Column: Delicious Mauritius

No matter where you might be on the map, there is no break quite like spring break — especially when you’re surrounded by about 500 students who almost have their day escape canceled.

Our ship was scheduled to pull into Port Louis, Mauritius March 6, and we would have a full day to explore. On March 4, the crew announced that due to cyclones on the Indian Ocean, the captain reduced the speed of the ship, which would delay our arrival. To get to India, our next destination, on time, the crew canceled the Mauritius visit — only stopping on the island briefly to refuel.

Although we have all learned through that travel never goes as expected, everyone was pretty disappointed. I could not control the weather or the speed of the ship, and, of course, I had just bought a shirt with our itinerary on it. I felt like I would need to Sharpie out the destination.

Just when the port door was closed, a window opened.

Not only was the day we were supposed to spend in Mauritius turned into a day-long barbecue on the seventh deck, but the next day, the crew was able to pull some nautical strings and get us four hours of port time.

I felt like I was living the lyrics of Justin Timberlake’s popular song “Motherlover” — “I’m on an island / and all I got is four hours.” Surrounded by world renowned beaches, forested mountains and a Creole culture combining people of Dutch, French, Indian and Chinese descent, pressure was on to make the best of the short time.

Learning how to use time wisely has become one of the greatest challenges for me this semester. I have found that just being in a different country, listening to the local language and  stories and spending a-day-in-the-life always makes for an interesting experience.

With four hours, 500 students and a total of 2,040 square kilometers of lusciousness, we spent our time in Mauritius soaking up the sun, and having our own Semester at Sea version of spring break.

When you put that many students who have been bound in very close quarters on a rocking ship for a long time, four hours is the perfect amount of time for a quick, adventurous fix of freedom in a foreign country. Only imagination can illustrate what the beach scene looked like during our hours of independence.

Even though a college student will always be a college student, no matter how far he or she is from campus, it was such a relief to see that a good spring break celebration did not mean we had to sacrifice learning about the place we were located.

Just being on the Mauritius beaches, overlooking the gorgeous geography and listening to the locals talk about the growing economy, local rum and sugar cane agriculture, and the history that created the unique, African Creole community, all while enjoying our adventure together in a small slot of time, made the trip one of the more memorable spring break experiences that a college student could have.

­— espitzer@indiana.edu