MEET THE EXPATS: SABAH & KHALID: OUR STORY SO FAR

Hi! It’s Sabah here – one half of the couple behind Meet the Expats. We’re really enjoying this journey and have met some really incredible people so far, all of whom have set up home on the beautiful island of Mauritius, just like us.  However, we suddenly realised that two months in to this new feature, we haven’t even told our own story yet! So this week, we invite you to take a little peek into our lives in Mauritius and find out more about what brought us here, what we do here and how we survive island life with two young children in tow. Here it goes…

How did we end up here?

Well, I’ll be completely honest with you – I knew nothing about Mauritius until I met my husband, Khalid. I was born and brought up in Manchester, England, in quite a liberal Pakistani household and he was born and brought up in London, with his Mauritian parents who moved from Mauritius to the UK back in the 70’s. Fate brought us together and once we were married, I was introduced to a new world of Mauritian culture – a new language and different food, although I found that in many ways the Mauritian mindset and way of life is quite similar to that of the Pakistani.

I’d only ever seen the luxurious side to Mauritius that you see on TV and in holiday brochures, so when the opportunity arose for us to visit the country back in 2014, I jumped at it. We came out here in October 2014 with Khalid’s parents and our son who was just 10-months old at the time. I’m the type of person that can adapt to new places quite easily and I think I did settle quite quickly back then, although living in a Mauritian house in a Mauritian neighbourhood is so far removed from the picture of Mauritius that is painted to the outside world. The country reminded me quite a lot of the sides to Pakistan I have seen – this is neither positive nor negative; just an observation. Anyway, our three-month stay turned into a five-month stay, as we really wanted to get a feel of what it would be like to live here, and I can definitely say that during that five-month period, I tried my best to make the most out of it.

Back in the UK, I worked as a writer, journalist and mainly as an artist and henna artist, so for me the main thing I wanted to discover was whether I could continue these pursuits over here. And thankfully, by the grace and blessings of God, opportunity after opportunity arose during that time and I was shown that Mauritius is full of opportunities for those that wish to seek it. Khalid and I even came up with the idea for a business that we wanted to pursue and set up in the UK, while we were out here. The only downside for me was working as a henna artist, under my business, Beyond Henna – but I’ll speak more about that later.

During the five months that we were here, we tried our best to get a proper feel of Mauritian life; including doing the weekly shop, trying to make friends and meeting people, renting a car and so on. I think we did a pretty good job, as upon returning to England in April 2015, we decided that we would move to Mauritius and make it our base – and here we are!

The Move

As we were making arrangements to move, I found out I was pregnant which threw a bit of a spanner in the works. I was completely unsure about giving birth in a foreign country, the costs that would come with it and the attitudes to labour and childbirth in Mauritius. But I knew that whatever happened, I would be okay, so we officially made the big move at the end of August 2016, which means we have been here for around nine months now. I was six months pregnant at the time so packing, unpacking and everything else that comes with it really wasn’t the easiest of tasks but we got through it.

I would say that as a family, we are probably around 85% fully settled in our new home country now. Khalid has been visiting Mauritius since childhood for family holidays and as he comes from Mauritian heritage and is able to speak the language, he is much more settled than myself. At the earlier part of our new journey, I was so excited and happy to be here (despite dealing with the aches and pains of pregnancy), however as time went on, especially after having our daughter in December 2016, I hit a bit of a slump and really started disliking being here a lot. All I wanted to do was to go home, go back to Manchester, and to my family and friends. However, I knew in the back of my mind that I was going through just a phase and probably exacerbated by post-partum hormones, so I ploughed through and thankfully, now I feel extremely happy and blessed to be here and I hope it continues this way.

Concerns

As well as giving birth in a foreign country, we also had worries concerning our preschooler: would he settle in well? How would he find going to school in a new country? How would he cope with missing family and friends back home? But ever since he was born, our little boy has been a bit of a traveller and has always seemed to adjust and settle in well to new places, so we brushed away these worries with the knowledge that he has done it before (albeit in different ways) and the belief that he could surely do it again. 

I will cover issues that I have mentioned above such as childbirth in Mauritius as an expat and finding a good school for your child that caters to your needs in later publications, so please watch out for those.

Likes and Dislikes

So what do we like and dislike about Mauritius? Well firstly, let me just say, if you are not from here and haven’t been here before, the island-style way of life and the mindsets and attitudes of a lot of folk here can be a huge shock. But we still like it here; more than like it, in fact.

Waking up everyday to witness the contrast of emerald green from our mango trees against the beautiful blue skies is something out of a dream. Just to have mango trees actually growing in our garden is amazing! The last mango season just gone, we were eating them for months on months and towards the latter end of the season, the mangoes were absolutely phenomenal. And free! That’s the best part.

Which brings me to my next point. Fruit. The seasonal fruits here are just out of this world. Honestly, have you ever tried a Mauritian lychee? I’ve had lychees back in England and I really didn’t like them, but having them here after being chilled in the fridge? OMG. When I was pregnant, I would literally have a mound of lychees everyday for breakfast. Pure bliss. 

Another thing that Khalid and I both love is nature and being in nature. And although with two young children in tow, we can’t really explore the island as we wish to, just being in a country that is just so naturally beautiful is a blessing. The sunsets are incredible; the mountains are awe-inspiring and the beaches, as the world knows, are pure paradise. There is a certain type of energy in Mauritius - I would even call it magical - that leaves you feeling at peace, energized and inspired, and that is something that is just so wonderful. 

Other likes include local freshly baked bread, the price of food when eating out (so cheap compared to England!), having a balcony that you can step out on to whenever you want, and living in what feels like a really peaceful country, when you compare it to the atrocities occurring elsewhere around the world. 

There is not much that we dislike to be totally honest with you. I really dislike the summer heat, although Khalid loves it. But I was born and bred in Manchester, where it rains practically every day, so it’s to be expected! 

One thing that we both agree on is that Mauritius could improve on (and other expats that we have interviewed for this feature have shared the same sentiments), is the length of time and the hassle it takes to get something official done – whether it is obtaining a visa, setting up a business or opening a bank account. It is just such a long, winding process for each which is not set out clearly anywhere and usually requires multiple trips going back and forth to the same place, a lot of form filling and a lot of scanning and printing of documents. It’s such a headache but again, this is something that we will go into more detail in later publications.

The Businesses

Khalid and I recently set up our UK business, Beyond Media Creative, here in Mauritius. We are a digital marketing agency specialising in professional and personalised social media management for SME’s – and there are definitely a lot of businesses in Mauritius that could benefit greatly from this service, but don’t fully understand it’s importance. A lot of businesses here are more focussed on running social media ads, which is great; but without the professional day-to-day running of your social media platform in the background, there is not much point. That’s a challenge that we are facing and overcoming every single day and we think slowly, mindsets will begin to change.

I also have my artistry business, Beyond Henna, which was doing really well back home. However, in Mauritius, there seems to be no way that Mauritians would pay my UK prices for henna body art, so this side of the business is currently on pause as I figure my way through this. As well as henna body art, I also create henna-inspired artwork on books, candles and canvasses and there is a lot of interest from the Mauritian market in this aspect, so this is something I am hoping to build on. You can see my work on Facebook and Instagram as @BeyondHenna. 

And obviously, as you know, we also write for News on Sunday, which is an absolute pleasure!

Closing Thoughts

I hope this has given you a little bit of an insight into our lives as British expats living in Mauritius. As you’ve probably gathered, we’re still fairly new here and still making our way; having recently set up our business and getting used to life with two children. There is so much of the island that we still want to see and explore and so much here that we still want to do; such as going hiking on the island’s beautiful mountains and snorkeling in it’s stunning seas. But God willing, there is still plenty of time for us to do that and more.

Mauritius, for us, is a land of opportunities, of sunshine, of happiness and of peace. And as difficult as some things may be here and as bad as some of the experiences we have had, have been, we know and appreciate it is all just part of the journey. We’re very excited to see just what the future holds in our new home and we feel very blessed to be here. 

We’ll be back next week with another expat interview! Until then… 

By Sabah Ismail & Khalid Khadaroo