Mauritius part 2

December 19, 2010


Today we went to church. It was wonderful to go. It amazes me that no matter where you go in the world, the church is the same. The same lesson that was taught here, is taught back home. The sacrament prayer is exactly the same in every place, only in a different language. It is just awesome. Today there were three speakers. Two spoke in French and Creole, one who is an American, spoke in Creole and English. There were 50 people who attended the Branch today and 10 of us were visiting, all English speakers. The Sunday school lesson was taught in English, and someone else translated it into French. The same was with the Relief Society lesson. There are normally 3 young women who come, but today Emma was the only one, so she chose to go to primary with Lani and Kieren. Nick had 5 other young men with him. After church we had lunch with Spalding’s cousin, Lisebie. Again, delicious food. After lunch, many of the cousins came and we went to Curepipe for a nature walk. It was very green. That part of the island is higher and more toward the center where it rains a lot. The kids are getting better about interacting with their extended cousins and speaking with them. Spalding really enjoyed talking with his cousins and being with them. Growing up, they spent a lot of time together.

Decber 20

Today we picked up Spaldings mom, sister, and niece and headed to an aunt’s home in Mahebourg. Nicolas got to climb up the Tifi’s mango tree and pick and eat mangoes. Then we went to Blue Bay together. The kids swam for a bit, and then we decided to go out on a glass bottom boat. We learned that there are many tupes of coral: plate, ginger, broccoli, and lettuce. We went off the shore and saw many fish. Then we stopped in a shallower area and snorkeled among the fish. It was so cool. The boat guide gave us some bread and the fish would eat right out of our hand. My favorite fish was a parrot fish. It has many beautiful, bright colors. Spalding and I took turns so Kieren could get in the water too. Spalding forgot about his phone and jumped in. Salt water and SIM cards do not mix. We couldn’t dry it out and it was almost immediately corroded.

December 21, 2010

We spent the morning in Tamarin Bay. Nicolas and Emma were really hoping to learn to surf or kite surf today. Unfortunately the waves and wind did not want to cooperate. The surf school only gives kite surfing lessons in the winter, when the wind is strong, and the waves were not good enough for regular surfing. We decided to walk down the beach a bit and found some little waves and taught the kids how to body surf. They had a blast! Big smiles all around. We couldn’t find any boogie boards to rent, but hope that the waves will pick up to go back again. We drove down the coast a little way and saw where they make salt. Water is pumped up into these flat, rocky areas, and then it sits until the water evaporates, and the salt is swept up and put in baskets. It is very course. Then it is taken to a refinery and cleaned and crushed to a finer grade. For dinner, we had a BBQ on the beach with some cousins and friends of Spalding’s. The kids were running around finding little crabs in the sand. We are really enjoying our time here.

December 22

Today Mario, Spalding’s cousin, took us to Ile Aux Cerf. In English, that is Deer Island. I did not see any deer, but we had a fabulous time. WE took a 15 minute boat ride to the island, and then played in the water. Nicolas and I saw starfish and sea urchin in the water. Then we took a boat to the other side of the island for a BBQ lunch. We were served BBQ chicken, fish, sausage, salad, and bread. For desert we had cooked bananas. Then we took a speed boat up the river and to a waterfall. It was a small waterfall but beautiful. Earlier in the day our guide had seen monkeys there, but unfortunately we didn’t wsee any. Then we went back to the island and played in the water longer. The boat took us back to the dock, and we went to another cousin’s house (Herve and Sana) to eat Briani. Sana is especially good at cooking it.

December 23

Today I went to the Bazaar in Port Louis. There were so many people buying and selling. It was very, very crowded. My sister in law knew the way to go and the different shops and vendor s that she wanted to go to so I followed here. I could smell the mixture of diesel exhaust, incense, body odor, and cigarette smoke. It was not very pleasant, but we found some good buys and gifts. I was happy that the kids were not with me, but were playing with some cousins. It was our first night out of the apartment and in Quartre Bornes, with Spalding’s mom. It was so hot! The kids did not sleep very well. I was sweating the whole night. We borrowed a fan, and that does help, but it feels like a blow dryer on my body.

December 24

The day began with Lani’s Baptism. We had it at the beach in Flic en Flac. It was beautiful there. We tried to find a quiet place that was shaded with trees. We had some extended family there as well as some new friends we have made from the branch here. I gave a talk, and two members of the branch bore their testimonies. The Spirit was strong there and I hope that Lani will remember the feelings she had today. We had a cake made by Spalding’s cousin, Clever, who has a patisserie here. We celebrated with some cake after the baptism. We also set up the Christmas tree. It looks like a branch when compared to the trees we can get in Idaho, but the kids have decorated it nicely and it looks festive. If you have a fresh tree in Mauritius you can only put it up one or two days before Christmas because it dries out so quickly. Spalding roasted some chicken; I made green salad and “company” fruit salad, and fresh bread. All of Spalding siblings were there, so it was all the Jugganaikloo family together. We followed their tradition of opening gifts when you are with the person you received the gift from. So the kids opened all their presents that night. They went to sleep pretty easily, and Santa came. We brought stockings from America for santa to fill for all of Spalding’s immediate family. So they had to come back on Christmas to get tehm. Today we also had our first experience with water shortage. In order to shower, we needed to wait for a water basin to slowly fill up and then stand in the shower and use a pitcher over our heads to clean up. The water was cold, and I think a bit refreshing since I have been so hot and sweaty, but it really made me appreciate warm showers and long bubble baths.

December 25

Merry Christmas. I love to think of the birth of our Saviour Jesus Christ. Spalding took his mom to Catholic Mass in the morning,. The kids enjoyed opening their gifts from Santa. It was ver;y easy going and quite a peaceful morning. WE decided we would have a white sand Christmas and took the kids to Tamarin, so far their favorite beach, for some swimming. We borrowed a boogie board that was Kieren and Lani’s size and taught them to catch a wave. It si very different to be in a country that the majority of the population is not Christian. Since there are more Hindu and Muslim here, many shops were open and it was business as usual. The kids noticed this right away. There were a few shops that were closed, buat there were many people still out shopping and doing errands.

December 26

After our church meetings, we decided to go on a picnic with Spalding’s cousin Mario and his wife Linda and visit Pamplemousses Garden. We saw many types of trees and foliage. We were amazed by a tree that flowers only every 100 years. Also there were huge lily pads about 3 feet in diameter.

December 27

Today we saw many sights. We went with some other Americans. I knew Jami Nichols from BYU-Hawaii. Kristi Nichols was also at BYUH and knew Spalding. They are here visiting thier sister, Mindy, who is married to a Franco-Mauritian and lives here. First we went to Grand Basin. There is a sacred area to the Hindu people. There was a huge statue of their supreme god, Shiva. All other gods come from Shiva. We saw statues of other gods, and watched as people offered their sacrifices and prayers. It was interesting to watch and very different. We also saw a monkey in the wild! The kids have been waiting to see one. We went to Chamarelle falls and the seven colored earths. Then we drove down to the coast and went to Le Morne and watched some Kite surfers. It was really cool. Nick really wanted to learn, but when we talked to someone who gives lessons, it would take more than one lesson to learn, and we don’t have that much time left. Le Morne is also a place where it is known that slaves escaped from their Masters by jumping off the cliffs. If they survived the jump, they usually escaped and would be free. Many did not survive the fall.

December 28

Today Spalding’s cousin Linda took us to the beach at Flic en Flac. It was very enjoyable to watch the kids play together. They get along so well. I took a nice little nap on the beach after some swimming. The kids are feeling tired and a little bit cranky so this was a nice day with hardly any driving and just relaxing fun.

Mauritius!

I have decided to write about our trip on my blog, but to post most pictures on facebook, since it has and easier platform for loading picts.


We left our house at noon on December 8, to drive to Salt Lake City to catch our first of three flights. WE had twelve pieces of luggage, and were worried that we might have to get them out in New York and re-check the baggage because of our flight arrangements. Thankfully, there was an extremely helpful woman at the Delta counter who was able to get our luggage checked all the way to Mauritius for us. We headed off to my cousin Amber’s house to visit with her family for a couple of hours, and so Spalding could give his online presentation for his class before we took off. I felt really bad that he had to cram that into the evening of our flight.

We had a red eye flight from SLC to New York. Then we had a 3 hour layover. We tried to get the kids to lay down somewhere to get some sleep, but the benches at the airport were not very “sleep friendly”. Next was the long leg of the flight. I thought that it was a 12 hour flight, but it was 15! It was LOOOONG! The kids were fantastic. They watched movies, colored, read, and slept some. We were happy to get to Johannesburg. Unfortunately, we found out that we were going to have a 3 hour delay until our next flight. That gave us 6 hours to wait in the airport. By this time, we were all pretty tired. The kids and I walked around the airport looking at the shops for a while. We found an empty gate that was next to our departure gate, and decided to sleep. We closed off some benches into a kind of circle, and all of us took a nap. I imagine that we must have looked pretty funny, and hoped that no one was snoring, but it was nice to stretch out and not sleep sitting up.

The flight to Mauritius was short compared to the other flight. Only 4 hours. We picked up our luggage, and sailed right through customs with no problems. Spalding’s family was there to greet us and help us get all our stuff to his Mom’s house. When we arrived at his Mom’s, I looked at my watch. It was 12:10 am, December 11. Our entire travel time from our house-to-house was 48 hours, and we had jumped ahead in time 11 hours. Whew! We made it!

So what have we been doing since we have been here? We decided to rent an apartment in Flic en Flac. It is on the west side of the island and has beautiful beaches and is a nice town for tourists, so we fit in very well. The kids love to say the name. We thought it was best to get an apartment because six of us really take up lots of space at his Mom’s house. We hope that she will come stay some time here with us as well, but we will be going back and forth a lot. It is only 20 minutes away.

Every day we have been at the beach! The kids are having so much fun. I watch them and play with them and already appreciate the time we are having together. The kids have loved building sand castles, burying each other and cousins in the sand, and snorkeling. Even Kieren has figured out how to snorkel and loves to look for fish and seashells.

The kids are amazed at some of the differences here, the weather, driving on the opposite side of the road, the traffic, the language. They are having fun with their cousins. They have 4 first cousins, and many more extended family to meet.

We love eating fresh bread baked daily and having fresh fruits to buy from small vendors at the beach. We love the fresh pineapple, mango, and coconut! We went to one of Spalding’s favorite places and had fried noodles.

We went to the cemetery where many of Spalding’s relatives are buried. We visited the graves of his father and grandparents. I am amazed at the size of the cemetery, and how family members are buried in the same plot, so there are many names on some of the stones.

December 14

Today I did some laundry and really missed my large capacity washer and dryer. The washers that most people use here only handle about 1/3 of a load size that I can do at home. The other issue is that I can only wash as fast as I have space to line dry. Looks like I should just do a load a day so that I don’t get behind.

We went to visit Casela Nature Park. The kids really liked it. We saw many exotic birds, and took a Segway Safari. Nick and Emma rode on Segway scooters and loved it. Spalding and I rode Golf carts with Kieren and Lani. It was lots of fun. We saw many animals: ostrich, boars, peacocks, zebras, deer, emu, and some I don’t know the name of.

We had dinner with a Spalding’s cousin and a family that moved here from South Africa, the Caines. Their son will be attending BYU-Idaho and will be flying there on Jan 1. He will get to Rexburg before we return. It was nice to meet them and Christopher was happy to know that he can come to our home anytime. I added a new food to my list of favorites: Milk Tarte. It was a delicious traditional South African Dessert. I hope to get the recipe.

December 15

We spent lots of time in the water! Spalding was helping his brothers and sister today, so I went with our kids and our nephews to the beach. We ate lunch from the local “fast food”, which consisted of samousas, chips (french fries), hot dogs (not the same as ours, a much better tasting sausage on a french type baguette), and chicken kebabs. Fast food here is more like a concession stand in America. After lunch we walked back home and the kids played in the apartment pool for a couple more hours. My kids were exhausted, and Kieren and Lani were falling asleep during dinner. Yep, jet lag is still getting to them. It is interesting to me the difference from our last visit in how the kids interact. Nicolas and Emma were 5 and 3 the last time we were here. Play was the only language they needed. Now I see that with Lani and Kieren. They get along just fine because all they do is find a way to play with their cousins. Nick and Emma are trying to find ways to verbally communicate. Their cousins speak some English, but my kids do not speak french. They must try not to use American slang because their cousins don’t know the phrases. They are all figuring it out and as we spend more time with each other and the kids get to know each other better, they will find more to talk about. Our nephews are great. They are very kind and helpful. Meanwhile, I try to use some of the phrases I know in french, and it makes Emma giggle because it seems so strange to her to hear me try to talk that way. I am probably slaughtering the words, but at least I am trying.

December 16

Today I taught my sister in law how to use the bread maker that we brought her. She had asked me to teach her to make pizza. I got a pizza dough recipe from my sister, Crystal, along with our favorite roll recipe. I also thought they might like breadsticks, so I got that recipe from my sister, Audra. We put the pizza dough ingredients in the machine and got to work on the breadsticks. As I was putting ingredients in, my nephew said something in Creole and his eyes got big, I then realized that I was measuring salt instead of sugar and almost put in ½ cup of salt! That would have tasted bad. We finished up and baked the breadsticks. They loved them. So much in fact, that while we were putting the sauce and ingredients on the pizzas, Emma made another batch of breadsticks with her cousins. They were definitely a hit and everyone loved the pizza too.

December 17

We spent the day in Quatre Bornes. This is where Spalding’s mom lives. Kieren helped to pick Litchi fruits from the trees. They have quickly become one of her favorite fruits. We went to the Bazaar. That is the open market. There are so many people selling lots of things. I wanted to take my time and look. The kids touched everything so the vendors all thought the kids were buying things. It was hard for me because I needed Spalding around to negotiate the price. The people see me and they think I am a tourist. They hear me speak and they know I am a tourist, and an American. Immediately the price goes up. Next time I go, I will go with of my sister in laws or one of Spalding’s cousins and no kids. After the bazaar, we went to eat dinner with Spalding’s sister, Fi and her family. We ate dholl puri. It was so delicious. It is a food that is unique to Mauritius and Fi is known in the family for making it so well. IT is kind of like a tortilla, made of flour, salt and oil. But there is a ground dholl, yellow split peas, that is between the layers. Then you cook a curry and roll it up and eat it with tomato chutney and mango ashar (pickled mangoes).

December 18

Today we visited the Jugganaikloo side of the family. This is Spalding’s dad’s side of the family. We visited his two aunts and uncle who live in Henrietta. They all share the house that his grandparents used to live in. Spalding was born there. At one time, many of his extended family all lived in the house together. This meant his grandmother, two aunts, two uncles, and Spalding’s family consisting of his dad, mom, self, two brothers and sister. It is not a large home. That is just the thing to do here. Family members share the house until one has enough money to buy a house somewhere else, or to build on top of the house the parents live in. He showed us where his great grandmother lived, where he used to go picnic, and play soccer. Nicolas got his first big dose of Mauritian hospitality, where they show you how much they care by how much they feed you. Spalding’s aunts kept filling his plate as soon as his food got low. As for me, I think I have gained back any weight I lost before our trip because I have been so well fed. Later, we went to the Church for the Branch Christmas party. I think it was nice for the kids to have something that seemed familiar. Our church is the same, all around the world. There was a Musical program put on by the Opera Mauritius Choir. It was fantastic. They even sung a few songs in English. Other songs I knew the tunes for so it was fun to hear them sung in French. Kieren was not happy at the end of the program because she wanted to know when the activities for kids were. Most of the time in our Ward parties, there are some games for the kids, and this was not quite what she was used to. She did like the dinner served after the concert- fish curry, roti, and pineapple juice.