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Introduction
I'll talk briefly about Malagasy time in this material. By Malagasy time, I mean the traditional Malagasy way of knowing a particular time of the day. I've made up my mind to deal with this topic, because first of all, I want to improve my knowledge about Malagasy culture and also want to share all I know with others. Second, most of Malagasy people nowadays don't know much about it, let alone the rest of the world, so it's a great pleasure for me to try to explain what is this all about.
What is meant by fotoan-gasy?
Malagasy people are never in time. An outsider unfamiliar with Madagascar might see this as a curious character but, well, that's the truth. A Malagasy would always come a little later than the arranged time, especially when meeting someone following an appointment. That's the origin of the expression fotoan-gasy, which literally means Malagasy time.
Why is this mysterious behavior?
It goes back to our ancestors' era. Long time ago, our ancestors had no clocks or watches. Yet, they could know the time simply by observing the behavior of animals or things that existed around them such as roosters, zebus, witches, and especially the sun. However, the behavior of these animals or things might be different for different locations. For instance, in the coast, the sun would always come out earlier than in the highland.
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Different Times of the Day
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Malagasy Time
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Meaning
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Midnight
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12:00 midnight
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Cats touch their armpits
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1:00 a.m.
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Zebus moo
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1:30 a.m.
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Witches go back home
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2:00 a.m.
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- Roosters sing
- Crows leave their nests
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2:30 a.m.
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Frogs sing
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3:00 a.m.
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Stonechats sing
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3:30 a.m.
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Dawn
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4:00 a.m.
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Diligent people wake up
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4:30 a.m.
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Ordinary people wake up
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5:00 a.m.
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Daybreak
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5:30 a.m.
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The day starts
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6:00 a.m.
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The dew dries away
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6:30 a.m.
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The sun comes out
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7:00 a.m.
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The sun goes up
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8:00 a.m.
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Zebus leave their pens
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9:00 a.m.
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Mother cows with their newly born calves leave their pens
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9:30 a.m.
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The sun is completely bright
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10:00 a.m.
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Almost noon
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11:00 a.m.
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Noon
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12:00 noon
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The sun enters the house
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1:00 p.m.
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The sun stoops
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1:30 p.m.
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The sun goes down
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2:00 p.m.
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Time to tie the calves
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2:30 p.m.
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Time to crush the rice
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3:00 p.m.
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Fowls go back to their cage
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3:30 p.m.
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The sun is low
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4:00 p.m.
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Mother cows with their newly born calves go back to their pens
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4:30 p.m.
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Zebus go back to their pens
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5:00 p.m.
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The sun turns red
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5:30 p.m.
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Sunset
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6:00 p.m.
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Dusk
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6:30 p.m.
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Cannot see distant objects
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7:00 p.m.
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Cannot distinguish zebus' color
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7:30 p.m.
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Time to prepare dinner
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8:00 p.m.
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Time for dinner
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9:00 p.m.
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Time to go to bed
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9:30 p.m.
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Witches go out
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10:00 p.m.
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Almost midnight
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11:00 p.m.
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... to be ...continued ...
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Trumpet players