation in my opinion smoother and maybe slower for the immigrant. Ethnic “ghettos” are less negatively viewed than in France also and indeed cities seem to even be proud of them here.

    I don’t know how you would define being French nowadays (can one define it?), but I can understand the appeal of the Republican ideal that one is invited to become French.

    O Rajiosy an, dia mba cynique koa ianareo izany. Tsia, fa couple gasy jeune kely mbola tsy niteraka akory izy tamin’izany no resahiko. Ha ha ha.

  37. 37 Rajiosy Jul 19th, 2007 at 4:02 am

    vazivazy ry ikala a, ilay hoe “je ne connais ni d’adam ni d’eve” amin’ny teny anglisy anie no tena nahavariana ahy e

    “how you would define being French nowadays” ? par exemple, devenir par moments étranger à certaines choses qui font malgache. on le sent bien quand en face les gens se sentent blessés.

  38. 38 Izaho Jul 19th, 2007 at 5:35 pm

    I agree with Gasy and Malagasy but I cannot stand Madagascan.
    Sipakv, I am always right ;0). How come you had 2 luggage, I had only one valise en carton.

    I would not say that the integration system in US is smoother or better or whatever compared to what exists in France. I would just say that they are different and that they are based on different assumptions and that people with different mindset create them. Like anything else in life, each of them has its pro and con. It’s the economy, stupid! The jobless rate in France is so high that it exposes most of the flaws of the system, In the US, it is still low enough to hide them. But yes, it is also the egg and chicken stuff.
    It is not that the Ethnic “ghettos” are less negatively viewed in the US. It is that the US is just a big juxtaposition of Ethnic ghettos (check in Wikipedia the original definition without the poverty bias). The ghetto I am talking about is both geographical and in the mind. Outside the US, they are American, but inside, they are firstly a product of a ghetto. I am big fan of Jay Leno and Jon Stewart. Thanks to the satellite TV, now that I am outside the US, I can still have my daily fix. Almost everyday, Jay will remind you that he is an Italian guy from Boston and that Kevin is a black guy (a veggie at that) from Philly. Jon will remind you in any circumstance that he is a Jew from NY.
    Sometimes, I just want to be radical. If you want to be a Malagasy, just stay in Dago. Don’t count on the vazaha or the bekintana to preserve your malagasytude[?] madecassitude [?]
    Nan… I am not a radical. I do not have answers for everything. Ataovy izay mety fotsiny.

  39. 39 sipakv Jul 19th, 2007 at 7:11 pm

    I am not saying it is better. Different things work for different people. I am saying that it is smoother because it lets you choose shreds from your culture and background to keep, instead of expecting you to scale like a snake. It is even expected from you that your foreignness should enrich and contribute to America and to being American.

    About the juxtaposition of ghettos in the US, mostly true for first generation immigrants maybe, but research has shown how people slowly, generation by generation, move out of their ghettos, intermarriage and interracial dating rises (most teenagers nowadays have dated someone outside their race), they become monolingual. Does that define assimilation? lol.

    And yes, Jay is Italian (though his mom is Scottish and his wife’s last name is Nicholson, I doubt she is Italian, probably anglo…and according to Wikipedia he is only a second generation American), Kevin is black and Jon is a Jew.
    But the three of them are all Americans, nobody American or non American is about to contest it, looking at an all Black or all Hispanic sports team will not raise cries of “Pauvre Amerique”, there will be no talks of ‘nichtdeutsche Herkunft’ or autochtones or “Francais de souche” as in Germany, the Netherlands, or France.

  40. 40 sipakv Jul 19th, 2007 at 8:50 pm

    Though now you also hear people here say “Speak English !”, “Love America or Leave It”…

  41. 41 Vola Jul 21st, 2007 at 12:27 am

    Hey, very interesting this debate ! Thanks for sharing all these thoughts and experiences from “le Nouveau Monde”.
    Je l’ai peut-être déjà dit, mais ça me touche de voir la diaspora malgache autre qu’en France. Ca renforce mon identité gasy alors que je me suis toujours considérée comme française (l’identité a ses raisons que la raison ne connaît pas ;-) ).
    Et cela me donne en effet encore plus envie de voir ailleurs que mon nombril parisien !!!

    Vivement l’exil :)

  42. 42 Izaho Jul 21st, 2007 at 5:22 pm

    There is no such thing as a “Americain de souche” (poor Native American) and there is such emphasis on the melting pot idea that one has to define oneself from one’s supposed origin. Everyone is American but one has to affiliate oneself to any “dominant” community. Jay may not have been Italian at all but if he kept saying that he is Italian, then that what defines him. And yes, all this is evolving, the “dominant” communities change. In Texas, it is now a fashion for a Mexican to wear a T-shirt sporting the claim: “ I am not a Hispanic, I am a Mex”.
    The geographical ghetto may be shrinking but the mind ghetto is very present in the US. Intermarriage and interracial dating numbers were so low that any rise seems significant but they are still marginal. My experiences of a middle aged man living in Texas with the interracial dating (Sooo interesting in term of race issues …) tell me that this is not only true in the South. Now, it seems that it improves with the young crowd and that up North, the whites are little bit more liberal, but there is still a long way.
    Oh, I happen right now to talk with an Asian friend from Texas who wants to pursue an MBA. Harvard accepted her. But she decides to go to UCLA. Why? Because it is more Asian is her answer.

  43. 43 sipakv Jul 23rd, 2007 at 8:32 pm

    Vola : merci pour ton commentaire. It’s funny isn’t it that it is when most steeped in international and multicultural milieu, that one tends most to reconsider and rediscover one’s identity. I know that is my experience.
    J’ai lu ton temoignage de Francaise - Malagasy aussi sur Malagasy Miray et sur ton blog : ton humour et ton sens de l’observation (Thb et cacahuetes) me plaisent beaucoup.

    Izaho : Mmm, interesting your anecdote about the Asian girl. What is the percentage of Asians in her Texan city ? If I had found myself being in the minority most of my life, I would probably also prefer a more “Asian” milieu and experience than the Blue Brahmin town of Boston and (WASP) Harvard University, a bit like 2nd generation Malagasies are returning to Madagascar for their own “back to my roots” experience. I think it is great that she has the choice between the two worlds, without even leaving the country.
    I would talk about my experience with dating in the USA too but one is never anonymous enough. Plus one never knows who might be reading this blog. Lol.

  44. 44 lova Jul 25th, 2007 at 12:36 pm

    I have been reading the conversation here with much interest. I cannot chime in much because the extent of a malagasy conversation here would be me mumbling to myslef an old malagasy joke….
    However, sipakv, I cannot let that last tease about dating in the USA go without a comment, :P . I will not ask for name but I am sure a disclaimer such as ” this story is purely a figment of the author’s imagination, any ressemblance with any actual….etc” should do :) .
    Personally, I always felt that the dating game here was less complicated but maybe I just did not get the intricacies…

  45. 45 sipakv Jul 25th, 2007 at 9:14 pm

    Hey Lova, “less complicated”? mmm, in what sense?
    The biggest surprise for me was that one could date multiple partners at a time and not think one thing about it. And going exclusive was a step one had to take, not a given. Kind of like “Are we monogamous now?” to which the partner responds “Yes, we are!”. Lol. Or “No, let us keep seeing other people.” Un supermarche quoi.

  46. 46 lova Jul 26th, 2007 at 2:15 am

    “less complicated”: The “she is just not that much into you” thing. I often felt that you were less likely to be “jerked” around ( sorry I could not find a better word) in a North-american setting. I realize that is just my personal POV so it has to be taken for what it is worth.

    OT, will your “out in the open” status WRT to the WoW blog prevent a post on the Hillary candidacy thing ? Because I would love to hear your take.

  47. 47 sipakv Jul 26th, 2007 at 2:47 am

    I am still pondering what my unveiling means for the blog.

    Do Malagasy girls jerk guys more around? It must be our culture of avoidance.

    BTW, speaking of elections, have you seen this documentary “Our Brand is crisis”? It is about US political consultants (Carville entre autres) helping some right wing guy get elected President in Bolivia and the catastrophe that ensues. Kind of a scary behind the scenes look.

  48. 48 lova Jul 27th, 2007 at 11:49 am

    I have not seen the doc yet but I will be looking for it….
    I don’t think the jerking around is intentional if any. But the game that’s being played unconscioulsy (or not ) seems more refined, a level a young padawan like myself just could not comprehend. :)

  49. 49 Heritiana Oct 11th, 2007 at 8:35 pm

    Manaoana daholo Ô!

    Mahafinaritra ny mahita ireto post nosorantan’ireto mpakafy RSM ireto!
    Ho an ireo izay mbola tsy nanotrona ny RSM dia izaho no mpanentana sy mpitarika ny mpilalao avy eto Ottawa ary koa co-fondateur ny RSM.
    Azo lazaina hoe tanteraka ny tanjona iray: ampiray sy ampivondrona ny Malagasy @ alalan ny spaoro isan-taona. Fa mila ny fanohananareo izany, @ fandraisanareo anjara mba hitohizan’io vanom-potoana. Ny tantaran ny RSM dia ho hitanareo ao @ site : www.rsmalagasy.com.

    Izaho mpilalao avy eto Ottawa ary niara-nilalao t@ Minesota ( Tsitsy, Herinomena…). Na dia midadasika aza ny USA, dia afaka mitambatra ny Inter-States ianareo mba ahavitana ekipa iray satria maro dia maro ny Malagasy miparitaka eo USA.

    Efa mitsangana koa zao ny groupe officiel eo @ FACEBOOK mba ahitanareo malagasy avy eo USA/Canada izay mety hazoto hiara-hilalao koa aza misalasala mifampiresaka e!

    Izahay Aty Canada dia manantena ny fahatongavanareo maro @ RSM 2008 eo Montreal. Tapaka fa ho 5-6 Juillet 2008 ny daty fa dia miomana mialoha. Ny Taranja dia Soccer,Basket,Volley mixte,Petanque, ary misy categorie ankizy (10-14taona).

    Veloma finaritra ry namana manerana ny Amerika Avaratra!
    Aty Montréal mihaona e!
    Heritiana.

  50. 50 Ramya Shiva Feb 19th, 2008 at 4:53 pm

    Hello everyone,

    I work for a recruitment company based in Canada. We are searching for Malgash expatriates all over the world especially in USA, Canada, France, Britain and other European countries (basically wherever they are located). Can you please guide me on whom to contact -
    -associations
    -institutions
    -groups
    -blogs frequently used by Malgasy people

    I would also be pleased if you could give me more information on the present status of Malgash expatriates-whether they will be willing to return to Madagascar if they were given good jobs.

    Thank you for your assistance…..

  51. 51 balita Aug 7th, 2008 at 8:58 am

    Salut daholo,
    vao tonga haingana eto Amerika aho ary mba mitady hevitra am fanaovana taratasy sao mba misy mahafantatra izay tokony hatao, visa b2 aho ary mikasa hijanona eto amerika, manana fianakaviana izay misy fa tsy akaiky be raha ny rohim pihavanana
    misaotra indrindra manampy ahy e,
    Balita

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