Pam & Melie

In my first post I mentioned we’re staying with family. It’s time to introduce everybody. 


There’s Melie, Monique’s favorite sister. We have a special bond forged through our respective adventures in chemotherapy during 2010. I’ve been very glad to see her in good health. Normally Melie lives in the hot and dusty city of Tulear, where her husband Christian still holds down the fort with youngest daughter Pam. But for the past couple of years she’s spent a lot of time here in the capital shepherding a quartet of young women – the nieces – through their studies. “Irrepressible” does not quite do them justice. Liable to break into song at any moment, they fill the house with laughter and motion.

Melie’s oldest daughter Corine will get her bachelor’s degree this year and head off to France for further studies in the fall. A few years ago we tried to get her into a Belgian university. It had worked for her cousin Dada. But in the meantime the xenophobic tide had turned and we were unsuccessful in our endeavor, much to everyone’s disappointment and Belgium’s loss.

You will recognize the next daughter from the Ravola clip. The real cellist Monique had lined up was a no-show. So Sarah was drafted at the last minute. After a 10-minute cello lesson the camera started rolling. The result was instant celebrity for Sarah.

Laetitia, Gerald, Patty, Corine, Sarah

Laetitia is a cousin on their father’s side. I’m told that when she first showed up at the house in Tana she was silent and withdrawn. Her home environment had not been too salubrious. But now she’s, well, irrepressible, with a subtle sense of humor. Currently in school studying something useless like marketing & communications, Laetitia and Sarah both aim to become stewardesses. That’s a high-status job here with great travel opportunities – worth a lot on a poor, remote island. Note that unlike at US Airways, the cabin crews at Air Madagascar are expected to be multilingual.

When their sister Pirette died, Monique and Melie rescued her daughter Patty from an impoverished life in a nowhere town. Patty’s got a couple more years of high school to get through. Then she wants to become a midwife.

The last member of the household is Gerald, Monique’s youngest son. He grew up in Tulear with his paternal grandparents. As a cadet studying to be an airplane pilot he lives on campus. But he’s here every weekend and, as now, during holidays. This morning Gerald kindly let me tag along with him as he did the daily shopping.

Add to this a dozen musicians and assorted hangers-on we’re not able to get rid of, and you can see that during our afternoon rehearsals there’s quite a crowd here.