There is a strange fashion in Seychelles : perfuming. The association of Indian Ocean and perfume leads me to Mayotte, also known as ‘The Perfume Island’ for its great variety of aromatic flowers and plants. I had the chance to confirm it when I was hiking in nature over there and being enchanted by sweet and delicate flora fragrances.
In here, I loved vegetal scents on the way to Anse Major, along a nature trail. It brought us on a tropical forest and then to coastal path among giant curvy granite blocks and falls.
However, the closer we get from the humans, the more aggressive it can be. My nose has been attacked few times. These words are chosen as there is nothing else I can compare this terrible smell of old perfume of which only stays the alcohol meant to fix it. These attacks happened in the bus in the morning and sometimes even on the street when I was unfortunate enough to cross this heavy halo. I thought you did not need to be a specialist to know that perfume can go off with heat and that in here, you cannot really escape it _except living with air conditioning, which is the case of some people but I blame them when they have to go out on the street_. I fear the worst as I’ve been told few times that heat will be serious from March. I was disgusted enough by the contact of the sweaty moist of the skin contact of the person sitting next to me in the bus...
On the contrary and unfortunately, these perfume addicts do not know about hormone disruptors presence and that daily aspersion could give men a proper breast and stimulate hair growing for female on the torso...I discovered this information a while ago, when I was working for a health and nutrition website, Santé la Vie. It was a great chance to work for this media freed from pressures. Unfortunately, economic censorship and auto-censorship is common, big drug companies threaten and/or buy media but we were free and able to lead investigations as we wanted.
Civics
Still about buses, I like to observe people and more than anything, witness civics on this environment. I knew Parisian wilderness, Australian order, Malagasy politeness and now, I’m facing Seychelles non-civics. You may find my words tough and could blame me for such a easy and quick judgment from someone who just arrived few weeks ago (a month and half now). But, twice, I’ve given my seat to elders and no one was ready to do so. This idea of these persons not having consideration is very difficult to picture for me. But I need to balance my speech as someone surprised me in pushing herself a bit to offer me a bit of room on the bench seat. In buses, you have bench seats for 2 and ones for 3. Usually, people sit when they want and never move after, except to get down. You do not squeeze for the new comers to have some room and sit. They have to stand or to try to find a way through, sometimes meeting sitting people’s knees.
The adjective fixed means something in here.
Absence of civics is intriguing; polystyrene take-away boxes are thrown just next to bins and plastic waste happily thrown by teenagers in buses in the end of the afternoon. So, thought _or more absence of thinking_ of these absurd people is not comprehensive for me. Who would defecate next to toilets?
My partner and I are oftenly picking up waste on the beach (industrial cakes wrapping and other plastic waste that turtles might choke with), keeping them until the next bin. To see such waste in pristine nature is such a disgrace. How can people do that?
This revolt boiling in me is not for me; it is for future generations which will not be able to see what I see and to do what I’m doing today. The very first and most important step of this process of awareness stands in behaviour and individual responsibility.
But as for everything, you have one thing and its contrary. The Kindness, consciousness, environmental practices of my colleague are giving me hope. This woman from Praslin is a great woman. We are sharing this will of creating the minimum waste and offering many lives to objects. Her ingenuity is surprising; she created chemises with cereals boxes that could be easily displayed in trendy shops. And her generosity is lavishing me on soursops, mangoes and other sweets.
Submarine beauty
Our snorkelling adventures led us to see incredible fishes. We saw the whole spectre of the rainbow, including fluorescent and deep colours. We swam into a giant aquarium, few meters away from the shore, in Port Launay. It was a breathtaking beauty. Calm and balance filled in my being. These creatures were moving without any fear, some of them were even curious about us. I was thinking back of Le Clézio’s ‘Chercheur d’or’, when he describes Saint-Branbon island, a place where creatures were not fearing men and came to them. A terrible description of men killing turtles which coming to them...
How can we end this beauty? Who are we to do so? Without scourging ourselvers or hoping mankind’s ending, can we hope for a balance and a minimum of respect?
I recently watched a wide audience movie, a comedy. This 2016 movie was summarizing the spirit of the times with regular teasings, nasty friends (almost bad) and more than anything, putting down any form of respect. It had an interesting message about the use and abuse of ethics in marketing but that was it. No depth. Sure, mainstream is not meant to deliver intellectual debate. But without falling into the ‘it was better before’, comedies were more clever and bringing more interesting messages, even in the 80’s. How did we fall into this? This decadence, this baseness, this poverty?
...and vegetal beauty
Even if civics is not common into it, I must admit that the Seychelles public transport network is efficient and affordable. For only 5 rupees (standard fare), you can go from North to South and go onto stunning roads. Victoria-Port Launay via Sans-souci is just amazing. We left the heavy coastal heat to go up into the freshness of tropical forest. I love to dive into this luxuriant nature so quickly in here. These tropical undergrowth are like a freshness oasis. This winding road is the beginning of many nature trails on my to-do list. The surrounds of the Morne Blanc are beautiful and this green horizon makes me think of Indiana Jones’s adventures.
Sowing
As usually, my head is working like a machine to fight fatality. Of course, I’m limited: time, capacities, everything. But Esperance flame is there. And my mission about education is shining like a star. I will not change the world. I’m only trying to plant seeds. I’m trying to transmit what I can: quotes, authors ‘names, songs titles, movies, comics...To draw a ‘treasure map’ for these students thirsty of learning, discovering and pushing their own boundaries.
Readings
I ate Katherine Pancol’s ‘Les yeux jaunes des crocodiles’. I read all the other episodes of this series and I was the first one last. It is not the first time I’m reading a cycle the wrong way. My first was Anne Rice’s Vampire cycle. I started with the Tale of the Body Thief (and in English please!). I love so much this author.
I took Rudyard Kipling’s ‘The Light that Failed’ and Arnaldur Indridason’s ’Bettý’.
From the ‘Jardin du Roy’, I preferred ‘Le Garçon Boucher’.
Piano greetings
Playing piano was as good as swimming _finally!_. First impressed by the high volume of this study piano, I then let my hands running onto the keyboard. It is funny to play piano in such itinerant manner. Pianos are like people. First, we meet. I’m playing to know how it is going. Sometimes they are a bit old and even sick (just like in my post about Prospect Road piano in Adelaide, Australia). And then, we start to engage a conversation: I’m playing more and it is saying me more things. And then, we discuss and harmony is giving me goose pump. I love differences I’ve found in every single one of them. It is like a character trait. For detuned ones, it is giving them an old-fashion charm that could even led us to go to a specific style, tack piano. I’m always sad to leave them...like people who I had a good chat with. As they all inspired me a different way. It is funny. They have like a secret melody, only revealed to players who dare to touch them, these study pianos left aside.
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