School Festival Day

This Saturday was the Clavis Carnival, the same type of school festival as held back home.  I had no idea that such events were a world wide phenomena.  It was exactly the same as ones in Auburn - food booths, donated things for sale/auction, and games that you had to buy tickets to play, with plastic crap as the prizes.  For the boys the highlight was running around the football field with their friends.

The carnival at Clavis.

The Carnival at Clavis.   I looked equally as thrilled.

After the Carnival we took the bus home and then headed to Flic N Flac.  Karen (another Fulbrighter) hosted a Halloween party at her house, and we all had to dress in Mauritian costumes.  We spent the night at her house, and headed home Sunday morning.

Matt (another Fulbrighter) arrived as a Mauritian Sega dancer, wearing a skirt made by one of Karens students from her textile class.  Sega dancing is the very lively and colorful traditional dance of the Creoles in Mauritius.

Will and Sam went as French tourists.  You can't see it but Will has on the these horrible long plaid shorts, and they also went 'full French tourist' by arriving with their backpacks on backward.  Apparently this is done to ward off pickpockets but I think it just makes one look like.... well, a French tourist.  The Sunday market is crammed with people that all look like this, with the added chic of being sunburnt.

Sams' birthday is tomorrow, and Anna (another Fulbrighter) baked Sam a cake!

Saturday mornings are always spent at the market.  We fit that in before heading to the Clavis carnival and Flic N Flac.  Below are some pictures of things we typically see on market morning.

This is Sam at the corner by the market, waiting on our taxi to take us to Clavis.  The Courts store you see in the background is the Best Buy of Mauritius.  They sell bicycles, stereos, furniture, appliances (big and small) and some jewlery.  It is where we bought our 49.00 DVD player.

Scooters and motorcycles are everywhere.  Helmets are required (as are apparently flip-flops), but that is the only concession to safety.  Scooters can go anywhere they can fit, and note all the bags hanging off the handlebars.  Those will be filled with market produce, rehung on the scooter, and off home you go.

A typical 'snak' store.   These are everywhere.  No one goes hungry in Mauritius, and people eat all the time, everywhere.  These shops sell all manner of Indian foods.

Now where is that bus???

Just a few snapshots I took while walking from the boys school, in Moka.  Although most of Moka is fairly upclass and wealthly, as with all of Mauritius there are pockets of housing that are not so nice.  I do not feel unsafe when walk down this road (in the daytime), but it is certainly not a high end area.  I tried to get Sam to pose for a picture with a free range chicken but the chicken was not into the photo op.

A Tour of the University

Today I went to the University to teach lab.  It is hard to believe that I'm done teaching on November 15th, with the exam scheduled for November 23rd.  The exam system is British here, so only one exam for an entire semesters worth of teaching.  I had to write the exam this weekend, and it is only supposed to be five questions, from which the students may select four.  I made my exam questions 'many parts' in an attempt to appropriately test over an entire years worth of material (I had to teach an entire year of Soil Science in the one semester that I am here).

I realized that, like pictures of our house, I have not yet posted many pictures of the University campus.  So, below are some shots of the campus and the Mauritius Institute for Sugarcane Research (MISRI), which is a private research centre funded by a sugarcane check-off program.

This is one of the original buldings that date from around 1905.  It is right across the street from my building, and the area is beautifully maintained.  They have the nicest and cleanest grounds I've seen, and every morning there is a creew sweeping and raking around the area.  The buildings now house the Extension components for Mauritius Ministry of Agriculture.  While the folks who work for Extension know the University Faculty of Agriculture people, and many of the Extension staff are Faculty of Agriculture graduates, I don't think they work togther a great deal.  I've gotten to know some of the Extension pathologists, and they are great folks.  They have an extension facility (the labs and equipment) which makes ours at Auburn look pretty bleak!  It appears to be a well funded and excellent pathology diagnostic facility.

These two photos are of the national sugarcane research facility (MISRI), which is located right next to my building.   The staff was kind enough to let my students come over for a tour of their commercial soil test lab.  Laboratory analyses are free for sugar cane growers, as a check-off pays for the facilities.  Again, these facilities made me jealous - they can do N15 work, and the have the best and newest lab equipment I've seen in a while.  It was all there, and the level of environmental fate work they are doing in sugarcane production was impressive.   

This is the original Faculty of Agriculture building at the University of Mauritus.  It dates from 1910.

It is getting hot, so everyone uses their umrellas for shade.  I took this picture a the University bus stop.  Note the standard 'student apparel' of jeans - a worldwide look.  Here, though, the women will often wear the top to a charudi (a sort of more casual sair, where the bottom sari part is pants or leggings) over their skinny jeans. 

More of the bus stop.  People congregate in the shade as they wait.  The building at the back is a little snack place that has drinks, snacks, copying and laminating.  Everyone keeps saying how 'hot' it has gotten but it hasn't!  In the center of the island there are breezes which keep it cool.  By Alabama standards it is not hot at all.  The coast, however, is hot.

This is a trash can.  I took a picture of it because it is NOT on fire.  They sometimes are, because people throw lit cigarettes in them, and the trash catches on fire.  No one much seems to care, and folks just walk on by and the fire eventually dies out when the litter is consumed.   This picture was taken at the bus stop at the Univesity - looking towards campus. 

Saturday

Well, today was our 'typical' Saturday.  Karen spent last night with us so that she could go to the market this morning and that was really fun.  It is nice to sit on the front porch in the morning, have bread fresh from the market, and talk to an actual adult!

After we went to the market we headed off to Port Louis to finally buy the BIG model boats the boys have been lusting after.   Will got the 'Ranger' an old Americas' Cup sailing boat, and Sam got the USS Constitution.  Both (the boats,  not Will and Sam) will be packed up and shipped to America at a cost equal to the boats themselves.  NO way was I taking those back on the plane.  We wandered around the waterfront, shoved our way back through all the market traffic and caught the bus back to Quatre Bornes.

I thought we did not have any race day pictures (from two Saturdays ago), but Anna had taken some with her cell phone.  So - here are two nice shots from Anna.  In the top one you see the mountains that surround Port Louis, and in the bottom one the horses are warming up prior to heading to the gate.  The horses actually race in the opposite direction.  The rail on the left that the men are leaning against is the only rail separating people from the race track, and after each race folks hop over the rail and cross the rack to go to their cars.  Racing is only on the turf track - there is not a dirt track.

Sam took this picture as part of their 'Cars of Mauritius' collection.  A small portion of Mauritians (and South Africian ex-pats) have a good disposable income and they like to show off this wealth by driving very very nice cars.  Now, it is not a lot of people, and many of the cars are fleet cars (rentals) driven by ex-pats.  However, per-capita I've seen more high end Mercedes (Kompressors and the like), BMWs (we see several M3's every day) on this island that I would see in any given day in Auburn.  This is hilarious, as traffic is so bad and the island is so small (think of driving from the edge of Opelika to the edge of Auburn during game day traffic to get the same scale) that these high end performance cars NEVER get to show what they are capable of doing.  Basically, that 3 million Ru BMW M3 sites in traffic, right next to the 300,000 Ru Nissan March.  But I'd rather have the M3 too!  

This is an example of a largish garden tucked in on a lot near our house.  The gardens are beautifully tended, and all the produce is sold at market on Tuesdays and Saturdays.

Pamplemousses Gardens

 Today was World Food Day, and there was a festival for it in Pamplemousses, in the Botanical Gardens. The boys and I and Melia and Neya all went, taking the bus to Port Louis, walking from Victoria Station bus terminal to the North Terminal, and then on to Pamplemousse via another bus. Total travel time: 2 hours.

The Gardens date from 1729, and until 1770 was in private ownership for spice production. In 1810 the British got it back (was called the Royal Botanic Gardens) and since 1913 the Ministry of Agriculture has manned the Garden. It is now called the Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam Botanic Garden, named after the first Prime Minister after Mauritius became independent in 1968. Many roads, parks, schools and the airport are named after this very important individual. His son is the current Prime Minister.





This is the original Creole plantation house which is located on the grounds of the Garden.  The house dates from the 1850s.




World Food Day was sort of a garden show and Moultrie combined.  Here is Will standing next to a company display of portable milking machines. 

Will sitting on the roots of one of the amazing and huge trees at the Garden.  Sam is not in the picture because he is at the back of the tree terrorizing a lizard.  Actually, as I type this he is in the kitchen doing the same thing to, thankfully, a much smaller lizard.

The University of Mauritius Faculty of Agriculture display at World Food Day.   Spending ones day staffing the booth at an ag show is an international chore. 

Heading home back through the market at Port Louis.  Look - a plethora of plastic shoes!!  This seller is actually attempting to show off his wares via model plastic feet.  Usually they are just piled up (the shoes, not feet).

The original market entrance at Port Louis, which dates from the days of Queen Victoria. 

More market scenes at Port Louis.

The typical money and ticket seller on the bus.  The driver is to his right and the ticket seller has several jobs.  First, they take money from the riders and give out a receipt, which is a slip of paper like a cash register receipt.  These are not thrown away because an inspector may come on the bus later in the ride and check that you have it.  Second, many will lean out of the bus door while it is moving and yell out the route name in case people do not know where the bus is going.  This I don't get, as the front of the bus states where it is headed.  However, many buses do not follow the same route to their final destination so you do have to ask if the bus will be going to a mid way destination such as Reduit (where I go every day).  Third, when traffic is heavy they are the 'side mirror' for the driver, and let him know if traffic is approaching on the right and if they can merge into traffic.  They act a bit as a traffic cop, and if the driver does want to merge they lean out and hold up a hand so the drivers behind know a bus is headed over their way.

Short Course Field Trip

All this past week I taught a short course on Turfgrass Management at the University. It was pretty much the same type of standard short course we teach all over the world - three days of teaching and discussion (9 to 4 am every day) followed by a Friday tour of turfgrass sites. The 15 atendees were everything from golf course superintendents to Mauritius extension employees to a past Mauritiuan national team soccer player and coach of the National team. In all, a great group of guys - fun and quite interested in and knowledgeable about turf. I can say that I learned as much as I may have taught them.

 

There is a little bit of sod farming on the island.  This is Saint Augustinegrass (they call it buffalograss) being harvested.  Note the really big areas of sod left in between the harvested slabs.  The cut area is refilled with soil and allowed to regrow.

 

Our tour went South to the Southern tip of the island to a town called Bel Ombre, and then we headed West along the coast, turning North to Tamarin (which is S of Flic N Flac).  Then back to the center of the island to Curpipe (for the football field) and then to Vacoas (Gymkana Club).  The picture above is of an old sugar can plantation processing plant that is being turned into upscale shopping, near Bel Ombre.  The entire area is slowly being transformed from sugar cane (once 90% of the island economy in the 1970s and 80s) to tourism.  Estimates from the guys is that sugar cane is now maybe 30% of the economy, falling due to a drop in price supports. 

On the left is Allan, who is the heads of the greens comittee at Gymkana, and on the right is Jamie, the superintendent at the Bel Ombre course.  This course is 100% Seashore paspalum, including the greens.  It is a most beautiful course, and cost to a tourist is 100.00 US to play.  Note:  Mauritian prices for pretty much anything on the island are always significantly less (usually 1/2 to 1/3).  The other Fulbrighters (Anna and Daniel) who are car shopping, usually have the cost of car increase by 1/2 as soon as the sellers note that they are not Mauritian.  All Europeans are viewed as being very rich, and South Africans are especially viewed as being wealthy.    And you know what?  By Mauritian standards - we are!  That is why I do not tend to bargin, as why should I have a 2 minute argument with a taxi driver over 50Ru ($1.25)?  He most certainly needs it more than I do.

The paspalum fairway at Bel Ombre.  They do this with a very limited selction of herbicides and fungicides.  Far less inputs than compared to the US.  One issue if the water quality, which comes from the irrigated sugar cane fields - several guys at the workshop wondered about levels of P, which is an excellent question.

A view of the western coast as we drove from Bel Ombre to Tamarin.  Miles of this - no people, no shops - just clear clear water.  It looks beautiful but has a deadly undertow - swimming is very dangerous.

Sam got a wee bit bus sick on the tour.  Since Friday is a half day and we toured all day I just took the kids out of school and brought them along.  Sticking his head out the window was his solution to car sick.

Weed control at the New King George V football stadium in Curepipe.  This stadium was such a shame.  Several of the guys on the tour had played for National teams (or coached) and they remembered years of packed crowds (35,000) and great excitement.  You had to buy tickets off the black market and everyone came and cheered.  In the past five years it has all declined, and now maybe a few thousand attend the games.  When I asked why I got sort of vague answers, but it seems to stem from the fact that the past teams did have religious affiliations (Hindi and Muslim) and the names and devotees reflected that.  That led to a lot of hooliganism, and that led to it all being stopped.  Now everyone is rabid fans of English football (the big league teams) and they all stay home to watch Manchester United or Barclays, etc. on TV.  I think I'm going to get involved to try to get the stadium in better shape - hope to meet with the National Minister of Sports next week.  Very cool!

Posing for a picture at the football satdium.

Since I had a tour all day Friday I gave my students the day off from lecture.  When we got back here they all were - playing dominoes at school!  I made them pose for a picture.

This is a graduate from the U of M program, who is now the farm foreman for Medine Sugar Estates.  Medine is one of the largest sugar cane plantations on the island and they are diversifying into turf, vegetables and ornamentals in an attempt to find alternatives to sugar cane.

Saturday in Rose Hill

Rose Hill (say it like this:  RozzHeull, all as one word) is a suburb close to where we live in Quatre Bornes.  It is an older neighborhood, and is not touristy at all.  It is a Mauritian area solely for Mauritians.  It is a town where people go to shop, see the dentist, buy their bakery cakes and just do all the day-to-day things people do.  It is chock filled with small locally owned shops in a rabbit warren of alleys and roads.  Shops selling saris, charudas, really ugly plastic flowers, dieties, jewlery, drugs, shoes (lots and lots of shoes), fabric and pretty much anything else you might want or need.  On Saturday we hopped the bus for the short ride to the Rose Hill station, and then walked up to meet Matt, Anna and Daniel at a carbon and environment festival.  The festival was sort of dull, so we decided to walk home to Quatre Bornes, a distance of around 3 miles or so.  All of these pictures were taken on our walk. 

The picture above is a noodle stand in Rose Hill.  They are everywhere, and while my food cleanliness standards have dropped dramatically (my morning breakfast now is food off the back of a bicycle at the local grocery - samosas) the noodle stands still give me pause.  Environmentally, they are pretty cool - reusable bowls and forks, and you just sit there, eat your noodles and then return the bowl.

These are in every public square.  Since folks will pretty much stop anywhere, spread out a blanket and sell stuff these are intended to stop that. 

Sam at the entrance to old pharmacy in Rose Hill.  I think I may have described these before, but you may be able to see in the picture that everything is behind a case.  You tell the counter person what you want, and they get it for you.  No picking through the selection here.  The poster is for the 'Vegas Motor Show' which is currently being held in the shopping center near us (The Shop Rite - one we walk to at least twice a week).  We are going this weekend - they have a Monster Truck! (Whee.) 

I took this in our neighborhood today.  It's not raining - it is just really sunny and all the ladies have brought out umbrellas.  Today was the first hottish (85 or so) day that we have had.  Living in the center of the island like we do we are at least 10 degrees cooler and we have more rain.  This picture is just around the corner from our house.  I'm headed back from the SuperUnic, our local grocery store - buying bread.  Bread stays fresh for 6 hours and then it is pretty much awful.

Back at Rose Hill.  A bakery.

Will and Sam doing a pose for me on the main street of Rose Hill.  The storefront they are standing by is typical of Rose Hill- everything is just a bit older and worn.  I really like Rose Hill - no pretension here at all.

The Oldest Golf Course in the Southern Hemisphere

The other day I mentioned in an e-mail to someone that I was slated to do a consulting visit to the oldest golf course in the Southern Hemisphere, The Gymkhana Club, which is located in Vacoas, Mauritius.  That e-mailer questioned if the course really was the oldest.  Today  it was confirmed by the Chair of the Greens Committee - 1845 (or maybe 1847 - they are not sure).

It is a lovely old course and three of the greens are original.  They are big and flat - no undulations at all.  The greens are Seashore paspalum/bermudagrass with Saint Augustinegrass collars (!) and fairways.  The original clubhouse burnt down long agp and the current one dates from the 60s.  They treated me to a most excellent lunch.  The course occupies a smallish piece of ground, and so several of the holes share fairways.  It is a well used and comfortable course.  It gets around 50 rounds of play each day.  Really a neat place.

One of the original very flat greens.

The newly sprigged paspalum practice green.

There is no full time superintendent.  The Chair of the greens committee is very hands on.  This is part of the full time staff of 15.  They are not being lazy - they are hand picking the weeds from the green.  There is one tractor with a pull behind gang mower and 4 walk greens mowers.  For spraying there is a backpack sprayer.  A vertical mower, but no core aerifier.

  For such limited equipment the course is in good shape.

A new bunker that is being dug by hand.

A view of the fairway leading to the clubhouse.