Home Sweet Home

I've recently returned from England where I was conducting business on behalf of the company I work for. Having lived in England for about 18 months, I find things there familiar and comforting. I know how to find my way around, and how to fit in with my surroundings. I am comfortable with the lingo and know what it means when you say, "Bob's your uncle".

Interestingly enough while I was there, I began to feel homesick for my new home. Granted, much of that has to do with my husband. I missed him like crazy... But I found myself craving the smells and sounds of home. I would've loved to have a pizza from the shop downstairs, and craved the flavor of dhal pourris.

I think what I have discovered is that it takes about 6 months for a new place to feel like home to me, and once it does, that's the place I want to be. I remember on my first visit to Mauritius, I couldn't wait to get back to England. I craved it because I understood how things worked there and everything there was easier for me. I could easily understand the language and could read and understand the signs and the labels on items in the grocery store... Things there were familiar.

Now that I have made Mauritius my home, I feel comfort in the fact that I can't understand the language. I can't read the signs and I have come to love looking at the pictures on the label to figure out what I'm buying. That has become comfortable and normal for me.

I guess having the chance to look back in this way has shown me how much you can change in such a short time. People are adaptable. Your environment is what you choose for it to be. For me, home is home no matter where it happens to be simply because I choose it to be this way. And after being away for a short time, I can say with confidence, there's no place like home. (Except maybe America) :-)

As a side note, there are several things I took advantage of in England:
1. Fresh Milk. I must have drank almost a gallon. I'm not even a milk person, but boy did it taste good.
2. Reliable, public transportation. I was able to take the train over the weekend to visit a friend in the south.
3. Pimm's on a hot summers day. Enough said.
4. Gourmet Burger Kitchen. Again, enough said.
5. The combination of flights that allowed me to catch up on all the movies I didn't know were made.
6. The chance to realize how much I love my island home.

Foreigners say the strangest things...

I was thinking today about stupid things I've said over the years. Believe me. I have some doosies. It's not always a case of sticking my foot in my mouth... In some cases, it is related to my poor knowledge of the language around me. For example, one day our security guard asked me if I was planning to drive here. I proceeded to explain that my husband was out of the country and that our car was at my parents in law. He just smiled and nodded. Only after I had walked away did I fully understand the question he had asked...

More recently I have discovered that I have given some of the worst compliments ever since arriving in Mauritius. I am fortunate that my husband frequently has to translate them. Often times he takes my words and makes them sound much nicer... However, there are some situations in which you know that a compliment is required and you simply blank. You literally can't think of something good to say. It might be that you are still in shock. You can't believe that you actually ate whatever that was and that you haven't expelled it just as quickly as you swallowed it... It might be that your mouth is still so on fire from the chilies packed into the delectable dish that your mind simply can't cope and all you can do is wipe the tears from your eyes as you cough and scan the table for water. Or it might just be that you are surrounded by the socially awkward and you realize that the language and cultural barrier only amplify this problem, thus requiring something to be said. These events lead to compliments or comments like the following... "Did your mom teach you how to do that?!!!", "Everyone really has their own spin on fried chicken here.", "I've never experienced that texture before.", and my personal favorite, "I never knew you could do that to fish."

Hopefully these things all sound better when translated into French. :-) I guess I still have a lot to learn about cross-cultural living. Lesson 1. How to come up with sincere compliments that actually sound like compliments. If this lesson fails, then I need to work on Lesson 1.a. How to sound sincere when giving a false compliment.

If you are planning to travel here, don't worry. Most of the food is awesome. But if you are invited to someones home, keep an open mind, a sincere compliment in your mind and some antacids in the car.