Neighbors, hedgehogs and cream of chicken soup...

So, on Sunday, my husband and I decided to pay a little visit to the neighbors of ours living in our immediate block of flats. The building we live in has shops on the bottom floor and then if you drive around the back, there are 5 doors that each lead to 4 apartments or flats that sit on the first and second floor of the building. (For the Americans reading this, that would be the second and third floor.) In our block of four, we have a retired couple, a single retired lady and a family of 5.

We wanted to share a little treat with each neighbor and then invite them to a tea party on the 18th of April to be hosted at our house. We thought it would be nice to get everyone together and just be neighborly. :-)

Ultimately, we only got to the couple next door because the other two were out... But that one visit was entertaining enough... What can I tell you about the couple next door? Well, the wife of the couple is very nice. She is extroverted chain smoker and loves to talk. Her English is decent so I can always understand what she means even if she can't think of the word, and when she doesn't speak in English, she speaks in French rather than Creole, so I have an easier time understanding her... For the longest time I didn't know if her husband was her husband or her boyfriend. I usually only notice his car on weekends, so I didn't really know what the story was. He's more of a chain smoking "grumpy old man" and although he usually gives a greeting, he's not what you would call a warm person.

Anyway- Sunday, my hubby and I rang their doorbell and we were invited in. The couples grandchildren happened to be visiting them, so we got to meet them before they went back to watch t.v. As we sat our neighbor began to talk... We discovered that not only was she talkative, but she's also opinionated and a bit of a busy body. :-)

The conversation started with talking about the home that my husband and I are going to be building soon. The first thing she said was, "I want to tell you something. Don't build a house with stairs. Build it all on one floor." She went on to explain that now we are young and stairs are not a problem, but when we are 70 they will not seem like a good idea any longer. We then went on to explain that we are building a bedroom/bathroom suite downstairs and that both floors will have all of the required facilities for living. We are building it that way right now so that if some point we need to care for my husbands parents, they can move in with us. Then when we get older, if we wish, we can just live downstairs. To this she responded, "No, you cannot. Don't let your parents live with you. It is terrible." Then she told us of how she lived with her in-laws for a short time and she couldn't take it any longer. All the while this is being told in great French flair with all the dramatics you can imagine. You would have thought her time living with her in-laws was comparable to a concentration camp...

So, we had our advice about that. Then the topic of driving came up. I was instructed that I must start driving in Mauritius soon. She even gave me the number of a driving school to contact. We tried to explain that we are waiting to buy and automatic car for me and then I will begin to drive here, but she insisted that I needed to drive now, even if that meant learning to drive a manual transmission on what is to me, the opposite side of the road. (Now let me break here to explain that here, they drive on the left side of the road, and the steering wheel is on what we would consider the passengers side. This means that you have to shift gears with your left hand... Thus the complication with my driving currently.) We told her that we would consider it... :-)

Then she began to tell us about the neighbors that plagued her until my husband and I moved in. Evidently there was a man who lived where we do now who was loud and disruptive... In addition, the neighbor who used to live directly above her was a terror and now she's glad that the family of five lives there... Her biggest problem with the former tenant upstairs? She used to go to the toilet at night and flush it. Can you believe that??? My goodness... Call the prime minister.

After making our exit, my husband and I had to chuckle about our neighbor. She's a hoot. I just hope we don't tick her off, or we'll be in the stories she tells the next tenants.

Now on to the next part of my tale. On Sunday nights my husband and I have dinner at my in-laws house. His mom really likes to cook for us and it's a nice evening to relax and not have to worry about cooking or dishes. On our way home this past week, I noticed several men walking on the road with sticks and "torches" or flashlights. I finally asked my husband what was going on. "They are hunting hedgehogs", he replied. Right. Of course, why wouldn't they be hunting hedgehogs. As we continued the conversation, I learned that people catch the hedgehogs and then fatten them up to sell them for Easter. Evidently, that's what you have for Easter lunch here... Some nice hedgehog. I laughed and said that in America, we generally have ham. :-) He asked me if I wanted to try hedgehog this year, and I declined. I'm not quite ready for that...

Now, my final note for today's blog... Yesterday I was at the grocery store, and happened to walk down the soup aisle. I was looking for curry powder to use with vegetables so that I could make curried cauliflower for supper. Anywho, as I walked down the aisle, something caught my eye. When I looked again, I couldn't believe it was true. There, on the shelf, was a can of condensed cream of chicken soup. Naturally, I bought a can, even though I didn't need it for anything. I was just so excited to see it! Needless to say, that made my Monday.

Sometimes it's the little things...

Happy week everyone