So Im into my last
week of Mauritius. Its one of a long list of lasts. Last Sunday, last day on the
beach, last ride of my bike, last day of work . . .
The night before my
last day of work felt like Christmas eve, I was working as hard as an elf. Painting
cards, baking cakes, buying presents. I was
excited to give them all my goodies but so sad thinking it would be the last
time I would see most of the children. On the day, which was the last day of
term, we had a big party with sega dances, songs and the boys break dancing. They
pulled me up to swing my hips with the girls and at the end I stood up to say a
few words in creole about how much I’d miss them all and what its meant to have
met them all. We had a huge feast and lots of singing and dancing. I was
determined to stay positive and enjoy myself on the last day and not let myself
get down thinking about how much id miss being a part of CEDEM. The kids were
delighted to get printed photos of themselves and they told me how they would
keep them forever. The pleasure that lit up on their faces made a huge smile
break out on mine. As the end of school
came and the kids were leaving I gave each of them a big hug and told them I’d
never forget them. The sweetest part was from one of the mothers of one of the
most disabled girls at the school who said at home she always asks “wheres Miss
Rachelle?” and is constantly bringing up my name. I was so emotionally drained
from the day but looking back I have really fond memories of it. Next week ill
drop all my extra stuff at shelter. I can’t wait to see the looks on the girls
faces when they see im leaving them 90% of my wardrobe, my straightners plus my
ipod and everything else in between! Where as in my bag to come home my most
valued things are a sega drum, one pair of jeans to my name and a bottle of
rum. Happy days!
This weekend me and
Helen also went scuba diving for the first time.A really amazing experience
that we’d wanted to do for a long time! We were under the water for forty
minutes at a depth of 14 metres. It was unreal being in the under water world
spotting octopus, all kinds of colourfull fish and bright coral. I manged to
bring a shell back up to the surface as a souvenir and It’s definitely not the
last time I’ll be doing it!
I had a really nice weekend before staying at
a teachers house out in one of the farming villages. Learning to Indian dance,
write in hendi, watching bollywood films and be spoilt rotten with sooo much
food. For an afternoon tea one day we had bread deep fried in batter. Its safe
to say my extra chins are going to exceed the baggage allowance on my flight
home! It was so nice to walk around the farm with her kids, seeing how almost
everything edible grows in their garden. We picked passion fruit and bananas of
the tree, dug up peanuts and peeled sugar cane with knifes to feast on. Her daughter,
Ischika, also wrote out a Creole exam for me which was a lot of fun!
Its becoming so so
real for leaving now. The other day I sold my bike to my favourite fruit seller
in the market for 1000 ruppees. He says he’s going to strap on his fruit box (about
the size of a television) and cycle it up to curepipe everyday!
It’s going to be
surreal seeing all the family and friends once I go home. My brother who left
for Australia on the same day as me is coming back next weekend too so it’ll be
an even more special family reunion. it’ll be nice to see how everyone has
changed over the year. I know I have picked up some funny habits like greeting
people with two kisses on the cheek and crying “Ayoo mumma” when something goes
wrong.
This week it’s hit
home how much the level of poverty there still is in Mauritius. I was having a
conversation with one of the teacher who told me that a good wage for a teacher
to start off on here would be 10,000 rupees a month, about £250. I think about
the job at home I had in the shop before I left and I was getting £500-£600 a
month where as here a girl in the same shop would be lucky to get £60 a month. It
doesn’t seem right to me that I was getting thrown all this money at such a
young age where as families here have to make it work for food, rent, clothes
on about a 5th of what I was getting. Where as what do I have to
spend it on, clothes and nights out! When I get my first pay packet when I go
home it will be a shock to be given all that money, I’ll have no Idea what to
spend it on. She also told me that the poorest villages on the coast, where I could
never go because it’s too dangerous, there are families of nine or ten kids,
who have such a little food for themselves and their houses are mere shacks
made of iron sheets. It’s given me a lot to think about and I hope that when I get
back I’ll be a lot more aware of my spending and how easy life is for me back in
the UK.
This last week of
holiday will be filled with goodbyes, last minute shopping, packing and
consuming as much Mauritian food as humanly possible! I can’t believe soon ill
be back at home where seeing a white person outside my house I won’t just automatically
think that they’re lost like here in the ghetto!
Au revoir for now, ill try and update one last time before ive settled back into Ullapool life . . .
Rachel
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