Allo!!

We’re here!! I am currently sitting on the second floor balcony of our palatial living quarters, looking across crowded sugar cane fields to the palm trees and clear blue ocean. As I am sitting here, the sun keeps dropping closer to closer to the water, and I am excitedly waiting for the brilliant sunset that we witnessed last night. The sky was a beautiful blue all day long, with cottony clouds floating around and the wondrous heat of the winter not too hot, not too humid.
Grace, our chief programming officer, and I just returned from what will become our daily bread run. We walked up to the little boulangerie window, befriended the baker, and walked away with two piping hot baguettes for 10 rupees, about 33 American cents. And I was hoping to lose weight this summer… yeah right. We have already found a little vegetable stand down the street and grocery store for other essentials, as well as a patisserie a couple blocks away with the best coconut almond fudge and custard feullietes.
These last two days have been a blur. My 32-hour trip from Lancaster, Pennsylvania just kept stretching longer and longer as we neared the island, and my excitement grew to the point that I couldn’t sleep the entire 6 hour flight from Dubai to Mauritius, even though it took off at 3:05 in the morning. Vedant was anxiously awaiting us as Ed, Ben and I left the airport, and whisked us away to a shopping center. Our first meal, funny enough, was at Kentucky Fried Chicken, although I must admit the chicken was much fresher than at any KFCs I have been to in the states.
After waiting for Sabrina’s flight later that afternoon, we drove to the opposite end of the island to our new home in the charming village of Plaines des Papayas. And yes, we do have our own papaya tree in the yard, which we enjoyed earlier today… I believe I have a new favorite fruit. After arriving, Grace led our room draw, and I had the amazing luck to draw the only double in the house, which is this lovely Pepto-Bismol pink, bedcovers and curtains and all. It’s not too far off from glowing in the dark when the lights turn off.
However, the house is beautiful. We are lucky enough to have hot water and washing machines, two luxuries I wasn’t really expecting. The walls are covered in beautiful, detailed murals in almost every room. The house is very open and airy, with large balconies on both the second and third floors, and I am still in shock at how much space we have. We are so lucky, it feels like we are in paradise!
I am already so psyched about these next eight weeks. All of our fellows are already getting along great, and we are already excitedly discussing team building activities for the week, including building and painting the stage for the new Education Centre, and camping in the creepy sugarcane fields.
But more later, there is so much to talk about! For now, au revoir!