Meeta’s Yaj of Thanks - To You All

So much to be grateful for …

... this photo captures

our wonderful friend Meeta, recovered from her serious kidney surgery, with her husband and their first grandchild!

 

Thanks to the many friends who contributed to Meeta’s Medical Fund by purchasing her Mauritian Recipes, to date we’ve raised $3,000 – covering almost ½ of her medical bill.  In a country where the average income is only $3K per year, it would’ve taken years to pay off their debt. 

Your donations allowed her to be treated in the one private clinic—and by the one doctor in the country—with the equipment and knowledge necessary to treat her unusual diagnosis using laparoscopy.

Meeta is diabetic, so this was especially significant!

On Saturday Meeta’s family held a traditional Hindu Yajn (see explanation in prior April blog).

Their Hindu priest, chanting ancient Vedic verses, offered thanks for Meeta’s health, the generosity of so many Americans, and the joy of welcoming their granddaughter shortly after Meeta’s surgery. 

David and I were honored to be invited to participate in a portion of the ritual.

Later we joined family and friends for a delicious traditional Mauritian meal. 

Joy and gratitude permeated the evening; we thank YOU!

And yes, we are still collecting donations through this blog, if you know of someone else who may want Meeta's recipes.

Training Mauritian Women As Political Candidates

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has told diplomats all over the world to find new and innovative ways to empower women to move into leadership positions in their countries.  Drawing on some political campaign training some colleagues and I did a decade ago for the ABQ Chamber of Commerce, I worked with the Mauritius Ministry of Gender Equality to create and run a program to train women to run successful political campaigns.

On July 18 and 19 we invited over 200 women who intend to run for public office in Mauritius in a training program to learn about public speaking, media relations, campaign planning, and other aspects of campaign managing. To assure future trainings, I asked Shelly to run a "train the trainer" program with over 20 coaches who will train candidates in the next four months.

 

The program turned out great, with lots of enthusiasm and great feedback.  We expect that dozens of the women will become candidates for local government offices later this fall.  They will be credible, hard working, self-confident, and organized.  That's what empowerment looks like!

Damon's girlfriend Jena worked on the program, and on the final day, Damon attended and helped us with A/V issues and taking pictures.  It was a real family activity, and it felt great to end so successfully.

One of the other good things about the program is that the US Government didn't spend a dime on it.  We recruited Embassy staffers, volunteer interns, and family members to augment the staff members from the Ministry, and asked the Mauritius government to provide the conference site and some food.  Contrary to the adage "you get what you pay for," we got a lot more than we paid for! And Mauritius will be the beneficiary with some great new political candidates who are raring to go.  

Next Home: Guayaquil, Ecuador!

Shelly and I just got our new post assignment . . . our next Foreign Service home will be in Guayaquil, Ecuador!  Beginning in April, 2014, I will begin work as a Vice Consul at the U.S. Consulate there.  We are thrilled with this assignment, and look forward to getting to know more about it.  We will be on the Pacific coast of South America.  Guayaquil is a jumping off point for the Galapagos Islands, the internationally known site for nature's treasures.  The Consulate District includes these islands, so there may be a need to visit the tortoises and iguanas once in awhile.  We cannot believe our good fortune!!

Sold!!

A happy day in our home . . . our house in Albuquerque's Northeast Heights sold today!  With a difficult real estate market, and after trying to manage an empty house from halfway around the planet, we are very happy.  

We have owned the house for over 17 years, and it was a great place to raise our kids, enjoy great neighbors, and spend wonderful years.  In our new nomadic twosome life, though, Shelly and I just don't need all that space, and, well, it's halfway around the planet!

Another house note . . . in a few days, we will learn our next Foreign Service posting . . . where we go after we leave Mauritius in August 2013!  Stay tuned!

Talking About America on Independence Day

 Explaining the United States on national Mauritius radio on U.S. Independence Day . . . a very interesting 4th of July.  As a French and Creole speaker, the Embassy asked me to talk about the United States' 236th birthday on the local noon radio program in the local languages. It was a great program, talking about the U.S. impact on the world . . . in sports, music, movies, food, education, the arts, politics, and diplomacy. Happy birthday, America!  

Whale of a Tale

If we didn't have pictures, you wouldn't believe our whale of a tale . . . Damon and I and three friends went out deep sea fishing on the Indian Ocean in a small boat early early Saturday morning.  Having no luck trolling for tuna and dorado, we were getting sleepy, when all of a sudden the boatman exclaimed in Kreol "What's that?" We looked left and saw a pod of dolphins happily carving the water, then a MUCH MUCH bigger flipper broke through the blue.  Grab the camera! From our tiny fishing boat, the whale was no more than 60 yards.  As we sat in awe of the massive creature, we were touched that he was hanging out with the dolphins, just playing.  Suddenly our fishing reel on that side of the boat started clicking furiously, the line playing out very quickly.  Initially, we laughed thinking we had caught a whale, then wondered whether our 8 inch long lure had been swallowed or caught his side; then the thought that this could be a very angry whale coming to swamp our tiny boat.  In the midst of thinking of all the horribles, the clicking stopped, and the line went limp.  The fishing lure was gone, and with it, our bigger, better tale of the day we caught the whale.  Now, the whale's just the one that got away.    

 

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!