Mauritius

HI EVERYONE!

I just got back from Mauritius. It was pretty fun…We only stayed three days, but I was able get a lot done. I participated in two different service visits which were really fun.
On the first day I went to a residence center for children who come from poor and broken homes. Many of the children’s parents are involved with drugs or prostitution. It was sad, but the children were so cute, most of them were between the ages of 2-10, but there were a few older ones too, and they all seemed to be pretty happy. I took along some little prizes….stickers, whistles, cars, dolls, and bubbles to share with them. The kids lived in apartment type buildings in groups of about 8. Each apartment had a home mother and a home auntie. The mothers stay at the home for 2 weeks at a time 24 hours/day and then get to go home to their own families for 2 weeks. While they’re gone, the home aunties are responsible for the kids. It seemed like a pretty good set up, it was clean and like I said, the kids seemed happy. We played with the children for a few hours and had a really good time.
I was also able to eat some really good Chinese food in Mauritius…everything there was really cheap…..We ate at a really nice restaurant for the equivalent of $7 US dollars each. The currency in Mauritius is the Rupee…the exchange rate is about 33 rupees per each US dollar…. So this port was kind of confusing!

On the second day I went to a school in Mauritius. This students who attended this school were kids that were placed in foster care throughout the neighborhood….most of them came from pretty rough backgrounds and so many of them have had severe behavioral problems in the “regular” school system…this is why they now attend the special school that I visited. The students were older…probably aged 11+, except for their pre school kids- these babies are between 2 and 4…they were so cute! While I was there all of the students were incredibly well behaved and polite….All of them were really smart and talented also! I was able to sit in on a music class and I learned how to play a huge drum called La Havan. It is made of goat skin…kind of gross, but also kind of cool! There was a boy who was probably about 15, and he was honestly one of the most talented people I have ever met…He could play the drums piano and guitar. He was really nice and he tried his best to help me play that drum, but I sounded like a female rain man….haha! We also got to play some good London bridge type of game and this other game where everyone holds hands in a circle and then someone is selected to dance in the middle…We had a lot of fun, and I bought a CD that has the songs we danced to so that I can play them later….possibly when I am a teacher. All of the words are in French! French is the language that is spoken most widely throughout Mauritius…some Creole is spoken, but overall it is mostly French - English is also known by many. There are also many Indian’s in Mauritius, so there are temples of worship all throughout the island.

On our last day we made our way over to the beach at Grand Bay. It was really pretty and even though we didn’t have a very sunny day, we still had a good time. The water was kind of cold…but really, really salty! I mean even saltier than usual! This was also my first time swimming in the Indian Ocean….so that was cool!

Mauritius is the home of the Dodo bird…you know like in Alice in Wonderland, but the Portuguese hunted too many of them while they were in Mauritius colonizing and now they are extinct! Mauritius seems to be pretty proud of this factor…as almost every t shirt, magnet and post card had a dodo bird on it!
I did a little bit of shopping at a local market, and bought a few prizes……..I only spent $100 bucks in Mauritius! YES!
Mauritius also has a lot of western influence….there was this restaurant/bar called Shots, and they had different types of sports memorabilia….they even had a Denver Nuggets Jersey hanging on the wall! This place was really modern and cool……they had “Sean”- type of furniture….I thought about him a lot while I was there! We had some drinks and dancing there one night, which was really fun, but for the most part, we didn’t go out very much……we were only there for 2 nights!

Mauritius was a fun port, and I am glad that I got to visit-even if it was just for a few days!

India is next, so if anyone wants anything, let me know ASAP!

I miss everyone and hope you are all doing well. I love you, Valerie!