Spring Break SAS Style

Port Louis, Mauritius

Another port conquered! This tiny island to the east of Madagascar is made up of only 1.2 million people and it is very crowded! We docked in Port Louis, the capital, which couldn’t hold a light to Cape Town. We are still depressed we aren’t there… I could have stayed there forever!

A group of girls and I rented a condo on the Flick en Flack beach, which ended up being about a 45 minute drive from where are ship docked. Taxi drivers made a killing off of practically the whole ship needing to be driven to the other side of the island. We had a good time relaxing on the beach and by the pool, although it was extremely hot. But I won’t complain since many reading this are facing the evil winter weather. Nothing too exciting happened while we were here… a few people got too drunk and landed themselves in the hospital, but that could have easily been avoided. I didn’t hear of anyone having problems getting things stolen, although I am sure it happened here and there. This wasn’t really my favorite port, considering it was a big spring break to most people and going out and getting wasted at the bar three nights in a row just really isn’t my thing. There are so many things that I am afraid of happening to me and my friends that I always end up feeling like the mother who should look out for my herd. I am honestly surprised more people didn’t make it back to the ship after some of the dumb behavior I witnessed. (none of which was committed by my friends, of course!- for all of their parents who may be reading this.)

Before getting to Mauritius I had signed up for a service visit to a children’s village where orphaned children live together in a large community. On the third day of being in Mauritius, about 50 other SAS students and I traveled to the SOS Children’s Village of Bambou where we got to learn about how the children came to the village and how they lived. We got a tour of the school and the village that consisted of many small homes where five to seven children and a “Mother” and an “Aunt” live. The homes looked very similar to low-income homes in areas of the U.S. The children seemed well-fed and pretty happy, especially that we came to play with them. They were very shy at first and then we started giving them the toys we brought, and before we knew it they were hanging all over us. The biggest deal to them was our digital cameras. They were so intrigued with us taking a picture of them and then being able to see it on the screen afterward. The really trustworthy SASers let the kids hold their cameras and take the pictures themselves. I handed out bracelets to the little girls and before I knew it I had 20 new best friends. They LOVED them!! It was a really neat experience and I’m really glad I got to do it.

There’s really nothing else too exciting to report. Only four more days until we get to India. We have the first day to wander around and leave at 4:30 the next morning for Delhi for our trip to the Taj Mahal. I have a big test coming up in my Women’s Studies class, so that has consumed most of my spare time. I just completed a book titled Burned Alive, discussing the honor killings and burnings that take place in India everyday. We are discussing female infanticide and gender-selective abortions, and the family’s attempts to only have boys to rid them of the monetary strain that dowry causes them. The book is written by a woman who grew up in a very small village in rural India, she has no education, and was raised to believe she was a slave, worth less then the animals her family owned. Her, her sisters and their mother were constantly beat by their father who could “justify” his behavior through their Indian culture. She was raised to believe that looking at or speaking to a man would title you a whore, or a charmuta, as they called it, and this would cause great suffering to your family. The slightest rumor of misrepresenting your family was deemed worthy of an honor killing. In this woman’s case, she slept with a man and became pregnant, and as soon as her family caught on, her killing was arranged. Her brother-in-law was assigned the task, as he poured gasoline down her head and lit a match. She was one of the lucky ones who was found after running away in flames, taken to a hospital, and found by a humanitarian worker who helped her flee from India. I’m not sure you would necessarily call her lucky, but these burnings take place every day and there are only a few who live to tell about it. As you can imagine she still faces severe psychological effects from her past that she battles daily, but now travels to tell her story with a fake name for fear that her family still might find her and try again to claim their family’s honor. Until next time! xoxo Marissa