Resume = Summary

A brief summary of what life is actually like in Saint-Denis, La Reunion, France.

The city is just like its inhabitants: entirely Creole. It is a blend of cultures, traditions, and worlds. St. Denis is on the northern coast of the island, and like most of the cities, is surrounded by towering green curtains of mountainside.

The buildings are gorgeous and quaint, French and tropical. Walking down the street, you see bare midriffs and hijabs, all clothes in brilliant blues and yellows, or maybe a classy all-black ensemble. There are women who carry woven baskets as purses (including me, these days) and women who carry packages on their heads.

The Reunionnais are beautiful people. They are of creole nationality, so basically everyone is everything. The average person comes from Chinese, Indian, African, European ancestry. That's not one of the the above; it's all of the above. The result is gorgeous. [But no, I'm not going to get a Reunionais boyfriend.] There are people who appear to be more strongly one of the above than they look anything else, but many people simply have a medium-dark complexion, dark hair, and facial features that simply can't be placed. There are families with small children everywhere, and almost every time the parents appear to be of two different ethnic backgrounds. White people aren't really scarce, but pale ones like me stick out as foreigners. Everyone assumes I'm German since I apparently look it, plus the island hosts a lot more Germans and English than Americans. (Go figure... it's not like the airfare is ridiculously expensive or anything....)

Oh that reminds me - people don't get sarcasm. Both the Reunionnaises and Europeans studying here have given me strange looks after some comment that is CLEARLY sarcastic in my American viewpoint. It's actually a rather funny aspect of communication.

So describing Reunion: There are department stores and cell phone stores and, twice a week, an open-air market for fresh product, meat, clothes, and handcrafted gifts. Life is much more relaxed here. I'm starting to think that the only thing they take seriously is their leisure time: This place has some of the best outdoor sports imaginable. There are countless hiking trails, beaches for swimming, surfing, sailing, diving, fishing; there's paragliding, mountain biking... the list goes on.

There are beaches, mountains, a volcano, three cirques (which are huge natural amphitheaters formed by the volcano that created the island), there are waterfalls, palm trees, and even more I have yet to see.

Religion here is interesting: Hinduism, Islam, and Christianity coexist with virtually no discord. I have a lot more to learn about religion here, but I'll keep you informed.

Well that's all I've got for now. If there's anything you'd like described, please comment and I'd be glad to put more up for you.