Email Date:
December 12, 2003 Back To Rapa
Nui!
Aloha
Everyone!
Well, I'm
off once again! I leave tomorrow (Saturday, Dec. 13, 2003) for my
latest trip to Rapa Nui. I guess it's becoming a habit with me...
But, at least this time I'll be embarking on a completely new adventure -
I'm going to tour Chile for a bit, hopefully stop in Peru to see Macchu
Pichu, then I might even tack on a quick romp in Europe before I come back.
I just
wanted to send off a quick note to all of you - I will, as usual, be
updating my website during my adventure. I've got a digital camera
with me this time, so I can post pictures much faster than with my previous
trips. I can also take 15 second and 70 second videos (no sound,
though...) which I will also be posting on the site from time to
time...whenever there's anything interesting to show. I'll also try to
update my current adventures page regularly to tell any interesting stories.
Likewise, I
have been updating the site quite a bit over the last few months, so if any
of you haven't been there in a while, go check it out. I've finally
got 3 picture albums up and running from my previous trips. (The
picture albums don't work very well if you have a dial-up
connection...sorry.) I'll put up a few more during this trip. www.theulutree.com
This e-mail
list that I'm sending this message to is pretty old, so if any of you want
off the list, just send me a quick response and I'll take care of it.
Finally, to
those of you who I do keep in regular contact with - I CANCELLED MY CELL
PHONE. I'm leaving tomorrow so don't bother calling after 2 p.m.,
because I won't have it with me, and there's no way I'll be able to check
any messages after the service is discontinued. So if you don't talk
to me personally tomorrow - sorry! I'm hoping to reconnect once I
return in late April, but it's a gamble as to whether or not I'll get the
same number.
So take
care all, have a joyous holiday season, and I'll see you when I get back!
Aloha,
Ulu
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Saturday, December 13,
2003: Hawai`i
- I leave today! As unprepared for this trip as I have been feeling over
the last two weeks, it's surprising to find how prepared I actually am. I
even left my house early and arrived at the airport early...for the first time
ever! What a shock! I'm not looking forward to the day ahead of me
though. I have to wait a day in Tahiti, and that is always an unwanted
delay.
Sunday, December 14, 2003: Tahiti -
Today is payback. I've never enjoyed Tahiti much, and I realize now that
it's not really the island's fault. It's all really due to
situation... Whenever I'm here, it has always been en route between Rapa
Nui and Hawai`i, so Tahiti is never where I truly want to be at the time.
I'm always there either waiting to get to my real destination, or I'm there
missing the place that I just came from and longing only to go back. I've
never been to Tahiti because I was "going to Tahiti."
And, whenever people have asked, I've spoken
my mind...as politely as possible, but still saying what I truly felt. I
said that I, personally, don't like Tahiti much, and that it looks just like
Hawai`i except that everything there is infinitely more expensive, there are
about 200 times more mosquitoes, and it's so hot that you feel like you're in a
sauna that you can't turn off. The main island itself doesn't really have
any nice beaches to speak of either, and because of the normal outside
temperature, the ocean water feels like your bath when you get in. The
only way to cool off is with a man-made air conditioner.
Although these comments may all be based in
fact, it's still not fair of me to only point out the bad. And Tahiti has
finally paid me back for that ill sense of focus.
It rained almost the entire day here.
That's not something you see every day. In fact, out of all the times I've
been to Tahiti, I've never seen it rain. Although my experience of the
island is not a fair representation - I've only been here 7 times, totaling
about 11 days, so I can't determine any kind of real ratio of sunny to rainy
days based on those figures, but still...when you think of Tahiti, you think of
endless sunshine. And up until today, that has been my experience of
it.
For the first time, I'm here alone and
staying in a hotel. My plan was to walk around Papeete a bit for my meals,
then check out at 6 pm, then walk the waterfront and finally visit those famous
crepe wagons for dinner while I wait for my airport transportation to pick me up
at 10 pm. But, because of all the rain, I couldn't go walking around
tonight. I had no desire to get on a plane soaking wet. So instead I
had to pay a bit more to the hotel, and they let me stay in the room until my
transportation arrived. That was Tahiti's punishment for me - the one time
I wanted to and needed to experience it, I was denied by nature.
I'm not upset. It's only fair. I
deserved it.
On a good note, at least my waiting is almost
over. I'll be on a plane soon and finally on my way to my real
destination. Mahalo e nä
akua!
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Monday, December 15, 2003: Rapa Nui!
- I'm finally here! I find that the thing that soothes me most is the idea
that I don't have to wait anymore. I'm at my destination. It's kind
of a strange thing to focus on now that I'm finally here, but that seems to be
the foremost feeling I have.
It was raining as I arrived. I'm
beginning to think I brought it with me. After all, it had been raining
heavily for about 3 weeks in Hawai`i before I left, then it rained heavily
nearly the entire day that I was in Tahiti...and now it's raining here even
though it's supposed to be the height of summer. It gives my overactive
mind a lot to ponder...
Christian (ex-boyfriend but still a friend)
was working my flight last night. (For anyone who isn't aware, he's a
flight attendant for LanChile. That's how we originally met.)
Anyway, as soon as he saw me boarding, he came and swooped all my carry-on
luggage from me and whisked me away to my seat. Now that's service!
It helps to have friends in the right places. He didn't look at all
surprised to see me, so I asked him about that. He said that everyone knew
I was coming on this flight. I was never able to find out exactly who
"everyone" pertains to, but I have noticed so far that all the friends
I've seen around town don't seem at all surprised to see me. And no one's
even asked me that old standard, "When did you arrive?"
I received first class service in flight, as
well as once I finally got to the ground. There were friends waiting to
greet me - one of them with his truck just to take me to my nesting
ground. Ahhh...it's good to have friends!
I was dropped off at my new habitation, then
changed my clothes. My boyfriend had rented a motorcycle for the day so we
promptly set out to explore the coast a bit. He had been in Santiago,
Chile for a few months previously and only arrived back here on the island the
day before me, so for the both of us it was more of a way to get reconnected to
the land. Unfortunately, we were both also extremely tired and that darn
rain kept following me, so we eventually had to cut our trip short and go back
home. But we managed to find a few bright spots here and there and take a
couple of pictures.
The rest of my day was filled with sleep,
sleep and more sleep. I am exhausted!
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Tuesday, December 16, 2003: Hanga
Roa, Rapa Nui - More sleep. I've been bitten by the lazy bug.
I did manage to step out of our abode for a
few hours this afternoon. I had brought a lot of things for some of my
friends, and I wanted to deliver them. Honestly, my biggest motivation was
finding out how much room I would have left in my luggage if I took out
everything that was meant for others. After all, my trip will continue on
to Chile and possibly even Europe, and the one thing that became crystal clear
to me on my way here was that I had way too much luggage to handle all by
myself. I just so happened to get lucky a lot with helpers on my trip
down...
The verdict: It's not too bad. I
might actually be able to mail some things home that I won't need for the second
and third parts of my trip. I feel relieved.
The lazy bug that has infected me has left me
capable of mental activity but very little physical activity, so boyfriend and I
have been doing a lot of thinking on how to improve our little living
space. He had been away for a few months and just arrived back on Sunday,
so there were a lot of things to do to make our place suitable to live in
again. We had to go and clean the toilets and kitchen and such, then fetch
his TV from the person who had borrowed it in his absence. We still have
no phone or hot water, but that will come in time. And after the
necessities are in place, we want to figure out how to improve our little
space. Right now it's just bare bones...and it wasn't really designed to
have a female living there.
I keep wondering if I should go out and enjoy
the island, but maybe these domestic improvements should take precedence.
After all, I feel so lazy that I can't really do much else (I think I'm
recovering from all the bottled-up stress I was holding in Hawai`i as I prepared
for this extended trip), plus the group that I'm leading here is arriving in 2
weeks and once they do, I'll be getting out a lot with them. So maybe it's
ok that I cherish my seclusion for just a little while.
The one thing I do miss is my best friend,
whom we shall call Ms. Marble from now on. (I've decided I'm not going to
use real names for my "main characters" anymore. You know,
protecting the innocent and all that...) I made my first attempt today to
connect to the internet to chat with her, but our timing was off. She
messaged me earlier in the day, and by the time I was able to get online, she
was already gone. I was so disappointed! Boyfriend, whom we shall
call R. Duckie from now on, noticed that I seemed depressed after. I think
he's right.
One unfortunate piece of news for me - I
found out today that the internet here has grown quite expensive. There
are only so many lines here dedicated to the internet but demand for it keeps
growing, so the phone company's solution was to start charging by the minute.
That's never a good sign... We should be getting our phone back some time
next week, and we'll get an internet connection on this computer at that time,
but until then I'll have to go to a cafe or something to get online. And
so, although I'm updating this site every day, I have no idea when it will
actually get published. (I hope it's soon.)
R. Duckie and I also went to Orongo this
afternoon. We just looked over into Rano Kao crater for a few minutes and
took some pictures, then we drove back and went to the other side of the
crater. Neither of us had been there before, so it was a bit of an
adventure. We found a lot of pine trees on that side, so we started
looking around for one that would serve us as a Christmas tree. We also
took some pictures from the other side of the crater, since it was a new view
for the both of us.
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Wednesday, December 17, 2003: Rapa
Nui - R. Duckie and I made a deal today. He's getting a bit tired of
my laziness, so he told me that he wanted to see a 3 page short story by
tonight. I told him that in return, I wanted a light switch for the room's
light. So we made a deal. And at the end of the day, I had started a
new story that I'm very happy with, and he had put in a light switch.
Pretty good deal...don't you think?
Thursday, December 18, 2003: Hanga
Roa - I finally managed to leave the house before noon today. That's a
big accomplishment. R. Duckie and I went shopping in the morning because
that's the best time to buy vegetables. It was good because I ended up
seeing a lot of people that I hadn't seen yet.
We managed to get online at a cafe later this
afternoon, and I was finally able to chat with Ms. Marble! I was so
happy! We could only chat for a few minutes since it's so expensive now,
but I was happy for the opportunity. :)
Friday, December 19, 2003: Isla De
Pascua - I got down to the beach today and lay out in the sun for about an
hour. It took me 4 days, but I finally got there. I got quite a bit
of color considering it was only for an hour.
I'm going to indulge the people that are
familiar with the island for a moment and talk about all the changes going on
here.
The first thing that struck me is how much
construction is going on right now! You can see 3 or 4 places being
built/rebuilt just by walking through the main street. The feria is being
reconstructed, so all of the vendors are temporarily lined up on the ocean side
of the main street, starting across from "Hotu Matua's Favourite
Shoppe" stretching all the way to the corner where the feria used to
be.
The Rapu's (Marcos) are turning their place
along the main drag into a restaurant. Due to open in about 3
weeks.
The Caleta Otai restaurant on the bottom
corner of Te Pito O Te Henua road is being rebuilt as well. It looks quite
impressive now.
There's a new internet place in business,
located on the main street just before the old Kai Nene store (if you're going
towards the airport).
The music group Topatangi opened up a
restaurant as well, next to the new Kai Nene (the old Tumu Kai), where they
offer live music on weekend nights.
Another new restaurant, Te Henua, opened up
by the Entel Chile office. Owned by the same people that own Te Moana
restaurant.
There's also a sushi restaurant! It's
along the coast, after Pea's if you're walking towards the Hanga Roa
hotel. This new sushi restaurant is actually our neighbor, but we have not
tried it yet.
For those of you who haven't been here in a
while, Te Moana is about a year old now and is located on the main street a bit
after Kai Nene (old Tumu Kai) if you're going towards the school. Pretty
good food... Another new restaurant that's about a year old now is Cafe
Raa, which is run by a young German woman. Really good food as well.
Aloha has got to be the oldest of the new wave in restaurants here. It's
nearly 3 years old now.
There's a great big, beautiful fire station
right across the street from Hotel Otai, next to the Post Office.
Some new government buildings are located on
the inland corner across from Pea's. More are being constructed in that
area.
The gymnasium on the side of the soccer field
has been totally gutted out and is being rebuilt as well. Like I said
earlier, there's lots of construction going on here right now! And
everything I've mentioned is just in the central area of town...
I'll write again as more new things pop
up.
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Saturday, December 20, 2003: La Casa
en Rapa Nui - For summer, it's been pretty cold around here. I'm
surprised. I've said before that I haven't gotten out to the beach much
since being here, but part of the reason is because it hasn't been all that
nice. It's been cloudy a lot and the wind has a definite chill in
it. It's been pretty windy for the last few days too. I brought a
whole bunch of summer clothes, but most of the time I walk around wearing one of
my sweaters. It's just not right...
I didn't leave the house today. I know
it sounds sad...but that's just the way things turned out. When we got up
it was nice and sunny, so we were thinking about going to Anakena for a while,
but we had to wait for a friend first. R. Duckie said we should wait until
about 1:00, because if said friend didn't come by then, he wasn't coming.
So in the meantime, I did a bit of cleaning then put on a movie to watch.
During that movie, R. Duckie fell asleep. (I should mention that naps are
very common in Rapa Nui, especially since the days are so long. The sun
rises at about 6 am but doesn't set until almost 10 pm.) I put on another
movie after that, and R. Duckie woke up. He had never seen it before, so
he wanted to watch. During the movie, I fell asleep and missed almost all
of it. By the time the movie was over, it was about 5:30 in the
afternoon.
It was nice and sunny, and there were a lot
of people down at the beach (which is a 30 second walk away from our house), but
I didn't go because the wind was so cold. Instead I pulled my laptop
outside, sat in a chair in our little porch area and started typing away.
R. Duckie went to go buy food for dinner.
So, although I didn't actually go anywhere, I
did accomplish something. Not a total loss.
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Sunday, December 21, 2003: Hanga Roa
- I finally paid some attention to social duties today. I should never
have waited in the first place.
We had to go on an errand today, and on the
way back I finally decided to visit a very dear friend of mine. Once
there, I felt badly for waiting so long before visiting. But people here
are very loving and very forgiving. They're usually more happy to see you
than they are about whatever gifts you might have brought for them.
As was the case with my friend.
So we had a very pleasant visit for nearly 2
hours, then we finally headed home. It was a miserable sort of day - rainy
and windy nearly the entire time - so the only thing the day was suited for was
visiting with friends and vegetating in front of the TV. I got to do a
little of both. Not a bad way to spend a lazy Sunday...
Monday, December 22, 2003 - What's
with all this rain? It's starting to get on my nerves.
We had a lunch date today with the friend
that I finally visited yesterday. The morning, although it showed promise
at times, ended up being mostly filled with cold wind, clouds and rain so that
we couldn't do anything outside. When it was finally time to head out for
lunch, I dressed in long pants and a sweater just for the walk. This is
supposed to be summer...!
Lunch was fine. And I mean
"fine" in the most wonderful sense - the original significance of the
word before it became to mean something less than good. The company was
wonderful, the food was delicious, and the general feeling was peaceful.
There was nothing special about the food or the conversation...it was all due to
the company. Although it was all in Spanish, it didn't matter. It
was grand.
Sitting around the table, listening to the
conversation in Spanish but hardly understanding any of it, I realized
something. I always seem to write more when I'm here. I have time to
write when I'm in Hawai`i, but I never seem to do it. And today I finally
understood why - I feel stifled when I'm here because I can't converse as well
as I'd like to, so in turn I compensate by writing. I can express myself
so acutely in English, but I can barely form comprehensive sentences in Spanish,
so I need an outlet for all my thoughts. (Oh, blessed computer! I
can't wait to be near you!)
At least the Spanish doesn't make me nervous
anymore. And I find that I'm answering more questions than I could
before... A definite improvement.
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Tuesday, December 23, 2003 - Rain,
rain and more rain. It's a good thing the days are so long here, because
if they were of "normal" duration, no one would ever go
outside.
Being from Hawai`i, the length of the day
here is really noticeable to me. Days in Hawai`i range from 11 hours of
sunlight in the winter to 13 hours in the summer, so for the entire year you
pretty much have a regular schedule. But here in Rapa Nui (and I imagine
other places in the world at different latitudes than Hawai`i), the days seem
endless.
Likewise, I'm noticing that it's difficult to
develop any kind of real schedule when you don't have to do anything. I
had just come from Hawai`i where 90% of my waking hours were spent working, and
now I'm in a place where 100% of my time is spent doing whatever I want.
But my mind is not configured to "do what I want." It's used to
following and functioning on a schedule, and now that I don't have some kind of
daily guideline to follow, I find myself incapable of thinking of anything
to do.
It doesn't help that this is the kind of
place where you can lay in bed until noon and still have 9 or 10 hours of
sunlight ahead of you... Those kind of conditions encourage thoughts like,
"I have to go visit so-and-so, but I can do it later. There's lots of
time." You can even stay out at the beach until 9 o'clock at
night.
But with all this rain, the day being as long
as it is seems a blessing. It can rain for 5 hours straight in the
morning, then you wait a couple of hours for everything to dry up, then it's
perfect beach weather in the afternoon. And you've still got at least 4
hours to enjoy it.
Yet, with all of those precious sun-filled
afternoon hours, I'm still cold. How is that possible? I was here
last summer, and it was hot during the day...so I'm a little disappointed this
time (but that's partially because I didn't bring the proper clothes for cold
weather).
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Christmas Eve, 2003 - I don't know how
other people do it, but with my family we always had our Christmas dinner on
Christmas day. So the other day when my friend invited R. Duckie and I
over for "Christmas dinner", I had assumed that it would be on the
25th. Not so. Everyone here celebrates on Christmas Eve.
Mass at church is held at 10:00 as opposed to
the traditional midnight mass. I didn't go, but I did take a look at the
church with all it's Christmas lights on display. I tried to take a
picture but none of them came out too well. Nonetheless, it was
beautiful.
We went walking about town earlier in the day
and I ran into a few friends that I hadn't seen yet. The entire Karikari
dance group had gone to the Marquesas for some kind of cultural festival.
In fact, they flew in to Tahiti on the same flight that I flew here on. I
knew they were arriving in Tahiti that night, but I went into the boarding area
too early, so I missed seeing them all at the arrival area. (It was a bit
ironic too, because a group from Hawai`i also went to that festival, and they
flew in to Tahiti on the same flight that I took. It was strange - here
was this cultural festival going on, and a lot of my good friends from both
Hawai`i and Rapa Nui were participating in it, yet here I was on the fringe of
it, as I was simply trying to fly to Rapa Nui.)
Anyway, the Rapa Nui group arrived back here
the other day, so I finally got to see some of them today. I handed out
some cards that another friend from Hawai`i had asked me to deliver, and I got
to catch up with them. It turns out that another group is going up to
Hawai`i in April for the Merrie Monarch Hula Competition. Someone from the
Merrie Monarch committee has been trying to get a group from Rapa Nui to go
there for many years now, but it's never seemed to work out. But this year
is special - in this upcoming Miss Aloha Hula competition, someone of Rapa Nui
ancestry is competing. This young woman belongs to a very large family
here, but she was raised mostly in Hawai`i. But family is family, so many
of the people here are going up not only to perform in the show proceeding the
hula competition, but also to give support for their cousin. I wish now
that I could be there for that! It's going to be great!
R. Duckie and I decided to split up for
Christmas dinner, even though this would be our first big holiday
together. But really, it didn't seem like such a big deal, since we're
together nearly all the time anyway. I went to my friend's house while he
went to his surrogate family's house. R. Duckie loves kids, and kids love
him just as much back, so in the end he knew that he had to be there for the
children.
I spent dinner with my surrogate mother
here. I shall call her Flower, because she loves flowers. Anyway, I
met her when I was here on my second trip, and for some reason she took me under
her wing. She doesn't speak any English, and my Spanish is sketchy at
best, but we somehow seem to communicate well. She's a beautiful,
incredibly kind and loving woman, so I feel blessed that she has taken a liking
to me. All of her kids are grown and away at school or working in Chile,
so she asked me to come over for dinner with her and her husband. She said
she wanted all of her children with her. :)
Dinner was great too! We had turkey and
mashed potatoes and a simple cucumber salad, but it was all so delicious!
If my stomach didn't have a capacity level, I would have eaten it
all!
So it ended up being a nice Christmas Eve.
The sky even cleared up to give us all a great view of those blessed stars in
the heavens.
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Christmas Day, 2003 - We awoke very
early to the sound of barking dogs. That sound is common around here, but
not for such duration. The dogs here had been barking for at least 15
minutes and hadn't stopped. R. Duckie finally got up, opened the window
and called the lead dog over. He very nicely told it that it was a good
boy, but that he didn't need to bark anymore. And he stopped...for about 5
minutes.
After another 20 minutes or so R. Duckie
finally went outside to see what was going on. It turns out that there was
an entire pack of horses making themselves at home in our yard, and the dog,
along with 2 other friends, were trying to chase them away. They were
protecting us (or at least their territory).
R. Duckie said it was an awesome sight, and
just had to stand there for a couple of minutes to take it all in. The sun
was just on the horizon, and here were 30 or so horses meandering about our
lawn. It was one of those things that calls you back to
nature.
After taking in the beauty of the sight, he
finally chased away the horses. And the dogs stopped barking.
I should mention that these are not
"our" dogs. They just hang out on our lawn. They're very
nice, so we don't mind.
So that's how our Christmas day
started. Then it rained. It cleared up around 11:00, so we got up
and got ready. Someone was hosting a Curanto today for Christmas, and R.
Duckie really wanted to go.
A Curanto is, as far as I can tell, something
that really only takes place here on the island. R. Duckie says you don't
see things like this in Santiago. Basically, a family cooks a whole bunch
of food, then gives it all away to the people that come to get it. It's
not like a party, where you bring gifts and you're celebrating someone or
something, and you don't even have to know the people that are hosting the
Curanto. You just go, you get food, and you either eat it there or take it
home with you. And maybe you'll see someone else there that you
know.
People from the island bring their own dishes
to a Curanto. Serving plates, large tupperware, whatever. Whatever
you can hold food in. In today's feast, there was someone from the hosting
family passing out new plastic bags to everyone in line for the food. You
hold out your bag and go down the line, and the servers put food in it.
Today there was sweet potatoes (kumara), cooked green bananas (maika), big
chunks of meat, po`e (a rapa nui desert), and sugar cane (yes, the actual
cane). All of this gets dumped together in this one plastic bag, then you
settle down somewhere and eat with your fingers.
It was really good. I'm not a big fan
of the beef here, because in my experience the people here don't really know how
to cook it that well, but today's beef was excellent! It was tender and
juicy and surprisingly tasty. So although I didn't look forward to the
Curanto ("food in a plastic bag?"), I ended up enjoying it a
lot.
I even ended up chatting a bit with a young
woman from Ireland. I saw her and her friend in line earlier...they stood
out because they were being hit on by a Rapanui guy on a horse.
The day was absolutely beautiful and after
the Curanto I really wanted to go out and do something. I finally felt
energized for the first time since my arrival here! We went home and put
our remaining food away, then I made the mistake of sitting on the bed.
Laziness instantly overtook me. We decided to rest for a while...and by
the time we were ready to go out again, the weather dictated
otherwise.
Nonetheless, it was a nice Christmas
morning!
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Friday, December 26, 2003 - Have I
mentioned yet that when you're in a place like this for an extended amount of
time, all habits of appearance and personal hygiene go out the window? I
know that sounds bad, but let me explain.
I like comfort. So whenever I'm here
and I'm not bound by any unspoken, societal rules to dress a certain way, I
usually end up replacing regular underwear with a swimsuit every day. And
this is the kind of place where you can pretty much wear whatever you
want. On a bright, sunny day at the beach you'll see teenage girls
prancing around in jeans and tube tops, right along side guys wearing sweaters
with shorts and a bandana wrapped around their heads. There are no
rules. Anything goes.
There's so much dirt around here that you
can't help but to be dirty all the time, so suddenly taking a shower doesn't
seem quite as important as it used to. You wear your slippers pretty much
all the time, so there's no point in even trying to keep your floors or your
feet clean. (For those of you who know me well, yes, I do still take a
shower daily. Thank you very much.)
No one here cares if the food in the
refrigerator is covered or not, and everyone pretty much drinks from everyone
else's bottles of water or soda (or whatever else they might be
consuming). This last one is a bit difficult for me to swallow (no pun
intended), because some people don't care about what they might be leaving
behind... You can try to keep "your" drink separate, but it's a
futile effort. People here just aren't concerned about things like
that...especially among friends.
I only bring this up today because the
situation is fresh in my mind. R. Duckie is helping a Rapanui man to build
a restaurant. We live on this man's property, in the back of what will be
the restaurant. This man, whom I shall call The Whistler from now on (he
whistles while he works), comes over nearly every day to work on it.
Well, R. Duckie and I had just made a new
bottle of juice this morning. We went out for a walk this afternoon, and
when we got home I went looking for the juice. It was gone. The
Whistler had drank the entire bottle.
I don't mind that he drank it - after all,
this is his property, and we live here because of his kindness, - but it brought
to my attention clearly for the first time that R. Duckie and I are not the only
ones drinking from our bottles.
I've been to this island so many times and
shared a drink with so many people that by now it really shouldn't bother
me. But, despite that thought, I find myself cleaning the bottles more
thoroughly every time they need to be refilled...
R. Duckie made a salad today
that was unlike anything I've ever heard of. Later this afternoon we went
to the store and bought more supplies for our kitchen. One thing we got
was mayonnaise. When we revisited the salad for dinner, R. Duckie
suggested putting mayonnaise in it. So I told him to just put it in a
little bit first because we don't know how it would taste. R. Duckie
responded, "Duh. Everything tastes better with
mayonnaise."
I guess I missed that lesson
in school...
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Saturday, December 27, 2003 - I let
R. Duckie cut my hair today. Now that's trust! He nicked my neck
with the scissors about 2 minutes into it, which made it difficult to trust him
any further, but in the end he did a good job. I like it.
I was able to thoroughly check my e-mail
today. I received a nasty e-mail from a total stranger accusing me of
being a "Rapanui wannabee". (The name on their e-mail was "RapaNui".
Yah, I'm a Rapanui wannabee...) I am who I am, and if I really
wanted to be Rapanui, I'd grow my hair long and dye it dark black, get a really
dark tan, maybe some plastic surgery to give me features to look more like them,
learn the language so well that I sound exactly like them, and join the local
dance group. But I'm not doing any of those things, am I? I just
enjoy being here, that's all.
The way I figure it, that person is probably
part Rapanui but feels inadequate because they don't live here. I'm
guessing this simply because anyone who lives here would never say anything like
that. They're super friendly and quite content with who they are.
And anyone that lives here would never give themselves an e-mail name like
"RapaNui". They would use something else from the language
that's more specific to them...
I'm guessing this person attacked me simply
because my yahoo ID is "rapanuigirl". There's a story behind
everything, and if they had asked before they accused, I would have told them
that I chose that ID because that's what my friends here in Hawai`i started
calling me before I left for my 6 month trip to Rapa Nui. I thought it was
cute, and it was easy for all my friends to remember. That's why I chose
it. And after all, e-mail addresses are meant so that your friends can
talk to you - they're not meant so that total strangers can look you up and
insult you.
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Monday, December 29, 2003 - The group
from Kaua`i Community College arrived today! They're a great group!
We're all so excited that they're finally here! Ramon (the guide I hooked
them up with) and I had dinner with them tonight and we gave them an idea of
what kinds of things there are to do here and what the tentative schedule will
be like while they're touring. Everyone's excited...can't wait to get
started!
Tuesday, December 30, 2003 - The
group went on their first tour today. Before leaving the hotel, Ramon gave
us what turned out to be a 2 hour lecture on the ancient history of the island
and the Rapanui people. It was incredibly interesting! So once we
finally headed out, the group was more than ready to see what he had been
talking about.
We went to Tahai, an ancient village where
the moai have been resurrected in the 1960's or so. We spent about 2 1/2
hours there as well. Before we even entered the village, it became
apparent that Ramon was not with any old group of tourists...
This group included 6 women who lived on
Ni`ihau at some point. Ni`ihau is a privately owned island in our Hawaiian
chain where Hawaiian is the spoken language. They are schooled in English,
but outside of school everyone speaks Hawaiian. That was one of the
reasons why I anxiously awaited their arrival. I wanted to see how well
they could function here if they spoke Hawaiian - their first language - with
everyone.
The group itself was a Hawaiian Studies class
from Kaua`i Community College, but many of them had immersed themselves in their
own culture for years, and even the ones that didn't had taken other Hawaiian
Studies courses which allowed them to be immersed. All of them had
practiced cultural activities that most people wouldn't bother trying in today's
world.
It was for that reason that this first tour
was so exciting. Right away they started asking questions that Ramon had
never been asked on a tour before. Although he is Rapa Nui, speaks the
language, and is incredibly knowledgeable about his culture, he still was not
accustomed to being asked questions of such depth and cultural
significance. You could see that it was as stimulating for him as it was
for them.
Ramon showed us everything...I suspect that
he even showed us things that he normally wouldn't bother to point out on a
tour, but because we soaked it all up, he kept dishing it out. It was
almost overwhelming! When the tour finished, everyone walked back to the
trucks in a sort of daze. You could see the wheels turning behind their
eyes...trying to process all the information they had just received, while at
the same time struggling to understand the feelings in their hearts. But
all the while knowing one clear thing now - that Hawaiians and Rapanui are a lot
more similar than they would have ever thought.
The group went back to the hotel for lunch,
but then went back out on tour later in the day. They went to Tongariki in
the afternoon - the ahu with 15 moai - and it was there that they all truly felt
their connection to the island. I cannot describe it, because that is
between them and the island. The best I can say is that the island
welcomed them home.
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Wednesday, New Year's Eve, 2003 - We
all went to church tonight. That's the first time I ever went to church
for New Year's Eve...I didn't even know that was a time to normally hold a
service... After the service we went to the group's hotel and had
dinner. The service ended at 11:30, and by the time we were eating dinner
midnight came and went, and we didn't even notice! So much for ringing in
the new year...
The group is having so much fun here!
They are party animals, so they fit in very nicely...
Thursday, New Year's Day, 2004 - I
actually went swimming today! I had to...it's sort of becoming a tradition
for me. You know, like a ritual bathing on the first day of the new
year. I've always shied away from the water there in Rapa Nui because it
feels a whole lot colder than the water here in Hawai`i, but it was a hot day,
so I got over it. It was a nice swim.
Friday, January 2, 2004 - No tour
for the group today. Ramon had a prior engagement, but I think they all
needed the rest anyway. We had arranged for Ramon to take the group out on
6 half-day tours, but because he's having so much fun with them, he's spent way
more time than that taking them out. Even after the day is over, he
continues to hang out with them. His wife is overlooking his coming home
at 3 a.m. only because she knows how much he's enjoying his new friends...
:)
The group did, however, go to see the
Karikari dance group's show tonight. I know about half of the group, so
I've seen the show many times, but I wanted to go anyway. I'm so glad that
I did! They changed nearly everything, so it's a completely new
show. And unlike other dance groups you see throughout Polynesia, this
show does not seem touristy at all. It's all real, and always incredibly
entertaining. The group had a great time!
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Sunday, January 4, 2003 - R. Duckie
and I went to a friend's house for 'once' (means "eleven", but it's
what they call the mid-afternoon tea time). During the first week that I
was here I asked R. Duckie to make crepes, so we did. Since then we did it
a couple more times. When his friend found out, she asked us over some day
so he could teach her, so today was that day.
She made something else that used the same
ingredients as crepes but was a Chilean dish. I forget what it was
called...but it was good too. R. Duckie ended up making all the crepes
because no one else could do them as well as him, and after 30 or so excellent
flips in the frying pan, we feasted on crepes.
It also helped me to get to know this friend
better. She's super nice, but I hadn't spoken that much with her simply
because of my infantile Spanish skills...but that didn't stop her. We
somehow managed to have a conversation (without R. Duckie's help because he
wanted me to handle it myself), and I ended up having a good time.
Tuesday, January 6, 2004 - The group
had a party tonight at their new favorite restaurant, Topatangi. By now
everyone in the group had developed such affection for Ramon, and he for them in
return, that there were a lot of touching moments throughout the night.
There was a sharing of cultures, there was dancing your butt off, and there was
lots of good food and drink. It was a grand time.
The party continued all night, although they
kicked us out of the restaurant around 3:00. R. Duckie was tired so we
chose not to go with them, but the group went to a club for another hour, then
walking around the coast to take it all in. I heard that at some point the
police came by because of the noise... The die-hards finally went to bed
around 7 a.m. The REAL die-hards just stayed up all night, since there was
nothing scheduled for the next day.
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Friday, January 9, 2004 - Laundry
day. Kinda difficult, since we don't have a washer. We had to rely
on the kindness of friends. Not a good experience simply because there was
too much to wash and it took nearly all day...
Saturday, January 10, 2004 - Major
construction work on the restaurant today. Everyone helped out. I
even helped disassemble a rock wall. Another young woman was helping me,
but everyone seemed really impressed that I was participating in manual
labor. I'm not sure why...maybe because I'm so small that everyone just
assumes I'm helpless. It's nice to shock people sometimes...
Sunday, January 11, 2004 - Had a
dream this morning that my grandmother passed away, and she came to get
me.
Iorana
korua,
In case
any of you were wondering, that's Rapa Nui for "Hi everyone".
:)
I know
I said in my previous e-mail (sent out before I left Hawai‘i) that I
would be updating the website regularly with pictures and video and lots
of cool stories...and if any of you have been checking the website
you'll see that I have not kept my promise. As this not-updating
my website regularly has proven to be a habit with me in the past, I
won't blame any of you if you don't believe me when I say this, but this
time, IT'S NOT MY FAULT!
In
every previous trip I've always managed to somehow get a regular
internet connection, so this time I had every reason to believe that I
would once again. But that is not so... I don't even have a
phone! The property owner has promised since the day I arrived
that the phone in our little house would be reconnected, but to date it
still has not happened. And without a phone, I can't connect to
the internet. So that's why I haven't updated the site. I
apologize to you all. I have, in fact, been updating it regularly
on my computer - I just haven't been able to publish any of the changes.
I have
been able to check my e-mail on occasion at the public library and a
little internet place here, but time is always limited...and expensive.
I guess
that's enough of my excuses for now. I hope all of you will
forgive me for my lack of communication!
I've
been here for a month now, and I must say that's it's been a fairly
strange trip so far. I got bitten by a lazy bug while I was in
Tahiti, and it doesn't seem as if my body has flushed it out of my
system yet. All I ever want to do is lay around in bed all day
watching TV or playing video games. Please, everyone - no need for
scolding. Believe me, I've gotten quite enough from my friends
here! I'm on the most isolated high-island on earth where
adventure abounds, and all I want to do is stay inside? I get the
point...
The
worst thing is that I have a few cherished friends that, to date, I have
still neglected to visit. Out of a list of 5 people, I've only
actually visited with one. I'm beating myself up a lot about that.
I have seen all of them around town, but I still have not physically
gone to their houses to sit and chat with them, and that's what I should
have done in the first week. But the people here are very
forgiving, and once they take you into their hearts, they never let go.
So I'm sure my own guilt will be all the punishment I get for my
non-actions. (But that in itself is quite a heavy load!)
Two
weeks after I arrived a group from Hawai‘i arrived. I had helped
them with all of their arrangements, which had turned out to be a very
rewarding experience for me. It was apparent from the moment they
arrived that it was a going to be a great time for all!
Everything worked out perfectly for them! The hotel we arranged
for them was perfect, the guide I hired for them was perfect, and every
single day for them just got better and better. I could go in
depth about their experience here, but that would take up pages!
To sum up - it was an amazing experience for everyone who was honored
enough to even be on the edges of it. When I have the chance, I'll
post a lot more about it on my website.
For me
personally, I'm spending a lot more time this trip with
Spanish-speakers, so it's forcing me to use my own limited skills more.
In past trips I've always (subconsciously?) surrounded myself with
friends who speak English. I still can't understand most of what
people say, and I couldn't literally translate anything, but most of the
time if I pay attention, I usually get the gist of what people are
saying.
Anyway,
I have been updating the website regularly, even though I couldn't
publish it until today. So if you'd like to read up on what's been
going on, with a little more detail, go to my website at www.theulutree.com
and click on the Travel Journal link on the right. I haven't added
any new pictures yet, but all the info is finally up to date.
Take
care all!
Aloha
no,
Ulu
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Monday, January 12, 2004 - I found
out that my grandmother passed away. Guess it wasn't just a dream.
But it happened 5 days ago, so I rushed off to a friend's house to call my
family, because they must've been really worried about telling me.
Aloha
Everyone!
I'm
sure some of you are intrigued by my subject title, so please allow me
to clarify for you. I am writing to you now as I sit on my own
bed, in my house here in Honolulu. Yes, I am back home.
Don't
worry - nothing bad happened in Rapa Nui. Rather, a family
emergency occurred which required my return to Hawai‘i. I am here
for 2 weeks (well, a week and a half now as of today), and will return
to my Rapa Nui retreat at the end of January.
I must
apologize to you all as well, since I told everyone before I left that I
would be sending out my "famous" e-mails while I was away, and
be updating my website regularly with pictures and such. If any of
you have been to my website recently, you have undoubtedly noticed that
I did not keep my promise. History will dictate that I haven't
been all that diligent with updating my site, so I won't blame any of
you if you don't believe what I'm about to say, but this time, IT WASN'T
MY FAULT! Really...it wasn't!
I did
not have a phone in the house I was staying at in Rapa Nui, and although
I kept getting that old promise, "next week...next week," I
still did not have a phone when I left. Without a phone line, I
could not connect my computer (which houses my website file) to the
internet to publish any changes. I have been updating it...you
just haven't been able to see it. So I'm sorry for not giving you
anything new to look at. I will be sure to remedy that during the
remaining time I have here in Hawai‘i before I leave.
The few
people that I've spoken with have all mentioned my e-mails...no one
actually said that they "missed" my e-mails, rather that they
noticed the lack of said messages (are you all trying to tell me
something?). I have written a few since I've been away, but of
course you have not seen those yet either. Now that I am back
I've decided to send them to you all one at a time, instead of
bombarding all of your inboxes with all of them at once. They are
all back-dated at this point, but I will try my best to send them in
order over the next week and a half.
I
arrived back here on Sunday, but for family reasons have not had time to
get online until yesterday (Tuesday), so that's when I found out that my
computer had grown accustomed to NOT being online and
so wouldn't let me get on. It took us two days, but late tonight
we finally remedied the problem, which is why I'm finally writing this
letter now. As I am finally connected again, I will be able to
correspond via e-mail as often as possible until I leave again on
January 31st.
As you
are all my good friends, I feel confident enough to share this with all
of you. The reason for my abrupt return home is because my
grandmother passed away - 2 weeks as of today. For those of you
who don't know me well, let me just explain that my grandmother was
"The Woman" of the entire structure. She was the coolest
grandma - she was spunky, sometimes punchy, and always the cutest
grandma to everyone. To all of my mother's cousins, she was the
best aunt anyone could ever ask for because she would always take care
of everyone. To everyone not related, she was still "Aunty
Pearl". In short, she was the best loved of all the family.
I'm ok,
and everyone in my family is ok too. My grandmother passed away
peacefully, in her own bed...exactly the way she always wanted. In
fact, everything was exactly as she wanted it...my family has even begun
joking that she set everything up. During phone conversations to
my family while I was in Rapa Nui, it became obvious that I was wanted
back here for the funeral, which is the reason for my abrupt return.
It took me nearly a week and a half since her passing to get back here,
yet the funeral somehow got scheduled for the day I would arrive...just
enough time for me to make it. It was all according to her master
plan.
There
are so many things that I've seen and experienced in the past week,
since I left Rapa Nui. Once I send them out, you'll find that most
of the e-mails begin as I planned my return trip. And there is so
much to write as well about the funeral and my family. But I won't
fill this e-mail with all of that. It would take up too much
space. Let me just say that it's been a most fulfilling experience
thus far.
I'm not
working while I'm here, so I'm free to talk story! Please call!
I don't have my cell phone anymore, so you'll have to call my house
phone. If you don't have it, e-mail me and I'll give it to you.
It's been so nice seeing all my family around, so it would be equally
nice to be able to chat with all of my friends as well.
So take
care everyone. And have fun in life, because it will all be worth
it in the end. Until next time...
Aloha,
Tuesday, January 13, 2004 - Made
last minute arrangements to go back to Hawai`i for the funeral. Went to
visit some friends who I had neglected to visit earlier.
Wednesday, January 14, 2004 - I woke
up feeling sick. In fact, it felt exactly like sea-sickness. It
wouldn't go away no matter what I did. Everyone said it was nerves...I
think they were right. Had problems with my airline ticket, but by some
miracle I made it on the flight tonight to Tahiti. The flight left at
10:20 p.m...I got on board at 10:15.
I didn't have any kind of reservations
what-so-ever in Tahiti, but someone was watching out for me. I was blessed
with a charitable tour bus driver who took me to a hotel where she used to work,
and set me up so that I could arrange for payment the following morning.
Lots of trouble today, but everything worked out.
Email Date: Wednesday,
January 14, 2004 The
Travel "Episode" - Making Plans
Aloha
everyone!
The word
"episode" has a couple of different meanings, and for many odd
reasons all of those definitions seem to apply. Oh, and a word of
warning - this particular story is so long that I'm breaking it
up into sections. I hope you all don't get too bored!
I am
currently in Tahiti as I write this message (although I'll be back in
Hawai‘i by the time I send it). I guess you could say I've taken a
vacation from my "vacation" and am currently en route back to
Hawai‘i, where I will stay for 2 weeks before returning to my
"vacation" in Rapa Nui. How strange is that?
I have
told all of you in my previous e-mail of the passing of my grandmother, the event which has sparked this sudden travel adventure. Because
of my remoteness in Rapa Nui (and my lacking a phone), I didn't receive
the news until 5 days after it happened. After learning of the news
I felt very guilty (among the other expected sentiments) because my family
must have been going crazy trying to somehow let me know, and 5 days is a
long time to worry about something like that. So although it was
already late at night in Rapa Nui (about 10 pm) and all the calling
centers were closed, I persuaded my boyfriend to walk with me all the way
across town to the house of a friend of mine who also has close ties to Hawai‘i. I figured she, at least, would know the best way to call at
that time of night.
My family
was relieved to finally hear from me, and my brother immediately began to
tell me of his plans to try and get me home in time for the funeral,
saying that he would pay for everything. Before then I had not
figured on going home, so I didn't know what to say to him. But he
was intent on getting me there, so I left it at that and agreed to call
the next morning.
The
thought of going home had engrossed my mind during our walk back to
the house that night. I didn't know if I should do it or not.
It is an awfully long way to travel, not to mention expensive, and I
didn't know if I should really do it or not. It required a lot of
last minute and somewhat unsecured planning...and to be perfectly honest, I
was at first inclined not to do it. But as I lay in bed that night
something changed my mind. I began to realize that maybe a quick
trip home would be a good development, and I also thought a lot about what
it would mean to my family.
When I
called my brother the next morning, one of the first things he said was,
"How's this for karma? I've got your Hawaiian flight all set
up. All you have to do is say the word." I was still a
little hesitant about everything, so I asked him, "Do you really want
me to come home?" He played the role as a good brother and said
that it was up to me...but then he added, "Popo arranged the funeral
so that you have enough time to make it back, but it's your choice if you
want to do it or not." I realized then that, even though he
wouldn't say it, it really was important to him that I be there. So at
that moment I decided that I would make the trip.
All of
this occurred on Tuesday morning. The flight leaving Rapa Nui back to
Tahiti would leave on Wednesday night. That meant I only had one day
(or so) to schedule it and make sure that my brother could somehow pay for
it. That's where all the trouble began...
Making
the reservations wasn't a problem - it was paying for it that gave me all
the headaches. The LanChile office in Rapa Nui made the reservation
as an e-ticket, and they told us that my brother should be able to pay for
it at the LanChile office in Honolulu using the record locator number for
the reservation, so I sent off that information to Hawai‘i as soon as
I could. Apparently the buck stopped there.
It seems
that the LanChile office in Honolulu was NOT able to take the payment for
the reservation (I still don't know why). The ticket was not paid
for...but I didn't know that. I called my brother on Wednesday
afternoon and told him that he needed to go to the office there and pay
for the ticket, and it needed to be done very soon because the flight
would be leaving Rapa Nui in 2 1/2 hours. I wasn't able to call him
back later (not enough money for the call), so I took a chance and just
went to the airport. I figured that they wouldn't let me check in if
the ticket wasn't paid for...
I checked
in. They took my bag. They gave me a boarding pass.
People came to see me off. And then, about 45 minutes before the
actual departure, I was paged. Turns out I was wrong about the
"not letting me check in" thing.
I had
just enough credit to cover the cost, but only if I could use 2 different
credit cards. The agent said that was a problem. So we spent
about 5 minutes debating over that. Then they decided to try to
clear one credit card even though I told them that it wouldn't cover the
entire amount of the ticket. That took another 15 minutes or so
before they realized that I was right. Then they finally decided
that I COULD use 2 separate cards, but charged too much on the first one
again. That took another 20 minutes, give or take. By this
time they had sent someone to the plane to try and find my suitcase and
get it off... Finally, they adjusted the amounts charged to each
card and they both cleared. They had me sign then made me run,
through immigration check then off to the runway. Someone had to
chase after me to give me a paper ticket for my return trip.
The flight was scheduled to leave at 10:20. I got on board at 10:15.
By the
way, I'm not a credit loser or anything. I just have very low limits
on my cards. It's safer.
To my
surprise the flight was totally full (there weren't that many people in
the airport terminal...). I walked down the wrong aisle, thinking
that my seat was A, only to find that it was actually H and I just
couldn't tell because it was printed over other text on the paper, so
I had to walk all the way to the back of the plane just to go back up the
aisle to find my seat. Then I couldn't put my bag under the seat in
front of me because this particular plane had foot rests, and I was way
too short to try and put it in the overhead. So I just left it there
and hoped it would be ok.
Oh, and
did I mention that I had been sick all day?
When I
had woken up that morning I felt nauseated. In fact, it felt exactly
like sea sickness. The feeling lasted the entire day. Duckie
(boyfriend) was worried about me flying like that, but what choice did I
have? He said it was nerves, and so did everyone else who we
told about it. They were all probably right. But everyone
being right didn't make it go away. So when I finally got settled in
to my seat, I made sure to check for a barf bag in the pocket...
I had
hardly eaten anything all day, but I was finally hungry by flight time, so
I took a dinner. I was lucky in that my good friend Christian was
working the flight, so he smuggled me a can of coke shortly after take
off. Coke is the only thing that makes me feel better when I'm
nauseated. I kept dousing my stomach with it as much as I could
throughout the flight and somehow, some way, I made it through without
needing that bag... There was a touchy point a little after dinner,
and I actually made it worse by standing up and going to the restroom, but
in the end I overcame it. Of course, the rude Chilean woman in the
seat behind me putting her bare foot on my arm rest throughout nearly the
entire flight probably didn't help to cure my nausea...but by the time
we reached Tahiti, I actually felt better.
But that
feeling didn't last long. I'll continue in the next e-mail.
Take care
everyone!
Aloha,
Ulu
Thursday, January 15, 2004 -
Still lots of problems dealing with my hotel payment. It's not
supposed to be this difficult... I don't have any cash either.
I bought some snacks at a store. Hopefully that will be enough to
sustain me until I leave.
Hi
again!
So
here's what happened after I arrived in Tahiti...
Because
my ticket wasn't paid for, I also had reason to believe that all of the
reservations I asked my brother to make for me in Tahiti wouldn't have
happened either. If that sounds like blame, it's not. What
I'm saying is that if he knew that the ticket wasn't paid for, he would
think that I wouldn't need any reservations for Tahiti, so the travel
agent probably wouldn't make them for him. Turns out that's
exactly what happened.
One of
my other friends on the flight crew, Paola, said that she was going to
talk with her cousin, who would be at the airport to pick up someone
else coming off the flight, and ask her if I could stay with her.
But after exiting customs, I couldn't find the specified cousin. I
looked around for about 15 minutes or so, then finally decided to try
Paradise Tours. IF any reservations had been made for me in
Hawai‘i earlier in the day, Paradise Tours would be the ones scheduled
to take me to my hotel.
I had
no reservations, but the driver I talked to spoke very good English.
I told her the situation, so she took me to the hotel I *might* have
reservations at, and waited while I checked. I didn't. So
she took me to another, cheaper, hotel and helped arrange everything for
me. She used to work at this hotel, so she told (told, not asked)
them to upgrade me to a nicer room but at the lowest rate. She
also TOLD them that my brother would be faxing over credit card
information in the morning to pay for my stay. I have to really
give thanks for meeting her last night!
My plan
for the morning was to go to an ATM and withdraw some cash to buy a
phone card to call my brother with. I needed to give him
instructions on what to do to pay the hotel. But whatever can go
wrong will, as had been the case so far with this trip...
I never
took any notice before of what cards were accepted around here because I
hardly ever use credit cards when traveling. Hardly anyone in Rapa
Nui takes credit cards, so why bother? The only reason I had them
on me for this trip was because I had planned to go to Chile in March
and Europe in April. So I tried my MasterCard in 2 different
machines before resigning to the fact that the sign on the machine was a
lie. They didn't take MasterCard.
How did
I deduce this, you ask? Because I went into a few stores and
asked. Apparently they only like Visa and American Express over
here, no matter what the little signs on the doors say.
So here
I am stuck in Tahiti with a hotel staff itching to kick me out due to
non-payment, and no possible means of getting any cash. I spent
most of the morning in my room partly because I was afraid that if I
left it, they would throw my things out while I was away. So, it's
been interesting so far...
After
my non-success with the ATM's, I went back to the hotel and asked the
front desk if I could make a collect call. The
overly-masculine female attendant didn't seem understand at first,
but once she did she actually looked really grumpy about doing it.
(I'm sure she was saying nasty things about me in French...and it was hard not
to glare at the man-like hair on her arms as she finally
connected me to an international operator.) I called my brother,
gave him the instructions, and went back to my room and waited for a
call-back. About an hour later I received a call from my other
brother, telling me that the hotel wouldn't accept my (previous)
brother's MasterCard (although they have a sign!), but that he would now
be paying for it with his Visa. So I stayed put and again waited
for a call-back.
I have
a Visa, but that was the card that I used for the bulk of the airline
ticket cost the night before. So I finally decided to figure out
how much was really charged to it, because I might have a bit of credit
left to get some cash here. The results of my calculations were
favorable.
The
phone rang, and when I picked up I heard a female voice slightly sobbing
on the other end. It was my friend in Hawai‘i, so happy to hear my
voice again that it took her a moment to say anything comprehensible.
She's been helping my brother out a lot with all the plans having to do
with my return to Hawai‘i, so he had called her as soon as he talked to
me this morning. We talked for a while; she informed me of what
I'll need for the funeral (which takes place 2 hours after I arrive home
on Sunday morning); then we chatted a bit since we missed each other so
much. We swapped short stories of how complicated all of these
plans have turned out to be but that they always work out in the end,
and I joked, "This is all my grandma's doing. She probably
sent us all these little obstacles just because she thinks it's
fun."
About 2
minutes after I said that, the phone rang again. My Visa brother
called me back and said that his credit card information was sent, so I
went down to the front desk and checked with them. As soon as I
confirmed that they received it and that everything would be ok, I went
back to the ATM to try my luck with my Visa calculations. I
inserted my card...then realized that I don't have my PIN number.
I'm sure some of you know how irritating that is.
My only
other option was to go out to the corner store and buy enough supplies
to hopefully last me 3 days. So I gathered up 3 large bottles of
water, 1 small bottle of Pepsi Vanilla (my treat!), 1 small bottle of
water, 1 medium bag of Doritos, one package of wafer cookies and a phone
card. The total cost on my functioning visa was just about $46.
Yup, you read that correctly - forty six dollars! I know I've
told you all before how expensive Tahiti is... The phone card was
actually $27 out of that total, but that's still overwhelming.
Please,
no grief about my choice of foods. The selection wasn't that great
to begin with - all they had were chips and cookies! And this is
"survival" time, folks! If I have to, I can survive on
Doritos for 3 days...
I
decided to stay in for the rest of the day, since I didn't have any cash
to spend yet anyway. It's a good thing I had my computer with me.
I spent the rest of the day in solitaire heaven while listening to a
Harry Potter audio book I have stored in my music folder.
All was
well, until about 8:30 at night. My phone rang. It was the
driver who had dropped me off here the night before. It turns out
all is not well with the credit card info my brother sent.
First
of all, there was no expiration date. Secondly, because my flight
left at 1:00 a.m. Sunday morning, they wanted to know if I was checking
out on Saturday morning, or Saturday night. Should I decide to
check out Saturday night, I would of course have to pay for an
additional day. The woman, Martin (pronounced Martine), asked if
she could call my brother. I was hesitant because he was in
California, so it was 2 hours later over there, but I gave her the
number anyway. I figured they needed everything settled tonight,
and probably would be very upset if they had to wait another day to find
out if I could pay or not.
So she
called him just as he was going to bed and told him of the situation.
Once apprised, he asked to be transferred to my room. She said
that he would have to call back because the call was expensive, then
hung up on him. She immediately called me back and said, "By
the way, we can't take Visa because we don't have a bank account with
Visa. We can only take American Express." My heart
sank. I didn't think he had an American Express card... I
asked if she had told that to my brother, and she said No.
When my
brother called back to talk to me, she told him about the newest
development before transferring to my room. Luckily his wife has
and Amex card, so now my fate was in her hands. Thank goodness
she's a nice person!!!!!
My
brother prepared a new fax and sent it. Martin then called me back
and told me everything was ok. I could finally rest! The
next morning I checked with them again, and everything was cleared.
What an
exhausting dilemma! And I still have 2 more days to stay here!
Talk to
you all again soon.
Aloha,
Friday, January 16, 2004 - Money
problems seem finally to have subsided. I went out to eat today.
Walked around Papeete town. The minutes dragged along... Took lots
of pictures for R. Duckie.
Saturday, January 17, 2004 - I
decided that I had just enough money to take a tour...but the hotel receptionist
called a different company from the one I asked for, and they charged more for
their tour. And during the tour I had to pay for admission to 2
museums...so there went all my dinner money. Thank God I'm leaving this
place tonight!
I finally was able to go to the food wagons
tonight, but I didn't have enough money to eat anything. That is such a
bummer!!!!! Thank goodness I'm leaving this place tonight...
Aloha
again everyone,
Don't
you all wish this story ended with my last e-mail? I know I do...
If the following events seem boring, it's because THEY WERE! So I
figured I share my boredom with all of you. he, he, he...
Here's
how my days progressed:
Friday
-
5:30
a.m. - Woke up waaaaay too early! Guess I'm still on Rapa Nui time
(5 hours ahead).
6:00
a.m. - Wake up again. Obviously trying to sleep more is not
working.
6:30
a.m. - Ok. I might as well just stay awake. But that doesn't
mean that I have to get up...
7:00
a.m. - Sit up and stare into space for a while.
7:15
a.m. - I guess I should take a shower or get ready or something...?
7:30
a.m. - What do I need to do today again? I should make a
list.
8:00
a.m. - Stare into space again. Wish I had a TV set...
8:15
a.m. - Finish getting ready. I guess it's not too early now to go
outside. Check with front desk if everything is clear with hotel
payment. Green light! Consequently the front desk
receptionist seemed a lot nicer to me... (hmmm...I wonder why...?)
8:30
a.m. - Go outside; wake up brother in Hawai‘i to get PIN number for my
credit card. I need cash!
8:35
a.m. - Called friend in Hawai‘i. She's at work already. Too
bad I can't stay on the phone longer.
8:40
a.m. - Pray in front of ATM. Yippee!!! It gave me money!!!!!
I didn't know if I would have enough credit, but I attempted to take out
10,000 francs, which is the equivalent of about $100. But it was
in one large bill, and I knew that I would have to break it if I wanted
to buy cheap food.
8:45
a.m. - Walk around town looking for breakfast and something to buy that
can break my large bill.
9:00
a.m. - Found a bookstore; ended up purchasing a French phrase book.
Side note - it was pretty interesting browsing a book store where
everything was in a different language. Quite amusing, actually.
9:15
a.m. - Rushed back to a cheap place I had decided on earlier and
bought a waffle for breakfast.
9:20
a.m. - Continued walking around, trying to waste time. (I'm
always trying to kill time in Tahiti...and consequently the hours always
seem endless...) Walking casually...what's around this block?
Oh, that's where this store is... I should take pictures, but I
don't like looking like a tourist. Oh well, I look like a tourist
even if I don't take pictures, so I should just take them. People
are always asking me what Tahiti looks like anyway.
10:30
a.m. - Ok. I thought that would take longer. I'll just sit
here at the waterfront. There's a nice fountain, gentle breeze and
a shady spot to sit under. Cute little kids to watch.
10:45
a.m. - Wish I had a book with me... I think this French phrase book was
a waste of money.
11:00
a.m. - Tried to get a picture of the cute kids. Failed
miserably.
11:15
a.m. - High school kids out already? Geez, that's early.
11:30
a.m. - I guess I could eat lunch now. Start walking to the cheap
cafe I found earlier.
12:00
p.m. - Eat. The last time I ate here the food tasted better.
12:30
p.m. - It's getting hot. I should go back to the hotel...but I'll
take the long way. (More pictures, more detours)
12:45
p.m. - That didn't take long at all. Start new book. It's
titled "L'Affaire" and tells the story of a newly-rich
American businesswoman who decided to go to France to find herself.
I thought it fitting, being that I am trapped in French
Polynesia...
2:30
p.m. - Page 52
3:30
p.m. - Page 84
4:30
p.m. - Page 110
10:30
p.m. - Page 237. I'm going to sleep.
Saturday
-
6:30
a.m. - Wake up. It's way too early again! Geez...
Guess I'll read a little bit more.
8:30
a.m. - I should get ready.
8:45
a.m. - Ok...it looks like I'll have enough to take that tour I saw an ad
for yesterday.
After
all, I can't stay inside my hotel room for the entire time...and really,
I've never had an actual tour of Tahiti. They're offering a Circle
Island for about $30, and the guide is a guy named Bernie who is
originally from Hawai‘i. I met him the last time I came here.
9:15
a.m. - Check with front desk for info on tour. Receptionist
calls tour company. They're coming now! Oh my goodness!
I need to get my bag! (Good thing I packed it earlier...) But
no time for breakfast.
9:18
a.m. - Wait outside for van. Meet a guy from Hawai‘i.
He seems way too friendly...he asked for my phone number in
Hawai‘i! No way dude!
9:20
a.m. - Tour van arrives. Whirlwind tour of island.
2:00
p.m. - Dropped off back at marketplace. But the hotel receptionist
called a different tour company...the cost was 4000 francs, and I also
had to pay admission to 2 museums on the tour. That's 2000 more
francs than I budgeted! There goes my dinner! Gosh, I'm so
hungry! I'll go back to the hotel restaurant. OH NO!
THEY JUST CLOSED! WAAAAAHHHH! I'm so hungry...
2:15
p.m. - Go back to room, defeated. I'm so hungry. Don't have
any money to buy food. Maybe reading will distract me.
4:30
p.m. - Oh no. Finished the book. I still have over 2 hours
till the restaurant opens for dinner! Waaaaahhhh! I'm so
hungry.
5:30
p.m. - Get ready. I'm going down to the waterfront to see all the
food wagons. I can't buy anything, but at least I can look.
6:00
p.m. - Down to the famous food wagons along the waterfront. Cool!
They're like portable restaurants, with their own lighted signs and
everything! They've all got tables with menus too. I took
lots of pictures. I hear the food is really good here because they
make everything fresh, right in front of you. Oh how I wish I had
money to eat!!!!!
6:45
p.m. - The hotel restaurant is open. It's mediocre dining
masquerading as fine. There are wine glasses on all settings, but
with regular butter knives next to each plate.
7:00
p.m. - The food came quickly...but not all that tasty. Really
unsavory cut of mahimahi. At least the french fries are decent.
Lots of french bread - 8 pieces - a little too much for one person, I
think. But I'll take them with me...beggars can't be choosers.
But coke in a glass bottle! Now that's a novelty. I would
bring it home with me, but I don't think it will survive in my suitcase.
So I'll take a picture instead.
7:15
p.m. - So much for taking the bread. A little cockroach has
invaded my bread plate. Bummer!
7:30
p.m. - That was soooo not worth the price. But at least I could
charge it to the room. And I'm not hungry anymore. Can I get
the bill?
7:45
p.m. - Hellooo? Can I get the bill?
7:50
p.m. - I want to charge it to my room. Is there a problem?
8:00
p.m. - Finally! I just want to go back to my room!
8:15
p.m. - I think I have time for a nap. Can't sleep. I can
watch a movie on my computer.
9:30
p.m. - Get ready. Last minute packing.
10:00
p.m. - Check out. That was faster than I thought. Maybe I
should have stayed in the room longer...
10:35
p.m. - Transportation to airport finally arrives! I want to get
out of here!
Some
pretty interesting things happened from this point on, which I will
share in another e-mail. This one really needs to end!
Thanks
everyone for allowing me to share my boredom with you. I hope this
won't discourage you from reading any future, possibly more interesting
e-mails I might send out! Take care all!
Aloha,
Sunday, January 18, 2004 - Arrived
back in Hawai`i, 6:30 a.m. Cleared customs at 7:00 a.m. Rushed to
friend's house to shower and change. Rushed to funeral. Made it
there just at 8:30.
I won't continue this journal, as I am home
now and so therefore it is no longer a travel journal. However, I will
continue it once I leave again to go back to Rapa Nui.
I hope you're
all doing well. As for me, I've just finished up my first week here in
Hawai‘i on my non-vacation...and it's been strange. I find that if I
don't have to work, I really don't have anything else to do.
Consequently, I've watched a whole lot of TV over the last week... And
I'm perturbed about the lack of sunshine. It's seriously cutting into my
beach time.
I actually
wrote 3 e-mails to all of you detailing the troubles I had in coming back
here, but after re-reading them I myself find them overwhelmingly boring, so
I've decided not to torture all of you with them. Instead, I'll post
them to my website, so if any of you are even the slightest bit interested in
all the frustrating details of my 3 day stay in Tahiti, feel free to go to my
site and read them (after Monday! I haven't posted them yet). www.theulutree.com/rapanuiarchive.htm
I did go
through quite an ordeal just to get to Tahiti, as well as trying to survive
while there, so there is a story to be told (though it may be long and
drawn out). So, to appease my thirst for always having to tell a
story, here's the nutshell version:
My ticket
from Rapa Nui to Tahiti was supposed to be paid for in Hawai‘i, but for
whatever reason it could not be done. I didn't know that, and went to
the Rapa Nui airport to check in. But the important fact here is that
THEY LET ME CHECK IN. Then 40 minutes before departure time, they told
me I had to pay. So I maxed out my credit cards to get on the flight.
I got on board only 5 minutes before scheduled take-off time.
Due to the
same mix-up regarding the tickets, I didn't have any hotel reservations in
Tahiti. However, I got really lucky with a generous tour
driver who ferried me to a cheap hotel. She arranged so that they would
allow my brother to fax over payment information the next morning. It
took the entire next day to work everything out. First they wouldn't
take MasterCard; they only take Visa and AMEX. Then they couldn't take
the Visa.... I was afraid for a day and half that I would get kicked
out. Everything was finally settled on my second morning there.
Because I had
maxed out my credit cards for the last-minute plane ticket, I didn't have any
cash for food. I did some math, and figured that I could get just a
little out of an ATM from one of my credit cards. I had to survive on
chips and cookies for 3 days, with only 2 real meals stuck in there somewhere.
Basically I was starving for almost the entire time. I got really
skinny, but not in the way that I would have liked.
So that's the
Tahiti portion of my trip. It wasn't fun.
The best part
of my Tahiti trip was on my way back to the airport. The transportation
company that picked me up also picked up someone else from Hawai‘i. When
you're away, you can so obviously tell other people from Hawai‘i, so when
I saw this guy getting into the van, I knew that he was from here. We
immediately started talking...and I ended up having an airport buddy to hang
with. It was great, because I was not looking forward to the endless
wait at the airport before boarding.
I also saw
another friend in the Tahiti airport, so the three of us had some great
conversations. Can you believe that the airport was the best part of my
trip?
Once on board
I had a large Tahitian woman seated next to me, but soon after take-off she
moved to another seat, so I had the window and aisle to myself. That's
just enough room for me to stretch out and sleep! (Short person joke...get
it?) I was seated in the same area as a children's choir group from
Tahiti, and they were all so excited to be going to Hawai‘i that they didn't
sleep, even though the flight took off at 1 a.m. Because of all the
kiddie noise, I had a difficult time sleeping.
We arrived in
Honolulu, amazingly, exactly on time - to the minute. It was nearly 6:30
a.m. but the sky was still black as night (which I thought was very strange),
but because of that the famous "Honolulu City Lights" were
still visible. All the children were crowding around the windows, trying
to catch a glimpse, and I felt a little surge of pride and love for my city.
This was a place that I knew by heart, and here were all these people around
me, so excited to be here for the first time. This place was a dream
come true for them, while for me it was home.
The landing
was nothing special to speak of - a little bumpy like your average landing,
but the group applauded anyway. A smile spread across my face and a
chuckle erupted from my throat...they were all so happy! And as quickly
as that joy came to me, tears came next. In that instant I realized
that I didn't know if I was happy or not to be here.
For just that
moment, I felt a sadness that consumed my whole being. There were so
many things going on, pulling me in different directions. I was here for
a funeral...a death that would leave a hole in the life I've come to know...I
left a loved one and a loved place behind in Rapa Nui...I love Hawai‘i as
well, but why do my two homes have to be so far apart, so separate? All
of these things hit me in this one moment, leaving me with just that one
question to define it - Am I happy to be here?
I was not
able to answer that question. I am still not able to do so. I'm
beginning to think that maybe, as long as I continue to have these 2 seemingly
separate lives, I will never have the answer that I seek.
This
revelation has sparked many self-reflective thoughts along those lines.
The only conclusion I've come to thus far is this - what I want most in life
right now is a Home. I feel at home in Hawai‘i, and I feel at home in
Rapa Nui, but neither of these places contain an actual living space that
I can call my own. In Rapa Nui, although the space I occupy feels
completely comfortable, I still live out of a suitcase. In Hawai‘i, I
live in a house surrounded by other people's things, as if I am the guest in
someone else's domain. Whether in Hawai‘i or Rapa Nui, I just want this
one thing right now. I just want a Home of my own.
So this
begins my journey towards home. Hopefully it won't take me long to get
there.
Take care
everyone. Be well.
Aloha nui,
Email Date:
January 31, 2004 Leaving again
Aloha
Everyone! I just wanted to send out a quick note...I'm off again this
afternoon, back to Tahiti for a day then on to Rapa Nui. I dread the day
I will spend in Tahiti tomorrow, but there is a treasure at the end of the
quest.
I don't know
when I'll get an internet connection on the island. When I arrive there,
the annual Tapati festival will be in full swing, so there will be lots to
write to you all about...but if you don't hear from me, it means that I don't
have that darn internet connection. Sorry. I'll still be writing,
and I'll still be updating my website, but I have no idea when I'll finally be
able to send/post anything. Rest assured that I will let you all know as
soon as I do.
So take care
everyone! Have a great year! I hope to be mailing to you all again
soon!
Aloha,
Ulu
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Saturday, January 31, 2004 - Left
Hawai`i once again to go back to Rapa Nui, to continue my vacation.
Arrived in Tahiti just after midnight. The friend of a friend who was
supposed to pick me up at the airport wasn't there. I didn't have enough
money for a hotel room, so I had no other choice but to spend the waiting period
until my next flight (25 hours) in the airport.
Sunday, February 1, 2004 - I can't
even begin to say how much this sucks. I had to spend 25 hours in the
Fa`a`a Airport! I'm never coming to Tahiti again...unless I can afford to
stay at the Beachcomber or Sheraton.
I had to keep all my luggage with me for the
entire time (no chance of checking in early), and I couldn't sleep very well
because I was afraid of letting my guard down for too long. It wasn't so
much the people that I was afraid of...it was the cockroaches roaming the
airport. There happened to be another woman who also arrived on my
Hawaiian flight who decided to spend the night in the airport. She had
brought a bicycle with her, and planned to ride to Papeete and catch the ferry
to Mo`orea, but wanted to wait until morning. I felt somewhat relieved to
have her sleeping on the bench adjacent to me. I guess there's comfort in
numbers. Although I enviously wondered how she seemed to be sleeping so
well...
Needless to say, once the sun rose, I was
very sad to see her go. I dreaded the seemingly endless hours ahead of
me. As soon as the sun rose, I started counting down the hours, but it
didn't make me feel better until the number was less than 10.
At least I had carried a bit of money with me
this time, so I had enough to eat whenever I was hungry (although the food was
pretty bad). There's a little McDonald's in the airport, as I discovered,
but they only sell ice cream and drinks and pastries. No french fries
(bummer)! By the way, they aren't called "french fries" in
French. They're called "pomme frites". The McDonald's in
the airport also sold only 2 types of sandwiches, both of which were more like
the breakfast sandwiches they serve at the Hawai`i McDonald's. They were
about the size of an Egg McMuffin, but without the egg and on sourdough bread
instead of muffins. One of those cost the equivalent of $2. They're
so small that when I ordered it the girl even asked me if I wanted only
one. I had made the mistake earlier in the day of purchasing food at
another cafe in the airport, and was bitterly disappointed. In the end I
had to throw that food away because it was so bad, so by the time I discovered
the McDonald's, I only had enough money left for one "Croque McDo".
Luckily my appetite was satisfied enough for the evening.
I thank God for the comfort a good book can
provide! However, sometimes I wish I read slower. I would read about
3 chapters, then realize that only 20 minutes had passed. Watching that
clock was akin to torture... I prayed all day to be swept up in a time
warp. Sometime in the late afternoon I think my wish finally came
true. Before I knew it, the time jumped from 7:00 to 9:00. It was
only a 2 hour warp, but oh how I valued it!!! I only had an hour and a
half more until I could check in for my flight! And I knew that once I got
on that airplane, I would feel relieved. Because I know a few of the fight
attendants, I've always felt very much at home on the LanChile flight.
Being on that plane is almost as good as arriving on the island...
I should have known better...the check-in
line opened at 10:30 p.m., but people started lining up before then. Not
thinking of that, I didn't approach the line until 10:30. So although I
was (guaranteed!) the first person on this flight to arrive at the airport, I
was nowhere near the first one in line. But that's ok...waiting in line
took up a lot more time. And that's all I was interested in during my
entire stay in Tahiti - wasting time.
My friend Christian wasn't working the
flight, but I had a couple of other friends who were. But it didn't matter
that much. I hadn't had more than 2 1/2 hours of sleep since Thursday
night, so I slept nearly the entire flight. I only woke up for
food.
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Monday, February 2, 2004 -
Finally! We arrived in Rapa Nui around 11:00 a.m...6 a.m. in
Hawai`i/Tahiti time. R. Duckie could not pick me up from the airport
because he had to work, but he sent a friend. I didn't care much, because
after spending the whole f@#%&*! day in the Tahiti airport, what could
possibly be worse? Besides, all I really wanted was a shower and a
bed. Which I promptly got as soon as I was dropped off at our
house.
I slept the entire day - from about 1 p.m. to
9:30 p.m. The only reason I finally got up is because there was a Tapati
event tonight, and I didn't want to miss it.
The annual Tapati festival began on Friday
night, so I didn't miss too much. Tonight's event was the dance contest,
along with solo singing, group singing, and `upa`upa (accordian). The big
draw was the dance contest, so they stick those other things in between so that
people will come to the event. During my first Tapati, they put these
other events on a separate night, and the crowd was pretty thin, so they finally
wised up and put it within the dance contest. The night started out with
the teenaged dance groups for each contestant, then they did the solo singing
competition, then the group singing competition, followed by the `upa`upa (accordian)
playing competition. They rounded off the night with the adult dance
contest, which is really what everyone was waiting around to see. It was
almost comical to see how the crowd roaming the grounds quickly migrated towards
the stage once it was announced that the "Conjunto Adulto" was about
to begin.
There are again only 2 contestants for Queen
this year, Lidia Haoa Tepihe and Tavake Nui... I haven't gotten her last name
yet. But you can pretty much tell from the dance competition who is going
to win the whole shebang, even though the dancing comes early in the
festival. It's going to be Lidia.
For anyone who is unfamiliar with this
festival, here's how it goes: "Tapati" literally means
"week" in the Rapa Nui language, and this festival was originally a
week long, but over the years it has evolved, so although it is now much longer
than one week, it's still called "Tapati". Young women, college
aged, from different families compete to be Queen for a year. They usually
get a scholarship to school, but each year the prizes seem to get better.
Last year's queen even got a new car.
The festival is comprised of various
competitions - dancing, singing, takona (body painting), wood carving, stone
carving, reed boat making, swimming, canoe paddling, cooking, etc...including
the main events of the Haka Pei and the Tau`a (see my picture
archive for a better idea of what these are!). In each competition,
people compete in the name of one of the queen contestants. Whichever
contestant's team gains the most points/wins at the end of the festival wins the
title of Queen for a year for that lucky girl.
But, as I mentioned earlier, you can usually
tell which girl is going to win by the dance group. You see, the number of
people that a candidate has supporting them counts towards the win. And
Lidia's group had more dancers.
Tavake is a type of bird here, so when
Tavake's dance group entered the stage, they all walked in waving their arms
like birds, accompanied by a drum beat. It was so cool! In fact,
their entrance and exit (done the same way) were the talk of the night!
However, even though they had that going for them, I have to admit that the
in-between part lacked. Overall, Lidia's group was more
entertaining. It was a solid performance. And she had more
dancers...
One thing I noticed was that the Matato`a
group and Karikari group were, once again, split. Matato`a is a band here,
and they're like the Rapa Nui superstars. They've toured the world (except
Hawai`i...!) and when they put on a show, they look like bona-fide rock
stars. Anyway, their support goes a long way.
On the other side of the coin, the Karikari
group is a large dance group here. They're probably the only professional,
continually performing dance group on the island. Their dancing has also
taken them to performances throughout the world. (In fact, in April they
are going to the Merrie Monarch in Hawai`i!). When you have the support of
the Karikari group, you have a large resource at your disposal. But I've
noticed over the years that these two groups are always on opposite sides during
Tapati. It's not a war or anything...people just support their family
members. Yet, I wonder if maybe they do it on purpose. Grouping
Matato`a and Karikari on the same side would be like stacking the deck...
Whoever their competition was wouldn't stand even the slightest
chance...
R. Duckie was being very generous
tonight. I couldn't wait to get to the festival grounds and eat at the
Hare Mauku (grass houses). It's one of the best things about Tapati...
I look forward to hanging out at the Hare Mauku and munching on an
empanada. I think because I had slept all day and didn't eat anything, R.
Duckie was worried about me because he kept buying me empanadas...when I would
ask for one, he bought two. Needless to say I had my fill for the
night.
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Tuesday, February 3, 2004 - I slept
until way after noon, and didn't even leave the house until after 4:00
today. I think I'm still recovering from the lack of sleep before/during
traveling.
No Tapati event tonight. They've
expanded the schedule so that there are events every other night. That way
people can rest in between. During my first Tapati, events were scheduled
every night for 10 days, and honestly, it was exhausting. It's especially
hard for the people who work in the Hare Mauku, because they're working almost
non-stop for the entire festival. They usually open in the afternoon and
stay open all night until everyone leaves...which means they can be open until 7
the next morning!
Wednesday, February 4, 2004 - R.
Duckie threatened me today. He said if I didn't get out of the house he
would shoot me with his high-powered water gun. So I went to visit a
friend and deliver the gifts I brought for her from Hawai`i.
It was a beautiful day! I nearly made
it to the beach...instead I opened up my computer and ended up fixing a lot of
little details on this website. Oh well...at least I was doing something
productive.
I went back to my friend's house for dinner
tonight. Then I had to rush home to change in order to make it on time to
the Tapati event tonight. I wouldn't normally worry about being on time,
but as it turns out, R. Duckie is good friends with Gina (Pakarati Paté), the
Tapati 2003 Queen, so she saved us seats in the reserved section, and if we want
them we have to get there on time.
R. Duckie and The Whistler worked late into
the night, so he was not ready on time. He sent me on ahead, claiming that
he would come later and that I should save him a seat. He never
showed. He fell asleep. I found him dressed and getting ready to
head on over to the fairgrounds when I arrived home at 2 a.m. I'm not sure
why he even thought of going there at that point...?
As for me, I got to sit in the second row,
right in the center! I sat right behind Gina, and there was an empty seat
next to her so my view was excellent! I am, however, disappointed with my
camera's zoom, because although I was closer to the stage than I'll probably
ever be again, my pictures still looked far away. I also tested the video
function on my camera, but apparently you can't zoom in close while filming, so
all my video appears as if I was a mile away, even though it was actually about
30 feet.
In any case, the live and up close view was
great! (View a slideshow)
Tonight's event started out with a hour-long
performance by the group Topatangi. From there the contest proceeded with
Kai Kai, which is an ancient form of storytelling using a string to make shapes
(like Cat's Cradle). This activity is always done by women.
Sometimes the story is told, but sometimes it is sort-of sung to a rhythm.
There was the juvenile division followed by the adults. Both contestants
(for this year's Queen) participated in the Kai Kai.
Next came another type of singing contest
called "Riu". A group comes out dressed in traditional attire and
sings something like a chant, which tells an ancient story. Two guys on
the end bring out props to parade around with when the part in the song comes up
pertaining to that prop. One guy even brought out a live lamb, and jumped
around with it over his shoulders when that part in the song was being
sung. It was lots of fun to watch! I've actually seen this contest
before from the back of the crowd, but it's a lot more interesting up
close.
Each contest is being judged as it happens,
so as they wait for the scores before starting the next group the emcees read
off the scores/winners from previous contests. It turns out there's about
20 other contests that take place during the day that I've never even known
about! But from the announcements, it seems like the competition is pretty
stiff this year. Lidia won most of the events, but not all. In some
cases, Tavake won a few events by a lot more points than Lidia, but it
still appears that Lidia is winning since her group won more events
overall.
The night continued with the Takona
contest. Like the dance competition the other night, this was tonight's
big draw. I was so excited to be right up front to see that one!
"Takona" literally means "body writing", and in ancient
times referred more to tattooing, but it has evolved over time into actual
painting. There are different kinds of soils around the island that, when
mixed with water, can be used to paint the skin. So No, they don't use
acrylic paint or anything like that. It's all natural...really, a type of
mud when you think about it. There is black, brown (of course), a more
reddish kind of brown, and white. The white is more difficult to find, so
there is some significance to it if a person paints him/herself all in
white. The contestant chooses what symbols he/she wants on the body and
where, then must come out on stage and explain (in Rapanui) each symbol and what
significance it has to them, as if they're acting out a monologue.
Watching the younger kids do it is usually a lot of fun, because they're nervous
and cute and make mistakes with the language...but when it comes to the adults,
it has over time become a fine art.
My friend Tito (announced as "Mokomae",
his Rapanui name) entered this contest. He entered last year as well and
won. (They haven't announced the winners yet for tonight's contest.)
I made sure to take lots of pictures and took about 3 separate videos, but was
so disappointed with how far away they looked. I wonder if I can make them
any better on the computer...
You really find out who knows their language
well in a contest like this. A couple of the guys from Matato`a competed
for Lidia, and they had long monologues which you know they didn't have to make
up before hand. You could tell that they were just talking, and that their
language came natural to them. So I wouldn't be surprised if one of those
guys wins...Tito was excellent, but he made one small mistake which might count
against him.
Both queen candidates performed in this
contest as well. I'm not really sure which one was better...but Lidia went
topless. I don't know if that counts for more or not.
In any case, I was incredibly thankful to be
up front! It was a great view, and the whole event is just so much more
exciting from a view like that!
On a side note, it was a beautifully clear
night. The stars shone bright even with the full moon shining down.
It was a lovely walk home! Yet, although it's summer here and the days are
proof of that season, the nights are still very cold. Gina has a cold but
had to wear a nice halter dress because she is the reigning Queen, and she only
had a pareau to cover her shoulders. Photographers kept asking to get
pictures of her, so she constantly had to take off her pareau to show her
sash...I felt so badly for her! I wanted to offer her my jacket, but it's
too small for her and it was so cold that I would have frozen as well.
Besides, I don't think she could have used it since she needed to appear a
certain way for the festivities. But despite this, she looked beautiful
and somehow managed to make it through the night.
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Thursday, February 5, 2004 - Woke
up late. Cleaned house. Washed clothes. It was a domestic
day. I also worked a lot on this website and sorted through the 100 plus
pictures I took last night.
The horse races took place today but we
didn't go. I've never really been interested in that particular
contest. Besides, it was a super hot day with no wind, so I felt it best
to stick close to the shore.
The owners of this property had a party
tonight. The front of the restaurant, which faces the road, has finally
been completed, so it looks really nice, so this is the first party that they've
been able to have here. In the usual style around here, the party didn't
end until about 5 a.m.
I found out tonight, from one of the innocent
party-goers, that someone from my past is here on the island. This person
betrayed me...she acted like my friend then headed straight for my
boyfriend. I haven't seen her yet, but I'd like to (although I don't
really want to talk to her...just see her). I'd like to just find out what
I feel when I'm in that situation.
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Friday, February 6, 2004 - The
Tau`a was today. That's the marathon competition that takes place in Rano
Raraku crater. For any of you who don't know what this is, take a look at
my picture archive for a better
idea.
I wanted to go, but things didn't work
out. Although I knew better, having been through 2 previous Tapati's, I
neglected to make arrangements for transportation to the competition, so I got
stuck in town all day. That was a bummer, but I have no one to blame but
myself. Honestly, I was more disappointed because I was hoping to get some
better pictures this year to post on this website. Sorry
everyone.
Saturday, February 7, 2004 - I
did laundry. Over here, that ends up taking all day. The washing
machines here are (for lack of a better word) primitive compared to what I've
become accustomed to in Hawai`i. You need to run the entire cycle again at
least twice to get all the soap out, and you have to remove all the lint by
hand. And, if that weren't difficult enough, our particular washer doesn't
even drain all the water out, so when I hang the clothes to dry, they're
literally soaking. We also have a very small clothesline, so if I wash too
many things at once, I have to wait half the day for the first things on the
line to dry before I hang the others. It's not a pleasant
job...
The canoe regatta competition was this
afternoon. They're not regular canoes that we use for racing in Hawai`i -
they build these canoes special every year. They're a bit more boxy
looking than our racing canoes. I don't have a copy of the Tapati
schedule, so how I found out that this particular race was going on was because
I could hear all the people cheering from my house as the canoes arrived at the
finish line, which is about a 2 minute walk from here. I got out there in
time to see the last canoe coming in. No pictures due to my
lateness.
There was another group singing competition
tonight, called "Koro Haka Opo". There is one large group representing each candidate, and they
must sing 3 Rapanui songs. Then the next group has their turn to sing 3
songs. The contest ends when either group can no longer think of a new
song to sing. So this particular contest usually goes on all night.
It started at 10:00 p.m. and didn't end until about 3:30 a.m. I suspect
they cut it off though...because this particular contest has been known to go on
until 5 a.m. in the past.
It's great to listen to, but very difficult
to watch because this particular event doesn't take place on the stage.
The groups are seated in front of the stage, on the ground, and facing each
other. So, as a spectator, unless you got there early and got a seat right
up front, there's not much to see. And me being short doesn't help at
all...
So I apologize to you all - I don't have any
pictures. I could barely see through the chosen hole between two
shoulders, and I was so far back that the picture wouldn't have been worth it
anyway. I did catch a glimpse of some dancing, though. Each group
usually has a couple of guys in the group that dance around during the songs
being sung. That's always entertaining.
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Sunday, February 8, 2004 - Haka
Pei!!!!! For those of you who don't know, this is probably THE biggest
event of the whole festival. It's the one you just can't miss.
Someone sponsored a Curanto at the site of
the Haka Pei...and I don't know if we just got there late, but all they gave out
was a piece of watermelon and a chunk of beef. That's it. Usually
you get a bit more at a curanto - at least a sweet potato or something to go
with the meat.
The Haka Pei itself started late because they
had to wait for the ambulance. They absolutely cannot run this competition
without medical help present. (Does that tell you something about this
one...?) It turns out that there was some kind of emergency and the
ambulance was otherwise detained helping someone. So although the event
was scheduled to begin at 3:00, it didn't start till about 3:45. The
comical part was that once the ambulance finally arrived, they still had to wait
because the doctor wasn't there.
While we were all waiting (and getting
sufficiently sun burned), the emcee gave a little history on the event.
She said it twice in English, and both times she said something different, so
I'm not sure what is correct, but I'll try and recollect it all for
you.
The Haka Pei (literally "to do
sledding") is an ancient sport designed to test the courage of the
competitors. During the time in their history where famine was prominent,
the sport was discontinued. It was resurrected in either 1885 or 1985
(that's where the announcer said two different things, so I don't know which one
is correct...I'm leaning towards 1985). The men who compete in this sport
paint themselves with designs sacred to them and wear traditional attire (a
"hami" - much like a loincloth but without the flaps to cover the
front and back).
The sled, or "Pei" in Rapanui, is
actually two banana tree trunks tied together. The competitor lies down on
his back on the sled with his feet facing downhill. Basically, whoever
makes it to the bottom of the hill fastest is the winner.
There were 8 competitors this year, and in
another comic twist, they all named their sleds! I really don't know why,
because it's not like they keep them after the event is over.
The grass was a bit longer this year than it
was last year, which was better because the longer the grass, the faster the
ride. But, that also means the ride is more dangerous. I took some
video of some of the rides, but as always, I missed the best one. One of
the local girls who was in our group became fascinated with my camera, and very
nearly ripped it out of my hands. I'm very protective of my expensive
things, but at the same time I don't want to appear rude to people by not
letting them see it, so I let her look at it for a bit. She then asked if
she could take a picture...so I let her. But as usual, my timing was off
because that particular ride happened to be the best of the day and here was
someone else taking an amateur picture with my camera.
Why was that ride "the one to
see"? Because instead of lying straight like everyone else, this
competitor raised his legs to the sky, making the sled go faster and get a
little bit of air time whenever he hit bumps on the trail down. I don't
know who won, because we didn't stick around to find out, but I suspect it was
him. Style doesn't count for anything in the judging, but his legs
reaching towards the sky did make him go faster...
After that we went to Anakena to take a dip
in the sea, but it turns out that everyone else had the same idea. When we
got there the beach was waaay too crowded, so we only stayed about 20 minutes
before heading back towards town. On the way we stopped for a guy who
flagged us down along the road. He and his friends were tourists on
bicycles looking for the Haka Pei competition...poor guys! They were at
the site too...just an hour too late.
There was another competition to see - a
marathon of sorts. As it turns out, there is a team of men who run with
two bunches of bananas connected by a string slung over their shoulders.
The bunches of bananas are passed from one man to the next (like the baton in
races), and together they finish the trail. I don't really think this
could be called a competition, though, because there was only one team.
Really, I'm not sure why they did it...
No more competitions tonight, but there was a
short concert down at the stage. We didn't go. I was drained from
the sun and R. Duckie was drained from working all day.
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Monday, February 9, 2004 -
Swimming competition today. I didn't go to watch, but I had a great view
from my house. I took some landscape pictures...but I didn't go down to
see who won.
Basically, a boat takes the competitors about
500 yards off shore and drops them off, and they must swim back in. Even
though it's not a long distance, it can be difficult depending on how high the
surf is. And the truth of the matter is that there aren't too many people
on the island that are fit for swimming. There's lots of surfers, but take
the board out from under their bodies and they're helpless! It happens a
lot that people who are not from the island enter this competition and win,
because the people here just aren't conditioned for that kind of thing.
However, only a Rapanui person can truly win the competition, so whoever is the
first Rapanui to finish is considered the winner, regardless of whether or not
he/she was the first person in. They have men's and women's
competitions.
Tonight at the stage (Hanga Pokopoko) they
continued with the dance and singing groups. The dance groups, "Conjunto",
were the young kids then the teenagers. The night started with the young
kids (soooo cute!), and then saved the teenaged groups for last. In
between was filled with mostly the "dress" competition. I say
"dress" loosely, as I have no better word for it. What it was is
the two candidates coming on stage 4 separate times, each time with a different
outfit made of natural materials, and they have to show off the outfit and
explain what each part of it is made of in the Rapanui language. Sometimes
they also chose to explain it in Spanish. Here's how it goes:
The first outfits they come out in were made
of Mahute, which is the ancient name for the material made when the bark of a
certain tree is pressed/flattened. (It is named Mahute, I think, because
that was the name of the plant it was made from.) Basically it's like kapa
or tapa for Hawaiians. Each candidate came out, walked around the stage
showing off the outfit, then explained everything that was on it. For
example, if her crown was made of mahute but had feather adornments, that's what
she said. Simple. After all was explained, she then took off the
skirt so that everyone could see it in it's entirety, as sometimes the belt of
the skirt is the most decorative part of the outfit. Under the skirt she
was wearing a "hami" (ancient word for panty, in this case), that was
also made of the same material as the outfit.
The second outfits were made of Huluhulu, or
feathers. The third outfits were made of Cacaca, which is banana tree
bark. The last outfits were made of Pipi, or shells.
Now, some may have found this endless
parading boring, but I was so impressed with the outfits! It's amazing
what talent and creativity can produce! I've got pictures of each outfit,
but haven't had time to sort through them yet. I'll get a slideshow up
soon.
After the dress show, there was the
continuation of another contest that took place earlier in the week. It
was another sort of group singing, but this time the young people. I don't
know what the age cut off for this one is, but they weren't all that
young. I'd say maybe 25 and under...? I knew quite a few of the
people in Tavake's group, and I know some of them are over 20...
They came out in nice, matching outfits
(modern but simple), sat on their knees and sang a couple of songs, their only
accompaniment being two rocks that one member of the group would hit together to
keep time. It was nice and quite peaceful compared to most Rapanui
performances. In this particular event, someone from the group gets up
during the song and dances around with a prop that pertains to that part of the
song, just like the competition last Saturday. In Tavake's group (which, I
have to say, was MUCH better than Lidia's!), there was a guy with fish, and
another guy with a reed mat. The guy with the mat was our friend Marquito,
and he did a great job acting the part out! I so wanted to get a picture
of him!
But, I unfortunately couldn't get pictures of
this one because some fat photographer sat right in my view line, and I couldn't
get my camera view around him.
They also read out the cumulative scores last
night, and although the competition is close, it seems that Lidia Haoa Tepihe
will be the big winner. She's got enough points over Tavake that Tavake
probably won't be able to catch up before the end.
There is a small group in town from Aotearoa
(New Zealand), so they also did a small thing last night on the stage.
When I say small, I mean small...there were only 5 people.
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Tuesday, February 10, 2004 -
Karikari performed on the Tapati stage tonight. I've seen their show
already, but seeing it on the stage is a whole different experience. And
then there's the fact that I could never get tired of seeing their show...they
love what they do, and it shows. No matter how many times they do it, they
still have so much energy - so much life! It amazes me over and over
again.
In fact, I was surprised to see what a big
crowd turned out to see the show. Lots of locals! You know it must
be good when the locals come out to see something they've already seen a hundred
times...
Because this was a special show, they had a
few more dancers than usual as well. There were a couple of new dancers as
well as some past dancers that hadn't been dancing recently. I was again
too far back to get any truly great pictures, but I took a chance and somehow
(by the grace of God?) managed to get one really great photo. It is in
between two shoulders, but the subject is excellent.
I left after the show was over. There
was another competition tonight in which actors recreate ancient legends.
The idea itself is incredibly interesting, but since the entire thing was in
Rapanui and because they don't explain the legend first (or after), it can make
one who does not speak that language feel somewhat excluded...
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Wednesday, February 11, 2004 -
Rest. We all need it.
Thursday, February 12, 2004 -
There was a show at the stage tonight but no competitions. I didn't go...I
could hear everything perfectly from my house, and I figured if anything
interesting started to happen I would head on out, but nothing
happened.
First they had a local group called Manaroa
play. After that another local artist named Mito did a set. Then
they brought out another local artist, I think his name was Ika Araki, who
apparently plays at some of the restaurants here. He only sang one song,
and he sounded a lot like Bob Dylan, so I couldn't understand why they wanted
him to play. The entire show was a little over an hour long.
Friday the 13th, February 2004 -
Parade Day! This is probably the only event that rivals the Haka Pei
during this festival. It has been described as the Rapanui version of
Carnivale. Anyone and everyone can participate, and they do! All you
need to do is show up and get yourself painted. You can wear as much or as
little as you want...and most people choose to go with little. I have
documented proof of all the bare breasts and butts this year.
Basically you choose a candidate, then you
get dressed up and walk in the parade for her. At the beginning of the
parade route there is a section where everyone must pass single file so they can
be counted. Whichever candidate has more people wins this particular
competition. Some people get counted then dismiss themselves from the
parade itself. Lots of tourists get painted and participate for the
novelty of it, all the while taking pictures or video.
I danced last year, and honestly, I didn't
enjoy it that much, so I decided not to do it this year...and everyone kept
asking me why! After a while I realized that I probably should have at
least gotten painted and counted...
I took so many pictures that the battery in
my camera died. I didn't get many pictures of Lidia's group, however,
because the honest truth is that I thought Tavake's group was more fun. I
walked along side them for about half the parade, until my camera died, because
at that point I rushed home to recharge the battery, with the futile hope
that it would be charged by the time the parade ended. (How
naive...!)
The parade ends at the soccer field, which is
about a 2 minute walk from my house, so I thought I might be able to make it
with the battery...but fate was not so kind this time. My slipper broke on
the way home so I had to stop by the house anyway to change it, and the battery
was nowhere near done. So I went to the show with the intent of just
watching.
At the end of the parade each candidates
dance groups once again perform - for the last time before the end of the
festival. Lidia's groups went first, starting with the young children,
then the teenagers followed by the adults. After that Tavake's groups
performed.
This was the second time that I had seen
these performances, and I have to say that Tavake's group was a lot better this
time around. In fact, their performance overall was absolutely
excellent! I don't even have the words to describe how good it was!
She deserves to win just from this.
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Valentine's Day, 2004 - Tonight was
the coronation. This is my third Tapati festival, yet this is the first
time I've seen the coronation. I was sorry that I couldn't get a better
seat. I had to sit far back enough that I could see everything just fine,
but much too far for pictures. So I don't have any...sorry.
The event didn't last very long. It
started with a speech by the reigning Queen of Tapati 2003, Gina Pakarati Paté
along with a ceremonial eating of food from an umu (underground oven) by her and
the Mayor, Petero Edmunds Paoa. Next another local group named Varua
played a short set. They were really good! I looked around me and as
soon as the music started, I found myself in the middle of what had become a
large crowd. Minutes earlier I was in the back of said
crowd...
After that the Mayor came out and gave a very
passionate speech, completely in Rapanui. It was rather long, however, so
I was a bit disappointed when he decided to repeat the e n t i r e
thing in Spanish. But people applauded wholeheartedly for both parts, and
I heard positive comments around me in some Spanish that I could understand, so
I guess he was saying something good. He didn't repeat it in English,
although he speaks it fluently. I would have liked to understand, but was
glad because it was pretty long.
Finally, after enough stalling, the winner
was announced. To no one's surprise, it was Lidia. The reigning
Queen crowned the new one, and congratulations were given. Then the
winner's dance group immediately proceeded on stage and danced their dance for
the fourth time during the festival. The non-winner, Tavake, was a very
good sport about it and danced with Lidia and her group for the first
song.
Some people say that the whole thing is fixed
from the beginning... Some say that there's so much money involved that
they set up the winner long before the festival begins. I don't
know. If it is set up, then Lidia is a pretty good actor, because she
seemed really surprised.
Tavake put up a good fight, I think.
She didn't lose by that much...it was a close race. And in the end I was
actually disappointed to see that she lost. I found her group to be a
whole lot more fun. If I had participated this year, I would have
preferred to support her.
The dancing was immediately followed by a
fireworks show. I think that's the closest I've ever seen fireworks...they
seemed to be right behind the stage! That made it all the more
exciting.
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Sunday, February 15, 2004 - The
traditional coronation took place tonight. It is usually held at Tahai,
but for some strange reason they did it at the stage tonight. The crowd
wasn't very big, so I got a pretty good seat...but again I was too far back to
get any good pictures. This was also the first traditional coronation I've
seen.
A group calling themselves "Te Pito O Te
Henua" came out and escorted the new Queen to her throne. Her
attendants then sat around her and watched the show like the rest of us.
The group then proceeded to perform a series of traditional chants accompanied
by dancing. It was mostly men...there were about 4 women and they stayed
in the back the entire time.
It was an interesting show in that they
performed songs that I've never heard before. After you spend some time
here you begin to recognize the various songs...but these were different.
I enjoyed it.
After that another local artist came out to
play, named Sopsy. It is one guy with an old keyboard... He's not
that interesting to listen to, so I found it incredibly strange that they would
choose to end the entire festival with him. Maybe he came cheap...
Anyway, because of that, I left early, even though it was the last possible
night to enjoy the social life of the Hare Mauku.
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Monday, February 16, 2004 - I did a
lot of walking today. I went to visit my friend Tito, who is a tattoo
artist. I have a Hawaiian band placed vertically along the side of my
calf, and he's been wanting to continue it for the longest time. Today I
finally let him draw. I was thinking of getting another tattoo eventually,
but haven't really given it much thought yet. It hasn't been the right
time. But after seeing what he drew on my leg, I feel inspired. I
spent much of the evening creating a Hawaiian design for myself. I hope to
work with Tito more to add a Rapanui portion to the total design.
I made a lot of house calls today as
well. I went to visit the mother of my ex-boyfriend here. She's
always taken good care of me and was very happy to see me. And of course
everyone had a lot to say about my new non-tattoo... I spent a couple of
hours conversing with her about nearly everything, until she had to go to
work. I then proceeded to another friend's house.
I have a friend who is an excellent painter,
and I have an idea for a project that I'd like to work on with him. I was
waiting until the Tapati was finished, however, because there is much call for
artists during the festival. But as luck would have it, he wasn't
home. Because the Tapati had finished last night, he was out today helping
to break down the stage that he had helped create. So I stayed a bit and
talked with his mother. She is such a nice woman, and always remembers me
whenever I visit, so whenever I come here I remember to bring some chocolates
for her. She invited me to lunch for tomorrow.
After that I went down to the festival
grounds to see if I could catch my artist friend. He was working, so we
only spoke briefly. I didn't have much else to do, so I ended up hanging
out with the cousin of one of my friends. We were both incredibly bored,
so we had one of those conversations that people have in such situations - a lot
of talk about nothing in particular. I finally left when it began to
rain.
I went back home for a little while, just to
wait out the rain. After being out and about all day, I didn't want to
stay indoors again, so soon after I went out again. I went to visit yet
another friend - a woman who is sort of like a mother to me. We conversed
for about 2 hours and shared some ice cream, until I had to rush off to the
grocery store before it closed. She accompanied me, just because it was a
nice walk.
So I spent nearly the entire day speaking
Spanish! Considering how limited my skills are, I think I did pretty
good. Although I couldn't possibly repeat what anyone said to me, I
understood most of it...or at least I understood the gist of the story. I
feel good now. And tired.
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Tuesday, February 17, 2004 - I am so
excited now at the thought of my new tattoo, so the first thing I did today was
head over to Tito's "office" to show him my draft. He was on his
way out, but spent about 10 minutes with me first. I think he's excited
that I finally decided to do it! And he loves my design.
Hawaiian designs are very different from
Rapanui designs. Rapanui designs look more Marquesan and also somewhat
Tahitian - a little more flowing, with different motifs inserted within the
design itself, whereas Hawaiian designs tend to be much more geometric and
balanced. But because they're so different, other Polynesian artists
(especially here) tend to like the look of them. The Hawaiian band on my
leg is mostly what made people here remember me in the first place.
I told him I'd come back tomorrow so we can
discuss it more. I'm excited now.
After that I headed back over to the house of
my artist friend. When I went there yesterday, his mother invited me to
have lunch with them today. He wasn't there, unfortunately. My
artist friend is best friends with my ex-boyfriend (which is how we met).
As it turns out, they both went to my ex's mother's house today to help build a
bar for her new restaurant. But it was ok...I talked with his sister and
had lunch with his family. They're all super nice, and I learned a lot
from them.
While I was there it started to rain, and I
had to wait to leave. I felt uncomfortable, as if I was overstaying my
welcome, but everyone here knows that you shouldn't go walking in the
rain. Finally it let up and became only a drizzle, so I decided to leave,
but just then the father came home with the car, so my friend's brother drove me
home. It was coincidentally perfect in timing.
The mother of the family is a Paoa by name,
so this brother that was driving me had a tattoo of a paoa (a wooden staff used
as a weapon here in ancient times), with the word "paoa" under
it. I told him that was a great tattoo, and a great name. That's
when he told me that over here, it is not considered a great name. In
ancient times, the Paoa family were sort of the police of the area, but they
abused their power, so today that name is somewhat looked down upon. I
told him that it's not so in Hawai`i... In Hawai`i that family is very
much respected, partly because of Duke Kahanamoku, who was also a Paoa.
The name itself has a lot of mana (spiritual power) simply because it is a name
still found all throughout Polynesia. It shows that we're all truly
family.
I don't know if what I said made him think or
not, but at least I found his take on it very interesting.
I also learned today that the word "moana"
in Rapanui means "blue." (I've asked 2 different people so far,
and they both told me that's it's only meaning.) I had always assumed that
it meant "ocean", because that's what it means in Hawai`i. The
first time I came here I remember seeing that word and assuming it's
meaning...and all this time I was wrong! That is an eye-opener. What
else have I assumed that isn't correct...?
It rained a lot today, so I spent the rest of
the day updating this website and continuing with my tattoo design. I
can't wait until tomorrow!
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Wednesday, February 18, 2004 - I
moved to another house first thing this morning. My new family is so nice,
and they're accustomed to sitting around a table for 3 meals each day. My
family was never one to do that, and at the other house that I had been staying,
I barely ate anything all day simply due to lack of any real food in the place
until dinner time came around. Needless to say, I ended the day
overwhelmingly satisfied.
After settling in, we went to the country for
a few hours with some friends of theirs. My new family
doesn't speak any English, so this is probably my best opportunity to practice
my Spanish. Their friends didn't speak any English either, so it was an
interesting trip for me. I barely spoke (although that's not unusual at
all, even in English!), and mostly tried my best to understand the conversations
constantly going on around me. I had become accustomed to listening to the
people that I knew, but this other family was new to me, so I have to admit that
I didn't understand much.
We found a really nice little swimming hole
which the father of the other family, Claudio, termed "the jacuzzi".
It was deep and about the size of an actual jacuzzi, but was warm enough because
it didn't get waves too often. But when the waves did come, they had to be
super strong to make it all the way in there, so everyone had to be careful when
the whitewash came into our little jacuzzi.
The men had intended to do a lot of fishing,
but they quickly abandoned that idea and spent most of their time in the jacuzzi.
They tried fishing again later, but the only one with any success was the 8 year
old son of this other family...and he kept catching fish relative to his own
size, not really understanding that they were too small to be caught. So
at the end of the day we ended up with about 6 fish, but none big enough to
eat.
The largest of the lot was the only one
caught by an adult...Claudio caught it, and even it was barely big enough for
eating.
But the most comical thing to occur was the
great "losing of the soda". Claudio had initially put our two
bottles of soda into a small hole at the water's edge to keep them cold.
But then no one decided to watch over them... So when a big set of waves
came, chasing everyone out of the jacuzzi, the ocean decided to take our sodas
as payment. So here we were with only child-size fish to eat and nothing
to drink except a small box of wine...along with 3 children and 5 adults.
Out of the 5 adults, 3 didn't drink wine.
The men and the two boys (7 and 8 years old)
proceeded to search the surrounding waters in a vain attempt to find the sodas,
but everyone departed the waters in defeat. The mother of the other
family, Maria, then tried also, but again she did not find them. In then
end, one of the boys climbed back up the cliff to where our car was and asked a
couple that was camping up there if we could have some water, while we ate the
hot dogs that our companions had brought in case we didn't catch any
fish.
So all in all it was a comical outing.
These were great, easy-going people, so many jokes were made about the losing of
the soda, but no one seemed to really be upset about it. We did, however,
have to cut the trip short and go back home early because everyone was
thirsty...
For me, it was great just to get away from
town! Finally!!!!!
Because of this outing, I didn't get to meet
with Tito about my tattoo. I'll have to do that tomorrow.
I also spent about 45 minutes on the internet
today trying to upload this website, but I was unsuccessful for the second
time. I can connect with my computer at an internet cafe here, but the one
dial-up internet connection is shared between maybe 8 computers, so I've never
been able to update my website from there. I think the file is too
big... So I'm not sure now if I'll ever be able to publish my updates
while I'm here. It's disappointing, because the whole point of this was to
share what's going on with my friends while it's happening...
One last thing - I had decided a couple of
weeks ago that I had to cut the Chile portion of my trip due to lack of
sufficient finances, but during one of my many visits the other day I was
invited (all expenses paid) to go to the island of Chiloe, off the coast of the
main Chilean continent, with the family of my ex-boyfriend. So this
morning I told them that I would indeed like to go if it can be arranged.
So they're going to try and get tickets for the same flight as me, and we can
spend 2 weeks there. We'll see how it all turns out. :)
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Thursday, February 19, 2004 - I
awoke quite comfortably in my new house. All in all, I'm glad I'm
here. The amenities are light years better than the other place - I've got
a real bathroom, for one, with a bathtub and a shower curtain, towel hangers, a
toilet, a sink and everything, especially HOT WATER! (The other place had
a shower inside with only cold water and a toilet outside, and the area was
being refurbished so we hadn't had a working toilet for about a week.)
I've got a queen sized bed all to myself, three meals a day and someone who does
my laundry for me. (I insisted that she didn't have to, but she took it
anyway.) So I've definitely got no complaints.
However, it rained a lot today so there
really wasn't anything to do. My matron and I sat and watched one of the
soap operas on TV for a while (everyone on the island is following it...I guess
that's what happens when there's only one channel to watch). I spent the
rest of the day reading.
At around 7:00 tonight the sun finally came
out a bit and I, feeling antsy from not doing anything all day, went for a
walk. (The sun doesn't set until about 9:15 right now...) I ended up
all the way across town at a friends house, and everyone in the family was
there. I sat and visited with them for a while, and ended up having dinner
there. It had been a while since we had all been able to chat (they're
really busy during the summers), so it was great being able to spend time with
them.
But the best part of the whole situation was
that, with all the practice I've been getting recently with my new family, I was
able to understand nearly everything that was being said in Spanish! This
group of friends all speak English except for the mother of the family, so all
of their conversations are incredibly interesting to listen to because they all
switch between English, Spanish and Rapanui (depending on who the comment is
being directed at), and I usually only understand the English portion.
That has always been unfortunate, because the mother has interesting stories to
tell...but tonight I understood almost all of what she said! I was so
happy! I left the house feeling quite fulfilled, and I was so excited when
I got home and told my matron about my improvement.
I spoke with my ex-boyfriend's mother today
and found out that if I go to Chiloe with them, I would have to pay for an
airline ticket from Santiago to Concepcion. Given my present financial
state, that is impossible, so it looks like my tour of Chile is officially off
for this year. But she said that we could plan for next
year...
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Friday, February 20, 2004 - It
started out as a nice day but as I was getting ready to leave the house the
clouds rolled in. Nevertheless, I headed across the street to the library
to use the free internet connection there, and although the connection was as
slow as molasses (aaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhh!) I was
able to do everything I needed to get done. I even saw a friend at the
library who I've been wanting to meet with for a while, but he's been pretty
busy lately, so we made a date to get together later at his house.
After that I went to the LanChile office to
change my ticket. Because I've had to cut the Chile portion of my trip
out, there's really no point in staying here that much longer. Besides,
the reason for dropping my tour of Chile was due to serious lack of finances, so
it makes more sense to go home early and get back to work as soon as I
can. I made the necessary changes, but the office here has to confirm all
the changes with the main office in Santiago (in Chile), so I have to go back to
confirm everything on Monday. If all works out as planned, I'll arrive
home on either March 4th or 5th...nearly 2 months earlier than
planned.
I spent most of the remaining part of the day
close to my house because of the rain, but I didn't want to spend time inside if
I didn't have to, so I kept a book with me and sat on a nearby bench, and
whenever the rain came I sought cover. It was a good plan, and worked out
well. Late in the afternoon (when the rain seemed at a halt) I headed up
to my friend's house to f i n a l l y meet with him regarding an art
project that I'd like to work on with him. I originally told him about
this idea 4 years ago, but only today did he and I finally speak seriously about
it. He's going to work on it during his spare time over the next year, and
next year we'll wrap it up together.
Later this evening I started showing my
matron the various pictures contained in my computer, and from there we pretty
much took off on every possible tangent as far as what you can do with a
computer. We finally ended up watching a DVD. I had planned to go
out tonight, but by the time the movie ended it was 1:30 and the local
restaurants usually close around 2:00 (because by that time everyone heads over
to the disco), so there was no point by then in me going out. Instead my
matron and I had a long, deep conversation (which in itself is interesting
considering my limited Spanish skills and her non-existent English skills...for
some reason, we just understand each other well). Once again, I ended the
day feeling fulfilled.
Just a small side note here: Everyone
is under the assumption that I'm coming back next year. I guess I can
understand why...I mean, I was just here last year, wasn't I? But now I
also have plans that call for me to be here next year anyway, such as a trip to
Chiloe on the continent, and this art project to complete, so I guess there's
good reason for me to return. I just hadn't thought about it, that's
all. But this is a good opportunity for anyone who wants to come back with
me!!!!! (Big hint to all my friends!)
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Saturday, February 21, 2004 - I woke
up as late as possible this morning, then got ready and headed to my ex's
family's house for lunch. "Mama" had told me the day before to
come over at 12:00, but I know how Rapanui people tell time, so I didn't make
all that great of an effort to be there at noon. However, I still arrived there
at around 12:10...just as she and her husband were heading out to the store to
buy things for our lunch. It looks like I was still too early
according to the Polynesian clock.
So I waited around the house for them to come
back (which wasn't a big deal since I had lived there for 6 months back in
2000), then sat and talked with the both of them while "mama" was
preparing lunch. It was a nice, leisurely afternoon. Lunch (when it
finally came) was really good, and we all spent more leisurely time talking
again after it. In the end I spent about 4 hours there. The only
reason I left was because "mama" had to go to work.
While I was there I spoke with my
ex-boyfriend's cousin, whom I hadn't seen since 2000. He used to hang out
with my boyfriend and I when I first moved here, and I liked him a lot.
He was always very gentlemanly and a lot of fun, but during that time
he moved to Tahiti to try and find a better life for himself, and I hadn't seen
him since. He wasn't here last year when I came...so I was truly happy to
see him today! We chatted a little bit, but he has a wife and a little
girl now and couldn't stay away from the house for too long. I hope I get
to see him again before I leave.
I also spent a bit of time chatting with my
ex's brother. He's planning a trip to Hawai`i soon...which he says is set,
yet everyone else seems to think that it's just a dream he happens to be talking
about out loud.
I'm not sure, but I gave him my addresses anyway.
I borrowed a bicycle from my current family's
stock of bicycles for today's excursion. On the way to lunch, some of the
roads are a bit uphill, and it's been forever since I rode a bike, so I couldn't
make it! At one point I had to get off and walk the bike, even though the
slope wasn't all that intimidating. And although the rest of the path
after that little uphill portion was straight, I still had to push myself to
make it all the way there. By the time I arrived at the house, my entire
body was shaking from the unusual amount of exercise. It was
great!
By the time I left I had been overwhelmingly
rested, so I was more than ready for the ride! The path was straight,
again, which meant that I could cruise a lot, and once I turned onto the main
street it was mostly downhill (that slight slope that I didn't quite conquer on
my way up!), so that was a lot of fun! When I reached my house I felt
completely exhilarated! I've got to do that more often!
The rest of the day was very nice - the first
completely nice day in a while, so I tried to go out and enjoy it. After I
came down from my bicycle high, however, I felt very tired. I went for a
short walk, then came back to the house and worked on pursuits of a more mental
nature. Then I hung around our front porch area and had some quality time
with one of the cats. Later, as dusk fell, I had some quality time with my
other surrogate mom, the matron of this household. All in all, it was a
nice day.
Oh...and for the last 3 days I've been trying
to get in touch with Tito about my tattoo, but he's been incredibly difficult to
find... How in the world could one hide on an island this
small?
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Sunday, February 22, 2004 - If it
wasn't for this daily journal, I would have no idea what day it
is...
Today was another perfect day...the kind that
truly tempts you outside to enjoy it. However, it was also one of those
leisurely days where you really don't have to do anything at all to enjoy
it.
I awoke to a beautiful day shining through
the room windows. I had a great shower (you come to really appreciate
showers after not having a good one for over a month), then packed a bag to go
out for the day. But I had no idea what I planned to do, so I wasn't in
any rush to go outside.
I ended up having a very leisurely brunch (it
was already pretty late) with my matron as we conversed and such. Our
conversation continued into other subjects that required the use of language
books. Since she wants to learn English and I need to improve my Spanish,
we've been helping each other out a bit during our many hours of free
time. Before we knew it, hours had passed.
This family has 4 cats. 3 of the cats
are the children of the other. That mother cat just recently had more
kittens, and they're still so young that they can't even open their eyes
yet. I had been afraid to go and look at them because I know that mothers
are very picky about their babies, and if you touch them, the mother won't care
for the kitten anymore...but I found out today that this mother isn't like
that! We can touch all the kittens, and it doesn't stop her from caring
for them. So I decided to play with them today.
I carried the 4 of them from the front area
to the backyard, which wasn't easy because although they're still small, my arms
are not big enough to comfortably carry 4 at once, but I somehow made it.
They were crying as I carried them so the mother rushed to my side, but she
didn't mind at all what I was doing. I put them down in the grass in a
shady spot, and the mother quickly sat down with them allowing them to
feed. She encouraged my petting, and even helped out when I picked one up
out of the litter to hold it. It cried, of course, so I would hold it
close so the mother could touch it, but the kittens never stopped crying until I
put it back down with the others.
One of the kittens has a cold, so I decided
to move them over to a sunny spot, which immediately turned out to be a
mistake. The mother instantly picked one up and moved it back to their
hiding place in the front. We decided to help her out and move the other
three. So that ended my time with the kittens.
It was such a nice day, though, that we moved
the kitchen table to the backyard and had a barbecue. :)
The son of this family went camping, but was
due back later today. My matron had placed her bed comforter in the
bathtub to wash it later, but hadn't done it yet...and if she wanted to do it
today, then it had to be done before the son came back because he would
definitely want to shower! So she and I took on the task. It took
most of the remaining afternoon.
The washing machines here aren't big enough
to handle things like that, so she must always wash the comforter by hand...or
rather I should say, by foot. She put the comforter in the bathtub then
filled it up with water and laundry detergent. Then we got inside and
stomped on it, like stomping grapes to make wine. It was actually kind of
fun!
But there are many phases to this work.
We drained the soapy water then refilled it with water and sprayed Clorox here
and there as we stomped again. That water was drained then refilled with
water mixed with vinegar. We stomped again. The water was again
drained and refilled, this time with fabric softener. We stomped on it one
last time to make sure the fabric softener got into the comforter. Then we
drained the water for the last time and tried to squeeze as much out of it as we
could, then we left it there for the father of the family to carry out to the
clothesline in the backyard. It was certainly a lot of exercise just to
wash a comforter...but it was kind of fun too. My matron and I had the
kind of stupid conversations that you end up having during chores such as
that. (I still find it incredibly interesting that I can understand jokes
in Spanish!)
The father of the family owns a video rental
store, so tonight we watched a movie. Living with a family that owns a
video store is like a dream come to life for me. I love movies!
So in the end, I never actually went out
today...but nonetheless, it was such a beautiful day!
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Monday, February 23, 2004 - I guess
yesterday was so peaceful for me that I slept better last night than I have in a
long time. I slept so deeply, and didn't even hear the chickens crowing in
the night. It was great!
I woke up late, of course. The first
time since I've been in this house. I took my time getting ready, even
though I had a few errands in mind. I finally got out and on my way around
12:30.
I went to the LanChile office to see if
the changes I wanted to make with my ticket were confirmed or not, but I didn't
even have to go inside. The man who had helped me last week saw me walking
up and came outside to meet me. He said he hadn't heard back from the
Santiago office yet, and that he would call the house when he does.
From there I went to (Tattoo) Tito's
house. Finally, he was home and his office was open! There were
already about 7 people there, all either waiting or deciding. I was in no
rush, so I just sat myself down and waited. When he had a moment, he
talked with me. And when all his clients were taken care of for the day,
it was my turn.
I showed him the latest draft of my design,
and he proceeded to draw everything onto my leg. It was now or never...so
I did it! My leg is now very sufficiently tattooed. And OH MY GOD
did it hurt!!!!! All of my previous tattoos are on the bottom portions of
my legs, so those really weren't that bad. But this newest one starts at
the top of my hip! I didn't cry, but I did have my own fingernail marks on
my arm as he drew out upper hip part of it.
Luckily he started with the upper portion,
because that turned out to hurt the most, so when he did the lower areas it was
bearable in comparison. And he works very quickly too, so it only took
about an hour. I was more than thankful for that!
I hung out at his place for a while, and by
the time I finally left, it was a little after 6 p.m. I had spent nearly
the entire day there! I went back to the house, where I realized that I
was hungry, so I had a nice lunch. I couldn't move well because of the
pain from the upper part of the tattoo, but I didn't want to rest. (I
don't like to rest during the day because then I won't sleep at night, although
everyone here takes naps.) Instead I worked up the energy to take a walk
down to the beach. By this time it was about 7:30.
I ran into a friend of mine there. She
is Rapa Nui but married an American and lives in California now, but she usually
comes back here for the summers. She was about to teach an exercise class
at 8:00 and invited me to join them. So I did. I was wearing a
swimsuit and a pareau, and still sore from my new tattoo, but what the
heck!
It was a little bit of yoga and a lot of
exercises using basic equipment like bands, a jump rope and a yoga mat. It
was a really good class, but the most entertaining thing about it was that I was
taking this class in Rapa Nui! You'd have to pay pretty well to take a
class like that at home...
So now my skin is sore from the tattoo, and
all of my muscles are sore from the exercise, but what a great day!!!
In fact, I am so happy now that I'm wondering
if the lack of confirmation to change my flight is the universe's way of telling
me to stay longer... My friend who taught the class tonight asked me why
don't I stay here longer with her. I told her it was because of the money,
which she completely understands, but what lit that little bulb in my head was
the fact that I had been asking myself that same question all day.
Geez...I had a whole 2 days of peace before
my mind had to poison itself with confusing thoughts! Shame on me!
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Tuesday, February 24, 2004 - It
rained a lot. Besides that, my muscles were super sore from the exercise
class, and the skin on the upper portion of my leg was still hurting, so I
walked around all day like an old lady. I did manage to take a walk later
in the day, when the sun broke through the clouds for a short spell. I
knew it would be best for my muscles if I gave them a bit more
exercise.
Wednesday, February 25, 2004 - I
must have been really out of shape because I was still hurting today from the
exercise class. There was another one tonight, but I didn't go because I
didn't think I could handle it.
There was a sort-of concert tonight across
the street at the school. It was a girl from Chile who is on the verge of
becoming very famous, but she's known over here because of a TV show called
"Rojo", which is a lot like our version of American Idol. A
local artist named Mito was also playing with her for the concert, and the emcee
was a model named Hotu Iti, who is Rapanui and therefore pretty much comes back
here every summer. All the Chilean touristas go crazy when they see him
walking around here... I have to admit, he is quite
attractive.
Anyway, the concert only lasted a little over
an hour, and it was mostly children with their parents, but I enjoyed it
anyway. This girl, Daniela Castillo, has got a great voice!
Thursday, February 26, 2004 - I
could finally walk again! But it wasn't a nice day, so I spent most of it
making a picture CD for a friend of mine, and later in the afternoon when the
sky cleared up I went to deliver it. She only had about an hour before she
had to go to work, but we were able to catch up on a lot within that time.
:)
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Friday, February 27, 2004 - I
finally confirmed my flight...I couldn't get out earlier. I guess I'm
meant to stay here a bit longer for some reason.
Saturday, February 28, 2004 - My
matron and I went for a nice long walk this afternoon and found a beautiful
little pool, so we managed to climb down to it and I bathed in it for a
bit. It was a really hot day, and I wanted to "wash" my new
tattoo. It's pretty much healed now, just a bit scruffy looking from the
dead skin peeling away.
I finally went out tonight. I'm not
much of a night-life person, so during this entire trip I have not yet gone
out. Tonight was the first time, AND it's also the first time that I've
gone out since I broke up with my boyfriend here. I went out alone, but I
didn't stay solo for long...especially once all my friends found out that I am
no longer attached. All of a sudden I had a whole list of guys willing to
"be my friend."
I should mention that the men here are very
aggressive, and take advantage of ANY opportunity that presents
itself...
Luckily I've been here enough times that I
know a lot of people and I know how to handle the guys, so I wasn't in any
trouble or anything. I went to the first place, a restaurant with live
music, and it was packed. The music ended around 3 a.m., and at that time
everyone migrated over to the disco. Groups tend to separate once at the
disco because everyone in there knows each other, so I found myself roaming
around, with no real home base. I danced a bit, then when I didn't see
anyone within site to hang with, I left. I felt it best to leave early
anyway, while everyone was still busy dancing, because that way I was guaranteed
to leave alone. (I didn't want anyone to try and accompany
me...)
But, without giving away any details, let me
just say that it was an interesting night. And it feels good to be single
again.
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Sunday, February 29, 2004 - I
spent the afternoon with a girlfriend of mine. She's got kids, but they
were all at the beach so she was enjoying a much needed rest when I found
her. We talked for a few hours, then the kids came home. After that
we went out to find her husband who had gone fishing earlier. He was still
fishing, so she tried a couple of times, and as it turned out, she was good
luck. Thanks to her the total catch for the day was doubled.
After that we went back to the house and,
most ironically, all ate pizza for dinner. It was great time.
:)
Monday, March 1, 2004 - I went
walking a bit today. It was sunny and hot. Tonight we had a party at
the house because the son of the family that I'm staying with is leaving
tomorrow to go back to school on the continent. He had all his friends
over, then around 1:30 a.m. they all went out together.
My girlfriend from Hawai`i finally called
me! I didn't have a phone at the house I was staying at before, but as
soon as I moved to this new house I emailed her to give her the number.
But for some reason she hasn't been able to get through until today. So we
talked for a couple of hours and I caught her up on everything that's going on
over here. The next time she calls she's got to catch me up on everything
that's going on with her. There was just too much to share everything in
one conversation!
Tuesday, March 2, 2004 - We went
to the airport today to see off a family member. Pretty much everyone was
at the airport...the flight was full of kids returning to school. This was
actually the flight that I tried to get on but couldn't, and after being at the
airport I could see why. We spent about 2 hours there, then finally
returned home after everyone boarded.
Being at the airport in Rapa Nui is always an
interesting experience...I just can't explain it.
There's one thing I just have to
mention. I saw a father kissing his son goodbye, on the lips. This
father is a man's man - he was in the navy and is kind of gruff in his behavior,
yet here he was kissing his adult son on the lips. I thought that was so
great! You'd never see that in the United States. American men are
way too homophobic to show that kind of emotion, even to their own
offspring. I think it's a shame that these men can't be more comfortable
with themselves and their emotions, and can't even kiss their own sons when they
want to. That's just my two cents about the subject.
It was a super nice day, so after lunch I
went for a walk. I laid out at the beach for about a half hour, but left
once I got thirsty. All in all it was a very lazy kind of day, without a
whole lot to do after the excitement of the airport.
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Wednesday, March 3, 2004 - I
walked across town twice today. I wanted to visit certain friends, but I
was never able to find them at home. I guess luck was not with me
today. Wednesday's here are sort of dead...it's the middle of the week,
and everyone is resting from all the partying they did over the weekend and all
the working they did on Monday and Tuesday. Then everyone starts to gear
up for the weekend again starting Thursday. It's kind of strange, but that
just seems to be the way things turn out.
Today was super hot and sunny...the only
thing really to do was go to the beach, but the tiny little beach here in town
is so crowded that I don't enjoy it much. At the entrance to the water
most of the young boys just learning how to boogie board are playing around, so
you have to kind of wait around for an opening if you want to go for a
swim. There's no real sandy part to speak of, and if you lay on the grass
you have to deal with the ants that sooner or later bite you where you don't
want to be bitten. So I chose not to hang at the beach today.
However, I did find out later in the day that
I can sunbathe from the comfort of my own bedroom. That's a
bonus!
Thursday, March 4, 2004 - What an
ugly day! I'm spending most of it inside updating this website and making
notes on all the various projects I need to start on once I get home. In a
place like this, where most of life is enjoyed outdoors, there's not a whole lot
to do when it rains. I can just imagine how boring winters are here!
And it's not like other places where when it rains you can go to the mall or the
movies. There are no malls or theaters here! And there's only the
one TV station...
Because of our limited viewing choices,
pretty much everyone is engrossed in a Mexican soap opera that's being
broadcasted over the one TV station here, every weekday from 12:30 to
2:30. I even laugh at myself, because I'm getting into it too. But
on the plus side, I'm able to understand a lot of what they're saying now!
:) Even soap operas can be an effective teaching tool.
All the children went back to school
today. I was really surprised to see so many people out on the street at
7:00 tonight...but it was because they were all picking up their kids after
their first day back, then going to the market for dinner supplies.
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Friday, March 5, 2004 - Yucky
day again. I wrote a lot of e-mails. Went to the internet cafe
to connect, where I received an e-mail from Miss T. She's threatening me
with 'defamation of character' after noticing that I stated her name in one of
my e-mails back in 2001. (I have to call her Miss T. because if I mention
her real name again, I'm "defaming her character"...) My
feelings on the subject are this - if she doesn't want her character defamed,
she shouldn't have done the things she did in the first place. You can't
go around treating people the way she treats people and not expect anyone to
talk about what you did. (Notice I didn't say that anyone was speaking
"badly" about her. That's because whatever anyone is saying is
FACT, and therefore cannot be termed "badly".)
Let me just note here that these e-mails have
been posted for over a year now, and I have evidence that she has been to this
website and has read these e-mails at least a year ago. I think it is very
coincidental that only now she decides to 'threaten' me, after I had just seen
her here on the island and refused to talk to her.
Let me also just note here that I spoke with
others here on the island that knew her from when she was here before, and from
what they've told me, it seems as if quite a few of them didn't want anything to
do with her this time around. I suspect that she's just jealous because a
large portion of her so-called friends here are no longer her friends, while all
of my friendships are still very much intact. Or, perhaps it could be
because she saw me speaking with a very close friend of mine whom she dated
before, and wants to get back together with, but he didn't want another go with
her. Who knows? Anything's possible.
And finally, let me note this fact about the
island itself: This is a small place. Everyone knows everyone
else. And although the people here don't look like they're watching you,
they are. They know everything and they remember everything. No one
can ever get away with anything here. The people here are their own
personal judge and jury. In this case, she treated people badly here, and
that was over 4 years ago, but everyone still remembers, and trust me when I say
that conversations between people on the island will reach a lot more ears than
my little e-mail ever will.
However, because I need to protect myself
(although I feel sure that whatever I had to say about her will not affect her
character in any way...she'll destroy herself soon enough) I went and changed
all the names in my previous e-mails. Unfortunately I can't post any
changes until I get back to Hawai`i. I can't get an internet connection
strong enough to upload the file. I've tried 3 times already... So
Miss T. will just have to wait for her false vindication.
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Saturday, March 6, 2004 - Today
is gorgeous! The sun is shining strong but there's also a wonderful breeze
to accompany it. My matron and I went to the airport early this afternoon
to see someone off, but because it was such a beautiful day we decided to walk
back home instead of catching a taxi.
At that point we had to cook lunch, so we
spent the next couple of hours inside, starving. Once lunch was finally
done, we were getting ready to go for a nice walk down to our little "piscinita"
along the shore...but before we could leave, some guests arrived.
My matron has been babysitting for one of her
friends since Wednesday. This woman works at the school, so since she's
gone back to work my matron has offered to watch the baby in the afternoons,
from 2 to 7. But so far it has proven to be a very difficult job. My
matron has 3 adult children of her own, one grandchild, and is a godmother to 2
more, so she knows how to care for babies...but this infant cries non-stop from
the moment she gets here until the moment her mother comes to pick her up.
It's been stressing and tiring...and it's only been 3 days so far.
We suspect it's because the mother is a broad
woman. She's heavy and strong, like a really protective bear, and the baby
spends pretty much all of her time in her mother's arms. But my matron is
small, like me, so the baby feels insecure. We were hoping that she would
get accustomed to the change, but that hasn't happened yet.
Anyway, after 3 days of this non-stop crying,
we were all enjoying the break. But then the woman showed up, with her
entire family in tow. Mother, baby girl, 2 sons (9 and 10), husband, AND
another man who I didn't know. And they were hungry. So all of a
sudden we had to feed and water an entire family.
Now, having one or two unexpected visitors is
not a problem, but when you bring your entire family over unannounced and
expecting food, that's completely different. And especially since we were
all so tired from having to deal with that crying baby for the past 3 days, the
last people any of us wanted to see on the weekend was that baby or her mother
again! But yet she stayed for hours, and only left when the man of this
house finally told her to leave because he wanted to sleep.
Over the last couple of weeks that I've had
to get to know this woman, I've decided that I really don't like her. If
she comes over, and I happen to be working on my computer in my room, she calls
me out of my room to come and converse with her. But I really don't know
why she insists on speaking with me, because she never has anything good to
say. She calls me out of my room, then proceeds to talk only to the matron
of the house. When she does talk to me, she insults me. She calls me
"mauku" (grass, which is what they call the unwanted tourists, even
though she knows I'm Hawaiian and not like other toursits), and she calls me a
"conti" (which is what they call the people from Chile, even though
she knows I'm not from Chile), and she calls me "indiano" (meaning
Native American Indian, which I am, but she's using it in a derogatory
way). She asks me over and over again if I've gotten to know HER island,
and when I say that I have, she always acts as if whatever I've experienced is
not good enough. She asks if I've gone camping, so I say that I have, then
she asks for how long. One day, I tell her. Then she says that one
day is not good enough and that I need to go for a week. What can I
do? The family that I went with only stayed for one day...and I'm not
about to go camping by myself.
In addition to her irritatingly high and
squeaky voice (so strange for her body) and her very choppy style of speaking,
this woman is exhausting, and she obviously doesn't realize when she's being
rude. I suspect that she needs to treat me the way she does simply because
she herself does not look Rapanui at all, and probably had to put up with
a lot of crap when she was young. But instead of learning from it and
improving herself, she's just passing on that negative behavior to anyone that
she can target...such as me.
But even with that in mind, I couldn't take
much more of her, so I gladly accepted the opportunity when my matron asked me
to accompany her to the store. (She wanted to get away as well...)
We went to the store to buy a phone card, then to another store to pick up
pictures, then I went alone in search of another friend I wanted to visit while
my matron had to return to the house. She is, after all, one of the hosts
of the house.
I couldn't find my friend, but did manage to
find her husband and children at the beach, so we all chatted for a bit.
Then I returned to the house, hoping that woman would be gone. She
wasn't. When the man of this house finally dismissed her, my matron went
to lay down for a rest. There was still enough time for us to walk to
Tahai to catch the sunset, but we decided against it. Instead I walked
across town to see if I could catch a couple of other friends.
I managed to find my friends and sat down for
a chat, where they proceeded to inform me that they were going to their aunt's
house for dinner and that I was coming with them. Their aunt's house was
super nice - not like any of the usual houses you see here in Rapa Nui!
All the houses around here look somewhat poor and as if they were all self-made
(which they probably were), but this house was beautiful! I guess you
could say that it looked like a well-constructed house, like you would see in
Hawai`i.
The dinner was absolutely wonderful as
well! The women in this family really know how to cook, beyond anyone's
usual cooking skills. The meal was so great that I felt enormously guilty
for not being able to eat it all. I wanted to...but my stomach just
wouldn't allow it. The table was immaculately decorated as if we were at a
fine restaurant, and the people sitting at it were cultured and sophisticated
yet down-to-earth and real at the same time. It was a marvel to see how
the conversation kept switching between deep subjects and light, between
Spanish, Rapanui and English. I just sat in awe for most of the
evening.
The one down side for me was that all of
these people were drinkers, and I'm not. The before-dinner cocktail was
enough to satisfy me for the entire night, while everyone else had their
cocktail, 3 or 4 glasses of wine during dinner, and some whiskey and kaiparingas
(a drink with lime and sugar and a brazilian alcohol) after dinner.
I was also hoping to get some dancing in,
since tonight was my last official Saturday here, but it turns out that
Topatangi, the best place to dance, would not be having live music. A
cruise ship arrived today full of Japanese tourists, and the group Topatangi
would be performing on the ship tonight. So after dinner I went
home. I may not have been able to dance, but I still had a great
time!
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