Swapping Holidays

The first thing I thought of this morning when I woke up was that Halloween is tomorrow.  And tomorrow is a Saturday.  And practically everyone I’ve ever known back in the States will either be at a party, taking the kids out trick-or-treating or cleverly figuring out a way to do both.
I have never been [...]

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A soul that’s been cleaned and pressed

Growing up as a PK in Minnesota, I learned a lot about patience.  Not because it was something that was strongly encouraged as a belief to hold onto during Sunday school sessions, but because as a kid, I practically lived at the church on Sundays, Wednesdays during Lent and major holidays.
There was a gang of us church [...]

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Ave Maria and the Buttercream-Colored Girl

Or ‘How I know I’m not in Minnesota anymore’.
Stop signs are optional. 
This was discovered back during the white knuckle days of learning to navigate the streets.  There is one particular stop sign in the big city where everybody just kind of rolls on by.  I do it, too, but the initial thrill has worn off. 
In the beginning [...]

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Salmonella strikes at snack shack

Salmonella at KFC
Yesterday, the front pages of two of the larger circulated newspapers here (L’express & Le Matinal) featured articles about the recent salmonella outbreak that was just discovered at the island’s KFC locations.
KFC is very popular here.  While there is only one McDonald’s, there are over a dozen KFCs.  I think the heavy Hindi [...]

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Moneytrees and the art of development

How does a developing country get a leg up and what’s been big news on my tiny home away from home?
At the very end of January and very beginning of February 2009, the Chinese sent a delegation over to the island of Mauritius to see if there were any potential investment/development opportunities here. 
I remember this [...]

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