Tales of Tyre-racing, Makis and M'zungus.

11 mars 2013

High tide and low fish

The other day, a friend of mine - Mireille, the one I went to the circus with - and I went to the beach. It wasn't a particularly fine day, and the tide was high, but we tried to go to the drop-off anyway and see what we could find. We didn't find very...

Posté par calligraphy à 02:21 - Commentaires […] - Permalien [#]

Tags: water, light, coral, fish, mask, beach, flippers, swim, breath, cloud, metres, overcast, sakouli, sky

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4 mars 2013

Aria Sopra la Bergamasca

That was fun. I hadn't played in a "real" concert for ages. The sort of concert where you're in a church, everybody on stage is dressed in black and the atmosphere is very serious. You're not supposed to laugh, cough, say anything or even look anywhere...

Posté par calligraphy à 03:09 - Commentaires […] - Permalien [#]

Tags: mamoudzou, mayotte, guitar, music, recorder, concert, violin, group, baroque, ensemble, singer, church, classical, fatima, nomad, notre dame

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25 février 2013

Pretty Yellow Flowers

Yesterday, I went with the association I play music for to a farming establishment which I'd heard about before, because one of the owners has a stall at the big monthly market where she sells fruit, vegetables, juice, jam, ylang-ylang essential oil and...

Posté par calligraphy à 03:19 - Commentaires […] - Permalien [#]

Tags: mayotte, banana, papaya, bretons, mahorais, tree, ylang, flowers, distillery, cultivate, essential oil, farm, height, peas, pick, smell

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21 février 2013

Things students say...

I was happily teaching my students all about various states, cities, monuments and cultures of the United States of America. Then I gave them a test... and as usual, I didn't recognize my original lesson at all. I have now learnt that... Per year, Yellowe...

Posté par calligraphy à 12:27 - Commentaires […] - Permalien [#]

Tags: house, pupils, school, teacher, lesson, white, students, work, america, barack, obama, usa

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18 février 2013

Yoğmak: "to be curdled or coagulated; to thicken"

This is what I have come to recognize as one of the most essential kitchen appliances in Mayotte. Fresh milk does not exist here, as there are no cows and it is too complicated to import via container. French long-life milk doesn't have the nicest taste...

Posté par calligraphy à 02:03 - Commentaires […] - Permalien [#]

Tags: food, expensive, yoghurt, appliance, kitchen, maker, milk

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14 février 2013

Hot Blushes

I started drama lessons with the kids this afternoon. The first task was an improvisation sketch in small groups: you have just received an anonymous Valentine's card. How do you react? One girl beckoned me over and said: "Miss, I can't do this." "Why...

Posté par calligraphy à 14:14 - Commentaires […] - Permalien [#]

Tags: black, school, white, students, valentine, kids, blush, drama, improvisation, theatre, red

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11 février 2013

Going to the Circus

The Cirque de Paris has been in Mamoudzou for the last few weeks, and is staying until the 17th of February. The circus tent is planted in the main square of the capital city, with a large Coca-Cola tent in front and the market to the left. Behind is...

Posté par calligraphy à 02:14 - Commentaires […] - Permalien [#]

Tags: mamoudzou, water, henna, family, show, mahorese, balance, circus, cirque de paris, clown, dove, elephant, expat, flag, hand, hoop, hula, joke, mireille, neighbour

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4 février 2013

It's a hard knock life.

Last Sunday, the music group (as always oh-so-elegantly named The Blue Mango) and I went to a barbecue on the beach, organized by the Bretons of Mayotte. An excuse to get together as much as anything, go swimming, have some fun and have something to eat....

Posté par calligraphy à 02:39 - Commentaires […] - Permalien [#]

Tags: banana, breadfruit, food, papaya, water, mabawas, beach, bretons, music, kebab, dance, mahorese

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28 janvier 2013

Training the Future

Just before the Christmas holidays, the company I work for outside school asked me to teach English to a group of students training to become computer technicians. A group of ten to fifteen people aged anywhere between 16 and 40, whom I would be teaching...

Posté par calligraphy à 03:55 - Commentaires […] - Permalien [#]

Tags: pupils, teacher, saturday, students, computer, group, daesa, infrared, keyboard, morning, printer, vocabulary

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21 janvier 2013

Right. Where do I start?

I am frequently asked what my students' level of English is like. It is, after all, their third language after Shimaorese and French... and it's not as though they speak the first two properly. English is very difficult for most of the kids. Their fluency...

Posté par calligraphy à 02:51 - Commentaires […] - Permalien [#]

Tags: school, teacher, english, students, test, word, bob, both, culture, elvis, language, marley, neither, noun, presley, verb, whereas

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