Maha Shivratree 2012

Hindus in Mauritius celebrate the God Shiva in a VERY big way.  The pictures show how we spent last weekend at Maha Shivratree.  Devotees spent days walking from miles away to a sacred lake in the southwestern part of the country.  Grand Bassin lake is also known as Ganga Talao (Ganges Lake) because it is believed to be filled from an underground water source from the Ganges River in India.  Those walking to the lake collect bottles of lake water and then walk the miles back home to use the water to douse their own Shiva statue.  But they don't just walk:  they create large "cowells"---highly decorated floats honoring Shiva and other Gods---that the pilgrims carry to the lake.  We attended a special presentation of prayers, music, and speeches with the nation's leaders at the lake on Friday night.  The presentation was followed by curry supper with a number of government Ministers and other officials.  It was another fascinating part of our Mauritius adventure!

Heather Learns SCUBA

Heather's on vacation, but she's not sitting still!  As of Saturday, she's been learning a new skill---SCUBA diving!  In a matter of hours on her first day, she went from book-learning to practicing techniques in the swimming pool, to diving in the Indian Ocean. Her dive instructor pronounced her "a fish" and praised her new talents.  On the President's Day holiday today, Heather had more training while her parents accompanied her underwater.  We had a blast, seeing beautiful fish and coral in a turquoise blue ocean.  It's hard to see smiles with regulators in our mouths, but we assure you, we're grinning ear to ear!

Tamil Cavadee Ceremony

Faith comes in many flavors.  In our first six months in Mauritius, we have sought out opportunities to taste the many faith traditions in the Indian Ocean.  The Tamil tradition of the Hindu faith is one of the most interesting and, it would seem, demanding, of its adherents.  On Christmas Day, we observed the Tamil tradition of walking barefoot on hot coals. On February 7th, a very hot and humid day, we observed the annual Cavadee ceremony: one of very deliberate sacrifice, endurance, and devotion.  For ten days in advance of the ceremony, the faithful avoid all meat, alcohol, and physical relations.  On the day of Cavadee, they take part in body piercing rituals: with hooks in the back and stomach hanging limes and other fruits, needles through skin on legs, arms, and face, and (my personal favorite) skewers horizontally through the tongue and sometimes cheeks.  In withering heat, several wore sandals with upturned nails, and all carried some form of "cavadee", a highly decorated personal headdress honoring a specific Diety.  Once fully pierced and burdened, many walked for miles to the temple amidst a rousing drum beating, flute playing, chanting procession.  Oh, and did we mention it was hot and humid?  Like 95 degrees F with 95% humidity. Although we don't profess to being very knowledgeable about the theology that requires these elaborate practices, it is sure that any Diety could not fail to be impressed by these demonstrations of sacrifice and devotion.  We certainly were. 

Happy Valentines Day!

A bouquet of roses just seems so, so, I dunno . . . 20th century. Instead, I gave my valentines a trip to Reunion Island where we found all these gorgeous flowers.  Thousands of them.  All colors and configurations.  We did not bring them home with us, but we continue to admire them through the wonders of digital photography.    Heather and Shelly made the most wonderful valentines dinner tonight, with heart shapes on the quiche and a red velvet cake!  It was spectacular---much like our trip to Reunion Island.  We had a wonderful time, on a beautiful island with lots of adventures, not the least of which was the floral life. Here's your bouquet!  Happy Valentines Day to Shelly, Heather and Damon!  I love you all so much!

Cyclone Giovanna 02-12-2012

As this is posted, we are hunkered down inside our beachside home on the north coast of Mauritius, and Cyclone Giovanna is a windy rainy mess.  Before bedtime last night, the authorities declared Giovanna a Category 3 storm, which included the instruction to get inside and stay there.  Driving on the roads is prohibited, and closing all storm shades, shutters, and bringing inside all patio furniture is encouraged. All community activities are cancelled.  Heather, Shelly, and I are fine, with plenty of provisions and things to do. The electricity and water are still on.  The storm is expected to pass nearest us within the next hour, but it now appears that Giovanna's eye will actually pass 160 miles north of us. We will keep friends and relatives posted on the blog or on Facebook.  In the event of outages, we still  have radio communications with other Embassy personnel.  Wheeeeee!  Another adventure!

Ile de la Reunion Waterfalls

Bliss!  (No Words Needed)

Ile de la Reunion Miracle Church

In the little village of Piton-Sainte-Rose in the southeastern corner of Reunion Island stands a small parish church.  In 1977, Piton de la Fournaise volcano erupted, sending a large lava flow through the village, destroying several buildings. The lava flow crossed the highway and surrounded the church, entered the front door, then stopped without destroying the building. The front entrance was later cleared out, and the church was brought back into service.  When we visited last week, it was evident that the lava split into two flows and went around the sides of the church, with only a dribble going into the church.  This was widely believed to have been a miracle---and it was celebrated and commemorated 20 years later in 1997 when Pope John Paul II visited the renamed "Our Lady of the Lavas" to consecrate the church and conduct mass. Enjoy our photos!

Ile de la Reunion Lava

This begins a series of blog posts on our trip to the Ile de la Reunion, a French department (state) in the Indian Ocean.  What a remarkable island!  The entire island was created over millions of years with volcano eruptions and lava flows---one of which is still active:  Piton de la Fournaise (Furnace Peak).  We went all the way around this volcano and saw it from every direction; including walking and driving on the massive volcano flows that have, even over the past 20 years, enlarged the island by many hundreds of acres.  Fournaise erupted as recently as January 2010, and there have been over 200 eruptions in the past 350 years.  While the volcano wasn't blowing or flowing the day we were there, we could see and appreciate its mighty power  by the huge boulders spewed miles from the peak and the speed and quantity of the lava when flowing on an undetermined path at 35 to 50 mph!  Next up---what happened to a parish church in the lava's path . . . stay tuned.