Cornhole: A Lesson in Exchanging Culture

The joke through school was: “those who can’t do, teach.”  Doing something is better than talking about doing something, to put it simply.  The axiom holds true for exchanging culture here in Madagascar.  Besides “Goal 1” of Peace Corps, which is to provide developing countries with skilled technicians (hey, that’s me!), “Goal 2” and “Goal 3” are simply to exchange culture.  Often times, all I can do is try, in my broken but somehow officially fluent Malagasy, to explain things like the education system, fast food, the idea behind monogamy, the boogeyman, the American Civil War, and that the moon is most certainly made of cheese (special thanks to Wallace and Gromit for confirming that one).  It’s really a grab bag of stuff on a daily basis.  Sometimes, I get lucky and I have photo of what I am trying to explain, like a river float trip or winter skiing (“snow? Your rain is so cold that it isn’t a liquid?”).  In those cases, those pictures are worth 1000 words.  Even less frequently, I can actually SHOW my friends what I’m talking about; it has been great teaching my friends how to throw a football and how to make burritos.  With James and Raffaele (fellow volunteers) coming up to visit me this past August, I took another stab at “doing” and not “teaching.”  I got dimensions for a Cornhole (Bag Toss) board from online while in the capital, bought wood from my market town, hauled nails and dried corn in from Ambanja, sacrificed my pillow case for the cause, and set out to work.  With a little help from my neighbor, we were able to construct a complete set.  The result?

James, Raffaele, and I easily taught my friends how to play in no time at all, which led to hours of simple American-Malagasy hangout time.  Having a few beers and playing yard games really made a difference.  Peace Corps is all about little victories and being creative to find success. I'll attribute this one to my fraternity and all of those pre-WILD tailgates.

Thanks, SPE.