Visitors for England

To my excitement and surprise I found out just over a month ago that my second cousin (the daughter of my mother’s cousin) was doing a term of study at University in Reunion Island. I remember meeting her once before briefly at my grandmother’s wedding last October. It turned out that after her 3 month study period she planned on coming to Mauritius for a holiday with a couple of her ‘copines.’

So, yesterday afternoon after having experienced a little trouble finding the house, four beautiful young English University students elegantly stepped out of a silver hire car in our driveway and came through the gate and knocked on our door. We welcomed them in with ‘bisous’ (French kisses- one on each cheek- it’s very normal in Mauritius) and showed them around our house a little bit.

All four of the girls, young women really, are studying some combination of languages at the University of Bristol; two straight French, one French and Spanish and my second cousin, Emma, French and Italian. She is going to go and do a term at University in Verona, Italy soon. Lucky girl. Katie, Chloe and I were all taken back by their presence- all very tall, beautiful, brown and extremely English girls (accents like I’ve rarely heard before!)

We planned on taking a picnic to Spiritual Gardens as it was a nice day and it would any awkwardness about paying at a restaurant. We had prepared fillings- onions, cheese, sweet corn etc and packed them in a bag along with knives, two large bottles of juice and two baguettes that we had already bought. All we needed to do was nip to the market and purchase a couple more and we would have been sorted.

Our plan was stunted. We arrived at the market at 1.30pm and it was closed- Sunday- I should have expected this. The supermarket had literally just closed too… We must have been quite a sight. They were all so tall and stunning (and two of them blonde… as well as Katie- all Westerners)- we attracted a lot more attention than normal. It was also partly due to the beachwear of our friend from England. We decided to change plans and go to the street vendors by the bus station and purchase some local cuisine for lunch- rotis! Savory flat bread filled with vegetable curry and rolled up like a wrap. Lunch for 7 was on me; they were all very grateful…and I had only spent the equivalent of 1Pound 40pence!

After a pleasant walk to Spiritual Gardens and an interesting and friendly chat, all seven of us sitting a long a step and drinking cold water and juice beneath the cool shade of a tree we headed back home again. Katie and Chloe had a work ‘ball’ (party/dance) to go to and the others wanted to head back up North to enjoy the beaches for the last time! They are going back to England on Thursday and will be met both with the love of their families and the harshness of winter.

Lucious Letchis (Lychees)

Last night the doorbell rang. This only happens on the odd occasion; and usually when we have to pay our water of electricity bills. I got quite excited but also slightly nervous, who could it be?

I opened the door to find an unfamiliar man standing on the doorstep brandishing a black bag with leaves poking out of it. He said ‘hello’, I said ‘bonjour’, after a little while of him speaking English and I French he got the message and we conversed in the same language. His name is Arthur and he is a neighbour of ours. He has a large productive letchis tree in his garden and had come to share some of them with his foreign friends. What a kind man.

This now means we’ll have to make him a chocolate sponge cake. Whenever a neighbour presents us with fruit from their garden -this has happened a few times- mangoes, bananas and paw paw (papaya)- we thank them with a cake. Sometimes this has been retaliated with yet more fruit and then we are stuck, as it is a bit too expensive to make endless chocolate cakes for everyone who is kind to us.

Anyhow, the letchis from Arthur’s tree were delicious- and as the summer goes on they are set to get ever redder, fatter and juicier!

‘I am Chinese’- The Story of Two Sisters- 02.12.10

I’m sitting in the library I just discovered. It is a 10minute walk from my house. Despite the scorching temperature outside I feel cool; there is a fan. Luxury. Everywhere I see books. French crime novels, Hindi language for Dummies and Great British Classics lay before me. Stacked on shelf upon shelf. Amongst the shelves lie tables circled by wicker chairs for people to read magazines and catch up on the latest gossip, of which I know nothing. Except that Princess Ann is in Mauritius and she arrived on Wednesday. I can’t help but know this- my neighbours repeatedly tell me, almost unable to contain their excitement.

I sit at my desk- one of four desks of four; sixteen places in total. I am writing to

my dear mother. She writes to me every week and has done for the past seven weeks. I have written to her three times (I am working on the fourth letter at the moment.) Suddenly chatter in a foreign tongue permeates the air and people around me clearly become agitated. They are trying to study.

A friendly man burst through the door, clearly of Chinese origin. He was followed by a large group of equally amiable looking pals and a couple of photographers. He had such a presence and such an expectation that everybody wanted to listen that the whole library stood (or sat) to attention to listen what he had to say. He didn’t start off his speech with him name, in fact he forgot that all together, he started with his nationality. ‘I am Chinese’, he beamed, all eyes on him. His paparazzi crew began to snap photographs of all of us who happened to be sitting at desks in our local library. We were stunned; it came as such a surprise. The people spread across the tables were united in amusement and couldn’t help but let wide smiles spread across our faces in this relatively unusual situation. He presented a speech to his pack who regarded us as if we were children in a zoo. Note: I didn’t get the phrase wrong, just changed it. I made eye contact with some members of the team and they responded with enthusiastic thumbs up in support.

Later, on leaving, I passed a sign outside which read ‘ City Sisters. Beau-Bassin/ Rose Hill, Mauritius. Changzhou, China. Unveiled on 02.12.2010 to mark the 12^th Anniversary of Twinning Relations’ Flying proudly behind were the flags of both countries. I felt privileged to have been witness to such a seemingly minor event!

I'm looking for a Wife for my Son... 02.12.10

I’m naked. I’m just about to get in the shower. It is the furthest point from the phone in the whole house and the least convenient time in the whole day for somebody to call. It’s pretty obvious what is coming next. Ring, ring, ring. Ring, ring, ring. Its’ battle cry remains the same, a francophone country or not.

I clutch a towel and dart down the stairs, through the living room and into my bedroom. Before I moved into Vizavi it had simply been the phone room; a desk with a phone on it and something to sit on for phone calls. I quickly changed that. Answering in my best Mauritian accent I could instantly tell that the woman on the other end knew what she wanted. ‘Allo?’ I repeated. She proceeded to ask me questions as I quietly tried to work out who she was and how she got my telephone number; neither question was rewarded with an answer. Yet, after about 7 minutes of discussion in reasonable French it became clear that I did not know her.

She asked who lived in my house. I hesitated. Three girls. She asked our ages. Confidently I rattled them off. Eighteen, eighteen and seventeen.

I was slightly confused as to why she wanted to know this. She began her next sentence…

‘I’m looking to find my son a young wife’.

Was I interested? Could she come and meet me? Startled, I responded calmly with deep regret. I did not want to marry her son; that was out of the question. However, I did feel bad as she had clearly thought that she was onto a winner and her disappointment was carried quite clearly in her voice.

‘Ah. Ok. Desolé. Allée Bye.’

A Walk in the ....Gorge 01.12.10

‘Are you any good at fixing things?’ Fiona asks me, handing me a pair of broken sunglasses and a tube of glue, then proceeding to walk out of her office.

It is my first day ‘Kadesh’, a safe house for girls in Floreal. Since I’ve found out that the word means ‘sanctuary’ in Hebrew. Very appropriate. Miss Appandu, as the girls affectionately call her, set it up just over a year ago. It is a safe place where girls from difficult backgrounds are welcome to live, almost as if it is a family home.

At present seven girls live there, one just left after turning eighteen. From what I can see it is very well kept, and they live surrounded by a great deal of love. On of the first things Fiona told me about was punishment. When the girls walk into her office having done something wrong they cower before her expecting something physical. ‘I would never lay a hand on the girls.’ I was relieved to hear this.

Shortly after repairing the sunglasses in a slight panic- it was my first test- I went for a little look around the place. Round the corner I came across two girls plunking away on an irreparable piano; it sounded like they were enjoying themselves. I began talking to various people in French and Creole and the seemed surprised, but wanted to practice English a bit. After all they already know their own language and have an exam coming up in English. If they fail it, like 30% of the Mauritian population does, they have to re-sit the whole year at school.

After piling onto a bus and driving for what seemed like a long time with a food stop on the way we arrived at the Black River Gorge car park. We sat for lunch, automatically separating ourselves into three groups. Young children (and Fiona), men and boys and finally young women; I fitted into the final category. Unfortunately, I had only brought a banana as I had been under the impression that all I had to bring was footwear other than flip-flops and a positive attitude.

We walked through tree-lined paths full of mosquitoes, over rocks, up steep dusty slopes coved in dry leaves, across rivers and beneath the scorching Mauritian sun above.

Speaking mostly in a mixture of Creole and French I got to know quite a lot about the girls and was amazed by their total commitment to God. One of them told me that even though her and her boyfriend were totally in love she knew that she had to leave him because she didn’t believe that he would ever give his heart to God! She also told me that she enjoys speaking in

tongues; wow, that came as a surprise. It was fascinating hearing about it.

After at least 3 hours walking, with numerous breaks- one of the girls didn’t feel very well- we arrived at a deep pool of water at the bottom of a stream. Everybody took off their shoes and walked in; the ice-cold sensation we experienced instantly refreshing us. We sang together, spoke of love and life and took photographs. Until I saw them I didn’t realise what a relative giant I am. I plan on returning to Kadesh soon to do activities with the girls there. The previous Project Trust volunteers in Mauritius spent a bit of time there every week for the eight months that they were here and made a real difference. In fact one of them, Lizzie, had sent a letter to the girls and Miss Appandu read it out on the bus to them; they were thrilled.