Ile Aux Benitiers

We've been having a wonderful time with our houseful of college students this week . . . Damon and his girlfriend Jena are here for the summer (actually winter in the southern hemisphere) and our family friend Katie and her friend Paige have joined us this week . . . we've managed to swim with the dolphins, have lunch on the beach, go snorkeling, and watch some fabulous sunsets.  Katie and Paige are off to Botswana this weekend to spend a month volunteering in a children's AIDS project.  Damon and Jena have been working in Mauritius . . . Damon teaching swimming and Jena helping me with a project at the Embassy.  It's an exciting time for us to show off our little island, and have some new fun experiences, like being serenaded on the beach by a couple new friends.

Ile Aux Cerfs

Check out Damon's YouTube video of our weekend outing to Ile aux Cerfs (Deer Island):


Click Here

Coming to you all the way from the middle of the Indian Ocean. When the small remote island of Mauritius isn't small enough, check out the tiny coastal island off the east of Mauritius, Ile Aux Cerfs. All of the video here is from a one day excursion on and around the island. We hired a private boat for the day, loaded from the dock in Trou d Eau Douce at 9am. Before returning around 4pm, we enjoyed some relaxing time on the beach at Ile Aux Cerfs, Damon and Jena flew parasailing, we played among the natural features of the Grande Riviera Sud-Est waterfall, explored the shallow coral of the Indian Ocean, and savored a delicious meal of grilled chicken, dorado, and lobster on the beach.
The soundtrack is traditional island sega music. Enjoy!

TEA PLANT to TEA POT

Standing about waist high, the dense green bushes—sprinkled with small white blossoms—stretched as far as the eye could see.  Once a week, workers with baskets slung over their backs begin plucking the top two or three light green leaves.  They're followed by workers carrying a portable cutter to trim the next 3 inches of darker, more mature leaves.

Tea leaves of only slightly different ages produce differing tea qualities—age changes their chemical composition. In Mauritius, the new, fresh tips are harvested for green tea and the next layer for black tea, however the very same plant could be used to produce white, yellow, or oolong tea!

 After picking, the leaves of “Camellia Sinensis” are taken inside the tea factory where they are spread out and allowed to "wilt" and oxidize for 24 hours.  The leaves turn progressively darker as their chlorophyll breaks down and tannins are released; also losing 70% of their moisture, this enzymatic oxidation process is known as fermentation in the tea industry. The darkening is stopped by sending the leaves along a conveyor belt through a hot oven for a quick bake. 

This deactivates the enzymes and finishes the drying to 100%.  Next the leaves are chopped, then stems and veins removed by a clever use of static electricity, and finally sifted and sorted by size into bags.

 After spending the next 3 months in the factory silo (where the tea “ages” like fine wine) it is ready to either be bagged or “flavored.”  Tea greedily absorbs surrounding aromas, so with only a small spritz of mint extract or vanilla powder followed by a 15 minute fluffing in the tumbler—viola—flavored tea!

The afternoon Damon, Jena, and I spent touring the Bois Cheri Tea Factory was rainy and cool, but we quickly warmed up when we began the tea sampling.  The Bois Cheri Green Tea and Vanilla Tea emerged as our all-time favorites. 

Vanilla is also grown in Mauritius and we sweetened each cup with locally grown cane sugar !  

Ahhh…beautiful misty vistas and a hot cup of sweetened vanilla tea … a Mauritian winter afternoon through and through!

Christmas in June?!?

We spotted the familiar red bloom immediately, but this wasn’t the typical 15” potted plant that graced our family hearth each Christmas.

The poinsettia that protruded over the roofline of the diving shop was a TREE of some 20 feet!  Lush with the red leaves we think of as blossoms, we’re enjoying poinsettia season in Mauritius – remember – it is winter here!  

Next time we’re celebrating Christmas in Albuquerque, I will certainly chuckle when I purchase my annual herb-garden-size poinsettia!

Sunday Morning Market

It is 6 am and the market is in full swing!

Plenty of bananas for the week

In the next town over, every Sunday morning at 6 am we go to the fruit and vegetable market.  Local growers and backyard gardeners bring their fresh produce, and we stock up for the week.  For the equivalent of about $15 we get two oversized shopping bags filled with potatoes, onions, eggplant, cucumber, tomatoes, eggs, okra, lettuce, and tropical fruits of all descriptions.  Sometimes, I stop a while and carry on my "marketplace Kreol" --- a patter of words and phrases I  repeat over and over each Sunday . . . "are these fresh?" "how's your family?" "is that really your best price?" "I think it's going to rain today" By 6:30 in the morning, the week's shopping is done and we're home putting away the food, and scrambling up some "laid yesterday" eggs.  The start of another great day in Mauritius!

Bring your own egg carton and get them fresh

Our favorite fruit vendor expects a visit every week

Helping Children in Distress

Sometimes, our work as diplomats centers on training host country counterparts about topics on which they request help.  Some time ago, the top law enforcement officer in Mauritius, the Director of Public Prosecutions, asked our embassy to help train Mauritian lawyers, judges, police officers, and social workers about how we, in America, treat children as special when they are in the criminal justice system as victims or witnesses. We were pleased to be able to get some grant money and bring experts from the US to provide such a training program.  I led the training last week at a nice conference center on the coast.  We brought three experts from the US Department of Justice:  a US Attorney, an FBI Special Agent, and an FBI Specialist in the interviewing of children.  We spent 3 1/2 days together in a program that trained nearly 300 Mauritians and Seychellois who deal with children in court.  Sometimes the kids are victims of violent crime, sexual predators, or abuse.  In many cases, they are made to testify against persons they already know or live with.  These experiences can have profound and long term impacts on the child's health and psyche.  Obviously, these are very important yet delicate topics.  The photos here show a bit of the training program.  Above, the Director of Public Prosecutions (front row left) with judges and members of the training team.  The training program received very positive reviews from the participants, and we felt good about bringing to this country something that our country cares deeply about . . . protecting children at home and all over the world.

Damon Does Mauritius!

In just two weeks, he's managed to zip line, hike, windsurf, wake board, scuba dive coral reefs in the Indian Ocean, snorkel, and drive on the left side of the road!  Damon is in constant motion, and every day is a new adventure.  We're loving having our almost 22 year old with us for the summer.  

 More to come . . . 

Ziplining on Mauritian Mother's Day

Happy zipliners

Some awesome video too

Happy Mother's Day, Mom!

Shelly in descent

Damon Inverted

Mauritius celebrates Mother's Day a couple weeks after ours; that meant Damon could take his Mom out for the day on "her" special day---her own choice of activity.  Naturally, Shelly chose ziplining multiple times across a river gorge in the rain as the preferred way to spend her special day! Chazal is a family owned wilderness adventure park near Mauritius' south coast.  There's a great zipline course crossing the gorge 8 times, with a river trek, followed by swimming and a tasty Mauritian meal, served family style.  Shelly had a blast, and Damon and his Dad were okay with it too.  Most of all, we were glad that Mom Shelly got to have her way on her special day.     

Damon Arrives in Mauritius!

He made it!  Damon arrived on schedule after nearly 30 hours of travel from Philadelphia to Paris to Plaisance airport on the southern tip of the island.  He spent some time today seeing beaches, and then taking a long afternoon nap, followed by Shelly's home cooking.  It's a joy to have him here---once he gets caught up on his sleep, he'll find lots in Mauritius to stay busy and amused . . . scuba diving class starts this week, along with a catamaran trip, hikes, ziplining, snorkeling, and some tough beach time.  He deserves the break, after making all A's on his Junior Year spring semester grades . . . in civil engineering no less!  Hooray for our boy and his summer vacation in the Indian Ocean!

Henna & Happiness

As far back as the Bronze Age, women have used a paste made from powder of henna tree leaves to create intricate, lace-like designs on their hands, arms, and feet. Signifying the celebration of an occasion of great joy, henna body art is thought to bring blessings and good luck!

This month we attended the wedding of this beautiful embassy colleague.

Her wedding preparations—like many Hindu, Muslim, Jewish, and Christian brides throughout the world where henna grows—included this time-consuming tradition; right along with hair and makeup!  

 Applied like a tube of decorator icing with a cone-like tip, it takes about an hour to dry; then one waits for the “puff” to flake off—leaving a pale brownish-orange shadow that gradually darkens to a rich auburn. This ritual became so customary in the Jewish communities of Persia, that the night before a wedding was known as “The Night of Henna.”  

Now, don’t swim in a chlorinated pool or do dishes, and your masterpiece might last several weeks – a stunning reminder of your happy henna occasion.