Endings

I'm going back to work tomorrow. The trip ended roughly 2 weeks ago. It would be natural to close down this blog -maybe its title wasn't such a good idea.

At some point during my trip I started to think about a last post, some sort of conclusion summary. However, now that it is over, and to some extend because of the trip itself, I don't feel like writing that post. I don't really see the point.

Alongside the memories and the pictures, the trip has given me a real sense of the present, of how unnecessary is to live anywhere else but in the present. Hence, I'm not writing that post and I'm not sure whether I'll stop with this one.

This blog's title seemed briefly like a good one, it doesn't at all now that I have stopped travelling. As a matter of fact, I might not travel at all in the next months. I feel like spending my time in Madrid and, later, maybe, make a few trips around Madrid and in Spain. However, new and familiar doors are opening in front of me

This won't necessarily be the last post of this blog. Endings are beginnings. 

Hardest

I'm at odds with the post about Easter Island. I try and try, but it doesn't come out -neither here nor in Spanish. It's proving to be the hardest to write so far.

It's not that I don't have things to say. On the contrary, I have too many!

Easter Island is amazing and strange -and such a good excuse to talk about Polynesia. 

At times, I have burst into a happy laugh amazed at the actual, physical sight of the Moai -especially at the Ahu Tongariki, that I visited twice. 

At times, I was almost at the limits of my comprehension contemplating the isolation of the place: At the top of many of its hills, the modest remains of long ago extinct volcanoes, it is easy to see (almost) the whole island and nothing else than the vast ocean around it.

The Polynesians were the greatest navigators of all times. It took the Chinese and Europeans seventeen centuries to emulate them.

From somewhere in Samoa or Tonga, the descendant of the Lapita culture gave up their beautiful pottery in favour of the vast ocean. They explored the whole area of the so called Polynesian Triangle, its 3 angles being Aoratea (New Zealand), Hawaii and Easter Island. They settled on every island that could sustain human life, bringing with them chickens, pigs and dogs; taro, yam and manioc. They flourished. They maintained their ties across the ocean: trade, religion, warfare.

There was one exception: Easter Island. After having settled on the Island, those amazing seafare people lost any interest in crossing the ocean. It seems that they came to Easter Island fleeing the imminent destruction do their homeland, or even the known world. Most probable, they thought their island was the only remaining emerged inhabited land. For them, it was the navel of the world. That way, they were cut off from any outside influence for seventeen centuries -Not bad for a social experiment

You see: this is my problem with this post. Look how long it is already and I still haven't talked about Easter Island, the development and collapse of megalithic culture, the new religion, the almost total annihilation of the local population, the Tahitian influence, the Chilean element, the aliens, ... My experience.

I was captivated, bewildered by Easter Island -I still am, though have left already. I therefore find every angle interesting, intriguing and all of them relevant.

At the same time, from almost the moment I arrived, I felt there was something odd about Easter Island; something on which I can't totally put my finger, beyond the isolation and the unanswered questions.

As I was seating looking at the Moai of the Ahu Tongariki for a second time, the strangeness comes from the fact that Easter Island doesn't really exit. What those of us twice lucky enough to visit and leave see is some kind of mirage, a stage, a performance, an act of will.

The Polynesian, the Rapa Nui society that thrived on the island collapsed twice: first, in the XIV century, the megalithic society and culture developed during one thousand years apparently suddenly disintegrated. The new religion, social structure and power sharing arrangements that followed -those the Europeans found in their first visits in the XVIII century- almost disappeared when  the few survivors of the Peruvian guano mines (slave traders kidnapped about one thousand islanders) returned bringing with them new, unknown deceases. The total population of the Island was reduced to about one hundred, only 36 of reproductive age. A handful escaped the island to Tahiti, to come back years later with their Tahitian families.

This two big disruptions mean that a good part of the oral tradition was lost (their written system hasn't been decoded) and that the gaps were filled with Tahitian traditions.

The island is now populated by the descendants of those 36 survivors, the Tahitian families, and a growing number of continental Chileans. As a matter of fact, the Chilean element is rather strong -after visiting three other polynesian countries, Easter Island for doesn't feel very Polynesian. Much more than in Samoa and Tonga, and even in the so French French Polynesia, there is in Easter Island a clear willingness, maybe a form of resistance, to maintain and care for the old traditions. In the other three countries, in spite modernity, it's a given. The Rapa Nui (all I met had both islander and foreign fore parents) are engaged in doing so in a very earnest way, which is, at the same time, a very Chilean attitude. 

Martian

Are you from Spain?

Do you speak Spanish, then? was her next question. 

But, she paused, do you speak Spanish fluently? Finally asked, her eyes wide open, almost unbelieving it could be possible.

Latin? He asked, once I told him that the scientific name of that tree was written in Latin.

Oh yes! His face brightened up with a smile. Latin from Latin America!

I have had a few conversations like those during my trip. A mix of interest, curiosity and ignorance.

Europe is so small and most of the world so far from the South Pacific, and the presence of Australia, New Zealand, China and the US so prevalent, that just in French Polynesia and Easter Island "Europe" and "Spain" mean something concrete, for obvious reasons. 

Elsewhere, the only thing that could put Spain on the map seemed to be football (to some extend, as rugby dominates Polynesia), especially the World Cup, although most people would hurt my ears saying "soccer" and "World Championship". So much for diplomacy. 

But not always.

Although only once someone confessed he had no idea where Spain was (a very smiley 18 years old boy at a Tongan guesthouse), I could see on the face of many of my interlocutors that "Spain" didn't have much meaning to them. I might as well have said I was from Mars. 

Instead

I didn't make it to Moorea (another reason to come back). The bad weather, especially the strong wind closed the airport there.

Instead, I flew to Tahiti, where I was supposed to come anyway on Friday. I'm spending 5 days in Papeete, the ugly capital of French Polynesia. It's so chaotic that it seems bigger and dirtier than how it is in reality. I have spent some time walking around it, and haven't seen any nice corner, not even a nice building. The nicest thing I could say is that the views towards the mountains are fantastic and, sometimes, dusk over Moorea is truly beautiful -notwithstanding the ugly buildings, the cranes and the commercial port in the frame. 

Papeete feels much more French than Bora Bora or Huahine, which is not so bad: food is good, coffee albeit a tad too weak, is good too. There are bars. 

I arrived Wednesday night, without a hotel reservation. I made my way to the small place I had booked from Friday and was lucky enough to get a room there -it's nice to sleep in the same room for 5 nights in a row (it'll be the same in Rapa Nui).

I have already been out in the water catching waves and spent two evenings at the Heiva festival in Tahiti, the big one. Lots of shaking and swaying -and several changes of costume. I'm becoming an expert.

I'm getting a car over the weekend to tour the island. 

Mesmerising

Bora Bora is very different from Huahine. Tourism to the South Pacific started here, and in Fiji, after the II World War, when the airstrips built by the US military were opened to civilian aircrafts. It's busy, the Heiva is in full swing, much busier than Huahine, but it doesn't feel cramped or touristic. Maybe, thanks to the fact that most luxury resorts aren't on the main island, but on the "motu" (reef islands).

The island is just incredibly beautiful: the almost vertical walls, that millennia ago were part of the crater of a volcano, dominate the landscape; they're visible from anywhere in the island.

I'm staying a bit off the main town, Vaipete, a short stroll away from what functions as the centre.

Today, I spent most of the day cycling the 32 kilometres of the island's perimeter. I tried to climb some hill, but the last third of the path was covered by an overgrown stingy bush -my legs look as if I was attacked by a bunch of angry cats.

After dinner, I spent almost one hour watching a group's dance routines rehearsal. Mesmerising. Mesmerised. As if I were falling in love with these people.

I leave tomorrow for Moorea (still Tuesday night here). I'm staying at a surf B&B. The plan is to do some surfing, but who knows!

Slow

From Tonga, I flew to Auckland in the "earliest" morning of Thursday 27th (the crew kept saying "good morning", though it was just 2am).

I spent 36 very pleasant hours in Auckland: walked around, had a few proper coffees, ate well, visited the very good Auckland Museum to see the Polynesian and Maori rooms -enjoyed very much connecting the exhibition with my experience of the area.

It was a horrible winter day, grey and wet. I have to go back and spend sometime in New Zealand.

Friday, I flew to Tahiti. Crossed the date line and went back in time. I have now completely lost any notion of the day I'm living -even when I check the date, I still don't totally get it. Date line aside, Auckland and Papeete are just 2 solar, natural hours away. No real jet-lag. 

I'm spending about 11 days in the French Polynesia. I'm not being very adventurous and visiting 4 of the Society Islands: Huahine, Bora Bora, Moorea and Tahiti. There are infinite ways to combine the ocean, the reefs, the extinct volcanoes, the lush vegetation, the white sand and these so gentle Polynesian people. I've realised I'm not visiting any atolls during my trip. Next time, I guess, French Polynesia has plenty of them, or I could venture to more exotic places, like the islands of Kiribati (pronounced Ki-Ri-Bas, I recently learnt), before the rising seas engulf them. 

I write this on Bora Bora, where I arrived yesterday from Huahine. 

Huahine is not a very popular tourists destination -there are no luxury resorts. There's good surfing and hiking, decent snorkelling and diving, and the opportunity to see how the locals live.

I might have learnt the lesson and, instead of stubbornly keep with my plan, I allowed the circumstances decide what I was going to do. I slowed down a bit more and enjoyed being there.

Last weekend, was the beginning of the Heiva, the main cultural event of the year in French Polynesia, marked by a music and dance show and competition on Saturday morning. It wasn't the elaborate affair I saw last night (Monday 1st July) in Bora Bora, but a local, amateurs' show by people of the island for their friends and family. There were just a very small handful of tourist around. I enjoyed it very much. Maybe it wasn't as slick and well rehearsed as the events I hope to see in Papeete over the weekend, but it was fun and the dancing was magnetic: gracious and sensual. No wonder those XVIII century Europeans lost their heads over the beautiful scantly dressed locals swagging their hips (the women) and shaking their legs (the men). The moves taken from daily life (the women's) or war (the men).

After the show, I had some lunch at one of the nearby huts. The menu was a good expression of this mixed society: Polynesian classics, as raw fish in coconut milk, along side baguette sandwiches "jambon crudités" and crêpes, and heaps of sugar in every form (South Pacific Islanders consume incredible amounts of sugar). I had a chao mein (Sino-Polynesians are the biggest minority), that included some pieces of saucisson. Resisted the churros aux chocolat for dessert.

I spent the rest of my time in Huahine driving around the island (actually two islands separated by a very narrow strait), on the beach, visiting archeological sites (premonitions of Easter Island) and reading. There isn't much else to do (wanted to go hiking, but the guide I found had other plans for the weekend; couldn't find surfboards for rent -rented a car from a neighbour).

I stayed at a very cheap camping and pension, in the grounds of the owner's family house. Looking at the kids going along with their weekend (some chores, but time to play football, surfing and swimming), made me think Huahine, and probably all of French Polynesia, is a great place to grow up -though, you might outgrow it rather fast.

28th June

Today is the 44th anniversary of the Stonewall riots. The same amount of years I'll be at the end of September. 

It is just so appropriate that precisely today I'm crossing the date line that separates the days. I'll board a plane in Auckland at 5pm and will disembark in Papeete (Tahiti) right after midnight. I'll live today twice.

I laughed when I saw it on looking
my ticket, and I'm sort of happy and amused. I don't think that, given the chance, I would have chosen any other day to live twice. 

Happy LGTBIQ Pride Day to everyone!