Relaxing in Mauritius

3/1/08
I am currently sitting on deck looking at the gorgeous mountains surrounding our ship here in Mauritius. We arrived this morning. I’m hoping to find someone who might want to hike up one of these awesome mountains with me.
In the span during Africa and Mauritius, I have done nothing but homework and tests and losing more hours of sleep because of time changes. (I’m now 9 hours ahead of Houston time). That’s a lot in one month. I also had my ‘performance.’ It was the play Overruled, and it was done Readers Theatre style. This means we stood with our scripts in front of the audience and ‘spoke expressively’. It went really well, and everyone enjoyed it. It was really nice getting an opportunity to do something artsy. I couldn’t stand the person I had to work with, unfortunately. In that sense, I’m relieved it’s over. I really think the kid had a mental retardation. He NEVER remembered when we had rehearsal, could not focus, couldn’t keep concentration, always broke character to ask the SAME questions over and OVER again, and of course was awesome on stage in front of everyone else [so everyone loved him and thought he was hilarious]. The other girl in the show, Melanie, taped it, so she’s going to make me a DVD of it. Anyone interested is more than welcome to check it out when I get back.
So Mauritius is like the “Spring Break” of SAS. I know, I know. You’re thinking this whole trip is my spring break right? Well, yes and no. Yes, I am traveling to amazing places and seeing amazing sights (with a little bit of obnoxious homework on the side), but it is pretty busy and exhausting. Trying to utilize every possible second that you’re in these countries, making sure you hit up every beautiful landmark or cute, cheap market gets to be exhaustive. We don’t sleep too much in port because there’s always time for that later. When we’re back on the ship, I usually have to play catch up with homework (though, I will admit it’s not very difficult, there’s not very much of it, and I really don’t give a damn about it) and while I do try to catch up on sleep I’m bound to lose at least another few hours from time changes. Mauritius has tons of beautiful beaches and is known as the vacation island of Africa. It takes an hour (with traffic) to get across the entire island, and we’re here for four days. SOOO, I’m going to take it easy. We’re going snorkeling tomorrow; that will be exciting! I’m doing a service visit (going to a senior citizen home and then a day care) on Monday, and probably not much of anything except relaxing and shopping on Tuesday. I am pretty excited for the service visit because it’s the first one I’ve been able to sign up for and get into! India is also the next place, so I’m trying to save up some energy (and lots of money) for that port!
I went out earlier this morning with Amanda and Kate, and we walked around the nearby area. (It’s about a 40-minute walk to civilization from where we docked.) We got freshly squeezed pineapple juice that was so good!!! That is definitely something I will miss when I return home—all of the wonderful, fresh fruit juice we’ve gotten almost everywhere. It was at another Waterfront type area like Cape Town had: a bit touristy but safe. Actually, we’re told that Mauritius is really safe and we can eat all of the food here without stomach problems, which is exciting in my book!
It’s pretty cool because Mauritius is such a mix of a country that we get a little taste of Africa and India. There are no indigenous people of Mauritius: the French were first to really settle here, so they’re the ‘elite’ of the Island and most everyone here speaks French [and English too!]. Then they brought over slaves from Africa, bringing in the African culture. When slavery was abolished, they brought in indentured slaves from India, who now make up more than half of the population. It pretty much sums up to an eclectic country. (Look at all the stuff I’m learning in global studies!!!) I will definitely have to try a bit of Indian cuisine out here, though I can’t wait to get the REAL thing in about a week.
I am doing the Mauritian Multi-Cultural Evening tonight, so it will be another great opportunity to learn about the culture here. We’re getting an authentic Creole dinner (next to India, the most popular as it’s a mix of French and African), which should be delicious. I think that’s about it from here for now.
My life is absolutely amazing, though I admit I miss a few things. I miss my family, friends, Pickles, and real Diet Coke. All they have in these countries is Coke Light. I know, you think it’s the same thing. IT IS NOT! Coke Light tastes like Coke Zero, not Diet coke [which, if you know anything about coke, you will know are two totally different tastes]! Well, other than my Diet Coke depravation, life is sweet. Bye for now!