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A big, white mutha of a well-slung vessel — or ‘sustainable development’ is an oxymoron

Posted in Entitled to opinions, Expat Living, Family, Island life, NaBloPoMo, Seychelles on November 16, 2007| 4 Comments »

There was a boat bopping around Isle Therese the other day … I watched it for a while from my veranda … a big, white, sleek thing with a helicopter pad on the back complete with helicopter.

Now, thought I, isn’t that exactly what everyone needs? A big white mutha of a well-slung vessel complete with chopper? What better to hug the shoreline of Mahé in, heh? Never know when one might need to hop quickly the four miles over to the other side of the island for … what?… some SupaSave youghurt, which by the way is going up to 14 rupees a tub next week.

I eventually mention said boat-of-superior-boaty-stuff, avec helicopter, to my well-informed spousal unit only to learn from him that during this given week it’s nothing but a trifle. Over on the Victoria side of things, there’s a big, white, sleek boat with TWO helicopters on the back helideck.

I’m guessing the one-chopper floater came over this side to avoid comparison and subsequent embarrassment — helipad envy.

Really! What could be worse than showing up in your big-ass-hangin’ bazillion dollar watercraft with sparkly chopper pleasingly perched aft at an island 1000 miles away from anywhere else only to find your parking space, or whatever is boatish for such a thing, is right down the way from a BIGGER one with TWO choppers?

Don’t know who the double-birdie boatie belongs to, but Radio Bamboo has it that the single-padder is the frippery of the owner of Tata, the huge Indian company that make cars, busses, and other carbon-producing mechanical clanky things, and that the big white mutha of well-slung vessel was tooling around Therese because Mr. Tata Boat Guy just bought it.

Great. This is what’s happening to my neighborhood: Bill Gates is carving a big honkin’ hotel to my left, with the addition of 20-some “executive villas” hewn into the scene; a Taiwanese company (Sofetel) is planning a big honkin’ hotel to my immediate right, also with 20-some executive villas; some Qataris are getting ready to plonk another huge hotel … WITH a dredged-up bit of bay attached as a ‘marina’ … and 20-some executive villas, just around the bend in Anse a la Mouche, and now the little wild island that makes up a bit of my lovely view is headed toward becoming something else.

Executive villas are going for $6 to 10 million to the sort of folks who hanker for big boats with helipads and toys of equal ostentatiousness, and although I’m sure some of them are right nice people, I don’t see them fitting into the Creole culture, shopping at SMB or working to level the Pearl S. Buck-type playing field that can only have the poor feeling even poorer in the face of so much bright and shiny loot.

I know we’re going to be looking a bit shabby in comparison with our simple wooden house, Mark’s desk-sized pirogue and our obvious lack of sycophants and hangers-on.

Progress, smogress, and ‘sustainable development’ is an oxymoron.

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Blah, blah, blahg

Posted in Adoption, Adoption Advocacy, Angelina Jolie, International Adoption, Island life, NaBloPoMo, Older women, On getting older, Younger men on November 15, 2007| 2 Comments »

There are topics arrayed before me like so many tubs of ice cream at a Ben & Jerry’s, some even looking as potentially tasty as Chunky Monkey, but I haven’t the energy to dip.

You see, I’ve already written almost 2000 bloggity blog words … 1,811 to be precise… on three blogs, and although I do this most days AND manage to plop something here since it’s NaBloPoMo, today it’s simply not in me to wax on again about the fact that today is Mark’s birthday or the very interesting “All Things Considered” piece on race in America or the new blather on Angelina Jolie’s adoption issues.

If you’re interested in what I’ve written, you can check out the News Blog, the Older Parent Blog, or the International Adoption Blog.

I’m going to go for a nice, long shower and get myself smelling sweet, brushed and tidy so I can welcome my Birthday Man home in an hour. Once clean and dressed, I’m going to sit down and read to my kids until Daddy’s truck pulls up and we all run to greet him with smiles on our faces and joy in our hearts.

Oh, one thing …

This morning, Mark asked Sam if he had any presents for him. Sam answered, “Of course I do, but you don’t get anything until tonight!”

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My November Blues are green

Posted in American thoughts, Expat Living, Family, Island life, NaBloPoMo, Seychelles, tagged , , , on November 14, 2007| 1 Comment »

November is a tough month for me under any circumstance. Following directly on the heels of a Halloween that isn’t in this country, we have a Thanksgiving that isn’t anywhere I’ve lived since 1993.

Thanksgiving is … was … probably my favorite holiday; all about family and food, but without the pressure of gifts and parties. Important traditions run deep and wide, and emotions can run high over things that to an outside observer might seem a trifle, like green Jell-O.

From the beginning of time, my mother’s Thanksgiving meal included a Jell-o mold of green Jell-O with alternating pineapple slices and red maraschino cherries. One year … for some reason she never clearly explained, but one that must have had something to do with the onset of menopause — at least that’s how we’ll call it now … she took it upon herself to throw years of comfortable ritual to the wind and make an ORANGE Jell-O mold, with carrots.

Well! You can imagine how THAT went over.

Yes, the customs of Thanksgiving are dear to my heart, and I have now had to forego them for 14 years.

Sure, I try to revive them here, but my attempts are pitiful imitations, piffling forgeries of fowl, as many years no turkeys make it this far until just before Christmas, and they’re pathetic representations of the species most of which have known the frozen state for many years before I can even think of stuffing them.

I’ve learned to be grateful for a skinny bird topping out at 6 or 7 pounds … Cornish Game Turkeys, if you will … and have managed in recent years to coax flavor and enough juice for gravy out of birds that died in Russia circa 1999.

Because there’s no holiday on a Thursday in November in Seychelles, any Thanksgiving that I may pull together has to happen on a weekend, and no matter how long I live here that just doesn’t feel right.

Because there are very few Americans, the guests I invite never ‘get’ the holiday, and few have a clue even about cranberry sauce.

Worst of all, of course, is the fact that my mother, my grown kids — my daughter, with my granddaughter, and my son — my brothers with their wives and kids, are all sitting down on the other side of the world. They may not be at the same table, but they’ll all be looking at green Jell-O.

There will be more on this before the month is over …

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A journey of 100 posts …

Posted in Adoption, Family, International Adoption, Island life, NaBloPoMo, Seychelles, tagged , on November 13, 2007| 5 Comments »

Yesterday I published my 100th post on this blog. Given that up until last month I was posting close to 100 per month on the triple combo of my pro blogs, 100 since April seems a paltry contribution to the tonnage of wordage in the blogage, and I’m actually surprised at how many days passed with me thinking, “Nah. I’m wrung out.”

NaBlogPoMo (National Blog Posting Month) is bringing me here every day of November, although I have no idea why I’m finding this challenge so compelling. Blogging every day is not new for me, although blogging HERE every day is.

Not only is it easier for me to take a pass on any given day on Paradise P’o’d than on the Adoption.com site because no one is paying me to post whatever dribblets I manage, and the fact that the only commitment happens to be one of no consequence whatsoever that festers in my little mind, the lack of any specific focus on this blog often stops me in my tracks. It’s never a case of having nothing to write about, but rather of having too many potential topics and not enough energy to pick just one.

I could write about adoption issues every day using this space for angles that don’t fit under news, international adoption or adopting as an older parent, but quite frankly I really need to get away from the subject after pounding out 1500 to 2000 words on one take or another every morning.

I like writing about my family, but I fear that waxing lyrical day after day about how wonderfully happy and content we are in our little cocoon would become dull as stamps for all but a few regular readers.

Tropical living, Seychelles in general and island quirks are fun, but even I’m not interested enough to yammer on daily about fish, the weather and who may be sleeping with whom … the pop-topics in local conversations … and with any luck at all the horrible trauma of recent days won’t repeat any time soon, or ever.

So … 100 posts and counting. So much to say, yet so much of life outside my office calling for me to participate, to enjoy, to get the hell away from my computer.

Note the graphic illustration of the choices as they are presented to me whenever I sit down to write:

Sandra’s office

My office

Not my office

Not my office, and only three steps away

The beach at the end of the road

The beach at the end of the road

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The deeper meaning of Scrabble

Posted in Island life, NaBloPoMo, Seychelles on November 12, 2007| 3 Comments »

My friend Gay and I play at least one game of Scrabble on almost every Saturday that has us both on the island. We have a low level of competitiveness and get our big kicks from high combined scores.

We are happy when between the two of us we total over 700, but right chuffed when we top 800. I think our highest ever was 860-something, so we’re now shooting for 900.

This is not to say that we don’t get bummed when it’s our turn for the bag to release nothing but vowels for eight or nine goes. In fact, I tend to take more than a full ration of ‘i’s as a sign that my week may not be going the way I would hope and that I should take extra caution in all things. After all, if the bag is cruel other inducers of outcome may also be.

As a metaphor, Scrabble isn’t bad. (Metaphor, an eight letter word, would be a good point maker, and place it on a triple word square and you’ve got three-figures of speech.) Sitting down to the empty board on any given Saturday, we have no idea if the game about to unfold will be a high-scorer or a disappointing practice in three letter words.

Some games appear to greatly favor one or the other, while others either punish or reward both in close to equal measure.

Most of the time when a truly miserable game prompts us to give it another go we end up sorry we bothered. If it’s a bad Scrabble day it’s a bad Scrabble day, and no number of attempts to alter our Scrabble fate will change a thing.

Is it biorythms? … all about stars? … the fickle finger of fate that sets Scrabble up as an arbiter of seven days’ destiny? Could the same indisputable message be conveyed if we passed our Saturdays with checkers or Candyland? (Or is this all nothing more than a consequence of living on a tiny island?)

Since it’s not Ouija we’re playing at, our games don’t channel spirits communicating through the tiles. Looking at a board post-game would not reveal meaning through the words we managed to scrape off our racks; in fact, my biggest points last Saturday came from “swooning” on a triple. There’s no doubt, though, that a thorough tromping means that Gay’s week will be better than mine, and vise versa.

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Sam’s slide show

Posted in Adoption, Family, International Adoption, Island life, Seychelles on November 11, 2007| 1 Comment »

In honor of our boy growing up, here’s an encapsulated version of how that happened.

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Sam’s 5th Birthday!

Posted in Adoption, Cambodia, Family, International Adoption, Island life, NaBloPoMo, Seychelles on November 11, 2007| 9 Comments »

A birthday has been had and a boy is now five.

The event was a huge success. Sam was thrilled to bits about everything from the way his planned menu turned out … roast chicken, grilled red snapper, coconut crab curry, rice, eggplant chutney, pumpkin salad, roast potatoes … to the musical candle and sparkler in the shape of a 5, to the wonderful company, to the raft of gifts.

Mark’s family considered me cruel to the extreme for not letting Sam open any gifts until after dinner. The giddy charm of anticipation eludes them completely, so they consider placing wrapped presents in plain view to be slavered over for days in an ever-increasing frenzy of expectation and suspense little more than torture.

How many times over the course of the evening I heard, usually from my husband’s mother, some oblique reference to Sam’s fortitude and my cruelty over the apparently arbitrary wait to satisfy curiosity with some furious wrapping paper demolishing.

My mother, on the other hand, sent an email in total support of the enforcement of a period of anticipatory agony.

“It’s the best part,” she reminded.

Even Sam admitted as much under the influence of afterglow this morning, acknowledging that long longing made the revealing more fun and stretched out the excitement over a longer period than simple gift opening frenzy would allow.

Keeping in mind that many things kids in the real world take for granted and have seen time after time are completely unknown on this island, you will see in the photos that a Spiderman suit complete with built-in muscles was the cat’s pajamas … so to speak … although much too hot in a non-breathing polyester sort of way to be Sam’s pajamas no matter how dear his wish was never to remove this perfect fit of an alter ego.

(Sent from Utah by my friend Holly along with a bounty of Americana, she provided this piece de resistance … triceps de isometrics?)

A tiny china tea set from my mom was a big hit with Cj, who spent the rest of the evening pouring.

With my boy well sated, I’m figuring I now have a couple of weeks before the pre-Christmas mania begins to build.

Enjoy the photos.

Before the party

Sam and Cj before the party.

SamSpidey

Casual Spidey

Spidey pose

Spidey pose, Spidey pose, doing the thing only a spider does

Happy Birthday Boy

Such a happy Birthday Boy!

Happy Cj, too, with her very first tea set

Cj’s Tea Set

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So great a loss

Posted in Island life, Seychelles on November 9, 2007| 6 Comments »

I’ve just returned from Marianne Hodoul’s funeral, and not even puppies can cheer me up enough to write a zesty post.

The Baie Lazare church was packed; everyone from this area, of course, and a lot of dignitaries were in the crowd. Very appropriately, it rained.

Apparently, three men are being held in connection with Marianne’s murder at the moment. One was released from prison only a few months ago after beating his girlfriend and leaving her for dead. She survived … barely … and he served all of about three years for his crime.

Marianne was a kind and gentle person and she is well missed by many who loved her and others who appreciated her calm and simple ways.

Because her murder was so brutal, in addition to mourning Marianne everyone is terrified. Our peaceful world has been shattered and we are all paying attention to the reminder that any of us can be a target. Drugs are now making their way into Seychelles, with heroin … unheard of here only a few years ago … tallying up victims faster than anyone can follow. Crime is on the way up, hand-in-hand with fear. The police are under-prepared and, like those in almost all the world, unable or unwilling to stop the traffic in and the sale and use once here.

People are beginning to build walls around their homes, install electric gates, hire private security companies.

Yes, Marianne’s death also seems to mark the death of an era, a way of life that can no longer survive. The days of peaceful island living are gone. We have now joined the real world.

I am so sad today. Sad. Angry. Frightened. And worried for the future for my children.

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We be ‘pupulatin’

Posted in Family, Fun, Island life, NaBloPoMo, Seychelles, tagged , , on November 8, 2007| 4 Comments »

It’s a ‘pupulation’ explosion, and we’re knee deep in cute. By Christmas we’ll be pooping precious around here.

Our dog Dinah gave birth to eight of these little sweeties, and being the great mom that she is, they’re doing very well.

There are details … sort of … on one of my pro blogs here if you’re interested in more of the pupdate.

Sam Cj Puppies ©2007 SHBenoiton
Sam and Cj and puppies, oh my!

Puppy Paw ©2007 SHBenoiton

Wanna shake? Here’s my paw …

Puppybutton©2007 SHBenoiton

And here’s my tummy button … it’s that little thing there below my great big head.

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Animals rule

Posted in Island life, NaBloPoMo, Seychelles on November 7, 2007| 3 Comments »

My dog had eight puppies last night, and the fruit bat that powers my Internet access has apparently been unwell all day.

Photos may follow, but this is all I’m doing today.

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