There's no doubt that I live in a rarefied climate and that life in the 'real' world is on a daily basis much different than the one passed here on this little rock in the middle of a big, blue sea.

One significant difference is the fact that the total population of Seychelles is only 85,000 which makes us roughly the same as a small town in America. There's more distance involved, so we're not so much in each other's pockets, but everyone does read the same newspapers, listen to the same radio station and watch the same TV channel.

With people having very close to the same information from the same point of reference, and with the place being small and without a whole lot going on, it's very easy to be well known, recognized.

I used to host a daily radio show, so people are familiar with my voice, and my American accent (American-ish these days, according to some.) pegs me quickly. As part of my work toward introducing the option of adoption for Seychellois children, I've appeared on TV and radio and written for the newspaper, so people are familiar with my family.

Those that don't know us on sight don't tend to give a second look to a fifty-six-year old white broad with little brown kids, as families here are so racially mixed that it's very common for moms to have children that don't resemble them in obvious ways.

I've just taken up five whole paragraphs explaining why a comment from English tourists in Mauritius hit me upside the head like a sack full of tuppence.

"Are these your grandchildren?"

Yep. After almost five years of older adoptive parenthood, I get the grandma thing ... and right after my birthday. Ouch!

Of course, I have a granddaughter ... and a lovely and wonderful person she is! ... so I do wear that crown and sash, and proudly, but Sam and Cj are so obviously mine ... aren't they?

(Mark, by the way, took it well even though he is only 40. He's been Grampy Mark since he was 34, and finds the whole 'great' title an amusing affectation.)

The woman who posed the question was certainly grandmotherly, which is, I suppose, why she asked in the first place ... that whole, trying-to-find-common-ground straw that strangers often grab. She was gray-haired, a bit heavy around the hips with a bit of droop to her jowls and extra neck skin ...

Hey! Wait just a minute there! I'm gray-haired, a bit heavy around the hips, and all the rest! She must have been ... gasp! ... about my age.

Continued in the next post.