Mon'n pase en bon letan Sesel

Mersi bokou pour lakey ek ospitalite. Mon'n pase en bon letan Sesel gras a ou, akoz zot ti parey en dezyem famiy ek lakou pour mwen. Mon pou mank zot bokou.
Meyer zanmi,
Magda.

Merci beaucoup pour l'accueil et l'ospitalité. Grace à vous j'ai passé un bon moment aux Seychelles. Vous êtes devenus ma deuxième famille. Vous allez me manquer.
Magda

Thank you so much for your hospitality. Thanks to you I had a great time in the Seychelles, because you became my family away from home. I will miss you a lot.
Yours,
Magda

Arte

At the end of my stay in the coutry I realize that not mentioning the Seychellois art would be an omission. I am very much impressed by the local crafts, as well as other visual and "musical" arts. The artists use local materials to create masterpieces. For example, the figurines below ("Rolling Stones") are made of the coral reef. Also, to manufacture musical instruments artisans use natural products such as a gourd of a calabash tree (see the 4th photo - the bow-like instrument with a wooden "bowl" that the artist is playing) or animal skin (see - Motya, my earlier blog entry). Egbert Marday, the sculptor/painter photographed under the red umbrella, uses metal waste to sculpt modern symbolic forms.
I am very much impressed with the use of light and color in the Seychellois paintings. Michael Adams (http://www.michaeladams.info/), of British origin, is a world-reknown artist. Recognized by the British queen, Mr. Adams for over 30 years has been living and painting in the Seychelles. When I first saw him at work I immediately thought of the workshop of Monet. Also the luminosity of his paintings has to do with the impressionism.

Michael Adams' workshop:

Those who arrive in the country willing to learn about the traditional music are immediately directed to Mr. Patrick Prosper, lecturer at the Music Conservatory in Mont Fleuri, Vicoria, and a true music aficionado. Below - Mr. Prosper playing the traditional bom, together with his students at the Conservatory.

In Mr. Prosper's office.

Among the instruments, a bom - mentioned earlier, a tambour maloya from Reunion, and a zez (like a big comb).

A guitar ensemble at the Music Conservatory, which I joined in the last weeks of my stay in the country, after I heard them play during a traditional music performance.

Egbert Marday and his work. Egbert is the author of many sculptures and a fountain that decorate the streets of Victoria. He also helped to equip the Natural History Museum with several sculptures, and is the author of the carvings on the Cathedral gate.

Basket manufacture is a widespread crafts tradition. Here, as presented at a crafts display at the Alliance Française in Victoria.

I fell under the charm of the paintings of Colbert Nourrice when I saw two of his works in a small gallery in Victoria. I had already met the artist before. Colbert's art is graphic and colorful. Very energetic, I'd say.

Here, the artist in his studio/gallery in Au Cap.

Les bêtes sauvages

Je ne peux pas m’empêcher de publier un petit post au sujet de tout sort des bêtes que j’ai rencontrées aux Seychelles. A ne pas manquer !

I can’t help posting a few shots of all sorts of « bêtes » which I came across while in the Seychelles. Not to be missed !

Nie mogę się powstrzymać, by nie zamieścić tu kilku fotek różnorakich stworzonek, które pałętają się po Seszelach...

Spider

Caterpillars

Dragon-fly

Lizard

Cockroach

Chameleon

La cuisine seychelloise

A la base de la cuisine des Seychelles – les poissons, le riz, les fruits et les legumes. Tant que j’ai habité chez une famille locale, j’ai eu pas mal d’opportunités à approfondir mes connaissances gastronomiquesJ. Déjà, le jardin était une ouverture au monde des noix de coco, christophines (photo ci-dessous), fruits de cacao, bananes, etc.
Aux environs de là où j’habitais – les brousses aux fraises-pays et les arbres-jackfruit. Les proches de ma famille d’accueil leur fournissaient du poisson, qu’ils préparaient avec beaucoup d’attention. Au marché Bazar-Labrin on m’a aussi fait goûter aux particularités telles que le baka (“jungle juice” ou liqueur fait maison), les bananes frites et le satini requin – dont la recette ci-dessous.

Fish, rice, fruit, and veggies are at the heart of the Seselwa cuisine. Staying with a local family, I had many opportunities to deepen my culinary knowledge:-). Already the garden was the gate to the kingdom of coconuts, christophines (photo below), cocoa fruits, bananas, etc.

In the area – wild strawberry plants and jackfruit trees. The relatives of my host family often brought some fish, which was later prepared with special care. At the market-place Bazar-Labrin I was also introduced to such particularities like baka (“jungle juice” or home-made liquor), banana chips, and shark chutney – the recipe of which - below.

Satini requin / Shark chutney:
1) Boil the shark meat for about 30 mins.

2) Pour out the water and leave the meat to cool down.

3) Clean the meat, remove the skin.

4) Cut the meat into small pieces.

5) Squeeze with a piece of cloth and remove the excess water.

6) Possibly add some mango or "fruit citère" (cut into small pieces, and having removed the excess water).

7) Add sliced onion.

8) Add herbs and spices: thyme, parsley, salt, pepper, chilli (but no garlic or ginger)

9) Heat the wok with some oil.

10) Cook until the fruit and onion become "glossy."

11) Serve with rice, breadfruit, manyok, or boiled bananas.

Christophine

Moutya

Similar to the Guadeloupean Gwo Ka, Moutya is a music genre and a dance that emerged in the slavery times. However, it is typical to Indian Ocean, and particularly to the Seychellois region, only. Performed on the traditional tambour moutya (moutya drum), originally the music was for the slaves the only opportunity of free expression. Traditionally the tambour, made of goat skin, is heated over fire, right before performance. Nowadays Moutya dancing usually takes place by the beach. The crowd gathers around the drum players, dancers, and singers. A pity that such performances are truly rare in the Seychelles. They are usually done at the hotels and during major festivals (e.g. Festival Kreol).
To me Guadeloupean Gwo Ka drumming seems more spontaneous, and more rooted even in the contemporary culture...

Tambour Moutya under music scores:



Moutya in Praslin:

Mahé, Silhouette, Praslin, La Digue

During my 2-month stay in the Seychelles I had the chance to visit 4 out of the country's 155 islands. Mahé, Praslin, and La Digue are the biggest and most populated of the Inner Islands. Although less populated, Silhouette is yet another significant island - famous for its unpolluted nature, tortoises, and a hilly landscape. Victoria, the country's capital, is located on Mahé, the biggest island.
Below I'm posting some photos from the four islands.


MAHE
1. Beau Vallon Bay

2. Victoria market

3. Victoria, botanical garden

4. Port Launay

5. Victoria, Kenwyn House (nowadays - gallery)

SILHOUETTE

A typical fishermen's "net" (the fish swim in but cannot find the way out:-):

PRASLIN

1. Anse Lazio - famous for its unforgettable granitic landscape

2. Anse Volbert

3. Anse Lazio

4. Valée de Mai, where one can admire the legendary cocos de mer. The female and male trees have very suggestive parts@. The story goes that at night the two meet...

I am not sure what happens then, but the legend and the shapes (!) have been particular enough to intrigue thousands of tourists who visit the Valée, and who usually leave the Seychelles with a small coco-de-mer gadget, if not with a real nut (yet those, if original, are extremely expensive).

LA DIGUE

1. A palm forest on the way to Anse Source d'Argent. Can be truly scary during a stormy weather. Coconuts dropping like bombs!

2. La Digue - School

Pierwsza Komunia Święta

Flora, zaprzyjaźniona lingwistka, zaprosiła mnie pod koniec listopada na Pierwszą Komunię Świętą jej bratanicy, Shany. Większość Seszelczyków to katolicy. Święta religijne obchodzi się hucznie. Przygotowania do Komunii i sama ceremonia bardzo przypominają polską tradycję. Kilka lokalnych ciekawostek : dzieci wchodzą do Kościoła w orszaku od zakrystii śpiewając pieśni, podczas samej mszy niektórzy tańczą, a po kościelnej celebracji – jeśli pogoda pozwoli – urządza się rodzinny piknik na plaży. Poniżej, kilka ujęć.

Flora, befriended linguist, invited me in late November to participate in the Holy Communion of her niece, Shana. The majority of the Seychellois are Catholic. Religious ceremonies are very festive. The preparations for the First Holy Communion and the ceremony itself resemble the Polish tradition. Among the local particularities : the children enter the church in a procession starting from the Sacristy, singing religious songs ; some dance during the service ; and after the celebration in the Church – if the weather allows – the family party continues on the beach. Below, some nice pics.