Mauritius!

March 3, 2008
I cannot believe it is March already! The past few days have been quite eventful. We arrived in Mauritius on March 1st. Mauritius is an island in the Indian Ocean near Madagascar. They are known for their sugarcane and textiles. The island is home to mainly Hindu Indians who are in the middle of celebrating a 40 day fasting of all meat. It is not Ramadan, but I can never quite understand what they say when they tell me what it is called. The island is 720 square miles, or about 11 times the size of Washington DC, and there are 1.3 million people who live here. They thrive off of tourism, so with the population and the millions of tourists each year, it can get kind of crowded.
Anyway, we got off the ship and walked to town where we were shocked to see tons of people, markets, cars and nothing tropical at all. The culture shock took us over and we caught a cab back to the ship to regroup. At the beginning of the semester my friends and I booked a Villa on the North Shore, so this is where we went. Our taxi driver took us to the "factory shops" where they make designer clothing and sell them at retail prices. I didn't quite fit into the Burberry swimsuits and wasn't a fan of any of the purses. Everything was still very expensive so I left happily without buying anything.
Our villa was so nice with two rooms, a kitchen and living area. The beach was a 2 minute walk across the street and there were two pools at the hotel. We couldn't have gotten to the beach any faster. It was absolutely paradise and with no semester at sea students around the beach was beautifully serene. The hotel we were booked with offered tons of fun and free stuff, and with all of the money we have been spending the past few months we needed to take advantage of all the free things possible. So, we went snorkeling! A boat took us out into the ocean beyond the coral reef and we got to jump in and snorkel around. It was not as pretty as you would expect, but still a ton of fun!
Every once in a while I make my friends just stop and reflect on our lives. The boat ride in was the perfect time for reflection of the fortunate and unimaginable lives we live.
We relaxed on the soft, white-sand beach and took it all in. As we lay there tanning a man walked up to us to try and sell us massages. Not just any old massage though, he does an examination of the pressure points in your body and takes out the bad energy so you can glow with happiness. He had me sold! My friend Caroline and I went with him as Lindsay and Lindsay waited at the beach for us.
This man was the epitome of "The Secret" (a movie and book that if you have not already seen/read you need to do so immediately). A wafting smell of incense hit us as we arrived at his "office" where we laid on pads on the ground and he began to examine our pressure points. The places that hurt he told us he would fix. One spot at a time he would rub and whisper prayer, then stare at the area as if he was sucking the bad energy out. Then he rubbed his hands together until they got really hot and he would hold the area. It was unbelievable you could literally feel the energy leaving your body and afterward he would push on the points again and there would be no pain. This man has cured people with asthma, AIDS, sicknesses and diseases. All I could think was if only I could bring my dad here instead of under the knife of surgery.
After he cleansed our bodies of bad energy his "students" cam in and gave us full body massages with almond oil. He explained to us how we need to take care and love our bodies because in return the world will fill us with beautiful energy. When we met up with the Lindsay's for dinner we talked them into going the next day. We ate dinner at the hotel and then played cards and "socially drank" for a while. Later that night we decided to hit the town. It was a late night, but a very fun one!
We woke up the next day and slowly made our way to a restaurant for fried rice and noodles. It was delicious and extremely cheap. Then we went to the beach and had a blast for the day until it was time to get massages again. About mid-day I started feeling slightly sick. I drank some water and tried to take it easy. At the massages the man made my stomach ache go away for a while, but on the way home I got very sick again. To make a long and not-so-fun story short, I was vomiting and not doing well for the night and today. So, I told my friends to please stay here and enjoy themselves, but I had to go back to the ship and get help.
The 20 minute car ride seemed like forever and when I got to the ship the doctor's office was closed so I went to the Purser's Desk to page the nurse or doctor and the on-call people were not on the ship like they were supposed to be so I just went to bed until someone could help. I got a phone call about 1 hour later and one of the Captain's crew gave me a shot in the butt to help with the up-chucking. I slept for a while and then went to dinner. Now I am writing this blog rather than having fun outside with my friends. I am trying to gain my health back as soon as I can because I am supposed to hike the volcano tomorrow!