*C'est la vie*! *Life*!

My week end went fine. I finally didn't attend Saturday's meeting. I told them something came up and I wouldn't be able to make it. Something did come up. I didn't feel like attending anymore. That's what came up. So I spent the whole day at Yannick's. She' s friend and neighbor. She owns a Salon de coiffure. She does hair. Her Salon is called "Sublimo". She's good and more importantly she LOVES her job. Its heaven having her shampoo your hair. And she offers this super Tea Tree Treatment. Massages your scalp for a whole hour while Phil Thorthon's (am not sure about the last name's spelling) musical is playing. I wish I'd taken a rendez-vous for the treatment instead of sitting there the whole day getting in her way. Not my fault, she likes my company. But then, I did help. I shampooed two girl's hair. They didn't seem to find it real bad. Talking of Salon de Coiffure, I watched "Beauty Shop" starring Queen Latifa a week ago. Not bad but I ain't real crazy about it. It was so banal....

Sunday's meeting I couldn't miss. It meant having the eve's meeting feedback too which would spare me calling everybody to find out who bothered writing down anything and be filled in. The meeting was quite lively. Almost everybody attended. We broke up at 1p.m. I was starting to feel real tired and was wishing the couple who gave me a ride would wrap their stuff up and get us going. They had other plans. They have this old old aunty they'd planned we'd pay a visit to. I didn't have a say in the matter anyway. The couple are my parents friends. We went there. The aunty isn't old. She's ancient. It was painful watching her eat. She looked like an old kid in her parents ed. She was swallowed by it. She's almost bald and her eye's are colourless. She's 98. two years more to go and... I've got to tell you this.

The Mauritian authorities really flabbergast me. Especially the Ministry of Social Security and Senior Citizen's Welfare. When you turn 100 they spoil you rotten. They're so proud of you. Your family gets to throw this big big party (a circus) everyone is invited to and financed by the said ministry. The ministry people are there too. Of course. The 100 year old receives from the hands of the minister himself a check of Rs 10,000 (appx. $ 345), lots of gifts (wrapped, so I can't really tell you whats in there) and a MOBILE PHONE. The latest model s'il vous plait! They make a show of handing the mobile phone. Now tell me. The money, i get – though I don't believe the 100 yrs old is going to get a cent out of it – but the mobile phone? What is this grandma or pa going to DO with a mobile phone? It's sure going to make some grand child happy.

So we went to the old aunty's and then to some other of their relatives whose husband had passed away. It was a very sad Sunday for me. I got back home and Laurence was there. She'd brought “brown sugar” for us to watch. We've never seen the movie. But problem, we got no DVD player. No tambourine wanted to lend. They're very mean in that way, the Mauritians. They don't lend and you don't get mad. You understand. But when you refuse, everybody gets to know about how mean and ungenerous you are with your stuff.... so we didn't get to watch no “Brown Sugar” and worked on her essays instead