Back By Popular Demand ;)

Wow has it been a long time since I've blogged.  The busyness of life has taken over.  Last time I wrote I was a mother of one, and now I have two boys to keep me busy.  Christophe was born in December of 2014 and there hasn't been a dull moment since then.

He will be starting pre-school on Monday and Benjamin will be starting the equivalent of Kindergarten Wednesday.  Once they are out, the house will inevitably be a bit quieter.  Perhaps then I can get back to blogging.  For now, here's a few pictures of the ones who have been keeping me busy.

Long time, no post

Wow!  It has been far too long since I have posted anything on my blog.  Keeping up with a full time job and a 15 month old boy will do that to you I guess.

I think about how my blog originally started with all of the quirky bits I was learning about my new home.  Everything stood out to me and seemed peculiar.  After 3 years, it takes a little more to turn my head.  I no longer stare at women wearing saris or hijabs.  I have become accustom to the sounds from the mosque as the call for prayer is made 5 times each day.  (It actually helps me keep track of the time without looking at a clock.)  Fewer things stand out to me.  That leaves me thinking.  Do I still stand out as much as I did?

In some ways, I have become assimilated to the culture.  I still dress in my very western style and my pale pigmentation is a pretty instant giveaway that I'm not a native.  However, I can great people in French and Creole and I no longer order my street food "sans piament" (without chile).  At the local grocery store the checkout girls recognize me and if my son isn't with me, they always ask about him.  I feel comfortable almost everywhere I go and am driving a 5 speed while sitting on the wrong side of the car and driving on the wrong side of the road fairly easily.  I get cold when the temperature drops anywhere below about 20 degrees (approx. 70 degrees Fahrenheit).  Yet, I am always very keenly aware that I am not Mauritian.

I still don't shop at the local market on Wednesday or Saturdays.  I wouldn't save any money by doing so.  One look at my pale complexion and the price always doubles.  When there is work to be done around the house, my husband always has to speak with the handy person doing the job so that there isn't any "extra" work done for a premium.  I am guessing no matter how long I live here, these things will probably not change.  I sometimes wish I had a special ID or a tag I could wear that says, "Not a tourist".  I wish I could tell everyone that I really live here, all the time.  I am employed by a Mauritian company.  I am not rich just because I am white.  But at the end of the day, I'm not really sure it would make a difference.  After 3 years, I still stand out as much as I did when I landed.

Benjamin is here

Benjamin Clency was born at 10:55 am on May 2, 2012.
He weighed 3.1 kg (6.82 pounds) and was 50 cm long.

He is absolutely beautiful and we are in love.  More to come once we get the hang of napping. :-)

Not great at blogging

So, it has been a while... I blame pregnancy. Or maybe I could just admit to being lazy...
Doesn't seem that much has happened in the last month. The baby is getting bigger and threatens to be huge when he's born. 6.5 weeks to go, I guess we'll see.
I think my husband and I are both anxious to meet our little guy. It is exciting at each doctors appointment to try to get a look at him on the ultrasound. He's getting to the point now where he is so big, he's squished up against me and we can't get a good look at his cute little face. In good time we'll get a good look though. :-)
One interesting experience I have had is childbirth class. It's all in French. Mommies only for the first two sessions. Luckily I understand more French than I speak, but to say the least, I learned some new vocabulary. The terms discussed don't come up a lot in normal conversation... This weekend I have the first session where daddies are included as well, so I think that will be good.
Gotta run. Work is calling.

Nausea, cyclones and small talk

So, as you can tell, this is going to be an eclectic blog... These are all topics running through my mind today.
It seems that though the nausea of my first trimester has passed, it has come back to haunt me in the 3rd trimester. What is up with that? Seriously? As if waking up 3 times every night to pee in the middle of the night weren't enough, I am now haunted (once again) by the constant feeling of wanting to puke... To make matters worse, I have my in-laws making sounds and smells that would make a healthy person lurch... First, the smell of curry. Since I got pregnant, I can stand the smell of curry. But it's on the menu a couple of times a week here, so like it or not, I get to smell it. Then smell it again when they eat the leftovers. Yuck! In addition to which after said meals are done, I get to hear belching (not burping) belching that makes you think someone has thrown up said curry somewhere downstairs. It's really disgusting. Add on top of that the smell of cigarette smoke, which I detest. Can I move out now???

Next the topic of cyclones... I experienced my first cyclone in Mauritius this weekend. I have to say, it was kind of a let down. Saturday morning we were under a warning class 2, which got upgraded to a 3 at about 4 pm. Class 3 means that all business close and if you are driving around in your car and something happens, insurance won't cover you. It's the most severe warning level. Essentially, in the end, the cyclone just passed by the island and didn't hit us. We had some extra wind and rain, but nothing worth writing home about. Don't get me wrong, I didn't want to see mass devastation or destruction, but there was nothing worth all of the hype.

Finally, small talk... I could probably write a whole blog just about small talk. To sum it up... I hate it. I mean, what's the point? Small talk is essentially two people exchanging meaningless dialogue when the reality is neither person really cares... Good morning, how are you? Well, I am assuming that because you are not in a bed somewhere, you are fine. I can see you visually, but don't really need to acknowledge your presence with words. Can't a nod suffice? Maybe this makes me an unfriendly and unpleasant person... Maybe I am just pregnant and constantly nauseous and when you ask me now I am, I don't really have the freedom to rant about how I want to puke on you or explain the curry smells and belching. If I did, would you really want to know how I was? Didn't think so... Then you have the small talk that is awkward because you are left alone with a person and the "polite" thing to do is to say something. Well, again the reality is that the two of you didn't want to talk in the first place, you are just left in an uncomfortable position and feel obligated to break the silence. Can't you just both smile and walk away as an acknowledgement that you are uncomfortable and want to leave? Let's be real here people... And finally, you have the schmoozers who make small talk with you because that is their job, or what they are supposed to do. You know, the people who roam the crowd and try to make other people feel comfortable. Well, to tell you honestly, I'd be a lot more comfortable if I could just sit here by myself and get on with things... Again, writing this possibly shows you what a horrible person I am, but I am just not down with the small talk. If you have something to say, get on with it and let's not do the chit-chatty thing.

Ranting...

Well, it's summer time. The beginning of the year. And we have lots of holidays... I have to admit that having an extra day off every week is nice and something I could easily get used to. This week our island celebrated the Abolition of Slavery on the first of February. I think it's a great thing to celebrate. However, when I look around me, I wonder how far we have really come.
I realize that this blog is coming from a very Western mindset. I am, after all, American. But, when I look around I feel like we are seriously lacking in progress. We don't have indentured slaves anymore. At least, not on the surface. But many people here are living lives of merely surviving...
I heard a statistic this morning that is still resonating in my mind. Less than 9% of the population of this island makes more than 25,000 Rupees per month. (That includes me) If you do the math, that is just under 900 dollars a month. Now, of that 91% remaining, I would recon most aren't making an amount close to 25,000 Rs/month. They may be earning half of that, or even less. I understand by African standards, that Mauritius is doing relatively well and I appreciate that, but I can help that feel that Mauritians are still being exploited.
Now, a lot of people reading this might think that the economy here must just cost less, so making around 900 dollars a month must be pretty good right? Well, maybe not... Depending on where you live on the island, rent for nice property is going to be at least half of your monthly income. You likely cannot afford to have a car of your own, so you probably ride the bus, or if you are lucky you might have a motorbike or have someone in your family who owns a car and can give you a ride. If you do have a car, you may have about 4,000 Rs/ month in fuel costs not to mention a car payment and insurance. So, if I am being generous, you may have about 10,000 rupees left. Now, of the 91% we had left, I would guess most aren't making 25,000 rupees, they are making less, so your money is probably already used up and you haven't bought groceries or clothes or anything else you and your family might need. If you don't have a car, you get that money back. Great! Now you can pay for public transportation and food.
Food costs depend on where you get your food. Do you buy it from the grocery store, or from the local fair (market). If you get it from the market, you might save yourself some money, but only if you are local and can speak Creole. Otherwise, you get totally ripped off. (That's a whole other blog) I could continue carrying out this little excercise, but the reality is... at the end of the day, there is nothing left.
My husband and I have noticed that this year, we have seen with our eyes the literal change in buying power. Usually the last weekend of the month is crazy busy. This is the weekend people get paid, so usually the stores and shops are all busy. Parking cannot be found. It's the perfect weekend to go to the beach... Last weekend when my husband and I were out, it was like being in a ghost town. The only lines were at the bank where people were getting money from the ATM's, however, it's unclear where they went to spend it. The grocery stores were not packed as usual. Restaurants were empty... It was kind of creapy...
So, now I am getting long winded... Sorry about that.
I guess this is just a rant (maybe even to myself) about two things.
1. Always be thankful for what you have. Without notice it can all be taken away. Even if you feel like you don't have anything, when it's gone, you will realize you were wrong.
2. It's easy to exploit people. Whether you are doing it legally by paying them small amounts when you know they should be earning more, or whether you are doing it illegally by forcing them to serve you without pay, people have been getting away with it for centuries.
I have so much more to say, but lack the ability to express myself. I blame it on baby brain... Anyway. Just some things I've been thinking and ranting about lately.

Retired Men Should Have Mandatory Hobbies

After spending part of my holiday season with my elderly step-dad and having returned home to live with my retired father-in-law, I have discovered a great truth in life... Retired men should have mandatory hobbies. Lack of such hobbies allows them extra time for destruction. They don't intend to be destructive, but it is inevitable because they are bored.
I could list a number of examples from my step-dad, but I will stick to one, just to give you an idea of what we are dealing with. One year after Christmas while my mom was at work, my step-dad decided that he would take down the Christmas tree. I believe he took all of the ornaments off without problems, but when it came to the lights things were not so positive... The tree he was working with was a pre-lit tree. You know, the kind where the lights are NOT supposed to come off the tree. They are permanently attached to the tree. Well, my step dad didn't get that, so he tried and tried to get the lights off the tree. After getting frustrated with his efforts, he took wire cutters and literally cut all of the lights off the pre-lit tree. Needless to say when my mom got home and saw his handy work, he was in the dog house. Nothing like ruining an expensive Christmas tree.
On behalf of my father-in-law we have two recent examples. One we were able to stop in advance. The other, not so much. So, my father-in-law is retired and has nothing to do, so he tends to find "jobs" around the house. This weekend he was on the phone talking to one of our neighbors. Essentially between us and our closest neighbor to the North there is an empty plot of land... He thought we needed to build a retaining wall at the back of their land to prevent soil from falling into the river that runs behind our house. After some time, we finally convinced him that it wasn't our land and we didn't have a right to do anything there. Not to mention, if they lose land, it's their problem, not ours. In the end, we finally got him talked out of that project. However, while we were in the U.S. he found another project that lead to us having a flooded bathroom on Saturday night. Evidently while we were gone, he noticed that there was a whole in one of our drain pipes in our house. He decided that the hole didn't need to be there and chose to plug it up. Well, it turns out that this hole was there for a calculated reason and this past Saturday when it rained, the drain pipe didn't drain properly causing rain water to seep into our bathroom. It flooded the whole bathroom and even got into our bedroom. My husband and I had gone out to dinner and didn't notice the problem until we returned at about 9:30. So, I got to spend about 30 minutes mopping up water all because my father-in-law needs a hobby.
Now, I understand that there retired men are trying to be helpful, but in the end, they almost always leave a path of destruction. This is why they need to have mandatory hobbies. Something to keep these men out of trouble!

A New Year

Well, it's a new year and I have been stinking at the blog... I guess I need to get back to it.
I was able to spend Thanksgiving and Christmas back in the U.S. visiting friends and family. It was incredibly refreshing to be back. It was a great time to catch up with people and to enjoy all things American. It was also a wonderful time to announce to everyone that my husband and I are expecting our first little one in May.
I have a feeling there will be some posts this year that relate to being pregnant and having kids overseas. In addition, my husbands parents have moved in with us and so there will possibly also be some posts about adjusting to living with the in-laws.
All things said, I am incredibly blessed.
Coming back to Mauritius has been interesting. It feels like we've been gone for so long. On the other hand, the time went by so fast it feels like we hardly left. I think I forgot some things about the island while I was gone... Thanks to the humidity, most of my husbands suits are moldy and so are the curtains in my living room... We have no hot water to take showers with which isn't necessarily just an island thing, but is an annoyance I was not anticipating. On the other hand, I am enjoying the warmth and the sunshine...
Anyway- I guess I am done rambling for now. Hopefully I'll be better at this blogging thing this year.

Where to begin

So, I haven't made a blog post in FOREVER!!! Things have been so busy.

Recently, I spent a month in England for work and when I came home, I was moved into my new house. It's lovely. Not to say there haven't been a few hiccups here and there. Hopefully we are done with that and can get settled in.

Currently, we are waiting on our cabinet people to deliver our cabinet. We made our first deposit 4 months ago and were supposed to have cabinets in 6-8 weeks. We will definitely be asking for a discount when they finally are delivered.

Here are some pictures of where we are now.

Shamefully overdue post

Right... So, I haven't blogged since the beginning of January. Things have just been crazy busy...

Where do I begin?

The house is coming along really well. They are supposed to be putting in the windows and exterior doors this week and by the end of the week, our main contractor should be handing over our house. After that, we begin the finishing works like plumbing, electricity, tiling, painting, cabinetry, etc. Perhaps if things go well, we will be ready to move in by July. We'll see. Either way, it's pretty exciting.

Our weekends have been spent shopping for our finishings. Sinks, toilets, water taps, doors, tiles, light fixtures. It's amazing how much you take for granted when you move into a place that is already finished. However, it's been a really fun process.

Other areas in life...
Work is going well for both of us, though we have been rather busy...

Other than work and house stuff, we don't really have much to report...

Thankfully things are beginning to cool off and temperatures in my office are hovering in the upper 70's rather than the 80's. This is a VERY welcome break and has made my daily runs more enjoyable as well.

I'm working my way up to a 10k for Thanksgiving, which we will be celebrating in the U.S. I am looking forward to seeing everyone.

Here are some updated pictures of the house for your enjoyment. :-)

The first is the house from the street.
Next is the upstairs family room looking from the back terrace to the front of the house.
Next is one of the extra bedrooms.
Next looking from the laundry room through the kitchen into the living/dining room.
Finally, a picture of the back yard from the ground floor back terrace.

Blogging slacker

Wow,

I can't believe it's been a month and a half since I have written anything. I guess you can tell that life has been a bit busy around here...

It's officially summer here in Mauritius and that means it's officially warm. Celebrating Christmas and New Years in shorts and flip flops is definately not what I am used to. It isn't all bad, but it will definatley take some getting used to. Baking holidays goodies just isn't as much fun when your kitchen is about 82 degrees (28 C) before you start.

The holidays here are a bit funny. Christmas decorations do go up, but usually only about a week before Christmas. This year I noticed more festive behavior than last, so hopefully they are getting the hang of it and every year will be better.

New Years tends to be the big event here. At midnight fireworks go off everywhere and for a long time. Good luck trying to sleep. Unless of course, you are my husband. I honestly don't know how he sleeps through that. The other crazy thing is that in Mauritius, the law requires you to be paid a 13th month at the end of the year. So essentially, in December, you get paid doule what you usually get. Interesting idea... The problem is that people go out and spend his money and for some reason the grocery stores don't understand that demand goes up, so if you go to the store on the 2nd, 3rd or 4th of January, you will likely not find much. No bread, no eggs... the produce is all icky and growing mold. You get the picture. And yes, I mean this literally.

Other than that life has just been cruising along. We are making good progress on our house and I think that by the end of the week, they will likely be ready to cast the slab for the first floor. It's amazing to see how quickly they move... Shown here are some pictures of the ground floor with walls up to where the windows begin. I can't wait to have it done!

A belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everyone!

I'll try to be more consistent this year. :-)

Reflections on Autumn

Back in the U.S. it is autumn. While this is not my first year to be away from the U.S. at Thanksgiving time, this is the first year I have spent this time of year in a place where no leaves fall and the weather only warms up instead of becoming frosty.

I read Facebook posts about all of the delightful things I remember about autumn. The shortening of days. Pumpkin spice lattes. The crispness that finds it's way into the morning air. Part of my heart aches for those familiar things. On the other hand, I recognize all of the things that I'm not missing...

I was thinking this morning about the consumerism of the Western holiday season. I remember that this time of the year is so busy. First it's Thanksgiving and all of the cooking and food followed by shopping. Then it's holiday parties and programs from schools and churches. So many things going on and let's not forget, more food and shopping. Everyone wants to look nice for the parties and events so new outfits are purchased or put together... Everyone wants to impress with their Christmas letters and family portraits. Everyone wants the 'perfect' Christmas. (Think Clark Griswold here)

There is a part of me that again longs for the familiarity in all of this, but the more practical, less emotional side of me thinks of how much better it is to be where I am. Here, Thanksgiving doesn't exist. There isn't a day of watching parades and football and spending time with relatives you intentionally avoid every other day of the year. There isn't the big rush to go out and buy the newest gadget or must have gift. There are no bombardments of sentimental commercials about coffee... No commercials advertising the must have items for the season. (You can only imagine how much money that will save us in the long run...) In fact, you won't even know that Christmas is coming for about another full month in Mauritius. You will begin to find scrawny, Charlie Brown looking Christmas trees for sale around the 20th of December. (I fully intend to have one this year) But the shopping doesn't really start until Christmas Eve. I find that entirely delightful. The tradition here is that shops stay open late on Christmas Eve. The buses run late and everyone puts their kids to bed and then goes out and does their Christmas shopping. It certainly keeps things a surprise... And if they are all out of that one special item you had your eye on. Don't worry, there is something of equal or lesser value to be found just down the street.

I guess I still have some adjusting to do, espeically regarding holidays. I think this is the time of year that you make most of your family memories and hold close most of your traditions. Perhaps that is why everyone gets so sentimental about the holidays (or in some cases utterly depressed) But here's a toast to new traditions and memories to be found in a land foreign to me. Happy Holidays everyone!

India Update

I'm going to have to come back and tell you about the last two days in retrospect. As of today, I am sitting in the Emirates Lounge in Dubai on my 8 hour layover. :-( Only 6.5 hours more to go!!! I also have a fever and ache all over. I definately caught something in India. I started feeling bad last night, but thought I had managed to sleep it off. I was wrong. I can't wait to be in England where there is a bed... That's all for now.

Craft market and more food

I had the pleasure of visiting a local craft market last night. Essentially the government decided to build a location for all of these vendors to have shops together so that it’s more of a one stop shop for tourists. Not a bad idea if you ask me…

There were lots of interesting things to see there. Lots of renditions of different gods, either hand crafted out of wood, clay, etc or painted onto various objects. In addition, there were other art pieces and lots of fabrics used for saris and other clothing. I found a cool picture that is essentially a leaf that then has a design woven into it. It’s kind of hard to explain, but I thought it was unique and pretty cool. I just hope it arrives in Mauritius in one piece. It’s got a lot of travelling to do before it gets there.

After coming back to the hotel, I decided to try the Oriyan restaurant at the hotel. This restaurant serves local cuisine that is common to this region of India. I decided on a thali. This is essentially a collection of dishes that gives you several different things to try. (Feel free to look up thali in Wikipedia). Everything I had was really good! I had rice and some flat bread along with a piece of fish that was seasoned excellently! Then there was also some chicken curry, some cheese curry (with the local cottage cheese), some red curry whose contents I was unsure of, a lentil and potato curry and finally a sweet dish. Everything was really excellent, but I didn’t have room to eat it all…

I almost forgot… Put the day in rewind and I’ll tell you about what else I ate today… (As you can see, food is a VERY important part of my travel. Not to mention, you don’t want me to spew on and on about work) So, we had two birthdays in the office yesterday. Each brought in a treat for everyone. One was a cake that was made of cheese that had been baked and then had sweet syrup poured in and throughout it. It’s wet to touch. It has kind of a cheese cake flavor when you eat it, but the texture is really odd and there is a bit of an unpleasant aftertaste. The other was a ball of dough that also had syrup in and throughout it. When I picked it up and took a bite, the syrup ran out of it and all over my hands. I didn’t realize it would be so juicy. It was really nice though…

Lunch was something different yesterday. I had already told you that on the two previous days I had sandwiches and chips. Yesterday they decided to trust me with other local cuisine. They ordered chicken bryani for me from a local restaurant that is becoming quite famous for their recipe. It was soooooo good. Apologies to my mother in law, but it was the best bryani I have ever tasted. It was nice and spicy, but not overwhelming. There was enough spice to leave my nose runny and my lips tingly, but not enough to make my face red, etc.
I have two nights of eating left and I am not sure how to organize them… The final restaurant at my hotel serves continental cuisine, but I can get that anywhere, so I am definitely skipping it. I think perhaps I will have to try the tandoori pomfret. It is a fish that is cooked with spices and from all accounts is excellent. For the last meal… I guess we’ll have to wait and see.

India Continued... Food and Toilets

It’s funny to me that I used to really dislike Indian food. I can remember a visit to an Indian restaurant in Kansas City with friends, where I literally cried in the bathroom because I was spending a lot of money on food I didn’t like, and didn’t want to eat. (There were other stress factors involved) Nevertheless, Indian food has become one of my favorites. I guess it’s true what they say… Your taste buds do change over time. Good thing!

Well, you have heard about my first day in India, but I believe the only food I mentioned were the cumin seed cookies. At the office here, they usually have a caterer who brings in lunch for the office. However, they order something special for me because they think that the food they eat will be too spicy. I’d like to try it, but don’t want to burn my tongue off, or get a tummy bug, so I will stick to what they serve. The past two days for lunch, I have had grilled sandwiches and chips. One thing I have found intriguing in all of my travels is that potato chip flavors vary depending on location. The same is true here. There is actually a masala flavored chip here. It is available at the hotel, but they usually choose a tomato chutney flavored chip for me here at the office. Perhaps they think the masala chips would be too spicy as well… The chutney chips taste a bit like ketchup… Anyway. My ketchup flavored chips are served with two sandwiches. One is a chicken tikka sandwich where the chicken is red colored. It is really yummy. I believe the other is chicken as well, but I am not positive. They are both cooked on a Panini type grill to be toasted and both taste pretty nice. However the best thing is that they serve it with a Diet Coke. Ahh… Diet Coke. I love that wherever I go, I can always find this bit of comfort.

For supper on Monday night, I ate at the Chinese restaurant in the hotel. Interestingly enough, they serve both Thai and Chinese food. I opted for Thai green curry. It was really good. I don’t really have anything unique to say about it, because it tasted like Thai curry that I have had in other places as well. Last night, I went to the Indian restaurant at the hotel. There I had the Mulligatwany soup, kadhai murgh and some garlic naan. Everything was delicious. I will likely be heading back to that restaurant before I leave… Tonight I am planning to try the Oriyan restaurant at the hotel. It serves dishes that are unique to this state (region) of India.

Now for the bathrooms… Don’t worry, I don’t have any bad toilet stories to tell you or any digestive havocs to report, but I think I should give you a heads up. If you are a lady travelling in India, you will want to bring a few things with you. 1. Always bring tissue. Either toilet tissue or face tissue. Just bring something. Not all bathrooms supply this. 2. Practice your squatty potty. Go out in the woods, find a tree and practice your stance. Although not all toilets here are squatties, there are a fair number of them and you don’t want to have to figure them out on the fly… 3. Bring hand sanitizer. Not all bathrooms have a place to wash your hands. If they do have a sink, they may or may not have running water, and the water itself may be questionable. 4. Mind the water on the floor. This is the fun part. Frequently the toilets here have hoses so that you can hose off any bit of you that you deem necessary. I will stop the description there. Anyway… Sometimes this water finds its way to the floor, leaving a messy puddle around the toilet itself. I find it advisable to lift your pant legs when approaching said toilets to avoid getting the bottoms wet. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to have mystery liquid on the bottom of my pants… Enough said. Finally ladies, practice “the stance” with your pant legs pulled up and you should be good to go for any bathroom you face or better yet, wear a skirt. They are much more forgiving. The final option is to just hold it and wait until you get back to the hotel. In some cases, this is the preferred option.

India

*Disclaimer - These are the observations of one very western person of a very eastern place. I do not mean for any observations to be critical or insulting. They are simply my observations.*

Okay… so here is my attempt to blog about India so far…

I left Mauritius on Saturday afternoon and arrived in Chennai, India at around 8:45 a.m. local time. Up until this point, things had gone smoothly as I travelled through Dubai. Nothing out of the ordinary… I got off the plan and headed toward passport control. I don’t think I have ever seen a line so long in my entire life. They had all of their desks open, but I think they must have all of their international arrivals at the same time. I picked a line that seemed like a good choice and inevitably it was the longest, slowest line. I was a little anxious because I had to pick up my bags and re-check them here… I finally got through the line and luckily there was no problem. Okay… I am officially in India. Good start.

Next, it’s time to find my luggage. I headed downstairs to the baggage claim area, which is also overflowing with people. I realized at this point, that no one cares if you can’t get to the belt where the baggage is. It’s everyman for himself and if you see your bag, you push your way through the crowd to grab it. This should be fun. Well, funny enough, after waiting for all the bags to come out of the shoot, I still had not yet seen my bag. All the time while the belt was churning, I was literally praying that my bag would be the next one. Ugh… Finally, I looked at the end of the belt and my bags were sitting there. It seems that while I was at passport control, someone got tired of seeing my bags going round and round and decided to take them off the belt for me. Gee… thanks. So, with my heart rate back at the “normal” non panic rate, I headed to customs and out the door. Okay… good progress. I find my way to domestic departures (which is a little walk) and discover that I have to go to the ticket counter to get my ticket to be able to get into the area where you check in. Excellent. I go, get in that line and get my ticket with about a 45 minutes before my flight is supposed to leave. I finally get in and find my check-in counter. Naturally, my bags are overweight and I have to pay a charge. So, I get in that line and pay my charge… 30 minutes remaining. Next I pick up my boarding card and proceed to go through security. This is always fun because I have to take out my computer, and take off my shoes… etc… Job done, I’m through security. Now to find my gate… Well, my boarding card says gate one, so I go to gate one. Two different people look at my boarding card and I am loaded onto a bus. This is a true Indian bus experience where about 50 people are crammed into a space meant to contain 5. That survived, I get to the plane to discover that this is actually the wrong plane. I don’t know how, but it is the case. Praise God the bus driver was able to take me to the correct plane. Potential heart attack two, overted. Funny thing was, they were not yet boarding. Again, thanks to God, they allowed me to board anyway, and I was able to cool off and relax waiting for the other passengers to arrive. God is good!

The flight was on a little puddle jumper for 1.5 hours and it went by really quickly. Unfortunately during our descent and landing, the small child in front of us decided to scream as loud as he could because he was not able to get off his mother’s lap. It was awful. Once on the ground, I realized that the fasten seatbelt sign and announcement to remain seated means nothing in India. People started getting up and getting their stuff and heading out into the aisles! I was lucky to shove my way off the plane when I did… Inside the airport, I retrieved my luggage and headed out to where Kalparaj, my ride, was waiting for me. We got my luggage loaded in the car and headed to my hotel.

The hotel I am staying at is one of the nicest in town. It’s huge and marble… At the gate, they have security guards who literally use a mirror to look under all of the cars before they can drive in. I was not sure whether to feel safer or worried about what people might trying to be sneaking in under their cars. I decided to go with safer…

Upon stopping, the bell boy was quick to get my bags and I was ushered into the lobby. I filled out my check-in information and was offered a glass of juice. This was a moment of truth for me. Everything I read said not to drink fresh juice, however, I knew that this hotel catered to international customers and in the position that I was in, not taking it would have been offensive. I (literally) said a prayer and drank the juice. It was actually really delicious. I was then taken to my room by one of the hotel managers and my bags arrived just behind me. The nice bell boy showed me where everything in the room was and I was on my own.

I took a few moments to settle in and decided that I would see what the internet access in the hotel was like. As I logged in, I realized that in the end, I needed to have an Indian cell phone number in order to get a confirmation code that I needed sent to me. So, I headed to the lobby and inquired about getting an Indian SIM card. Luckily there was a shop just down the street that sells these things. The gentleman in the lobby pointed me in the right direction and I found the shop with no problem. I asked for a SIM card and the lady told me that she would need a passport photo to attach to the application. At first I thought, “Crap”, but then I remembered that I had some extra photos from when I got my residency permit. They were absolutely awful, so I had gotten new ones for the other things I needed. So, I went back to my room and found these horrible pictures and returned to the shop. The rest of the transaction went easily. I paid my 78 rupees, and walked out with my SIM card.

I returned to my room and installed my SIM card and then proceeded to try to figure out the internet connection. However, everytime I got to the payment page, the system would crash and I couldn’t actually buy the time. At this point I had been awake for 30 some odd hours with maybe a 30 minute doze in the middle. I was sweaty and wanted a shower and just wanted to get in bed, but instead I headed back to the lobby and explained that I couldn’t get the internet connection to work. They told me that they could sell me either a 2 hour card or a 6 hour card. I chose the two hour card. The girl at the desk told me that she would have someone bring it to my room. I headed back to my room. An hour later, no one had come to my room, so I headed back downstairs to the lobby. This time, I actually got the internet card I needed and went back to my room.

After getting the card, I didn’t even want to use it, so instead I showered and went to bed without dinner. Ah… sweet rest.

Monday morning, I got up and got dressed after using Skype to talk to my hubby. (Thank you Jesus for Skype) I went to breakfast and discovered some very interesting breakfast choices. There was the typical pastry and toast section. There was an Indian section, complete with curry and paratha. There was another section that I couldn’t really identify anything on, and finally fruit. I played it safe and had a croissant, some potato wedges and a glass of juice.

After breakfast, I waited for my ride to collect me and take me to the office. I guess that in my tired haze the day before I hadn’t really noticed the traffic, but today it was hard to ignore. It seems that here, traffic rules mean nothing at all. The lane markings and speed limits are just suggestions. You can pretty much drive wherever you want to. Just be sure to honk your horn a lot to let others know where you are and not to cross your path. Interestingly enough, there is also no right of way, so if you want to drive across traffic or perhaps drive the opposite direction for a little ways, listen to Nike, and “Just Do It”. I cannot imagine driving here… Riding was enough of an adventure for me.

One side note on travel… There are a lot of “auto rickshaws” here. In Thailand they are known as took-took. Essentially they are three wheeled vehicles that have a bench at the back where passengers ride and a driver’s seat where there are motorcycle handlebars etc to drive with. When I saw them, I couldn’t help but think of the Seinfeld episode where Kramer tries to bring the rickshaw to New York…

In the office, everyone was very friendly. I have been treated extremely well since my arrival.
At the office, I had my first eating experience in India. I decided to try one of the little cookies on the table. They look like pecan sandies, and are very similar. They have the shortbread kind of content, but instead of pecans, they are filled with cumin seeds. I can’t explain the odd sensation that is. It’s like a spicy little cookie. They are pretty good.

It’s funny to think of this trip in retro-spect. Before I moved to England, I really, really disliked Indian food. I couldn’t stand it and had no interest in ever coming to India. I guess I can see how the Lord changed my heart and got me ready for this trip all along the way.

I am sure I will have more to share as time goes by, but this is just a little intro.

Travelling

So, last week I spent the week in Birmingham England. This week I am home. I leave tomorrow for a 3 week business trip. I start in India and spend a week in Bhubaneswar, from there I head back to Birmingham for two more weeks in England. Ugh...

I am looking forward to seeing India. It's the first time for me to visit the continent of Asia, and my first time in India. I am sure I will have lots to write about then...

On the other hand, I am suffering from pre-seperation anxiety. I already am mourning the fact I will be away from home and away from my husband for 3 weeks!!!

I guess we'll see if absence really does make the heart grow fonder. From my experiences so far, it's definately true... And one of the best things about being away from my husband is that the first night we are back together, we cling to each other all night... The next morning, we wake up still holding on to each other as if our lives depended on it. It's a great feeling.

I guess I'll see you later!

Weddings, Barber Shop and Travelling

So... It's been a little while since I have had the time to write something... Sorry for that :-(

Last weekend, I had the pleasure of attending my first Mauritian wedding. Two young people in our church were getting married and we were invited to participate... The first thing I will say about Mauritian weddings is, don't bother to show up on time. The reason being, no one else will either. Now, my husband had been asked to be the "wedding car" for the bride, so he dropped me off at the church and went to pick up Janeesa and her family. No biggie. The wedding is meant to start at 4:30 p.m., so he drops me at the church at 3:45 and arrives at the bride's house at 4. I sat in the church and waited... At around 4:30, the first few members of the choir and band showed up. Around 4:50 the pastor decides to make an appearance. I am sitting in my chair thinking, really? My wedding started at 10:00 a.m. and if you weren't in your seat, you missed it. Anyway... at around 5:15, the bride and groom both arrive at the church. Interestingly enough, many people wait in the parking lot for the bride and groom to arrive and then at the last minute, while the bride and groom and party are lining up, they file into the church. The rest of the wedding was pretty traditional, except that the pastor didn't know the names of the people he was marrying and mispronounced and re-read them about a million times. But it was a nice wedding overall and afterward, we got to share a nice biryani dinner with friends and family.

This weekend, I went for the first time with my husband to get his hair cut. My husband's barber runs his business out of his house. No big deal. The funny thing to me was all of the men who were there to get their hair colored. There were at least 3 sitting with black hair dye during the time we were there. These men were in their 50's, I mean, who are you trying to kid? And the funny thing was that when they came in, they were all grey. People are totally going to notice. Anyway- I got quite a chuckle out of that. Then I told my husband to go grey with grace...

The next month I will be caught in a whirlwind of travel. A week in England, then home for a week, then a week in India, followed by two weeks in England, then finally back home again. Hopefully I will have interesting things to share during those adventures.

A weekend away

This past weekend my husband and I spent a weekend away/at home. :-) I splurged for his birthday and treated us to a three night stay at a fancy hotel on the south coast. It was worth every penny...

I now understand why people come to Mauritius and think it is so fantastic. When you see the resorts and hotels that are here, you have to admit that they are wonderful. The service is outstanding, the views breathtaking, it's everything you hope your all inclusive holiday could be. However, I couldn't help but sit back and think of how far from the "REAL" Mauritius this representation is.

Don't get me wrong. Mauritius is a lovely place. It is full of beaches and beautiful sunsets, but the reality for most people that live here is that the beach is a place they got to go to maybe 4 or 5 times a year unless they live super close. There is no way they could afford to go to the private resorts, even at the Mauritian rate that is offered to residents. They don't get to see the fantastic places that the tourists come flocking for.

I feel a bit conflicted over the whole experience. On one hand, I am so thankful for the experience of seeing and doing all we did. We got to eat fantastic food and lounge by the pool all day. We even had time to build a sand castle... It was an amazing weekend. But on the other hand, I feel as though the island is so caught up in self-exploitation that after all the beaches have been trashed by tourist and all of it's natural resources used up, the "REAL" Mauritius will be all that's left. Will anyone pay big money to come and see that? I guess we have to wait and find out.

September

Okay, so it's not officially September yet, but it's getting close.

Last year, September was a wonderful month for me because I was spending the month in Mauritius with my fiance. We had a lot of fun and really enjoyed having all of that time together. We also were able to get civilly married here in Mauritius before our religious "real" wedding in December.

September is also the month of my husband's birthday. Funny enough, my father-in-law and my nephew also share birthdays in September and they all fall two days apart starting on the 8th.

Now last year, when I was here, I had only brought shorts and t-shirts with me. It is still winter here, but I only remember being cold a handful of days. This year, I am wearing jeans and a fleece pullover. It appears as though I have become a weenie in a very short time. Yikes...

Not much has been going on in this corner of the world, but I did find something at the South African grocery store yesterday that made me ridiculously happy. What was it you ask? Miracle Whip! I can't wait to whip up some tuna sandwiches... Ironically, I also found dill and sweet pickles there! Hurray!!!

Yep, that's it. It takes very little to excite me...

In other news. We are getting closer to starting our house. We are hoping to talk to the bank this week to get the wheels turning. Crazy stuff.

I guess I'm really out of things to say. So... I'll catch you later.