Here’s Carrie, my new friend, and possibly new roommate from Chicago
Today I woke up at a decent hour, and Dominique drove me around town to run errands together. We showed up at her mother’s house just in time to have lunch. Well, we brought the chinese food and her mother made the rice. Then, for the grand finale, the smiling “maman” brought out her homemade batch of cake: some sort of delicious tapioca/vanilla/some sort of starch they couldn’t quite explain to me cake. MMMM….my first Reunnais pastry…
Then Carrie and I wandered around town. Sure, there’s stores like anywhere in France, you’ve got Carrefour, H&M, Pimkie, and Virgin Records. But there’s something different about the place: the smell. Here, unlike anywhere else I’ve been, you’ve got this really spicy smell in the air, due to all the samoussa stands. We of course tried them, and they’re delicious spicy Indian pastries, with chicken, fish, you name it. And when you go to the market, there are so many fresh fruits and vegetables from the island, that you go wild with desire to buy all of them. It smells so good there, with all the delicious bananas, papayas, mangoes….oh, and of course, the Reunion island specialty, Victoria pineapples….
This island really is special. Carrie and I thought about this as we walked by the mosque, chinese church, hindu temple, and catholic church. Even everyone’s complexion is different. Sure, you’ve got a lot of African influence, but a lot of Reunnais also have really pale complexions, with blue eyes and blond hair. And everyone seems to be so mixed together, it’s as if all these cultures are blended together. It’s as if there’s no room for people to segregate themselves. I like it, it’s more colorful.
Still having a great time chez Dominique. She hosted an aperitif at her house tonight, inviting several of her friends, including her crazy Marlene, who convinced me that we should stick the grape and cheese toothpick skewers through a melon or fruit of some sort….everyone praised it as genius, I should have taken a picture of her brilliant idea. Tomorrow night I’m cooking Italian, gulp, I hope Dominique likes it. Oh, and I’m going to the beach. finally!!
