Sometimes I need to give myself a little reality check about this amazing trip I’m on. Yesterday’s slap of reality came while I was swimming in Flic en Flac beach—in the Indian Ocean. I mean really…I was on a small island off the coast of Madagascar, playing in the water when BAM! It hit me. “Hello, earth to Jenna…this is not the same old ocean you swim it at Smith’s Point” (though…I do miss Smith’s Point). It really is remarkable.
Upon arrival to Mauritius (it rhymes with Delicious and Fergalicious—depending on your word preference) we had a diplomatic briefing on the country. As we have in other countries, a US representative comes onboard and gives us a quick presentation about the country we are about to visit. We literally get the country’s update in an hour—the people, the currency, the crime, emergency contacts, the whole schlemiel.
Dressed and ready we headed out on the next adventure—a hike up Le Pouce Mountain and a swim at Flic en Flac beach. The entire one day stop over was spent on focusing on the natural features of the island. By 9:30 we were off the ship and on the tour bus, driving through the fields of sugar cane toward Le Pouce Mountain. Once we got there we lathered on another layer of sunscreen and bug spray and by 10:00 we began the trek up the mountain. Apparently the night before our arrival, Mauritius had a decent amount of rain and therefore the parts of the trails that were covered by trees were mud rivers and we were slipping and sliding around the trail. Unlike Table Mountain in South Africa, this hike was not on giant boulders in the fog. Instead we were in humid, lush, rainforest full of flora and fauna—though we didn’t see any monkeys like we anticipated. We reached the summit of the mountain by noon. And we were back down by 1:20—only an hour after we planned to come back down.
The two groups of ten were down the mountain, sitting on the edge of the dirt road waiting for the cars by 1:30. But, there was another slight delay—Shopping Girl. Normally I’m not a judgmental person—but this girl was just such a huge delay to the afternoon, not to mention she was a huge “Debbie Downer” on the whole day. We all sat on the bottom of the hill, hungry and sweaty, anticipating a yummy lunch and the rest of the afternoon at the beach, finally around 2:10 she moseyed out of the sugar cane forest as the foot of the mountain.
Now, when you are preparing to hike a mountain and go to the beach for the day I’m assuming you would pack as little as possible into a durable backpack and be dressed in some sort of a lightweight durable loose cotton outfit and sneakers—think work-out attire. Obviously this girl, who we’ve dubbed at “Shopping Girl” or SG for short, did not get that memo. SG earned her name before Spain, but that’s a different story for a different blog. She shows up in demin capris, an Ed Hardy tank top, and a valor Juicy Couture pocketbook. Needless to say she was not prepared for this adventure in the slightest. Of course, I’m not telling you all of this to make me seem like some sort of nature savvy, fashion-hater because to be completely honest bugs give me the heebie-jeebies, mud and dirt makes me want to cry, and my Gucci shoes are the best pair of heals I own. I am telling you all of this to explain the reason for our delay to the beach and lunch. Apparently the story goes that she fell down in the mud and started to cry. She needed to catch her breath, but she still wanted to make it to the summit. So she makes it to the summit and heads back down, but falls again, scraping her knee—no blood involved—had another good cry and then came down to greet the rest of us.
On the car ride to lunch—we drove through the slums of Mauritius. And like any island, for as beautiful as it is there is always a high level of poverty. The short drive was filled with tension due to our hunger and our aggression toward SG. I’ve learned that hungry college kids who are late for a day in the sun on the beach are not the nicest people to talk to. Well SG tried to make the situation less tense by making conversation with me of all people! And for all of you who are reading this—you know that every word that came out of my mouth in the following conversation was sweet and polite, but dripping with sarcasm and the thoughts going through my head were just priceless. Here’s the way the conversation went:
SG: “Ohmigosh, that was suuuuch a horrif-ic hyyyke. Whatdijew think?”
Me: “I enjoyed it.”
SG: “Ohh, whellll that’s cool. Sooh, wherre are you from anywayz?”
[pause as I remind myself to be civil]
Me: “Umm…New York.”
SG: *gasp* “No way. Where from?”
Me: “Long Island.”
SG: *bigger gasp* “Ohmigod, no way. Where from?”
Me: “Suffolk County.”
SG: “Ohhhhhhhh.”
[pause]
Me: “Are you from Long Island too?”
SG: “Ye-ahh, but not Suffolk County. I’m from the other county—from Nassau.”
Me: “Yup. That would be the only county. What town are you from?”
SG: “Do you know Old Westbury?
[I nod in recognition]
SG: “Well actually I’m from Roslyn. Have you ever heard of it?”
Me: “Mmm-hmm.”
The conversation followed to discuss where she and I both go to college and then, thank god, we pulled up to the restaurant.
For lunch we ate at a colonial home that was converted into a restaurant. It was beautiful—we ate out on what would be the back porch of the house and overlooked the gardens. Three children were playing among the flowers as we ate chicken curry and rice. While other tourists took pictures in the gardens on their visit, we ate and laughed about our experiences onboard and back home. It’s funny because I know that I’ll always remember sitting out on that porch discussing movies with all my classmates, but that fact that I can say I did it in Mauritius is just beyond comprehension.
At 4:15 we arrived at Flic en Flac Beach for a swim and some much delayed sun. The sand was soft and the water was so warm that when you got out the 85 degree air felt cold. We were only able to stay for 45 minutes before another hour drive back to the ship. Once we arrived back onboard there was a barbeque awaiting us. And at 9:00, when everyone was back onboard and we set sail, the entire student body met in the Union for the Opening Ceremony of the Sea Olympics.
I plan on posting late tonight about the results of the Sea Olympics and exactly what it is and what went on, but for now I’ll just say it was another excuse for no classes—which I am completely fine with.
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