CRAP

I have no internet. My base is moving to a new house, and with it, the internet goes. So the 4 or 5 people who read this will have to check back in late march, when i post the word document and hundreds of pictures i have been taking. highlights include: proof of the spider infestation, a hike into a former volcano, kayaking in cyclone winds, etc.

I exist

I promise. My camera is full of stories, my brain is full of stories, and my tummy is full of food. `i however have no time today, even though today is my first internet day in 4 or 5 days or something, to show off what i did. Im going to hydrate, run, nap, call some girl i am supposed to meet, mail Jessie her package, and maybe go to the south (i like it there).

Tomorrow, maybe!

V day and week four

This week I went and saw a canon. which shot at ships n stuff.

From week four or something

the tour guide was awesome and let me climb on everything and play with things and try out my french (im getting pretty good).

From week four or something

later in the week, the tide was real low and people were walking out on the reef and fishing. i took a break from playing guitar on the beach in my boxers, which is what i spend 90% of my time doing, to take pictures and climb on rocks.

From week four or something

Speaking of rocks, I LOVE CLIMBING ON THEM! Nothing feels better than drinking three beers and going out during low tide barefoot and running/ jumping on the cool, black, smooth rocks. It is awesome.


On Valentines, I got food poisoning.

Which is horrible, because I have one more week at the gym and I wanted to go every day.

I ate tuna, and I started to feel funny; I turned really red, started itching, and was very dizzy... no bueno. When I got home, I continued to itch like I had mange, and then started vomiting. I felt weak and bad and it frustrated me because, damn it, I want to go run to the gym. I woke up today feeling better, but still pretty tired. Im going to drink a couple of cups of coffee and try to run to the gym, eat there, and run back. It is really fun, I love looking at everything and smelling everything when I run here in Mauritius, and weightlifting ("doing gym") is fun because I honestly dont know exactly how much I'm lifting. For example, I'm pretty sure I warm up with around 150-180lbs on bench. WHO KNOWS???? It will be a surprise.

I went surfing yesterday and caught a wave. I don't think I would be a good surfer: I don't like to "hang ten, bro" or "chill" or anything like that, bro. When was the last time you heard someone say "I like to surf" and "I need to shave my head and replace my Dead Kennedys album" in the same sentence?

ANYWAY I missed out on posting on Valentines Day. So heres what I wanted to post!

From week four or something

It says "Love you!"
Sort of. Isn't that cute?
Happy Valentines!

Big Boi On De Town

I went to a mauritian bar tonight.

It was an hour walk because I refused to hitch hike... Sometimes, you cant overcome your ingrained sensibilities.

To the bar:

I drank a bit at Denis' after Esben left, so I started my walk pretty happy... this turned to fear when I realized I had to cross a ton of bridges with no light. But it was fun, too (thank you, alcohol). The whole walk was about an hour, but the danger kept things interesting. Imagine walking home from down town, but there is no sidewalk and everyone is going 70 mph.

At the bar:

I met a guy walking out of the bathroom by saying "Oops, fuck" because I bumped into him. "OH, YOURE AMERICAN! IM CANADIAN!" happened next. He introduced me to some very high class people, which made me uncomfortable, but I tried to keep the ball rolling. It was someones birthday party, and I was described as both "the random" and later, "the Raffray" because people knew my family (fucking weird). I met a distant cousin/ family friend: the birthday girl was the daughter of a one armed man who was friends with Ann, the wife of Mark Rogers, the son of one of my grandmothers sisters (I think i got that right. All I remember is that the man had one arm).

Um, so I felt horrible that I was sitting in on her birthday bash. I bought her a shot called a Spring Buck or something (she asked for it, I wanted to buy her a car bomb). Everyone was very nice. I talked to someone about the lack of mauritian fashion. I talked to someone about how I looked like the cousin of someones husband (this is where I realized people were not 25-28 like I had thought). I talked to someone about how dumb Americans are (awkward!). Mike the Canadian introduced me to a guy who I believe was named John, who introduced me to Claudene or Claudete, and I am only typing their names because there is no way I will remember in twenty minutes. Claude(ne/te) insisted she had seen me, and I thought that was bullshit until I realized she saw me doing the only thing I do every day: run to and lift at the gym. She probably thought I was insane and was going to eat her and murder her other passengers

When Claude(ne/te) left, I saw my chance, and remembering my failure to hitch a ride, quickly asked if I could tag along. The guys were thrilled, the driver was not. About twenty seconds into the drive, I realized she was pretty drunk. Thus began the most frightening/entertaining car ride ever: I thought Mauritians drove like insane people... never had I hitched a ride with a drunk one.

All in all I had fun. Would I do it again? Maybe: the bar was weird and had casio keyboard music, and everyone was happy, and I want to meet a bunch of people. Maybe not: some of the people seemed a bit higher than me on the socio/economic ladder, which was wierd... Im used to drinking dollar beers, not gin and tonics in nice clothes. I am glad I chose to wear a t shirt and shorts with a patch on my ass. You got to show these people that you are the boss. Which I am.

This week in pictures

WELL HI

I know I updated this thing earlier but now I have pictures... I have not had my computer all week because I had been traveling around the island.

First I went to the southern tip by boat. There was an island here, and I walked from one side o the other and it was cool until I got a thorn in my foot.

From mauritius week 3

Then I went to Annick and Cyril's beach house in the South East. It was one of the nicest homes I had ever been in.

From mauritius week 3

Then I went to their house in the north. It was also one of the nicest homes I have been in. There I met Jerome and John, who is just heading to college!!! Awwww. Will was there too! We went to the gym. I also tried to drive a manual car. It is hard.

From mauritius week 3

Then I went to Ann and Mark's house. They live in Grand Bai, and surprise surprise, it was one of the nicest homes I had ever been to. There I met my cousin Mathilde, who is super cool. I slept in her sister's room, as I was assured it was 100% spider free. Mark has really crazy color eyes; they are like sea foam green. I was very impressed with Mathilde (as I have been with all my cousins), as she is adorable. We went to Philip Roger's house, where my cousin Oliver and I kayaked out to the reef, which was real hard because my kayak choices were 1. A kayak which was heavy, slow and took strength to keep going or 2. A kayak which was real light and fast that I flipped every 20 feet or so. I also met my cousin Jason, who I watched a wasp sting in the face, and Joanna, who is real cool and sweet, and I hope I spelled her name right. The next day we went to Flat Island in the north, where I snorkeled around and it was cool AND I FOUND A GIANT PIRATE SHIP ANCHOR IN THE OCEAN AND IT WAS AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!

I cant take pictures under water, so heres a tree.

From mauritius week 3

When I got back to the boat I was all out of breath from trying to make it down the 45 feet or whatever to touch it, and I told everyone that I had found it. Their response? "Oh yea, we've all seen it. There are cannons all over the place."

Well I want to see them.

Now I am back at Denis' house, where I feel the most at home. Denis and his family are pretttttyyyyy coooooool. And now I'm going to bed. Goodnight!

From mauritius week 3

Moar gym, back pain, spider attacks and a back massage

I wnt to the gym in the noth, where there were a bunch of people and no AC. but it was pretty awesome- i gots my sweat on. I hurt my back doing lumberjack tree chop things with a cable (i bet andrew knowx what im talking about) so i went to get a massage the next day.

By the biggest hindu i have ever seen. he was giant and dark and did not speak english. he was very srrs about the massage; he noted that he had been doing this for 35 years and was also a yogi. He did some reflexology on my feet and "give me energy massge fore energy" and honestly i feel a lot better today... but he did freak me out really bad at one point. He sat down next to me and tapped his palm on his lap as if to say "sit here, boy" and after a bit of arguing in french/english/creole, I sat on his lap and BLAM he used his giant budda belly to pop my back (not gay). when massaging my back, he said i had pinched a nerve in my lower spine , and then poked my right ass cheek until it was fixed (maybe a tiny bit gay. but it worked, so whaatever) . The whole experience cost me US 20$, was an hour, was kind of wierd, but he knew what he was doing, and I feel pretty good today.

Good enough to go kayaking in the bay! Booyah! I went like a mile, no big deal.

I have not had a good nights sleep since I left Denis' house... every night except for the last, I have seen a monsterous palm sized spider that looked like the face hugger in Alien at night in the house, and it has haunted my dreams. They are so big, that when they move, you can see each freaky disgusting leg move ahead and pull its filthy body a long. Last night, I woke up sweating because the power was off. I didnt know what to do so I walked around in the dark, and wondered if i should tell someone... I just went back to sleep.

What else? I'm at Mark's house with Mark, Ann (e?), his son Alexandre (quite confusing) and his daughter Mathilde (pronounced "mat-til-d"). She has a test for class tomorrow... WHICH IS SATURDAY... WHICH IS DAMN UNAMERICAN.

I also get to open another piece of mail from JESSSIIIEEEEE in a few days :)

BRB, island

im in transit, going to the north island, where Noelle, Uncle Mark, Aunt Annick all live. I packed light, so now im out of clothes. I also left my laptop in the south with Dennis, so there will be NO PICTURES UNTIL I GET BACK.


im out of clothes, and i wanted to goto the gym today, so i went out and bought some medium shirts and shorts. I MUST BE A DAMNED GIANT.

none of the clothes fit me, and it took forever to find them! i did see a guy with a haircut that looked like sonic the hedgehog... silly bollywood people. the egrish here is hillarious. there was a shirt that just said "SILENCE" and had a x through it... like "NO SILENCE! YEAAAAAA" but it didnt make any sense, really. it had a rapper on the back.

right now im at aunt annicks house.

i need a massage super bad, as my back is killing me. i also need a shave, but i left all that at dennis' house... im going to stay here at annicks until thursday, and then go to marks place for a few days, and then return to base.

the day before yesterday, i was at annick + cerriel's beach house. it was nice and pretty. they gots a regular house too, which is HUGE. ummm oh yea:

THE SPIDERS HERE ARE MONSTERS. they are the size of my palm, and i almost had a heart attack when one appeared in the car. in fact, they stopped the car, because they did not know what was wrong with me. and then another showed up in my room when i was trying to go to sleep. i tried to be the big man and kill it myself, but i couldnt get close enough without feeling sick. im not coming back here without a gun.

i thought i was afraid of sharks... but this was REAL FEAR.