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.

Under the weather

Over the past week I have had my first encounter with "la grippe". (French for the flu) Luckily it has not been a terrible overtaking of my entire body, more like an untimely inconvenience. I've had the soar throat, runny nose, fever and aches, but the symptoms haven't been super intense...

I can say from my experience in college, single adult life, and in England as well, that the only thing worse than being sick is being sick and away from home. Mom is not there to make you soup and spoil you. You have to buy your own orange juice and pick up your own tissues from wherever you've let them fall. It's a shame really...

However, being sick in another country is a whole different experience. I had my first encounter with international illness on a trip to Jamaica in the winter of 1999. During the last night of my stay on the island I began feeling really unwell and thought that I had a bladder or a kidney infection. That night I lay freezing under a sheet as the others travelling with me lay sweating under a ceiling fan... Luckily the next day we started home. During a layover in North Carolina I ended up laying on the floor of the airport covered in coats and surrounded by hand luggage. Then, I took a Tylenol before getting on the plane for the final leg of my journey and unfortunately it broke my fever so fast that even the airline hostess was fanning me with a magazine on board. Ultimately it became known that I had somehow gotten e-coli and that was the reason for my illness...

The next experiences came during my time in England. Most illnesses there were minor colds contracted by riding public transportation...

The funny thing to me is that when you are sick, you seek the comforts of home to a greater degree. You look for "Kleenex" brand tissues, and the type of over the counter medicines you are familiar with like "Vick's" and "Robitussin" Unfortunately, these things might not be available and so you try to make do with what you can get.

Luckily during this recent illness I was able to get Kentucky Fried Chicken mashed potatoes and gravy (a total comfort food for me). And my husband did a great job of pitching in and taking care of me as well. He took over for mom and bought me orange juice and picked up my tissues...

Hopefully next week I'll have a new fun experience to share, but for this week, I'll continue to enjoy my time on the couch...

A Few of My Favorite Things

This past week when I was at my French lesson, one of my fellow students made a comment about how America has the best junk food. I have to agree with this sentiment. The student mentioned is from Armenia and she was particularly impressed with our pizza.

Thinking on this further, I call to mind many of my favorite things about America. Some of my favorite things I can replicate here, some of them I can't. Some can be imported from friends and family, and some can't. Many of the things that I miss the most simply can't be re-created here. Obviously, I miss the people of America... my friends and my family. They can never be duplicated or replaced. They are simply missed.

I have come to discover that no matter where you are, you seek out the things that are comfortable to you. In England, I found comfort in things like Philadelphia Cream Cheese and Charmin toilet paper. Familiar brands of toothpaste and frozen foods made me happy. They reminded me of home and I didn't feel so very far away. Obviously England is not so different from the U.S. as Mauritius, but I find myself finding comfort in similar things... Familiar brands are fewer and farther between here. I can find Doritos, but not in U.S. flavors. Luckily, some things are the same everywhere. I smile when I see Chips Ahoy and Oreo in the cookie aisle and my heart would be broken with out Diet Coke. Thank goodness that's freely available here.

Other things I find comfort in include NPR Radio, my Newsweek magazine subscription, the quilt my grandmother made me for my wedding, pictures of family and friends, and DVDs of my favorite 90's sitcoms.

On a tough day I still crave American junk food and I think perhaps I always will. It's possible that as I spend the rest of my life on this funny little island, I will find replacements in Mauritian things, but I will always have a place in my heart for American familiarity.

So, this is winter...

It seems that the winter season is dawning in Mauritius. I, personally, couldn't be happier. So far it's like an extended spring or autumn back home. In Missouri, it seems that those seasons never last long enough. There are only a handful of days when you can comfortably open the windows and enjoy the air outside... It either starts getting too cold too quickly, or getting too warm even more quickly. Here in Mauritius, I am able to leave the windows open if I please, or close them if I want, and not feel suffocated...

I find myself wearing shorts and flip flops to the store and when I get home, I'm not sweating. It's incredible! In the evenings, it's cooling down enough that if I open the windows, I can even wear long pajama pants! I love it!

Ironically, the dress code for this time of year is as varied as the religions recognized on this island. In the same glance down the street you can see people in flip flops, shorts and tank tops and others in coats, stocking caps and boots. (I am not exaggerating) I have to wonder to myself how the people in coats and hats are not just dying!

I guess it's just another quirk of this country that is becoming my home...

The coming of winter is a welcome site to me. It makes the unfamiliar seem more familiar... I don't think I'll ever have a use for all of my old winter stuff (unless I am visiting another country), but at least I delight in a light sweater on a cool evening, and for now, that's enough to make me smile...

Francophone

This past weekend I had my first french lesson with a group of 7 other international students all here in Mauritius. The following countries are represented... India, Armenia, Hungary, England, South Africa and America. Oh, and don't forget our Mauritian teacher. :-)

I was blessed to find this group through an ex-patriot blog ring online. It all started with one person asking about French lessons and ended with us meeting once a week for lessons.

Although I have studied French, both in high school and in college, I know only enough to be a polite tourist. I can give you a polite greeting and ask your name. Tell you a bit about myself. I can order food and ask for directions. I can follow simple instructions etc. But when you live someplace, you quickly find that this is not enough. Even worse, if you open your mouth to say, "Bonjour", people think you can speak French and then they rattle of something that leaves you saying, "Pardon?". I am lucky enough that I know how to tell others that I don't speak or understand French, so that often gets me out of my pinch...

I am not sure if this class will teach me many new things, but any start is a good start, even if it's just refreshing the things that I know.

One of these days I dream of being fluent and being able to talk freely with people here. I'm sure it will come...

One of the things that makes it a bit more difficult on my part is that I work from home, so I don't get out into the population much. I don't have a lot of interaction with French speakers (aside from my in-laws and the people at my church). I know enough French already to get through my day to day interactions at the grocery store etc.

Anyway- we'll see how it goes and maybe next time I see you I'll be able to impress you with my francophone skills.

Elections

I've been in Mauritius for 5 months now. It seems like time has gone quickly. Everyday there are fewer and fewer things that don't make sense to me or that seem odd. I guess I am becoming more acclimated to life here.

Don't get me wrong, there are still things that surprise me, like the employee who used a hand cart to roll our new shelf to the door so that he wouldn't have to carry it. (The shelf weighed less than 15 lbs) Or the way people look at me like I have 3 heads when they see me jogging in the morning... And perhaps most especially in this season, the political process surrounding elections. This is where I will spend my time today.

Election day isn't really set on a fixed schedule, rather it has to do with when parliament resolves and has their recess. This year is an election year (elections happen every 5 years) but the date wasn't decided until April.

My husband told me that this year was a bit unusual because elections were held on Wednesday. Usually they are held on a Sunday so that the work week is less disrupted. Election day is a national holiday and so most of the stores and businesses are closed on this day. In addition, the next day is counting day and many businesses are again closed because they know their employees will be listening to the return results and not really working.

This year I was lucky because elections fell right around my birthday allowing my husband to spend more time with me, and that was awesome!

Anyway- once the election day is decided alliances are formed. Basically what happens is that several political parties may form an alliance and all run together. If they win, they may possibly share the offices to which they have been elected. It would like if three independent parties formed an alliance to run candidates against the republicans and democrats. If they won, then they each of the parties would have their presidential candidate in office for 1 1/3 years. Then the next would take his turn. Weird huh?

Another difference is that the political parties don't really have a platform. They don't have clear causes that they support. I guess this makes it easier for them to form alliances.

Campaigning here is totally different. It's mostly done with banners and posters everywhere. Flags and banners with the parties colors are draped everywhere in town, at every round about and at every major intersection. In addition, people drive around with loudspeakers on their car and either play music or some political message. (During this time, living on a main road is a real bummer... They are loud and obnoxious)

I think that the worst is the day that they announce the results. People go crazy. They drive around for hours honking and waving their parties colors in declaration of victory. We definately don't get that excited in the U.S.

One final, funny system they have in place here is the "Best Loser" system. There are 70 seats in parliament. 62 are elected and 8 are given to the "Best Losers". Basically the system is to balance out any racial inequalities in the voting. The suprem court decides who the best losers will be based on recommendations from the electoral supervisory commission. Interesting idea...

Anyway- I am thankful that the political season is over and that things can return to "normal".

Guess that's all for today.

Qu' est-que tu penser?

Over the last few days I have been inspired to work on my French. Hopefully if I can sharpen my French skills I can more easily learn Creole. (At least that's what I'm wishing for) If not, then I could at least watch T.V. in French and understand more of what's going on...

One of the frustrating things is that I have a textbook from college that I could use to review what I already know and could work from there, but that textbook is tucked away in my storage shed in Bolivar. It's not much good to me there.

There are online programs (like BBC) that help you learn languages, but a lot of their content is stuff that I already know. It's only helpful if you are a tourist or if you plan to have most of your conversations with small children...

One of the reasons for this desire is so that I can speak to people here and really make this place my home. I don't want to just be a "visitor" here. I can get by with day to day stuff, but I want to be able to really talk to people and understand them.

I also don't want to be one of those people who just relies on my husband and the fact that most people can understand at least a little English. Those kind of people used to drive me crazy in the U.S. Parents who would make their children help them navigate through society because they didn't know English, but their kids did. I've always said that when you go to a foreign country you should at least make an effort to learn the language and not just expect everyone to accommodate you. And that is what I must do.

I have recently discovered a French tutor who lives in the town that I live in. Her fees are ridiculously reasonable and she comes recommended. I have also discovered that there might be a group of people interested in learning together, which could be fun. I guess we'll see where all of that goes.

At any rate. My goal is to speak French fluently. And I wish myself, "bonne chance". Or good luck.