My Mauritius Journey: Welcome to my blog...

Wednesday, September 27, 2006

Welcome to my blog...

Welcome to the first installation of my report of life in the Republic of Mauritius!

Leaving home to live in a foreign country was far more difficult than I had originally anticipated. Details of closing up an apartment, storing one’s belongings, and saying good bye to family and friends was an exhausting process. I packed everything I needed for a year in 3 checked suitcases and 2 small carry on bags. Just goes to show how much one can live without!

The trip to Mauritius was an adventure in and of itself. I flew first from New York’s JFK airport to London’s Heathrow. Heathrow is a very busy place and in my hurry to get to my next gate, I missed the check-in after going through the usual security point. When the number and location of my departure gate was announced, I was advised that I didn’t have a seat on the plane because I failed to check in. My heart sunk…I thought I was going throw up! I guess I looked pathetic enough because a very kind gentleman who worked for Emirates airline saw me and worked some magic to get me a seat. The plane from London to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates was booked solid…not an empty seat on the plane. How he got me the seat was unimportant…the fact that he somehow found a seat for me was the important part. By the way, Emirates is by far the most beautiful airlines that I have ever in my life had the pleasure to fly with…you are treated as someone special even coach class. Even drinks with alcohol are free in coach class! While for some free drinks might be a real treat, it didn’t work out so well for me. The gentleman who sat in the seat directly behind me had a few too many glasses of wine and when he stood up to let the woman next to him by he dumped a full glass of red wine on the top of my head and down my back. My shirt was soaked with red wine. Fortunately I carried an extra shirt in my carry on bag. My fight from Dubai to Mauritius started out to be a nightmare but ended up fine. I was seated next to a couple from Pakistan who had 2 small children…one was about 3 years old and the other was under 2 years. The youngest one cried non-stop for 2 hours. I felt bad for the parents…you could tell that just about everyone seated near this child was looking for an ejection button for that seat on the plane. Even the flight attendants tried to offer some help but this child wasn’t going to stop crying until he finally fell asleep. It was then a very quiet trip to Mauritius…no one wanted to make a sound…the child had finally stopped crying!

My first memory of my arrival (other than feeling very tired from a 2 day airplane ride) was that there were palm trees everywhere I looked as I deplaned. I really had landed on a tropical island! My second memory was my time passing through customs. I presented my letter from the U.S. Fulbright Scholar Program which stated that my teaching and research contract would be for a minimum of 10 months. The customs official looked through all the paper work and stamped my passport with a 15 day visa…yes, 15 days.

The ride to Port Louis, which is the capital city of Mauritius, was longer than I thought it would be. Mauritius is only 40 miles from north to south and 30 miles east to west. By US standards, going in either direction would be a very short ride. The ride took nearly 2 hours. When I arrived in the capital city of Port Louis, traffic was congested and crowds of people were milling around on virtually every street. I felt like I was in a large US city but the obvious difference was the number of skyscrapers. There are only a handful of very tall buildings in Port Louis. The next obvious difference was the color of the buildings. If you like pastel colors, Mauritius is the country for you! I felt like I was in Miami in the art deco part of town. I spent 5 days in the Le Saint George Hotel in Port Louis until I moved into my house in Quatre Bornes. The hotel décor was basic but clean. As you can see from the photos below of the Caudon Waterfront in Port Louis, there are plenty of reminders from home!

I had a really interesting trip on a catamaran about 2 weeks after I arrived in Mauritius. The trip was sponsored by the U.S. Embassy staff. We sailed about 2 hours out into the open ocean to get to Flat Island. We had a picnic aboard the boat and being with fellow Americans was a pleasure. The folks at the embassy were very helpful, especially for the short time after I arrived in Mauritius.

Victoria, Bill, Chris & Elias

The food here is really good. Some of you know that I’m a very picky eater….very picky. I resolved to taste whatever I was served. It didn’t take too long before I stopped asking, “What’s in it?” I’ve been pleasantly surprised at how much I like the food here. I’ve eaten some excellent Chinese, Indian, Mauritian, and yes, even American food. Kentucky Fried Chicken is everywhere in Mauritius…and much to my surprise the KFC here tastes just like it does back home! One can eat out almost every day here...most meals in restaurants run anywhere from Rs75 to Rs200 or about $2.30 to about $6.00. Even the local beer, Phoenix (pronounced Phen-ics) is only about $1.50 per bottle. Phoenix is as good as the beer I drink in the states.

The day after I moved into my house in Quatre Bornes, I offered to let one of the U.S. Fulbright students who got a research grant to Mauritius the opportunity to share my house until he was able to find a place of his own. His name is Chris Graham. His new wife, Mykala arrived several days ago to join him for his 10-month stay. You’ll see them in the photo section. It was nice to have his company during my first days here. My house is coming along in terms of making it “my own”. I’m adding touches that make the place mine!

Many people have some small lizards either living inside or on the outside of their homes. I have about 4 common lizards that sleep on the walls of various rooms throughout my house. I also have a really special lizard…he’s quite handsome…very colorful. I named him Benny. I got his name from the French verb “benir” which means “to bless”. I’ve been told how blessed and lucky I am to have Benny in my house. He spends his days on the banana tree outside the spare bedroom window and his evenings on the wall near the ceiling. He sleeps behind the dresser in the spare room.

Here's Benny!

So much has happened in terms of getting adjusted (more than anyone would care to read about) but I finally have reached the point where I’m getting more comfortable with my surroundings. I’ve developed a fairly consistent routine. I visit the vegetable and cloth markets at least once each week. Wednesdays and Saturdays are for vegetables and Thursdays and Sundays are for cloth (clothing, house items, etc.) I really am amazed at just how much you can get here…except for a few things I miss like Hershey’s Dark Chocolate Kisses and microwaveable popcorn, I can get pretty much anything else I need. Sometimes the quality of the food is not up to US standards but for overall it’s not bad.

I was invited to celebrate Ganesh with some local friends. Ganesh is the god of wisdom and the rituals are very interesting to see and take part in. I went to the local shrine, paid my respect to Ganesh, and then joined the local community in a vegetarian meal that’s served on mats representing banana tree leaves. You eat the meal with your fingers (no utensils of any kind are used). Below are pictures of my friends Gaw and Kamlesh Rampadaruth and their sons Ashley and Ashwin along with their wives Shalinee and Nandini. There’s also a picture of Chris Graham and his wife Mykala.

Gaw & Kamlesh Rampadaruth

Ashley & Shalinee

Nandini & Ashwin

Mykala & Chris

There are literally hundreds of shops along the main road (Rue St. Jean) in Quatre Bornes. The challenge is find out what’s inside the shops…the signage is typically poor and it takes time to figure out what’s being sold. Once you know your way around, Mauritius can be a fairly comfortable place to be.

I’m getting more skilled driving here now. The steering wheel is on what is the passenger side in the US and traffic moves on the left instead of the right. Very confusing, for sure! But like with most things, practice is important when developing skills. I’ve driven to the beach at Flic en Flac and as the weather continues to get a lot warmer (summer is just going to start in full swing soon), I’ll do my best to get the beach as much as possible. The beaches are every bit as beautiful as they appear in the tourist brochures. I’ve shared a few beach pictures on this page. Yes, those are my feet...

The University of Mauritius is also becoming more familiar. For my fellow educators reading this page, I can tell you that “students are students” no matter where you teach! They all have the same worries and concerns about grades and most of them genuinely want to do excellent work. This semester I’m teaching a freshman intro HR course (44 new HR majors…we should be so lucky at the University of Scranton). I’m also teaching a graduate HR course in Employment Relations and a Human Resource Development course to adult learners (similar to what used to be Dexter Hanley College).

I’ve also been asked to assess 6 dissertations that will be presented in a short time. I’ll be supervising another 6 dissertations…that means students will present to me their proposals, develop their research methodologies, conduct the research, and present the results. I’ll be guiding them throughout the entire process. It should be interesting work.

Well, I’m going to stop here and I’ll tell you more as time goes on. I hope you enjoy the photos!

Bill