One member of the House grew up in and around Laguna Beach, California. For a few years the summer job as a teenager was working at the Festival of the Arts and Pageant of the Masters, located just across the street from grandmother’s House, doing food prep in the restaurant. During the summer months, Laguna Beach was filled with Tourists from near and far. Even in Winter there was always the Tourist, taking pictures, asking for directions, staring at the hippy-looking locals, causing traffic jams, filling up the bars…. They were just a fact of life, always there, never given much thought.
We imagine it’s the same for local Mauritians living in and around the major tourist spots of Mauritius. The House was located just outside Grand Baie for almost four years. When walking from the House into Grand Baie past Mon Choisy Beach and down Royal Road, languages of all sorts could be heard and drivers just arrived driving 20 kph with a look of terror on their face could be seen. Numbers dropped off in the hot summer months, but they were always there, and after a while, no one at the House gave them much thought, as was probably true for the locals who had lived in Grand Baie all their lives.
So it became quite odd when Mauritius closed its boarders due to COVID-19 and most of the tourists had made their way home. When driving in city central, mostly local faces could be seen, along with expats who have lived there for years. This is when memories of Laguna Beach came back, and an odd thought surfaced. There is nothing good about this pandemic, and feigning a silver lining is unthinkable. Making lemonade from lemons might apply, but coming up with any redeeming quality of this pandemic seems irrational. Yet as someone who grew up in a Tourist town, there was a subtle feeling of happiness for the local people who were able to have their town to themselves for a while.
when the borders were closed due to COVID-19
This thought was driven home during the last walk on Grand Baie Beach before leaving Mauritius. It was August, a bit more than a month before the boarders would open again. For many locals, Sunday is the day the family pile into cars or buses and have a cookout on the beach for a few hours. Kids run everywhere, moms gather and cook, teenagers sing and dance, and fathers gather and talk, helping watch the kids or helping with getting the meal ready. A favourite spot for this is Mon Choisy Beach, just a 10-minute drive from Grand Baie Beach. Local families would rarely be seen on Grand Baie Beach, which would be filled with lobster-coloured tourists and vendors walking up and down trying to sell trinkets or the opportunity to be zipped around on an innertube by a speedboat. So it was quite amazing to walk Grand Baie Beach and see the local families, cooking meals, having chats and relaxing.
This brought back the thoughts of Laguna, and not even being able to imagine what it would have been like to be on that beach on a sunny weekend with no tourists in sight. Was it bittersweet for these families? Sweet to enjoy the beach the way their families did fifty and more years ago. Bitter due to the loss of livelihood and the uncertain future resulting from the lack of tourists. Perhaps it was lemonade they would have gladly done without in exchange for financial security for their families.
Bittersweet describes a lot about the final days in Mauritius. So sweet to have so many friends gather for farewell parties and bitter knowing it was nearing the last time to share time with wonderful friends. So sweet to think about the personal growth the experience of Mauritius has brought, and bitter knowing how easy it can be to lose those lessons and go back to old patterns. So sweet to think about the adventures waiting ahead, and bitter knowing venturing out during the days of COVID-19 is a risk. So sweet the thoughts of taking the House home to Australia, and bitter not knowing how long it will be before the security of a home is again part of daily life.
But upon reflection, the bitterness about leaving can only be avoided by being static, staying in one place, not growing, living for past adventures, past successes, past experiences. Who wants to do that? Not anyone in the T&T House.
It’s time to move on to Chapter 2 of this blog! We’ll call it Adrift in the Pandemic.
The TnT House 