Since my arrival on Reunion Island at the end of September, many people have asked why I decided to come here. I am greeted with a general expression of awe over the fact that I knew their small island nation existed in the first place. The simplest and most charming thing to say is that I did a presentation on the island in an elementary school French class and have ogled over the existence of La Reunion ever since. This is not my story, but actually one borrowed from my dear friend Sara's true life experience (she tried unsuccessfully to dig up the poster-board before my departure).The actual truth about my knowledge and intrigue of the island is much more vague and unknown, even to myself. After reflecting upon this question, I believe that the answer is simply that I have always been intrigued by adventure and the ends of the earth--le bout du monde. I have known and admired La Reunion for as long as I can remember, for the simple fact of its sheer distance from home. As with any plan, pure fascination raises the question of how one might explore this place for oneself. The day comes when the opportunity to go arises and you see that a small seed of thought has grown into a chain of events that has you suddenly sitting on a runway headed to this far-distant land: my explanation, more or less.
Reunion is a French department (DOM) located in the Indian Ocean, 500 miles east of Madagascar. I was hired by the French government to work as an English language assistant for 7 months in two vocational high schools. I am living and working in la Saline, a small community on the west coast of La Reunion. The job is more of a pretext to be here than anything else; when all is said and done, there are many more holidays, vacations, and strikes on the school calendar than actual days of work. The season upon me is one of exploration, sunshine, and time to take life slowly.
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