After the post-GRE celebration at the "American Cookie Shop" bakery on Saturday (the best 50 square feet in Madagascar), fellow PCV Gabriel and I went down to the TV-Madagascar station, tucked away behind the Carlton Hotel, to witness something incredible. Nay, dumbfounding. Something I had only heard of in myths and folklore: kids who actually enjoyed learning and speaking English.
This wasn't just any English class gathering; this was Teen Talk, one of the most popular TV shows in Madagascar. Created by a PCV and a Fulbright scholar who's been in the country for about as long as I have, the show is taped in front of a live audience of students from Antananarivo and is entirely in English. The hosts, Malagasy students themselves, present interviews with guests (our Peace Corps boss was the guest this week, though they have had dance troupes, the American band Ozomatli, and so on), an activity (learning a song, for example), and trivia questions based on that weeks show. There are prizes, callers from home, t-shirts, and a theme song. It's the real deal. In fact, just about any white person who goes on the show (as a guest or audience member) is likely to be recognized all around the island. (You will also be "recognized" if you look even faintly like someone who was).
Before Saturday, I had never seen the show. My town has no electricity, and therefore no televisions. My students, ergo, have also not seen it. This might be for the best, as other PCVs tell me quite often that people will stop them in the street and sing the theme song. So, I had little idea of what to expect when I walked in the studio where an electronic/techno dance troupe was performing and teaching the audience how to dance just the same. They were surprisingly good, and even spoke English. The difference between people in the capital and in the "ambanivohitra" (the sticks, where I live) is incredible. It's honestly like two different peoples.
I was happy to stand in the corner of the room, behind the cameras and sound equipment, but as the taping of the second episode began, I was informed that the theme of the show was "volunteering" and they needed seats filled, preferably by (wouldn't you know it) volunteers. Our fellow PCV directing the show very casually mentioned that we would interviewed, and that's where I started to panic. But, while I was imagining having to sit in front of the audience and answer questions positively and with a smile (I don't think I could have done this), it turned out to be much less threatening. In fact, I didn't do a thing. The host did ask the infinitely more gregarious and camera-friendly Gabe a few questions, though, so, having sat next to him, I will at the very least be on national television. He later threatened to YouTube it.
That weeks guest, as I said, was Peace Corps Madagascar Country Director Steve Wisecarver, who talked about our presence in the country briefly, mentioning that we're celebrating our 15th anniversary in country. I found out that there have been over 600 volunteers in Madagascar, and almost 200,000 around the world since 1961. Also in the audience were some young volunteers from England, who (as I learned) are only here for three months, teaching English in towns near the capital, so I got to feel condescending and superior for a while. Towards the end of the taping, one of them won a Peace Corps 15th Anniversary t-shirt for answering a trivia question meant for the Malagasy kids, so I guess she got the last laugh. The grimace I made as she was given the shirt that I'll be charged 20,000 Ariary for (12 bucks) was probably the last face of mine ever to be shown on TV.
