The problem with learning a little conversational French is that sooner or later you?re going to try to use it. And with one or two French verbs and nouns under your belt, you might even fancy yourself as being able to understand Creole which is the true language of Mauritius.

However, not all conversations were meant to be overheard. While you may be happily piecing together the meaning of a conversation that the local peanut merchant is having with his customer, remember that he may not be appreciating the intrusion on his privacy.

It is for reasons very similar to these that boys on street corners came up with some camouflage for words quite some time ago. A kind of numbers game which Mauritians still use. If you overhear some of these numbers being spoken, you may be evesdropping on some very juicy gossip!

So if your 35 with a big 40 has run away with a 27 of 22 without you knowing, your 35 certainly is a 34!

I?ll leave you with these few numbers that you can add to your conversational Creole if youmust, but remember to be polite and stop leaning over the peanuts - that merchant may just want to keep his conversations to himself!

Happy Vacationing

<B>Angela KEESSOONDYAL</B>