The title of today's post was inspired by a message that my cousin Nick Manto wrote on my facebook wall. I love it! It is so uniquely American and seems to capture the essence of the constant reactions that I keep getting when I tell people back home that I am in a small country called Mauritius which is about 560 miles east of Madagascar.
I do most of my thinking about what I am going to post daily while sitting in traffic for the hour or so every morning on my drive to work. I try and gather all of the observations I have made so far and try and remember all of the stories that I can so that this blog can be as interesting to you all back home as well as something that I can have when this adventure is all over.
I started thinking alot about what my grandmother Mimi suggested last week or so....that I should have a literary career. At first, my response was "whatever Mimi-I can't do that." But in reality, Mimi might be right...maybe I could have some sort of literary career, more specifically in the travel industry. I would want to travel the world while I am living the single life-no boyfriend, husband, or kids. My target audience would most likely be those like myself in their roaring 20s or younger-I'm not sure how well my humor translates to those in the baby boomer set and beyond-but people are known to have a few tricks up their sleave so one never really knows...
A few other individuals (some fiction, some non fiction) have been able to make careers for themselves just by publishing their thoughts-Peter Mayle, the british expat who moved to France, David Sedaris, Carrie Bradshaw in Sex and the City, Aaron Karo (more known among the college age/20s set for his book "Ruminations on College Life"), Chelsea Handler, and a number of famous personalities and politicians. It is human nature to enjoy talking (and maybe) writing about oneself-I'm afraid I am no different. In reality, I'm not sure that this would ever happen as writers have to invest a lot of time and money in sending their manuscript to a number of publishers. Should I get published, it could always just end up in the wal-mart clearance bin-oh to dream...
Sorry to be on such a soap box-I'll get back to daily life here in Mauritius. I have recently found out that my blog reaches a larger audience than I previously thought. It turns out that it provides daily comic relief for my mauritian coworkers and friends. I do enjoy making people laugh...even if its a my expense..
I have started receiving a number of prospective clients that I will interview in the coming weeks-I can't wait!! Work is going well-I'm slowly starting to learn people's names here in the office and I must say that are several people here that have gone out of their way to make me feel welcome.
After work yesterday I drove the hour or so home, read my book for a little while, and then had spaghetti for dinner. I wish I could say that I ran into the presential candidates themselves as they have come to determine that Mauritius is a hot spot for foreign policy affairs and that the mauritian economy deserves special research....but no such luck.
As I've mentioned in the last few posts, the end of Ramadan (Muslim fasting period) ends this week and we get a day off of work. The question is-will it be tomorrow or thursday??? No one knows...
It all depends on whether or not the moon is visible tonight-if it is visible then no work tomorrow and if it is not visible-well you get the picture (I hope). It is sort of like ground hog day-will he see his shadow?? Will we have a longer winter?? Or-its like waiting to see if school is cancelled due to a snow storm or hurricane-tomorrow or the next day?? Needless to stay, I will be spending alot of time in the backyard to night searching for the moon....
Some little things:
-I woke up in the middle of the night sweating bullets and tossing and turning for no apparent reason
-the dogs were barking maniacally this morning-it was pure reflex that I yelled at the top of my lungs-I then saw a man across the street stare at me...oops
-due to Ramadan-alot of businesses are affected as people need to leave to go and eat
-today was the first day that I noticed a sign that said Port Louis was 22 kilometers away-thank goodness for stephanie's assistance with directions
-I blocked somebody in today rather than the other way around-at some point today my car will moved to a different spot in the gravel parking lot
-I have started drinking the tap water little by little-no trips to the ER yet
More later....
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Monday, September 29, 2008
Almost the end of September...
Well-today is the beginning of my 5th week here in Mauritius. I really feel like I'm getting used to it and am well-adjusted. I only miss certain things about home occasionally. I am still enjoying my job-still trying to make my survey the best that it can possibly be so that it will be of great importance to ATS.
The weekend was low key but fun. After I was finished with facebook (would have stayed on longer but my computer was about to die), I left to go to the beach for awhile. Audrey was gone all day as it was the last day of hunting season-she catered a big lunch for Dominique and many others-hope it was a good day!!
I decided to try to the local beach this time around in Tamarin Bay. I did not like it as much-I didn't stay long as it was extremely windy and sand kept blowing all over me and on my towel (I even found a decent sized amount in my purse). So I gave up and went to lay by the pool until I discovered that I was out of minutes on my mauritian cell phone-we really are spoiled in the states to have cell phone plans that you pay monthly. I ran to the store to buy a card to add more minutes - when I think about it, it actually lasted me an entire month because everyone here text messages instead of calling because you use less minutes that way. It was an uneventful afternoon as I read my book by the pool.
Yannick was supposed to go with to the concert that I mentioned but in the end we decided not to go as it was too far away and neither of us knew how to get there. Instead, I had my first experience in a Mauritian movie theater-Yannick, Fabien, and I. We saw Babylon A.D.-a Vin Diesel/Gerard Depardieu movie completely dubbed in french. It was quite funny to hear the french voiceover version of Vin Diesel.
After the movie, we went back to Yannicks where we sat around drinking wine and had intelligent conversations of what was happening in the world.
I didn't do much of anything yesterday except be lazy and try the KFC. It was actually pretty good-better quality than home for sure. Audrey went out for dinner with a friend so Alain and I had dinner without her-pork chops, potato salad, fresh tomatoes-delicious!
Some little things:
-people interchange french and english without even thinking about it-i equate it to the hispanic population at home who often switch back and forth between spanish and english
-I drove to Curepipe (where Yannick lives) by myself on Saturday evening. I got soooo lost as the road markings are terrible. I made a complete wrong turn and found myself heading towards the east coast. It was also raining and the roads were not well-lit.
-all current and former UF students will appreciate this - on the way to Curepipe I saw a Hara Krishna center-this brought me back to the funny smelling vegetarian cuisine that was served by Library West
-speaking of UF-WE LOST!!!!! completely unnacceptable...
-I showed Yannick on a map where Jacksonville is as well as where the rest of my family lives-he couldn't believe how far away everything was
-Alain stated to me quite seriously the other day that Americans only eat hamburgers. While some of you may remember that this was true for me at a point in my life-I felt the need to back up my country and say that in fact we eat all kinds of things
-thanks to CNN.com I have an idea of what is going on at home
Hope you are all doing well!!
More later....
The weekend was low key but fun. After I was finished with facebook (would have stayed on longer but my computer was about to die), I left to go to the beach for awhile. Audrey was gone all day as it was the last day of hunting season-she catered a big lunch for Dominique and many others-hope it was a good day!!
I decided to try to the local beach this time around in Tamarin Bay. I did not like it as much-I didn't stay long as it was extremely windy and sand kept blowing all over me and on my towel (I even found a decent sized amount in my purse). So I gave up and went to lay by the pool until I discovered that I was out of minutes on my mauritian cell phone-we really are spoiled in the states to have cell phone plans that you pay monthly. I ran to the store to buy a card to add more minutes - when I think about it, it actually lasted me an entire month because everyone here text messages instead of calling because you use less minutes that way. It was an uneventful afternoon as I read my book by the pool.
Yannick was supposed to go with to the concert that I mentioned but in the end we decided not to go as it was too far away and neither of us knew how to get there. Instead, I had my first experience in a Mauritian movie theater-Yannick, Fabien, and I. We saw Babylon A.D.-a Vin Diesel/Gerard Depardieu movie completely dubbed in french. It was quite funny to hear the french voiceover version of Vin Diesel.
After the movie, we went back to Yannicks where we sat around drinking wine and had intelligent conversations of what was happening in the world.
I didn't do much of anything yesterday except be lazy and try the KFC. It was actually pretty good-better quality than home for sure. Audrey went out for dinner with a friend so Alain and I had dinner without her-pork chops, potato salad, fresh tomatoes-delicious!
Some little things:
-people interchange french and english without even thinking about it-i equate it to the hispanic population at home who often switch back and forth between spanish and english
-I drove to Curepipe (where Yannick lives) by myself on Saturday evening. I got soooo lost as the road markings are terrible. I made a complete wrong turn and found myself heading towards the east coast. It was also raining and the roads were not well-lit.
-all current and former UF students will appreciate this - on the way to Curepipe I saw a Hara Krishna center-this brought me back to the funny smelling vegetarian cuisine that was served by Library West
-speaking of UF-WE LOST!!!!! completely unnacceptable...
-I showed Yannick on a map where Jacksonville is as well as where the rest of my family lives-he couldn't believe how far away everything was
-Alain stated to me quite seriously the other day that Americans only eat hamburgers. While some of you may remember that this was true for me at a point in my life-I felt the need to back up my country and say that in fact we eat all kinds of things
-thanks to CNN.com I have an idea of what is going on at home
Hope you are all doing well!!
More later....
Saturday, September 27, 2008
Saturday...
This is a rare occasion that I'm posting on Saturday I know...
I'm sitting here at the pub near the internet cafe enjoying the sun and a diet coke before I go to the beach!
I finished the day at work yesterday and went home to shower so that I could join Nathalie and boyfriend Joel so that we could go to her brother Yannick's apartment in Curepipe. It was a low key evening of conversation and friends.
Some little things:
-As everyone last night has roots in south africa-many prefer to speak english-I said that "when I was in college, I went on a cruise with some of my girlfriends and we went on a catamaran"-this made everyone laugh as they found it uniquely american
-I called my friend lara so that they could hear a conversation between 2 americans-they thought it was so funny the way that we talked to one another and when we started speaking french they were very impressed
-I have been watching animal planet here on the tv at the pub-hilarious
-there is a sign at the bar that says" beerandb***s***corner"
I'm going to a concert tonight for Ian Carey-he is an american but not know yet on the american scene but very famous here in Mauritius. Should be fun!!
More on Monday...
I'm sitting here at the pub near the internet cafe enjoying the sun and a diet coke before I go to the beach!
I finished the day at work yesterday and went home to shower so that I could join Nathalie and boyfriend Joel so that we could go to her brother Yannick's apartment in Curepipe. It was a low key evening of conversation and friends.
Some little things:
-As everyone last night has roots in south africa-many prefer to speak english-I said that "when I was in college, I went on a cruise with some of my girlfriends and we went on a catamaran"-this made everyone laugh as they found it uniquely american
-I called my friend lara so that they could hear a conversation between 2 americans-they thought it was so funny the way that we talked to one another and when we started speaking french they were very impressed
-I have been watching animal planet here on the tv at the pub-hilarious
-there is a sign at the bar that says" beerandb***s***corner"
I'm going to a concert tonight for Ian Carey-he is an american but not know yet on the american scene but very famous here in Mauritius. Should be fun!!
More on Monday...
Friday, September 26, 2008
ONE MONTH DOWN!!!
Today should be a holiday-I have been here exactly one month. I have seen so many different things and met so many people. I have really been enjoying my time here and learning a lot about a very different culture that until recently, I didn't know existed (Americans are awful at geography).
I'm sorry for the lack of pictures but as my dad would say-we are experiential people so we forget to take pictures.
On the work front, I have come to find out that I have been doing a lot of unnecessary work. It turns out I only have to do one survey instead of two-but I did two. So hopefully the one that I'm actually going to use tests successfully so that I can start scheduling appointments!
Some little things:
-i saw a sign yesterday that said "poulet frais" or "fresh chicken"-i have no desire to find out what that means
-there is a dog that hangs out on the roof of a house next to the office everyday-i think he might be a watch dog
-saw a guy wearing a stetson this morning-had no idea these had found their way out of the southwest
-Alain genuinely thought that we all speak the same in America-until i told him that there are different accents everywhere (redneck vs. new yorker lol)
-Christine (Paul's Secretary) thought that when i was talking about the state of georgia that I was talking about the country named Georgia-she said isn't there a war going on there?
-when I explain that Hugh Laurie from "House" is from the UK/Ireland and can do a good American accent-its funny to see reactions because they cannot hear the vast differences between these two accents
-had an intense discussion with alex yesterday about Akon and how ridiculous he is
Yesterday was an ordinary day for the most part-I got to work around 8 or 830 and was out at around 515. It was Nicolas and his mom's last night so we had a mauritian feast-delicious! We also drank bottles upon bottles of red wine. Audrey's friend Jacques came over for dinner as well-I must devote some of the post to explaining him....
Jacques is probably in his 50's and has recently came out and told everyone that he is gay. He prefers to go by "Jackie." In Mauritius, it is VERY taboo to be gay and is not tolerated. He was married before and has 3 sons-a teenager and two in their 20s.
He has a personality that lights up a room! He has so many stories and is a true walking encylopedia-he knows a little bit about everything. His oldest son has been in prison for about 6 years-I asked Audrey for what and she told me she couldn't talk about it.
We all stayed up past 11 sitting around drinking wine and talking-I wanted to go to bed so badly but at the same time I didn't want to be rude. I think that everyone else felt the same way as Jackie just kept talking.
I hope that everyone has a good weekend-please keep me in the loop on how my GATORS!!!! are doing!!!
More on Monday...
I'm sorry for the lack of pictures but as my dad would say-we are experiential people so we forget to take pictures.
On the work front, I have come to find out that I have been doing a lot of unnecessary work. It turns out I only have to do one survey instead of two-but I did two. So hopefully the one that I'm actually going to use tests successfully so that I can start scheduling appointments!
Some little things:
-i saw a sign yesterday that said "poulet frais" or "fresh chicken"-i have no desire to find out what that means
-there is a dog that hangs out on the roof of a house next to the office everyday-i think he might be a watch dog
-saw a guy wearing a stetson this morning-had no idea these had found their way out of the southwest
-Alain genuinely thought that we all speak the same in America-until i told him that there are different accents everywhere (redneck vs. new yorker lol)
-Christine (Paul's Secretary) thought that when i was talking about the state of georgia that I was talking about the country named Georgia-she said isn't there a war going on there?
-when I explain that Hugh Laurie from "House" is from the UK/Ireland and can do a good American accent-its funny to see reactions because they cannot hear the vast differences between these two accents
-had an intense discussion with alex yesterday about Akon and how ridiculous he is
Yesterday was an ordinary day for the most part-I got to work around 8 or 830 and was out at around 515. It was Nicolas and his mom's last night so we had a mauritian feast-delicious! We also drank bottles upon bottles of red wine. Audrey's friend Jacques came over for dinner as well-I must devote some of the post to explaining him....
Jacques is probably in his 50's and has recently came out and told everyone that he is gay. He prefers to go by "Jackie." In Mauritius, it is VERY taboo to be gay and is not tolerated. He was married before and has 3 sons-a teenager and two in their 20s.
He has a personality that lights up a room! He has so many stories and is a true walking encylopedia-he knows a little bit about everything. His oldest son has been in prison for about 6 years-I asked Audrey for what and she told me she couldn't talk about it.
We all stayed up past 11 sitting around drinking wine and talking-I wanted to go to bed so badly but at the same time I didn't want to be rude. I think that everyone else felt the same way as Jackie just kept talking.
I hope that everyone has a good weekend-please keep me in the loop on how my GATORS!!!! are doing!!!
More on Monday...
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Thursday...
Well its Thursday and the weeks seem to be going by faster and faster.....so much closer to the weekend!
Some little things:
-There are two lizards that come and watch us eat dinner every night-without fail
-Every morning, one of the dogs in the neighborhood bark a call to battle and all of the other dogs run to see what is happening-can be difficult when trying to navigate dirt roads in the morning when trying to leave for work
-I always have the last glass of wine out of the bottle-this mandates that I take the bottle and blow into it to make a wish
-Many of the Indian women always carry an umbrella when its sunny-I found this bizarre until somebody told me that it is because they tan so easily and the umbrella relieves some of this-I would give anything to have that problem
-the faux-hawk is very a la mode among mauritian teenage boys and guys in their 20's
-Christine (Paul's secretary) told me that I was chic
-Many mauritians have no interest whatsoever in going to the United States-they would rather go to Canada because it is much easier to get a visa (our Homeland Security at work)
-I had an intense conversation about reality tv with Audrey's friend Kathryn-her favorite show is "Date My Mom" and other mindless shows on MTV
-Hearing Alex talk to himself in French all day long next to me is comic relief
-there is no HR department here-strange
Today is another day-I suspect I will do more and more revisions on this survey. Tonight is Nicolas and his mom's last night here-I think we will be making a small excursion to the local pub.
More later...
Some little things:
-There are two lizards that come and watch us eat dinner every night-without fail
-Every morning, one of the dogs in the neighborhood bark a call to battle and all of the other dogs run to see what is happening-can be difficult when trying to navigate dirt roads in the morning when trying to leave for work
-I always have the last glass of wine out of the bottle-this mandates that I take the bottle and blow into it to make a wish
-Many of the Indian women always carry an umbrella when its sunny-I found this bizarre until somebody told me that it is because they tan so easily and the umbrella relieves some of this-I would give anything to have that problem
-the faux-hawk is very a la mode among mauritian teenage boys and guys in their 20's
-Christine (Paul's secretary) told me that I was chic
-Many mauritians have no interest whatsoever in going to the United States-they would rather go to Canada because it is much easier to get a visa (our Homeland Security at work)
-I had an intense conversation about reality tv with Audrey's friend Kathryn-her favorite show is "Date My Mom" and other mindless shows on MTV
-Hearing Alex talk to himself in French all day long next to me is comic relief
-there is no HR department here-strange
Today is another day-I suspect I will do more and more revisions on this survey. Tonight is Nicolas and his mom's last night here-I think we will be making a small excursion to the local pub.
More later...
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Hump Day 9/24
Well its hump day-middle of the week.
Still have lots to do before the week is over-eeeekkkk!!!
Yesterday was pretty uneventful. I stayed till almost 6 o'clock here at the office trying my best to further edit these surveys. I have to test them some more today to make sure they are clear. The minute that I think they are excellent and easy to read-there is something else wrong-very frustrating.
I went to lunch with Stephanie and her dad Dominique (the CEO) yesterday. I had a local dish involving shrimp in a crepe-like wrap. I was afraid at first but it turned out to be quite good. We had a traditional Mauritian meal last night for dinner-rice with rougaille (any sort of sauce that is tomato based-this one happened to be with beef) and beans. It was delicious!
I was in bed at around 10ish as usual.
Some little things:
-I have heard that my accent when I speak french is cute-I think it sounds awful-beauty is definitely in the eye of the beholder
-I am constantly getting honked at when crossing an intersection when there are cars coming and absolutely nowhere for me to go-ridiculous
-all this construction work here at the office is starting to take shape and not look like such a big mess that is hard to walk around
-Port Louis is a sad excuse for a city-no good shopping, no out of this world places to eat, and no places known for excellent nightlife
-Mauritians like to insert english words in their conversations-for example at the end of every phone call they say "allez bye."
-my doors don't lock automatically when I start to drive-I have to make sure they are locked especially when I am stuck in traffic with lots of people around-i don't trust some of these people
More later...
Still have lots to do before the week is over-eeeekkkk!!!
Yesterday was pretty uneventful. I stayed till almost 6 o'clock here at the office trying my best to further edit these surveys. I have to test them some more today to make sure they are clear. The minute that I think they are excellent and easy to read-there is something else wrong-very frustrating.
I went to lunch with Stephanie and her dad Dominique (the CEO) yesterday. I had a local dish involving shrimp in a crepe-like wrap. I was afraid at first but it turned out to be quite good. We had a traditional Mauritian meal last night for dinner-rice with rougaille (any sort of sauce that is tomato based-this one happened to be with beef) and beans. It was delicious!
I was in bed at around 10ish as usual.
Some little things:
-I have heard that my accent when I speak french is cute-I think it sounds awful-beauty is definitely in the eye of the beholder
-I am constantly getting honked at when crossing an intersection when there are cars coming and absolutely nowhere for me to go-ridiculous
-all this construction work here at the office is starting to take shape and not look like such a big mess that is hard to walk around
-Port Louis is a sad excuse for a city-no good shopping, no out of this world places to eat, and no places known for excellent nightlife
-Mauritians like to insert english words in their conversations-for example at the end of every phone call they say "allez bye."
-my doors don't lock automatically when I start to drive-I have to make sure they are locked especially when I am stuck in traffic with lots of people around-i don't trust some of these people
More later...
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Tuesday 9/23...
GO GATORS!!!!
(Had to get that in here somewhere)
Well-While fall is in full swing in some parts of the US, Mauritius is about to head into their Spring/Summer thanks to the equator. It rains off and on but as for now it is sunny outside...we'll see how the days goes.
Some little things:
-I'm thinking about pitching to one of the major networks back home the idea for my own reality show. I would call it "An American in Mauritius"-along the same lines as "An American in Paris." For the most part, I live an interesting life here and I think America would find my other culture experiences endearing
-saw a sign yesterday that said "Guiness is good for you." While I don't happen to like guiness, I know a few friends would be happy to hear this good news!
-I'm starting to learn a little bit of creole-mainly "ayo" which means "o gosh" and it is probably the most widely used phrase (surprisingly-everyone has told me that is the people who come from english speaking countries that learn creole the fastest, the french have no clue)
-there is a complete lack of american football-my only choice this past weekend was Manchester United vs. Chelsea
-the drive into work I really don't mind at all-its actually kind of enjoyable-the drive home is horrendous (it took me an hour and a half yesterday!)
-The last day of Ramadan is next week and it is a nationaly holiday-all religions in Mauritius get a national holiday or two per year (fyi the major religions are: Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, and Catholocism)
-The parents who can afford it send their children to french private schools here on the island because the public school system is completely awful-when they graduate high school the parents who can afford it send their kids to college in Europe and South Africa (a few go to the United States)
-I have never seen so many varieties of school uniforms in my life
-It is obvious that I am a foreigner with all of the mosquito bites that I have
Yesterday being monday was a particularly exausting day. It was one of those days that all I wanted to do was go home and take a nap. I managed to stick it out however until 5:00. Work was pretty uneventful as I kept finding tiny grammatical and spacing errors in my surveys-so frustrating. I made it home and managed to relax and read my book for awhile. We had pizza for dinner (each of us had our own personal size-Audrey certainly is creative) and I was in bed at around 10:15.
Hopefully I'll have something more exciting to report later....
(Had to get that in here somewhere)
Well-While fall is in full swing in some parts of the US, Mauritius is about to head into their Spring/Summer thanks to the equator. It rains off and on but as for now it is sunny outside...we'll see how the days goes.
Some little things:
-I'm thinking about pitching to one of the major networks back home the idea for my own reality show. I would call it "An American in Mauritius"-along the same lines as "An American in Paris." For the most part, I live an interesting life here and I think America would find my other culture experiences endearing
-saw a sign yesterday that said "Guiness is good for you." While I don't happen to like guiness, I know a few friends would be happy to hear this good news!
-I'm starting to learn a little bit of creole-mainly "ayo" which means "o gosh" and it is probably the most widely used phrase (surprisingly-everyone has told me that is the people who come from english speaking countries that learn creole the fastest, the french have no clue)
-there is a complete lack of american football-my only choice this past weekend was Manchester United vs. Chelsea
-the drive into work I really don't mind at all-its actually kind of enjoyable-the drive home is horrendous (it took me an hour and a half yesterday!)
-The last day of Ramadan is next week and it is a nationaly holiday-all religions in Mauritius get a national holiday or two per year (fyi the major religions are: Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, and Catholocism)
-The parents who can afford it send their children to french private schools here on the island because the public school system is completely awful-when they graduate high school the parents who can afford it send their kids to college in Europe and South Africa (a few go to the United States)
-I have never seen so many varieties of school uniforms in my life
-It is obvious that I am a foreigner with all of the mosquito bites that I have
Yesterday being monday was a particularly exausting day. It was one of those days that all I wanted to do was go home and take a nap. I managed to stick it out however until 5:00. Work was pretty uneventful as I kept finding tiny grammatical and spacing errors in my surveys-so frustrating. I made it home and managed to relax and read my book for awhile. We had pizza for dinner (each of us had our own personal size-Audrey certainly is creative) and I was in bed at around 10:15.
Hopefully I'll have something more exciting to report later....
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