America is all around us

I know a lot of people think La Réunion is this completely exotic place, which in many ways that's true, but you can always find a bit of American influence in many small nitches in the world. Take for instance the everyday things around here. You will always see ads for Dodo, the local beer, painted on buildings;

but just as common is finding an ad for Coke. I think it would be hard NOT to find Coke in the far reaches of the world.
And what goes almost hand-in-hand with Coke? McDonalds. We have six scattered around the island here. Here's the one in the center of St Denis.

What else?
Levis, Converse, Nike.
But beyond certain big brand names, there are other things that stick out to me like a sore thumb; like this "VEGAS MOTOR SHOW" that's going on tonight. People are really promoting this one; I saw one of their gigantic monster trucks taking up half the street this morning, blaring music and with a couple guys handing out flyers for the event. It even had a huge American flag hanging off it, and something to the effect of "big monster" scrawled on the side. The sight of it all made me laugh out loud. A monster truck rally come to La Réunion. I would never have expected that one. Check out this video (let it load completely first) someone made of the Vegas Motor Show event that took place in another town on the island:

A couple of weeks ago at the night market, my friend and I watched as a group of country line dancers performed in the road, all of them decked out in cowboy boots, cowboy hats, fringed vests, big belt buckles, and the like. I didn't even know you could buy all that stuff here! The group actually consisted of people who take country line dancing classes somewhere here in St Denis. Oh man, were they enjoying themselves with big smiles as Cotton Eye Joe played and a few of them even yelling out "Yee-Haw!!" It was another I can't believe what I'm seeing type of moments for me. I wish I had captured a picture of it.
So if you're looking for a bit of Americana here, there is plenty to be found. And it can take many surprising forms, so prepare to be amused!

Something old, something new, something borrowed, and something blue

Something new:

A cookbook on savory cakes, tarts, quiches, and breads.
(Like I need more cookbooks!)

Something "borrowed":

An airline blanket which "accidently" found it's way into Alex's bag when he came back from France last month. It was very plain, so I added layers of ribbons tied on by french knots.
How fitting right?

Something old: ME!
At the beginning of this month, I turned 27.
If you had described my day to me years ago and then told me it would be the perfect birthday, I would have looked at you like you had just suggested animal brains taste delicious.
But in fact this is how it went;
It started as a typical morning of "Luc, please don't throw your toys in the trash can",
"oh no! you've thrown your blanket off the balcony again?!", and
"what is THAT in your mouth?!".
When he went down for his nap, I attacked the dishes left in the sink from the night before which lead to folding laundry, starting another load, mopping the floors, scrubbing the bathtub, hanging out laundry to dry even though it was raining, and a bit of dusting.
WHY, you ask?
I had treated myself to extra coffee on my birthday morning, so I had extra energy!
With the house all shiny and clean, I took an extra long shower and used up what was left of our hot water. Alex came home, and then all three of us went out to dinner, walking to the center of town to go to Zanzibar, my favorite little posh bar/resto.
Do you know that is the FIRST time we've done that with the monkey?
And it wasn't at all the nightmare I thought it could turn into! After all those years working in restaurants, trying to avoid getting seated with the people who came in with kids, I was afraid we'd turn into those people. Unless you've been a server, it's hard to imagine the other side. Oh, the clean-up after those families leave! And don't mention having to mess around with kiddie cups, strollers and highchairs in the way, changed orders, spilled drinks, crying, restless kids, other tables getting annoyed, etc.It was chaos that many servers tried to avoid.
But thankfully, my birthday fell on a Tuesday, it was fairly unbusy, and Luc was a real gem.
I think it was his birthday gift to me!
Of course, on the way back, we were soaked entirely as we walked home in the rain.
But it was perfect!

Something blue:
Onesies that were updated into shirts for Luc.
(OK, not all of them are totally blue, but whatever)
He is so active now that I can barely get him into a shirt, let alone try to wrestle with added snaps around his bum. So I've turned 3 out of 6 onesies into shirts by cutting off the bottoms and using a zig zag stitch to finish them off. Easy enough but requires a bit of finesse not to pull the knit so it doesn't end up looking all wonky. Why only half of them? The sewing machine has stopped working, a complete bummer, but more on that later.

March 8th is International Women's Day!

Instead of festivities, I'll spend today privately remembering the women who's lives I was so lucky to be a part of in Madagascar, and with whom I spent 2 consecutive Women's Days celebrating. Before that, I had never celebrated the day, in fact, I was only vaguely aware of it's exsistence. Yet another example of how living in Madagascar changed my life. Many villages there did have organized women's groups, which took on year-round volunteer activities as well as having big blow-out celebrations every March 8th.

Here's a look at women's day in my past:

In particular, I'll be thinking of "Mama Vazaha", named so before I arrived, but the name really became meaningful after we spent so much time working, living, and celebrating together.

Kiva update

Remember when I told you about our first Kiva loan? Well, Ofugho's loan has already started to trickle back into the Kiva network. She has already paid back half of of it, allowing us to pass the loan money on to another person. Which is what we did today!

(photo and following text from Kiva website)

"Omotola is a widow with two children under her care. She is 48 years old. She sells plantain at wholesale to buyers who go out to resell. She has been in this business for over nine years. She does this trade to make a living in Lagos State, Nigeria. She makes sure her customers demands are met while indirectly improving her finances. From the profit in her business, she takes good care of herself and her children. Omotola hopes to expand her business in the future.

Omotola is requesting a loan of NGN 70,000 to purchase plantain in bulk at a discount to sell. She is grateful to all Kiva lenders for their support."

more creative juices flowing

Get ready, because I'm about to start boring you with craftiness. Just kidding, I hope you enjoy!

I love this amoeba-like print, but I only bought a little appetizer-sized piece of it. So, I decided to use it where it would stand out and be noticed everyday. (by me, at least!) I had been planning to make a cover for the sewing machine since I got it, and this past weekend, I finally got around to doing it. The print went well with this old violet pillowcase we had, and thus, the sewing machine cover with large front pocket was born.

The little back pocket took extra work. I wanted to practice my pleating skills and even used a piece of elastic in the top part. I'm getting there. At least the print is cute!

Next, I used a bit of the chains from this necklace,

a few of the faux pearls from this necklace,
strung them together on earring hooks,

and made my new favorite pair of earrings!

This banner has been sitting on Luc's dresser for a month or two now. It was one of the first things I sewed, but we had't gotten around to putting up the knobs so as to actually hang it in his room.

(this photo showcases the beautiful handcrafted quilt that my aunt made for Luc!)

I'll probably be posting a lot more things of the craftiness nature, fair warning!

Time flies!

It's March already? Wasn't it New Year's just last week?
I'm getting old!
So let's see, what's new in our lives on this little island? Alex happily returned from 12 days in Métropole, where he was attending a training session for work. It was a trip that reaffirmed his preference NOT to live in a place where it can snow. More than that, we missed him, and he missed us, beaucoup!!

We've also purchased our tickets for some intense summer traveling this year. We're attending some friends wedding in....HAWAII!! So, we're flying the opposite way around the world this time. And the other big news...we're stopping in AUSTRALIA!! Can you tell I'm excited?
So, if anyone can think of things we should do or see while on the east coast of down under, please let us know. Luc will be one and a half at that point, so we'll be looking for half-day outings mostly. We'll have 3 and a half weeks in Hawaii, plenty of time for last minute wedding activities and relaxing on the beaches! Anyways, more on the trip as it gets closer.
Hope everyone is surviving the 1 millionth snowstorm or any other curveball mother nature sends your way!

The funny things this boy does...

He uses food as body paint.

He does this quite a bit but is always too fast for this camara.

He gets all wrapped up in the drying beach towel.

He likes to use it as a blanket and catch some zzz's on the balcony.

He's got such a cute little behind.