I am sitting in a dockside restaurant in Auckland now, having successfully managed the first leg of my return trip. The mussels here are humongous. It is mid day and I made it to my hostel. My flight doesn't leave until tomorrow night at 7:40, so I have a lot of time to kill. Auckland is another beautiful harbor city, and has 1/4 of the whole population of New Zealand. Every city I have been to on this trip has been a harbor town. Perth, Sydney, Wellington, Nuku'alofa, and now Auckland. My passport now has three spaces left for stamps. I will have to get extra pages before our trip to Liverpool.
OK back to yesterday. As I was saying I am more disappointed that I didn't get better footage of the dancing at the feast, because the costumes were so drastically more interesting. They were hand made and each was different, woven from green leaves of some plant. They also had splashes of other colors mixed in. The outfits at the dinner dance were simple costumes, flowery blouses and grass or matt skirts. And they never did the sit down dance I had been waiting for. I am hoping there are versions of it on the DVD I bought. The live music was great, and some of the dances, surprisingly a number of the male dances were more engaging than I expected. I will look at the footage I took at the feast and see if any of those movies (off of my still camera) are worth while.
So back to the school. I was glad I did it. It was weird, talking to a group of students about my life in theater when they had never seen theater in their life. Lyndsey's daughter was in the class, so she actually watched my video twice. After class Susan, the teacher, introduced me to the principal, and we discussed some how the experience I had is a problem with alot of their material. The books they use are often from Britain or America, and many of the situations described have nothing to do with Tongan life. So the teachers have to explain alot outside of the books, or alter the assignments so they are more appropriate.
I started to walk back to town, and Ranu (not Gna'u, as I was calling her before) said her brother would be back in 1/2 an hour to pick her up, so if I wanted a ride. But I wanted to walk. Ina ny case they passed me as I was walking later and gave me a lift back to town. I decided I wanted to have one more swim before I left this place, so I packed up and headed across the island on my bike again to the far beach. I again got lost, but found my was to another great beach. Very similar to the other ones, with a tall break of coral reef protecting the inner swimming area. I was walking around on the coral, and in this one deep cove there were some brilliantly blue fish with an orange stripe. I so wish I had a mask so I could look at them. Instead they remained beautiful blue blurs under the water's surface. I swam for 30 minutes, then rode to Tavita's house. They were relaxing on the dock, and I sat down with them. Eba brought out some juice. Tavita went and caught a chicken, and they asked if I liked chicken. I said yes, but I was going to the dance tonight, so could the chicken be ready in two hours? they suggested I come back after and eat then. While we are having this conversation, Tavita is holding the rooster by his wings on the dock in front of me. We agree to that. Teki wants me to take down some information. We have talked about me sponsoring Tavita, who wants to come to America for his daughter's birthday. Sponsoring means writing a letter on behalf of a person so they can obtain a visa. So Tika calls his daughter out, who speaks the best english of all of them. I ask her for an address here that I could send things, as well as a list of all of their names. She writes all of this down, as well as the info I needed for the sponsor letter. While she is doing this, Tavita takes the chicken around the corner. I can't see him, but I can see the group of kids watching him, then there is a load Thwak! snd the kids all jerk and graon to the sight of him beheading the rooster.
When the daughter is finished writing, I tell Tika that if I am to come back here after the dancing, I should go and say goodbye to Lyndsey and her family. I then proceed to leave on my bike, and as I am driving down the road there is Tavita, holding the headless rooster and starting to pluck him. We shake hands and I go.
Head home, call Lyndsey, and Ebon comes to pick me up. Lyndsey has a friend over named Jo who is another NZ expat. I talk about Wellington,, and she rants about how bad Te Papa is doing and how it is badly managed. I later understand that she is an artist, and figure that most of her miff is with the fact that the center opened and concentrated on bringing in international art shows, instead of showing local artists, like her. I had given the Robert Smithson salt to Ranu at the school, so now I explained what I would like to happen if possible. It seems like a lot of people drive their personal yachts out here, then want to just fly home, so they hire a local to drive their yacht back to their home town (Austalia, NZ). So Lyndsey will keep her ears open, and when that happens next, she will get the person to dump the salt for me on the Minervan reef. I also prepared a postcard, so that when the person dumps the salt, they can write down the date, time and weather, then send it back to me when they get back to Tonga. Let's see if it happens.
We talked a bit more, then I had to go to the show. Ebon drove me with all the kids. I told them how the fisherman fishes. i told them I had stayed out on the prisoner's island. They seemed interested and a little put off. They sometimes work with a group that puts on skits to educate the locals about enviromental issues and such, and here I am going around encouraging bad environmental practices, and staying where I didn't belong. But Ebon was also intrigued by how Tavita did it, so I filled him in on what I knew. It was a little awkward, but was OK. I asked them if they would be interested in possibly helping me transcribe and translate some of the conversations I had recorded. So when I dump these sound files onto my computer, if they are good enough I will email it io them and hopefully they can tell me a little of what was said.
Next was the dancing show, which I have already described. I then got a taxi to Tavita's. This was the first time I had been there at night and they had bundles of christmas lights that they plugged in around the property for light. I sat and ate the rooster, which was delicious though the white meat was very dry, and they didn't give me something to drink until half way through the meal. Again they had three times as much food as I could eat placed out for me. We talked some more, then The daughter brought out this giant piece of art that they gave to me. They are originally made by people to give to the Royal family when they return from trips. This one was given to Tavita's mother, and now they were giving it to me. It is humongous and beautiful. I want to call it a Taro cloth. When you walk around the streets of Tonga, you always herar this hollow hammering. I first thought it was construction, but later found out it is women beating Taro bark on hollow logs. They pound the bark and make these giant sheets, that they then paint. It is literally hundreds of hours of work to make one of these. I haven't unfolded it, but it seems to be about 2x6 meters in size. What do I do with it, attach it to a wall in my basement space? I thanked them over and over, we took a family portrait, then they drove me home.
I packed until 1 am, tried to get the alarm clock widget Peter had sent me to work to no avail, then set my phone and had a restless night, paranoid again that I would miss my plane. Tavita showed up at 4:45, an hour early. i suggested we go ahead and go to the airport, but he said he would sleep in the van and I should just wake him in an hour. I did, we went, and as we drove to the airport the sun was rising. There were more people out and about than I expected. People just trying to avoid the heat. There were a number of joggers at 6AM, again suprising because exercise isn't a common Tongan thing to do. When we got to the airport the sun was up and Tavita helped me with my bags. I gave him the sandles and radio I had bought, as well as my NY Public Radio bag and $50 for Petrol. We shook hands and he left. I had a meat pie and waited for the plane.
Well that does it, I am done. I hope you have appreciated the missives. Now I just need a vacation to relax and recover from this experience.
For those of you in New York, I hope to see you soon. For those of you in Chicago, I want to get out there some time soon, so will keep you informed. Oklahoma, you have my love, we should talk about when I can come visit there, too.
Kisses and crossed fingers that I make it back to NY on time.
Love,
Joe
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Monday, November 17, 2008
Penultimate
Well I have had another busy day and won't be able to tell you about it until I get to Auckland, as I have plans that lead into the late night and won't have time to sit and write things out.--
I do have a little time because I arrived at the dinner show early- I was told 7:30 and it actually starts at 8. So I have been spending time trying to wrap things up. Clarifying the money issues, arranging a taxi to the airport, etc. Doing a little more emailing and buying the last of the things I would like to have as raw material.
OK I am sitting at the International Dateline Hotel, and there is a dinner before the dancing. It is about to start. A fellow has been sitting on stage behind a keyboard for the last half hour, and just now has started playing. I think he chose the "Smooth Jazz tempo #27" (with a lot of soft hi-hat) for his first mellow intro piece. I guess I will keep writing about the day, and every once in a while interrupt and tell you what is happening now.
I bought some music and a DVD with samples of the traditional dancing on it- It also has an interactive Karaoke section, and I believe there is a video game engine- developed section with the dancers in it!! There is a picture of the animated dancers on the back cover, will let you know.
OK song #2 is with back country track #19, heavy thump bass. OOPS, he just did it again, changed the tempo to a little more upbeat, so now I guess it is Square dance # 8.
I bought a book and a magazine for Davida to give to Manu out on the island. I didn't think he would be interested in reading any of the material I had on me, mostly about robots and microchip programming. I bought him a copy of some type of E! magazine, and a novel entitled "The Wooden Sea," about a guy who suddenly meets himself as a 17 year old boy, and the boy tells him how he has lived his life wrong and how he needs to change it now to avert some future tragedy. I also gave him the three photocopied articles I have read and have been carrying around, I have no idea if they are of interest to him. They are:
Notebook: On Message, by Lewis H Lapham I believe out of Harpers (?); The Blue of Distance, sorry but I don't have the author on hand; and After Life by Joan Didion from the New York Times Magazine, about her husband's sudden death, what happened after and how she has coped/ responded to it all. When I was in the bookstore buying a book for him, I was thinking "what the hell kind of book do you buy for a guy isolated on a tropical island for the next five years? " I saw a copy of The History of the Peloponesian War but I thought that would be torturous. There wasn't that great a selection. He recommended an old novel to me, Men of the Sea, but I had never heard of it. Any suggestions of what I should have given him?
So the buffet is actually quite good. They have a whole roasted pig, and you get a little cut of meat and a chunk of hardened fried skin. There is a nice marinated raw fish salad thing, kind of sevice, A giant fish of some sort that is quite tender, some of the beef wrapped in Taro leaves I had at Davida's, a stuffed shellfish, and various sides, including a salad made of the same raw onions, tomato wedges and cucumber I had the first night. I don't get big chunks of raw onions. The band is now singing as well as playing. Well, the guy is. He must have some type of effects attached to his mike, because it sounds like he is harmonizing with someone. He has returned to Tongan smooth jazz.
I bought a new map of Tonga'topu, as the one I had got wet and destroyed. after buying all this gak I headed back to Sela's and then went over to Davida's for a bit, to arrange when I should come by later. His father (I now know his name is Tekiteki)
[I swear they are doing a Tongan translation of the song "Its like starting over"]
and uncle were making new nets from material he had gotten in NZ. Tevita (the actual spelling of what I have been writing as Davida) showed me some new equipment he had purchased. We sat for a bit and talked, and arranged for me to come by at 4 or 5. I had to go meet with Evan (actually Ebonie, they call him Ebon) to take me to the school to talk to them about what I do. Lyndsey has some type of bad boil on her knee that has incapacitated her, so Ebon picked me up and drove me there. I met the teacher, Susan, who has lived around the world, mostly in Africa, but otherwise in Europe and now Tonga. She and her husband have worked for various banks and aid agencies, helping develop laws in various countries or otherwise assisting in development. She said that right now there are no laws about waste disposal in Tonga at all. Her husband is working to develop such laws, and she is teaching at this school. Her class came in and I gave a little presentation about myself and my job history, as well as showed them the video of my performance at Tonic. I gave an explanation before hand, and during the show stopped to explain on the chalkboard what I was talking about. I was surprised by how much they laughed at it, and the fact that most of them paid attention to the whole thing. The teacher asked me some questions after, like why I was in a clown suit, and "How did I work with the space," which was a weird question for me, but I tried to answer it. I then went on to talk about the Builders Association show Supervision, and explained the three stories as well as how the screen device worked. Again, more than half seemed actually interested in what I was talking about. The teacher then asked me to describe what it was like to be in the theater, and I asked if she meant as an audience member or performer? She said both, as none of the Tongans had ever seen theater. So I backed up and went to a very basic description o f what theater is, how the audience sits in a darkened space and how the whole environment is created on stage. You could be in Tonga, but the scene inside is a winter in Norway.
They sure are stingy with the napkins here. One tiny paper napkin for a big greasy meal.
Then I tried to explain what it is like to perform, how it is daunting to be in front of an audience of 900 people, how you have to concentrate, because every little difference in how you perform something affects how it is perceived, and how it is pleasurable, like when you have a certain line that always makes the audience laugh.
OK I have to stop here the show is starting. I will have to finish in Auckland.
Well I am taking a break from filming because they are doing some silly stuff with canned music. I know that Tongan dancing does not have the grass skirts and the hip shaking, and that is what they are doing right now. Maybe they are doing an all Polynesian review, or have spiced things up for the tourists. Ok The firestick dancing was totally Polynesian Busker juggling. Funny, but good. OK they did a last dance that was really nice. I will talk about the difference between this and the show at the feast tomorrow. I have to go send this, then go to Tevita's to have some chicken he killed for a final meal with me today.
Cheers and love,
joe
I do have a little time because I arrived at the dinner show early- I was told 7:30 and it actually starts at 8. So I have been spending time trying to wrap things up. Clarifying the money issues, arranging a taxi to the airport, etc. Doing a little more emailing and buying the last of the things I would like to have as raw material.
OK I am sitting at the International Dateline Hotel, and there is a dinner before the dancing. It is about to start. A fellow has been sitting on stage behind a keyboard for the last half hour, and just now has started playing. I think he chose the "Smooth Jazz tempo #27" (with a lot of soft hi-hat) for his first mellow intro piece. I guess I will keep writing about the day, and every once in a while interrupt and tell you what is happening now.
I bought some music and a DVD with samples of the traditional dancing on it- It also has an interactive Karaoke section, and I believe there is a video game engine- developed section with the dancers in it!! There is a picture of the animated dancers on the back cover, will let you know.
OK song #2 is with back country track #19, heavy thump bass. OOPS, he just did it again, changed the tempo to a little more upbeat, so now I guess it is Square dance # 8.
I bought a book and a magazine for Davida to give to Manu out on the island. I didn't think he would be interested in reading any of the material I had on me, mostly about robots and microchip programming. I bought him a copy of some type of E! magazine, and a novel entitled "The Wooden Sea," about a guy who suddenly meets himself as a 17 year old boy, and the boy tells him how he has lived his life wrong and how he needs to change it now to avert some future tragedy. I also gave him the three photocopied articles I have read and have been carrying around, I have no idea if they are of interest to him. They are:
Notebook: On Message, by Lewis H Lapham I believe out of Harpers (?); The Blue of Distance, sorry but I don't have the author on hand; and After Life by Joan Didion from the New York Times Magazine, about her husband's sudden death, what happened after and how she has coped/ responded to it all. When I was in the bookstore buying a book for him, I was thinking "what the hell kind of book do you buy for a guy isolated on a tropical island for the next five years? " I saw a copy of The History of the Peloponesian War but I thought that would be torturous. There wasn't that great a selection. He recommended an old novel to me, Men of the Sea, but I had never heard of it. Any suggestions of what I should have given him?
So the buffet is actually quite good. They have a whole roasted pig, and you get a little cut of meat and a chunk of hardened fried skin. There is a nice marinated raw fish salad thing, kind of sevice, A giant fish of some sort that is quite tender, some of the beef wrapped in Taro leaves I had at Davida's, a stuffed shellfish, and various sides, including a salad made of the same raw onions, tomato wedges and cucumber I had the first night. I don't get big chunks of raw onions. The band is now singing as well as playing. Well, the guy is. He must have some type of effects attached to his mike, because it sounds like he is harmonizing with someone. He has returned to Tongan smooth jazz.
I bought a new map of Tonga'topu, as the one I had got wet and destroyed. after buying all this gak I headed back to Sela's and then went over to Davida's for a bit, to arrange when I should come by later. His father (I now know his name is Tekiteki)
[I swear they are doing a Tongan translation of the song "Its like starting over"]
and uncle were making new nets from material he had gotten in NZ. Tevita (the actual spelling of what I have been writing as Davida) showed me some new equipment he had purchased. We sat for a bit and talked, and arranged for me to come by at 4 or 5. I had to go meet with Evan (actually Ebonie, they call him Ebon) to take me to the school to talk to them about what I do. Lyndsey has some type of bad boil on her knee that has incapacitated her, so Ebon picked me up and drove me there. I met the teacher, Susan, who has lived around the world, mostly in Africa, but otherwise in Europe and now Tonga. She and her husband have worked for various banks and aid agencies, helping develop laws in various countries or otherwise assisting in development. She said that right now there are no laws about waste disposal in Tonga at all. Her husband is working to develop such laws, and she is teaching at this school. Her class came in and I gave a little presentation about myself and my job history, as well as showed them the video of my performance at Tonic. I gave an explanation before hand, and during the show stopped to explain on the chalkboard what I was talking about. I was surprised by how much they laughed at it, and the fact that most of them paid attention to the whole thing. The teacher asked me some questions after, like why I was in a clown suit, and "How did I work with the space," which was a weird question for me, but I tried to answer it. I then went on to talk about the Builders Association show Supervision, and explained the three stories as well as how the screen device worked. Again, more than half seemed actually interested in what I was talking about. The teacher then asked me to describe what it was like to be in the theater, and I asked if she meant as an audience member or performer? She said both, as none of the Tongans had ever seen theater. So I backed up and went to a very basic description o f what theater is, how the audience sits in a darkened space and how the whole environment is created on stage. You could be in Tonga, but the scene inside is a winter in Norway.
They sure are stingy with the napkins here. One tiny paper napkin for a big greasy meal.
Then I tried to explain what it is like to perform, how it is daunting to be in front of an audience of 900 people, how you have to concentrate, because every little difference in how you perform something affects how it is perceived, and how it is pleasurable, like when you have a certain line that always makes the audience laugh.
OK I have to stop here the show is starting. I will have to finish in Auckland.
Well I am taking a break from filming because they are doing some silly stuff with canned music. I know that Tongan dancing does not have the grass skirts and the hip shaking, and that is what they are doing right now. Maybe they are doing an all Polynesian review, or have spiced things up for the tourists. Ok The firestick dancing was totally Polynesian Busker juggling. Funny, but good. OK they did a last dance that was really nice. I will talk about the difference between this and the show at the feast tomorrow. I have to go send this, then go to Tevita's to have some chicken he killed for a final meal with me today.
Cheers and love,
joe
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Finances, Fishing and Prisoners
I apologize for the quality of that last one. An undercurrent in the Tonga story has become finances. I have worked it all out now (at least to make it out of Tonga and back to the states), but it has stuck in my craw and stopped me from focussing on telling the story of what has been happening. This is the crux of the financial dilemma: A couple days ago I tried to withdraw $400 Tongan. For some reason the machine didn't work, "transaction declined," so I thought maybe I entered the pin wrong, and tried again. Same result. Went to the bank branch, tried again, no dice. Went inside, asked a lady, she suggested I do $200, and that worked. But the next time I tried to pull some money out, I noticed my balance was quite low. Today I checked my balance on line, and this first two attempts, though they didn't work on my end, worked on the other and my account was down $800 Tongan that I had never received!! I went back to the bank, and the lady said I have to contact my bank and have them contact them, then they can track down the mistake and reimburse me. That doesn't help me pay my hotel and other expenses right now. I spent a lot of time on the internet trying to suss out various options, and finally have solved the situation so that I have enough dough to get out of Compton. So I am now able to relax and continue with the story.
OK so I wanted to gather various things, cameras, batteries, toilet paper, waterproof bag, etc. before heading out for the night. Went to stores, gathered stuff at Sela's then headed to Davida's. Then HE had to gather some things, parts for his "fishing equipment," bread for the prisoners, mosquito coils, petrol. so we drove around doing that. And driving around is not a quick process. If you see a friend, you pull over and chat a bit. If someone needs a lift, you stop and converse, then they hop in the back of the truck. So after an hour we get back, load the boat, then race out of there, with a younger relation of his, Eba ( I didn't know he was coming along). Eba is my guess 18, very broad and quiet. The sun is starting to set, so Davida is driving slightly slower as it gets darker. Eba and I are sitting low in the front to keep the nose down, but not out on the bow. We get out to one of the islands, and at this point Davida and Eba trade places. The waters are shallow and Davida stands on the bow, feet 18 inches apart, directing Eba with very slight hand gestures. I have footage of him doing this the next day when we were looking for fish. A little finger flick for curve left or right. A hand upward gesture for speed up a little. I only mention this because it seemed like they had done this so many times that they only needed the slightest signal to communicate. So after 45 min or an hour we get to the prisoner's island, where they are waiting because the dogs have warned them, and they pull us in, we dry dock the boat up the beach and unload. At this point Lava'ke is having an animated discussion with Davida, pointing regularly to the far end of the island. I so wish I could get my recorder out but there is no way to until we get to the house. When we get there I do, and it is dark now so I pull out my little flashlight, too, sit down and try to set up the minidisc player. At one point I notice it has gone quiet, I look up and Davida is standing over me looking at what I am doing. A conversation ensues, and eventually I hear "walkman" and sounds of agreement. I tell them "yeah, it is kaput," because I can't hear anything out of it. They lose interest and start to put together a meal. I figure out I just had the volume down, so I set it up and leave it out in the middle of the yard to record the conversation. Of course then the conversation has drifted away.
We eventually eat bread, bananas, and some raw fish that they had been marinating from our catch the other day. It is my favorite. The meaty white fish that they boil is pretty bland, but gnawing on that raw fish is delicious, and this breed especially so. Buttery. The prisoners live a a very communal situation- actually the two prisoners and the warden. I found out that Paul is the warden, and he has to report in three times a day, but actually the solar panels are not charging the battery so they haven't been able to communicate via CB for about two weeks, but STILL they haven't sent out a ship to check in on them. Also I think it is interesting that the warden has to live the exact same life as the prisoners. They sleep in the same room, share the food and chores, etc. Just Paul is getting paid for it. They do get a supply ship every two weeks, but it is late.
So after dinner and more sweet tea we all head inside, so Davida can prepare his fishing equipment. I ask if I can video, and at first he says no, but I don't think it was clear, so I point to the camera, and he says,"yeah, yeah." So for the next hour we all sat around as Lava'ke holds the flashlight, Eba assists, I film, and Davida performs his magic. I was going to just film the first one, but noted the focus was screwy, figured it out, then went ahead and filmed the second. At the end Davida holds both up to the camera and says "Pom."
We go outside to stretch, have a little more tea, then out of the blue Manu starts talking to me in English. Manu is the other prisoner who has basically stayed out of the picture til now. He didn't participate in the fishing, and when we were around the house last time he basically stayed inside. We converse for a long time. Turns out he grew up in LA for 17 years. His natural parents died and he was adopted. Got caught messengering cocaine, and since his adoptive parents never legally changed his name to their's, he was deported. He hadn't lived in Tonga since he was a toddler. A number of years later he got into trouble again, "drugs," and he has five years to spend on this island. He is not as muscular as the average Tongan, and he talks with a half shy, half unsure of his English quality. He asks if Danny White is still with the Cowboys. I said I don't think so. Are the Raiders still in LA? I believe so. Who won the last Super Bowl? I think Kansas City(?), I don't really remember. We talk about when he recognized I was form America when I said thank you to him during the first trip. He tells me about his adoptive parents. His life in Tonga when he got back. About the farming they do on the island. He is actually quite proud of the farm, you can tell in his voice. Sometimes yachts stop by and since he knows English best he gives them tours. He is a little bothered, because there used to be two other guys here, but they are on Tonga'tapu because they have to go to court, and the guys on the island are getting behind with the work in the fields. He really wanted to show me the fields if I had time the next day. I told him I was going to LA so if there was anything he wanted me to bring to his folks I could do it for him. He couldn't think of anything off hand, but if he thought of it he would give it to me before I go. This conversation is happening in the brightness of a full moon outside. The other guys are gathered together to our side, having their own conversation, probably glad they don't have to deal with the Palengi for a little bit.
Soon after we went to bed. Not sleep, mind you, bed. I was given one of the top bunks. Even though we had the mosquito coils burning, the mosquitos were viscious. You could either cover youself with your sheet and burn up, or leave your self exposed and get eaten up. I tried both methods, I tried ignoring the bites, but nothing. After about two hours, I got up and slathered myself with suntan lotion, which happened to also have insect repellent. But I still couldn't sleep. I feel like I slept for two descent blocks that night, but most of the time I just laid there, listening to Davida snoring, looking out the window at the moonlit landscape.
I was woken up at 6am by Eba, and we wandered up and down the coast looking for fish. I couldn't tell what the hell they were looking for. I couldn't see amy ripples, discoloration or movement that would indicate fish. But then all of a sudden Davida is running forward, lighting his "tool," then KABOOM!! And I just got the camera out of the bag. So I missed it!! It was the biggest catch yet, and I filmed the gathering, but no boom. After the fish were corralled, we walked around the whole island, then they decided we should go to the last island in the chain and fish there. Lava'ke came with us, and we did the 10 minute boat ride over to the last island. It was the smallest yet, a 60 ft diameter of trees surrounded by a 15 foot ring of sand. Again we circumnavigated, and I spent the whole time futzing with the camera, because it wouldn't let me record, and I was afraid I was going to miss my last chance. Well the chance never came, as they saw no fish. So we piled back in and went back to the original island. We packed up rather quickly, and headed out, so I didn't get my tour. I did get his parent's address, so I will be contacting them and maybe meeting them when the Builders are in LA.
Since we still had a fishing tool, we went back island to island with Davida and Eba spying for fish. Since we were going slower, and I figured out how to get the camera working again, I took some footage from the boat, which was great. No fish, so we bunker down for the trip across the deep ocean and back into the harbor. Back at the dock, they pull out all the fish and splash them with buckets of seawater to clean them off. Davida's father suggests I go home to change and come back for lunch. So I head on my bike back to home.
I showered and cleaned up, then the rest of the day is boring as I spent alot of time chasing down dollars. I did arrange with Lyndsey to talk to her class tomorrow, and to interview Gary in the evening. I went back for lunch, which was the bland fish and very dry Taro roots. They served me the fishhead and I didn't know what to do with it. I was out of sorts until I figured out the money issue, then I was able to relax. Gary came over, and of course, the minidisc won't record. So we just talked, and it was mostly useless. I kept trying for him to give me details, he kept talking in generalities. He did write down some info for good CD's with Tongan music, etc, but it turned out he is writing a book and the main reason he wanted to talk to me was to see if I could help him get his book made into a movie. His comments about Tongan life were too generic- It was better back then, it is corrupted now.
So that's where I am at now. I am going to try to sleep long tonight, then have a low key day tomorrow. Talk to the class, have a meal at Davida's, and hopefully go see some of the Tongan dancing. Then out at 8am on Thursday. So the excitement of the trip may be over. I will post one more time tomorrow, then off to Auckland for a day, and then 20 hours of flights back to NY. I hope that you guys have warmed up the city for me. I don't want to come back to snow or anything.
Cheers,
Joe
PS I apologize for changing tense all the time. I just noticed that I keep switching from past to present tense all over the place.
OK so I wanted to gather various things, cameras, batteries, toilet paper, waterproof bag, etc. before heading out for the night. Went to stores, gathered stuff at Sela's then headed to Davida's. Then HE had to gather some things, parts for his "fishing equipment," bread for the prisoners, mosquito coils, petrol. so we drove around doing that. And driving around is not a quick process. If you see a friend, you pull over and chat a bit. If someone needs a lift, you stop and converse, then they hop in the back of the truck. So after an hour we get back, load the boat, then race out of there, with a younger relation of his, Eba ( I didn't know he was coming along). Eba is my guess 18, very broad and quiet. The sun is starting to set, so Davida is driving slightly slower as it gets darker. Eba and I are sitting low in the front to keep the nose down, but not out on the bow. We get out to one of the islands, and at this point Davida and Eba trade places. The waters are shallow and Davida stands on the bow, feet 18 inches apart, directing Eba with very slight hand gestures. I have footage of him doing this the next day when we were looking for fish. A little finger flick for curve left or right. A hand upward gesture for speed up a little. I only mention this because it seemed like they had done this so many times that they only needed the slightest signal to communicate. So after 45 min or an hour we get to the prisoner's island, where they are waiting because the dogs have warned them, and they pull us in, we dry dock the boat up the beach and unload. At this point Lava'ke is having an animated discussion with Davida, pointing regularly to the far end of the island. I so wish I could get my recorder out but there is no way to until we get to the house. When we get there I do, and it is dark now so I pull out my little flashlight, too, sit down and try to set up the minidisc player. At one point I notice it has gone quiet, I look up and Davida is standing over me looking at what I am doing. A conversation ensues, and eventually I hear "walkman" and sounds of agreement. I tell them "yeah, it is kaput," because I can't hear anything out of it. They lose interest and start to put together a meal. I figure out I just had the volume down, so I set it up and leave it out in the middle of the yard to record the conversation. Of course then the conversation has drifted away.
We eventually eat bread, bananas, and some raw fish that they had been marinating from our catch the other day. It is my favorite. The meaty white fish that they boil is pretty bland, but gnawing on that raw fish is delicious, and this breed especially so. Buttery. The prisoners live a a very communal situation- actually the two prisoners and the warden. I found out that Paul is the warden, and he has to report in three times a day, but actually the solar panels are not charging the battery so they haven't been able to communicate via CB for about two weeks, but STILL they haven't sent out a ship to check in on them. Also I think it is interesting that the warden has to live the exact same life as the prisoners. They sleep in the same room, share the food and chores, etc. Just Paul is getting paid for it. They do get a supply ship every two weeks, but it is late.
So after dinner and more sweet tea we all head inside, so Davida can prepare his fishing equipment. I ask if I can video, and at first he says no, but I don't think it was clear, so I point to the camera, and he says,"yeah, yeah." So for the next hour we all sat around as Lava'ke holds the flashlight, Eba assists, I film, and Davida performs his magic. I was going to just film the first one, but noted the focus was screwy, figured it out, then went ahead and filmed the second. At the end Davida holds both up to the camera and says "Pom."
We go outside to stretch, have a little more tea, then out of the blue Manu starts talking to me in English. Manu is the other prisoner who has basically stayed out of the picture til now. He didn't participate in the fishing, and when we were around the house last time he basically stayed inside. We converse for a long time. Turns out he grew up in LA for 17 years. His natural parents died and he was adopted. Got caught messengering cocaine, and since his adoptive parents never legally changed his name to their's, he was deported. He hadn't lived in Tonga since he was a toddler. A number of years later he got into trouble again, "drugs," and he has five years to spend on this island. He is not as muscular as the average Tongan, and he talks with a half shy, half unsure of his English quality. He asks if Danny White is still with the Cowboys. I said I don't think so. Are the Raiders still in LA? I believe so. Who won the last Super Bowl? I think Kansas City(?), I don't really remember. We talk about when he recognized I was form America when I said thank you to him during the first trip. He tells me about his adoptive parents. His life in Tonga when he got back. About the farming they do on the island. He is actually quite proud of the farm, you can tell in his voice. Sometimes yachts stop by and since he knows English best he gives them tours. He is a little bothered, because there used to be two other guys here, but they are on Tonga'tapu because they have to go to court, and the guys on the island are getting behind with the work in the fields. He really wanted to show me the fields if I had time the next day. I told him I was going to LA so if there was anything he wanted me to bring to his folks I could do it for him. He couldn't think of anything off hand, but if he thought of it he would give it to me before I go. This conversation is happening in the brightness of a full moon outside. The other guys are gathered together to our side, having their own conversation, probably glad they don't have to deal with the Palengi for a little bit.
Soon after we went to bed. Not sleep, mind you, bed. I was given one of the top bunks. Even though we had the mosquito coils burning, the mosquitos were viscious. You could either cover youself with your sheet and burn up, or leave your self exposed and get eaten up. I tried both methods, I tried ignoring the bites, but nothing. After about two hours, I got up and slathered myself with suntan lotion, which happened to also have insect repellent. But I still couldn't sleep. I feel like I slept for two descent blocks that night, but most of the time I just laid there, listening to Davida snoring, looking out the window at the moonlit landscape.
I was woken up at 6am by Eba, and we wandered up and down the coast looking for fish. I couldn't tell what the hell they were looking for. I couldn't see amy ripples, discoloration or movement that would indicate fish. But then all of a sudden Davida is running forward, lighting his "tool," then KABOOM!! And I just got the camera out of the bag. So I missed it!! It was the biggest catch yet, and I filmed the gathering, but no boom. After the fish were corralled, we walked around the whole island, then they decided we should go to the last island in the chain and fish there. Lava'ke came with us, and we did the 10 minute boat ride over to the last island. It was the smallest yet, a 60 ft diameter of trees surrounded by a 15 foot ring of sand. Again we circumnavigated, and I spent the whole time futzing with the camera, because it wouldn't let me record, and I was afraid I was going to miss my last chance. Well the chance never came, as they saw no fish. So we piled back in and went back to the original island. We packed up rather quickly, and headed out, so I didn't get my tour. I did get his parent's address, so I will be contacting them and maybe meeting them when the Builders are in LA.
Since we still had a fishing tool, we went back island to island with Davida and Eba spying for fish. Since we were going slower, and I figured out how to get the camera working again, I took some footage from the boat, which was great. No fish, so we bunker down for the trip across the deep ocean and back into the harbor. Back at the dock, they pull out all the fish and splash them with buckets of seawater to clean them off. Davida's father suggests I go home to change and come back for lunch. So I head on my bike back to home.
I showered and cleaned up, then the rest of the day is boring as I spent alot of time chasing down dollars. I did arrange with Lyndsey to talk to her class tomorrow, and to interview Gary in the evening. I went back for lunch, which was the bland fish and very dry Taro roots. They served me the fishhead and I didn't know what to do with it. I was out of sorts until I figured out the money issue, then I was able to relax. Gary came over, and of course, the minidisc won't record. So we just talked, and it was mostly useless. I kept trying for him to give me details, he kept talking in generalities. He did write down some info for good CD's with Tongan music, etc, but it turned out he is writing a book and the main reason he wanted to talk to me was to see if I could help him get his book made into a movie. His comments about Tongan life were too generic- It was better back then, it is corrupted now.
So that's where I am at now. I am going to try to sleep long tonight, then have a low key day tomorrow. Talk to the class, have a meal at Davida's, and hopefully go see some of the Tongan dancing. Then out at 8am on Thursday. So the excitement of the trip may be over. I will post one more time tomorrow, then off to Auckland for a day, and then 20 hours of flights back to NY. I hope that you guys have warmed up the city for me. I don't want to come back to snow or anything.
Cheers,
Joe
PS I apologize for changing tense all the time. I just noticed that I keep switching from past to present tense all over the place.
Missed Feast and others...
I just have time for a short note, I am heading back to Davida's in a bit to go back to the prisoner's island. It is a full moon, which is great for fishing so we will stay there tonight. Went to the feast and now I wish I could split in two and get the Vid cam, and go back to the feast. They have the dancers going and a group is singing. I tried to vid it with my still camera, but I wasn't close. Long story, will tell you more tomorrow. Sorry this is short but I am pressed for time. I don't even know if I will be able to mail this.
Joe
Yesterday was very busy trying to run around and do too much. I spent the morning trying to deal with contacting people, reserving a berth in Aukland for the day I am there, etc. As I was leaving the guest house, Sila told me the they were leaving for the feast at 1:30 if I wanted to join them. I said certainly- I would have to cancel lunch with Davida, but that was fine. The feast is four days long, this being the last day, and it is in celebration of the 80th anniversary of the Queen's College (college here refers to high school). I didn't know really what to expect. So after dealing with business, I went to Davida's around 11:30 and told them about the feast, but that I would stop by later. The father said tonight was a full moon, good for fishing, and asked if I wanted to go fishing with Davida at 4p. We would go out to the Prisoner's island, stay the night, then fish in the morning- that sounded great so I told them definitely yes. Went back to town and road around, getting more pictures of things. The ghost houses, etc. I arrived back at the house at 1:15, and Silas was getting ready to go with one of the other guests, so I waited. She was choosing a woven belt thing for him to wear- it is a part of all the formal dress of the Tongans. Some of these belts are quite beautiful. It is a belt with a series of woven patterns that hang like tassels around the body. I have some pictures. I waited too long. When I came out, I asked for Sila, and one of the help said she has already gone. So she showed me on a map how to get there, and I rode my bike. It wasn't far, and it was packed. I would guess 1,500, 2,000 people? They had tents set up around a square and each tent had 50 foot long tables that were piled high with everything, the centerpieces being roasted whole pigs and lobsters every 6 feet. It took a while for me to find Sela, and I felt uncomfortable going up to her, since they were already overcrowded around a prestigious table near the front tent. So I never got the guts to go up to them and sit down. Instead I wandered and took pictures. A group of girl students asked me to take their picture "because we are so beautiful," so I did. I was getting ancy, so I thought it would be neat to go dumo the picture on my computer, have it printed out and give it to them. So that;s what I did. Cost $21 to print out 7 color copies, and of course when I get back to the feast, I can't find them. BUT the dancing had started. They had a children's choir doing songs while lines of women in elaborate woven dresses and covered in cocnut oil were doing these actually really interesting dances. The problem was it is traditional to go stick money to the coconut oil for the dancer you like, so the dancers become surrounded by family and friends slapping money on them, stuffing it in their bras (really) and slipping it in their hair. You eventually can't see much of the dancing. I stayed around for as long as I could. The next dance also had very young girls who would eventually sit down and all of them would juggle (!) while older women danced behind them...I wish I could stay or at least run and get the vid cam and shoot some of it. But it was getting close to 4 and I had to gather things for our trip to the prisoner's island,
which I will have to tell you in the next email, as I have an appointment to interview Gary. So sorry this is another tease. I will write the rest tonight.
Joe
Joe
Yesterday was very busy trying to run around and do too much. I spent the morning trying to deal with contacting people, reserving a berth in Aukland for the day I am there, etc. As I was leaving the guest house, Sila told me the they were leaving for the feast at 1:30 if I wanted to join them. I said certainly- I would have to cancel lunch with Davida, but that was fine. The feast is four days long, this being the last day, and it is in celebration of the 80th anniversary of the Queen's College (college here refers to high school). I didn't know really what to expect. So after dealing with business, I went to Davida's around 11:30 and told them about the feast, but that I would stop by later. The father said tonight was a full moon, good for fishing, and asked if I wanted to go fishing with Davida at 4p. We would go out to the Prisoner's island, stay the night, then fish in the morning- that sounded great so I told them definitely yes. Went back to town and road around, getting more pictures of things. The ghost houses, etc. I arrived back at the house at 1:15, and Silas was getting ready to go with one of the other guests, so I waited. She was choosing a woven belt thing for him to wear- it is a part of all the formal dress of the Tongans. Some of these belts are quite beautiful. It is a belt with a series of woven patterns that hang like tassels around the body. I have some pictures. I waited too long. When I came out, I asked for Sila, and one of the help said she has already gone. So she showed me on a map how to get there, and I rode my bike. It wasn't far, and it was packed. I would guess 1,500, 2,000 people? They had tents set up around a square and each tent had 50 foot long tables that were piled high with everything, the centerpieces being roasted whole pigs and lobsters every 6 feet. It took a while for me to find Sela, and I felt uncomfortable going up to her, since they were already overcrowded around a prestigious table near the front tent. So I never got the guts to go up to them and sit down. Instead I wandered and took pictures. A group of girl students asked me to take their picture "because we are so beautiful," so I did. I was getting ancy, so I thought it would be neat to go dumo the picture on my computer, have it printed out and give it to them. So that;s what I did. Cost $21 to print out 7 color copies, and of course when I get back to the feast, I can't find them. BUT the dancing had started. They had a children's choir doing songs while lines of women in elaborate woven dresses and covered in cocnut oil were doing these actually really interesting dances. The problem was it is traditional to go stick money to the coconut oil for the dancer you like, so the dancers become surrounded by family and friends slapping money on them, stuffing it in their bras (really) and slipping it in their hair. You eventually can't see much of the dancing. I stayed around for as long as I could. The next dance also had very young girls who would eventually sit down and all of them would juggle (!) while older women danced behind them...I wish I could stay or at least run and get the vid cam and shoot some of it. But it was getting close to 4 and I had to gather things for our trip to the prisoner's island,
which I will have to tell you in the next email, as I have an appointment to interview Gary. So sorry this is another tease. I will write the rest tonight.
Joe
Apex, Part 2
SUNDAY, PART UA (Tongan for 2)
I got home from lunch and tried to go lie down again, get a little more strength back before heading out with Lyndsey. But Instead there was Davida, here to come take me to his place!! I shook hands with him and he asked if I could come by, but I told him I was meeting with Lyndsey soon, and couldn't come, I would come by later around five if that was alright. We seemed to communicate ok, though it was awkward, I don't know where in yesterday's conversation there was a miscommunication about meeting for lunch. So he headed out, I laid down for a little while (or lied down, whatever) then went and waited at the gate around 1:30. Around 2 I came inside and read about how to hack playstation controllers to control robots. About 2:20 I got a little concerned and was about to call Lyndsey when she showed up. She is the one with the hippie van painted with flowers and pigs. I brought my computer and all the video devices, and we went to her house to pick up her kids. I asked why everyone says Bye to me when I pass on the bike. She said there were two words for "bye" in Tongan, one meaning " I am leaving" the other " I am staying and seeing you leave." Somehow this explains the "bye," but I couldn't figure it out. Something along the lines of they are seeing me pass them by. We get to her house, and she has a great group of kids. One of the daughters is off on a round the world cruise, Some kind of Children's UN sponsored by the Japanese. The other four kids are Evan (pronounced e-VAN) the elder brother, who I believe is just starting college. The other three are daughters, approximately 15, 10 and 7, though I don't know exactly and I am embarassed to mascerate their names so I will have to send them along in a future email. We had coffee and I showed them the video of my show at Tonic. Lyndsey wants me to talk to her class, and I suggested the video, but wanted her to see it before hand to see if would make any sense. They all liked it and though they don't know anything about Oklahoma or even the bombing, they understood all of the things I was talking about and asked very interesting questions. "When they claimed the land did they have to pay for it?" (No). "How much land did they get when they claimed it?" (160 acres outside of a city, a small city lot if inside). So we then went to the beach, with Evan driving. The whole family is very relaxed, playful with each other, and reminds me of the way my family treats each other. I now regret some that I did not take up her suggestion that I stay with them, but then again if I did I probably would not have run into Davida, and I also like the independence of having my own base station.
We drove to their favorite beach and walked down. There were 25 or so folks there. It used to be illegal to swim on Sundays- actually it still is- but they overlook it now as long as you don't do it blatantly from the piers in town. The beach was gorgeous, framed by coral formations. There was an inner area that was at most 4 ft deep, then there was a tier of coral outcroppings, some which looked like steps leading up to pools on top. Giant waves would come and crash over the outer coral, even slipping under and spewing up through blowholes. These were the largest waves I had ever seen (given my limited experience). I set up the video camera on some rocks and left it to get a wide panorama of the whole beach, then joined the kids at playing keep-away for a while.
(Right now I am back at the hotel and my feet are in serious pain. I bought a couple of sandals, trying to get something that looked descent, but they have rubbed the inner sides of my feet raw. Then I bloodied my feet today (I will explain in a few), so walking around has become a bit slower, a bit more painful.)
Evan then told me about the pool atop the coral. you can sit in there as long as you duck whenever a wave comes, or it will throw you out of the pool and down the "steps" of coral behind it. It happened to their cousin and her back was all cut up and bruised. I wanted to get a nice shot of the coral pool and the blow holes so I moved the camera, then went back to swimming. Again, the water is a great temperature. It is not cold at all, nor is it so warm you don't feel comfortable in it. Evan suggested we go up into the pool, and explained before we went how you have to brace your feet on one side and grip the coral with your hands when the wave is coming. So he and the eldest sister ( I am going to call her Gna'u, because I believe that is her name, again forgive me if we learn later I am chewing it) and we crawled up to the pool, they much more gracefully than I. The waves hit quite hard, you do have to grip fiercely to hold on. While we were there Gna'u swore she saw a sea turtle in the waves. I didn't really believe it because the surf seemed so fierce I don't know what a turtle would be doing there. But eventually we all saw it, round and brown and about 2 feet long, swimming against the waves. Evan suggested we dive past the coral. I asked about being slammed into the reef, and he explained that you just swim out far enough away from the coral, then wait for a calmer time and swim back, climbing back up the coral wall. Against my better judgement I joined him, diving in past the reef and swimming out a ways. Then of course, with my luck, a series of MONSTEROUS waves start piling through. Literally 5 feet taller than anything so far. Gna'u is watching them and keeps waving for us to swim farther out, then ducking as the waves crash over her. At one point I swear I must have kicked that turtle, because I was up on a wave and felt something solid on my foot as I swam. As long as you ducked under and swam against the wave, you were fine, but they just kept coming and coming. It calmed down once and we swam back, but I wasn't fast enough so we had to swim back out. We swam through another series of waves, and mind you, I am a descent swimmer, but not a great one, and I now started to get concerned that we might not get a long enough calm for a while. The next calm was enough for us to reach the coral and start climbing, but a wave hit us then and ripped me off the coral. Evan had a hold on me and though I was dragged across some of the face of the coral, I was able to regain my grip. We then had enough time to to crawl out and back into the pool. I told them I thought maybe I should head to the beach, so at the next break I scurried my way back down the steps. It was then that I noticed that I was sliced up the back of one leg, across the front of the other, The bottom of one foot, and the ends of my stubbs were bleeding and the tip of my left index finger was one big bruise. Evan later told me that the area we were in leads to a cubby under the coral that is "somewhat" difficult to get out of. Nice. I went to the beach and Lyndsey told me about the fact that some of these blowholes are large enough and create enough suction that you can be sucked down into them, thrown out into the open sea, then sucked back through the blowhole in a cycle. She saw someone who was caught in one of these loops and had to struggle for a long time to get out of the pattern. Nice to hear this after the fact, eh?
Sat awhile and talked to Lyndsey about my project and her life. She has lived all over Polynesia and New Zealand, the kids having moved probably 15 times. I think their father was (is) Tongan, but I don't really know. That was the impression she gave me originally, but whenever the kids speak of the Tongan customs, they refer to "they do this or that." Maybe since the family has moved so often they always consider themselves outsiders, I don't know. They lived for a while in another country which is just one island (I will have to find out later the name), and when they moved there you could rent a container and ship everything over, including their van. But by the time they were moving out, the shipping company had stopped servicing that Island, so they had to leave everything. They lived for about a year in Ha'api, farming, living in basically a grass roof shack, no electricity or water, etc. Trading crops for fish. She seems to have had a fascinating life. Probably the fact that they have moved so often has made them into a strong tight knit group of people, with a lot of respect for each other.
I went swimming again and eventually we headed out. You can't buy petrol on Sunday and their tank was nearly empty, but they wanted to show me one other place. Near the shore farther on there is this giant hole, with a natural bridge that is quite broad, so it feels like a separate hole from the ocean. You look down and about 60 feet below you can see the waves crashing in at the bottom, all white foam and rocks. Supposedly a few peace corps volunteers have died there. They also told me that farther down the beach there used to be a bright red car upside down in the ocean. A fellow bought his fiance a new red car. She caught him cheating on her, so she took his car and pushed it off the cliff. It is one of those stories that you go, "yeah, right," but I believe it since all the kids swore that as recently as two years ago you could still see the car.
On the way back, Gna'u wanted to drive. She doesn't have a license, but is learning. So Evan squeezed over and she started driving. We go around a corner and she does it blindly and ends up driving on the wrong (american) side. Luckily it was a Sunday in Tonga, but it was actually dangerous and put me a little on edge the rest of the trip. Evan asked me about my hand so I start telling them about the injury, and what it is like now. "Couldn't they reattach the tips back on?" "Was there blood spurting everywhere?" "Was it painful?" But Gnu'a was being a little too interested and we were passing other cars now and people, so I was stalling on the answers until we were away from other obstacles. They got me home, I rearranged my stuff and confirmed that I was flying out on Thursday, not Friday. Got back on my bike and headed over to Davida's place. By now it is about 6pm. I see the pig van sitting on the side of the road, with two of the girls sitting in front distracted, so I ran my bike into the front of the van as if it was an accident. Startled them and we laughed. Told them I couldn't go to Ha'api, and would love to hang out with them some more. I then headed to Davida's, and went to the dock where the father was sitting.
Let me talk a little more about their household. They have two houses, both ramshackle but sturdy. I believe all the men sleep in one house and the women and children in the other (have I already said this?) They seem different from the town houses as everything is a bit more trashy and dilapidated. Everything around seems either of use or once was of use, but it is strewn about and not cleaned up. There is a large pile of coconut husks against the "Barn." There are dogs, cats, pigs, and I even saw a bold rat at one point chewing on something along the edge of the water. Though the houses are rough, inside the men's house is a compliment of large fridges and freezers (for the fish I guess), as well as a new washing machine and other equipment. Davida's youngest son, Bi'a (pronounced BYE- aye) has both ears deformed, and he has finger- and toenail polish on. It makes me wonder if he is a fakaleiti. A Fakaleiti is a boy brought up as a girl. Sometimes it is decided by the child (when they are a little older), sometimes it is decided by the parents because they don't have any girl children to help out with the women's work. I have seen some Fakaleiti around, but not that often, and most of my knowledge comes from websites, etc. I may be reading into a kid's interest in having his nails painted, as otherwise they treat him as a boy. But he definitely is given special attention, more than the other kids. He is the only one who hangs out with the adults on the dock, and Davida fawns on him, explaining things to him and holding him. He is real sweet and stares at me alot. He knows no English and I know nothing that he keeps talking about, though I did notice that he likes to yell out his own name, especially after someone has called for him, and this sometimes becomes a banter back and forth, saying his name over and over.
So I sit with Davida's father, another older man of unknown relation, and a younger man who turns out to be Davida's daughter's husband. They bring me out a large plate of yams, fish, and beef chunks wrapped in Taro leaves. I know that the Taro leaves are one of the crops that Seisei cultivates. It is delicious. I try to ask them how it is cooked, but am unable to get it across. The yams look NOTHING like American yams. They are white and fiberous, but not as hard to eat as cassava. They also give me a bowl of orange mush, which turns out to be Po'yo, or to us Papaya (though again, it is a little different in taste and texture). When they serve me food, it is usually just me or just me and Davida eating. There is a strange hiearchy of eating here that I will have to explain later, maybe in another addendum. It is a massive plate, and as I am digging through it, they bring out two more plates, one of more fish and another of breadfruit, that they offer me. I show that the plate I have will fill me, but they still insist that I eat more. Bi'a is talking alot and pointing at me, and Davida is explaining something to him. I eventually offer the rest of the po'yo to him, which David feeds to him. Once the father understands that I can't eat any more of the fish or breadfruit, he starts to dig in. I explain that I can't go to Ha'api, and they understand and it is fine. The father tells me he is going to San Jose in August, and wants to keep in contact with me. I just looked at my schedule and it turns out The Builders Association are going to be in California at the same time, so I have to make an effort to meet with him then. It looks like the timing will work out well, because as of my schedule stands we will be done just before he arrives.
We sit after eating and have some more sweet tea. At this point most of the conversation is in Tongan, so I just sit and try to figure out what they are discussing. Eventually after three cups of tea and it being dark, I suggest I head back to the guest house. Father suggests I go fishing again with Davida tomorrow, and I say that I would like to try to organize the interviews on Monday, maybe we can go Tuesday or Wednesday. I intend to ride my bike home, but when I get out to the drive way, Davida has my bike in the back of the truck and drives me home. We again make plans for fishing, and also tomorrow. I am to come by for lunch, then Davida has some plan for me and him to go riding on bicycles somewhere at 4p.
As I have been here at the guest house writing this, I was approached by one of the other guests, asking what I was doing. I told him, and he told me that he was the graphics surveyor for an archeological dig. His name is Jofe, and they are all from Australia/NZ. They are surveying an ancient burial ground and his job is to develop a three dimensional model of the site. It sounds very interesting, maybe at some point I can go out there and see what they are doing.
OK I have ranted on for a very long time, I apologize. I expected today to be a low key day, but instead it wasn't. I have no plans for tomorrow except with Davida. There is also the 100th anniversary of a college here, and they are having a four day feast. If I can make it I will go there in the evening. OK. Good night, more tomorrow.
Cheers,
Joe
I got home from lunch and tried to go lie down again, get a little more strength back before heading out with Lyndsey. But Instead there was Davida, here to come take me to his place!! I shook hands with him and he asked if I could come by, but I told him I was meeting with Lyndsey soon, and couldn't come, I would come by later around five if that was alright. We seemed to communicate ok, though it was awkward, I don't know where in yesterday's conversation there was a miscommunication about meeting for lunch. So he headed out, I laid down for a little while (or lied down, whatever) then went and waited at the gate around 1:30. Around 2 I came inside and read about how to hack playstation controllers to control robots. About 2:20 I got a little concerned and was about to call Lyndsey when she showed up. She is the one with the hippie van painted with flowers and pigs. I brought my computer and all the video devices, and we went to her house to pick up her kids. I asked why everyone says Bye to me when I pass on the bike. She said there were two words for "bye" in Tongan, one meaning " I am leaving" the other " I am staying and seeing you leave." Somehow this explains the "bye," but I couldn't figure it out. Something along the lines of they are seeing me pass them by. We get to her house, and she has a great group of kids. One of the daughters is off on a round the world cruise, Some kind of Children's UN sponsored by the Japanese. The other four kids are Evan (pronounced e-VAN) the elder brother, who I believe is just starting college. The other three are daughters, approximately 15, 10 and 7, though I don't know exactly and I am embarassed to mascerate their names so I will have to send them along in a future email. We had coffee and I showed them the video of my show at Tonic. Lyndsey wants me to talk to her class, and I suggested the video, but wanted her to see it before hand to see if would make any sense. They all liked it and though they don't know anything about Oklahoma or even the bombing, they understood all of the things I was talking about and asked very interesting questions. "When they claimed the land did they have to pay for it?" (No). "How much land did they get when they claimed it?" (160 acres outside of a city, a small city lot if inside). So we then went to the beach, with Evan driving. The whole family is very relaxed, playful with each other, and reminds me of the way my family treats each other. I now regret some that I did not take up her suggestion that I stay with them, but then again if I did I probably would not have run into Davida, and I also like the independence of having my own base station.
We drove to their favorite beach and walked down. There were 25 or so folks there. It used to be illegal to swim on Sundays- actually it still is- but they overlook it now as long as you don't do it blatantly from the piers in town. The beach was gorgeous, framed by coral formations. There was an inner area that was at most 4 ft deep, then there was a tier of coral outcroppings, some which looked like steps leading up to pools on top. Giant waves would come and crash over the outer coral, even slipping under and spewing up through blowholes. These were the largest waves I had ever seen (given my limited experience). I set up the video camera on some rocks and left it to get a wide panorama of the whole beach, then joined the kids at playing keep-away for a while.
(Right now I am back at the hotel and my feet are in serious pain. I bought a couple of sandals, trying to get something that looked descent, but they have rubbed the inner sides of my feet raw. Then I bloodied my feet today (I will explain in a few), so walking around has become a bit slower, a bit more painful.)
Evan then told me about the pool atop the coral. you can sit in there as long as you duck whenever a wave comes, or it will throw you out of the pool and down the "steps" of coral behind it. It happened to their cousin and her back was all cut up and bruised. I wanted to get a nice shot of the coral pool and the blow holes so I moved the camera, then went back to swimming. Again, the water is a great temperature. It is not cold at all, nor is it so warm you don't feel comfortable in it. Evan suggested we go up into the pool, and explained before we went how you have to brace your feet on one side and grip the coral with your hands when the wave is coming. So he and the eldest sister ( I am going to call her Gna'u, because I believe that is her name, again forgive me if we learn later I am chewing it) and we crawled up to the pool, they much more gracefully than I. The waves hit quite hard, you do have to grip fiercely to hold on. While we were there Gna'u swore she saw a sea turtle in the waves. I didn't really believe it because the surf seemed so fierce I don't know what a turtle would be doing there. But eventually we all saw it, round and brown and about 2 feet long, swimming against the waves. Evan suggested we dive past the coral. I asked about being slammed into the reef, and he explained that you just swim out far enough away from the coral, then wait for a calmer time and swim back, climbing back up the coral wall. Against my better judgement I joined him, diving in past the reef and swimming out a ways. Then of course, with my luck, a series of MONSTEROUS waves start piling through. Literally 5 feet taller than anything so far. Gna'u is watching them and keeps waving for us to swim farther out, then ducking as the waves crash over her. At one point I swear I must have kicked that turtle, because I was up on a wave and felt something solid on my foot as I swam. As long as you ducked under and swam against the wave, you were fine, but they just kept coming and coming. It calmed down once and we swam back, but I wasn't fast enough so we had to swim back out. We swam through another series of waves, and mind you, I am a descent swimmer, but not a great one, and I now started to get concerned that we might not get a long enough calm for a while. The next calm was enough for us to reach the coral and start climbing, but a wave hit us then and ripped me off the coral. Evan had a hold on me and though I was dragged across some of the face of the coral, I was able to regain my grip. We then had enough time to to crawl out and back into the pool. I told them I thought maybe I should head to the beach, so at the next break I scurried my way back down the steps. It was then that I noticed that I was sliced up the back of one leg, across the front of the other, The bottom of one foot, and the ends of my stubbs were bleeding and the tip of my left index finger was one big bruise. Evan later told me that the area we were in leads to a cubby under the coral that is "somewhat" difficult to get out of. Nice. I went to the beach and Lyndsey told me about the fact that some of these blowholes are large enough and create enough suction that you can be sucked down into them, thrown out into the open sea, then sucked back through the blowhole in a cycle. She saw someone who was caught in one of these loops and had to struggle for a long time to get out of the pattern. Nice to hear this after the fact, eh?
Sat awhile and talked to Lyndsey about my project and her life. She has lived all over Polynesia and New Zealand, the kids having moved probably 15 times. I think their father was (is) Tongan, but I don't really know. That was the impression she gave me originally, but whenever the kids speak of the Tongan customs, they refer to "they do this or that." Maybe since the family has moved so often they always consider themselves outsiders, I don't know. They lived for a while in another country which is just one island (I will have to find out later the name), and when they moved there you could rent a container and ship everything over, including their van. But by the time they were moving out, the shipping company had stopped servicing that Island, so they had to leave everything. They lived for about a year in Ha'api, farming, living in basically a grass roof shack, no electricity or water, etc. Trading crops for fish. She seems to have had a fascinating life. Probably the fact that they have moved so often has made them into a strong tight knit group of people, with a lot of respect for each other.
I went swimming again and eventually we headed out. You can't buy petrol on Sunday and their tank was nearly empty, but they wanted to show me one other place. Near the shore farther on there is this giant hole, with a natural bridge that is quite broad, so it feels like a separate hole from the ocean. You look down and about 60 feet below you can see the waves crashing in at the bottom, all white foam and rocks. Supposedly a few peace corps volunteers have died there. They also told me that farther down the beach there used to be a bright red car upside down in the ocean. A fellow bought his fiance a new red car. She caught him cheating on her, so she took his car and pushed it off the cliff. It is one of those stories that you go, "yeah, right," but I believe it since all the kids swore that as recently as two years ago you could still see the car.
On the way back, Gna'u wanted to drive. She doesn't have a license, but is learning. So Evan squeezed over and she started driving. We go around a corner and she does it blindly and ends up driving on the wrong (american) side. Luckily it was a Sunday in Tonga, but it was actually dangerous and put me a little on edge the rest of the trip. Evan asked me about my hand so I start telling them about the injury, and what it is like now. "Couldn't they reattach the tips back on?" "Was there blood spurting everywhere?" "Was it painful?" But Gnu'a was being a little too interested and we were passing other cars now and people, so I was stalling on the answers until we were away from other obstacles. They got me home, I rearranged my stuff and confirmed that I was flying out on Thursday, not Friday. Got back on my bike and headed over to Davida's place. By now it is about 6pm. I see the pig van sitting on the side of the road, with two of the girls sitting in front distracted, so I ran my bike into the front of the van as if it was an accident. Startled them and we laughed. Told them I couldn't go to Ha'api, and would love to hang out with them some more. I then headed to Davida's, and went to the dock where the father was sitting.
Let me talk a little more about their household. They have two houses, both ramshackle but sturdy. I believe all the men sleep in one house and the women and children in the other (have I already said this?) They seem different from the town houses as everything is a bit more trashy and dilapidated. Everything around seems either of use or once was of use, but it is strewn about and not cleaned up. There is a large pile of coconut husks against the "Barn." There are dogs, cats, pigs, and I even saw a bold rat at one point chewing on something along the edge of the water. Though the houses are rough, inside the men's house is a compliment of large fridges and freezers (for the fish I guess), as well as a new washing machine and other equipment. Davida's youngest son, Bi'a (pronounced BYE- aye) has both ears deformed, and he has finger- and toenail polish on. It makes me wonder if he is a fakaleiti. A Fakaleiti is a boy brought up as a girl. Sometimes it is decided by the child (when they are a little older), sometimes it is decided by the parents because they don't have any girl children to help out with the women's work. I have seen some Fakaleiti around, but not that often, and most of my knowledge comes from websites, etc. I may be reading into a kid's interest in having his nails painted, as otherwise they treat him as a boy. But he definitely is given special attention, more than the other kids. He is the only one who hangs out with the adults on the dock, and Davida fawns on him, explaining things to him and holding him. He is real sweet and stares at me alot. He knows no English and I know nothing that he keeps talking about, though I did notice that he likes to yell out his own name, especially after someone has called for him, and this sometimes becomes a banter back and forth, saying his name over and over.
So I sit with Davida's father, another older man of unknown relation, and a younger man who turns out to be Davida's daughter's husband. They bring me out a large plate of yams, fish, and beef chunks wrapped in Taro leaves. I know that the Taro leaves are one of the crops that Seisei cultivates. It is delicious. I try to ask them how it is cooked, but am unable to get it across. The yams look NOTHING like American yams. They are white and fiberous, but not as hard to eat as cassava. They also give me a bowl of orange mush, which turns out to be Po'yo, or to us Papaya (though again, it is a little different in taste and texture). When they serve me food, it is usually just me or just me and Davida eating. There is a strange hiearchy of eating here that I will have to explain later, maybe in another addendum. It is a massive plate, and as I am digging through it, they bring out two more plates, one of more fish and another of breadfruit, that they offer me. I show that the plate I have will fill me, but they still insist that I eat more. Bi'a is talking alot and pointing at me, and Davida is explaining something to him. I eventually offer the rest of the po'yo to him, which David feeds to him. Once the father understands that I can't eat any more of the fish or breadfruit, he starts to dig in. I explain that I can't go to Ha'api, and they understand and it is fine. The father tells me he is going to San Jose in August, and wants to keep in contact with me. I just looked at my schedule and it turns out The Builders Association are going to be in California at the same time, so I have to make an effort to meet with him then. It looks like the timing will work out well, because as of my schedule stands we will be done just before he arrives.
We sit after eating and have some more sweet tea. At this point most of the conversation is in Tongan, so I just sit and try to figure out what they are discussing. Eventually after three cups of tea and it being dark, I suggest I head back to the guest house. Father suggests I go fishing again with Davida tomorrow, and I say that I would like to try to organize the interviews on Monday, maybe we can go Tuesday or Wednesday. I intend to ride my bike home, but when I get out to the drive way, Davida has my bike in the back of the truck and drives me home. We again make plans for fishing, and also tomorrow. I am to come by for lunch, then Davida has some plan for me and him to go riding on bicycles somewhere at 4p.
As I have been here at the guest house writing this, I was approached by one of the other guests, asking what I was doing. I told him, and he told me that he was the graphics surveyor for an archeological dig. His name is Jofe, and they are all from Australia/NZ. They are surveying an ancient burial ground and his job is to develop a three dimensional model of the site. It sounds very interesting, maybe at some point I can go out there and see what they are doing.
OK I have ranted on for a very long time, I apologize. I expected today to be a low key day, but instead it wasn't. I have no plans for tomorrow except with Davida. There is also the 100th anniversary of a college here, and they are having a four day feast. If I can make it I will go there in the evening. OK. Good night, more tomorrow.
Cheers,
Joe
Thursday, November 13, 2008
apexxxxxx
SUNDAY, THE APEX, PART I
So today marks the middle point of my trip, and my plans have drastically changed back, because Joe is an idiot. I planned to go to Ha'api (keep changing the spelling because I can't quite remember the actual) tomorrow but in the middle of the day I realized that I am not flying out of here on Friday, I am flying on Thursday. As many of you know, I am one to get planes mixed up from time to time, but if I actually did mess up this one it would be an extremely expensive venture to get back to the US. I was planning on going to Ha'api tomorrow and stay until Wednesday, but that made me a little concerned about the window for mistakes, AND after that Lyndsey told me that about 20% of the time, the plane flights just get canceled, and there isn't another flight for two days. I feel safer about staying here and just visiting the Tonga'tapu island group, especially since so much has been happening. The one thing that disappoints me about not going to Ha'api is that the flight actually goes to the farther group, Va'ahu, then flies down to Ha'api. So I would have been able to see all the islands. Va'ahu has mountains and such and is where the "rich tourists go yachting." And Ha'api has two active volcano islands. Oh well.
So I am now at the only cafe that is open on Sunday. It will actually close down in half an hour, and I don't know if I can connect my computer to the lines here or not. So I will write what I can and will try to send it today, but if not tomorrow. It is a little weird to end up at these cafes at the end of each day, because they are tourist bastions, so it feels like I leave Tonga for a little to write and send these emails. The food, service style and prices are more Western than Tongan.
I tried to sleep in a little this morning since yesterday's 7am to 7pm fishing trip was a bit of a windbreaker. But I was a little nervous not having arranged things with Lyndsey. So I called her around 9, and low and behold, I woke her up. So we arranged to meet at 1:30, and since I was up I thought I might be productive, so I gathered my clothes to try to scrub them in the shower. As I went though, Sila, the guest house owner, suggested I wait until tomorrow, a friend of hers comes by and does it. I said great, and later remembered that on Sunday you are not supposed to do anything, not even laundry. So instead, I decided to go around and see the town, bringing along the vid cam. I thought to try some pan shots from the bike, driving down the various streets. Did a test on a back road: looked bad because it was so bumpy. Then I went driving around and heard some wonderful singing from the Churches. Made some sound recordings as I could, close as possible without being obnoxious. The rest of the town was deserted. Nothing open, except a cafe (here) that opened for 2 hrs starting at noon (then later for dinner).
well it is getting too late and I haven't even got to the beach yet so I can tell this is going to have to be a two-part message. I will keep going as long as l can...
I rode around and found the rich people's part. Some of the houses are completely painted white- the tin roof, the walls, the window sills, the steps. They look like ghost houses. Maybe it is a sign of prestige, because to keep the house looking that good white they must have to paint it every year. There is a church every few blocks, some of them massive, so throughout the town you hear various songs being sung. Everyone is in their Sunday best. I thought of going to the main church and filming everyone coming out at the end, but what would I do with that footage? Around noon I came to the cafe, had some coffee and eggs, then headed back home. The bicycling was extremely laborious because of the wind and my state of exhaustion. OK I think I have to end it there because they are closing soon. In the next note I will tell you about the sea turtle, my brush with death and dinner at Davida's.
Cheers,
Joe
So today marks the middle point of my trip, and my plans have drastically changed back, because Joe is an idiot. I planned to go to Ha'api (keep changing the spelling because I can't quite remember the actual) tomorrow but in the middle of the day I realized that I am not flying out of here on Friday, I am flying on Thursday. As many of you know, I am one to get planes mixed up from time to time, but if I actually did mess up this one it would be an extremely expensive venture to get back to the US. I was planning on going to Ha'api tomorrow and stay until Wednesday, but that made me a little concerned about the window for mistakes, AND after that Lyndsey told me that about 20% of the time, the plane flights just get canceled, and there isn't another flight for two days. I feel safer about staying here and just visiting the Tonga'tapu island group, especially since so much has been happening. The one thing that disappoints me about not going to Ha'api is that the flight actually goes to the farther group, Va'ahu, then flies down to Ha'api. So I would have been able to see all the islands. Va'ahu has mountains and such and is where the "rich tourists go yachting." And Ha'api has two active volcano islands. Oh well.
So I am now at the only cafe that is open on Sunday. It will actually close down in half an hour, and I don't know if I can connect my computer to the lines here or not. So I will write what I can and will try to send it today, but if not tomorrow. It is a little weird to end up at these cafes at the end of each day, because they are tourist bastions, so it feels like I leave Tonga for a little to write and send these emails. The food, service style and prices are more Western than Tongan.
I tried to sleep in a little this morning since yesterday's 7am to 7pm fishing trip was a bit of a windbreaker. But I was a little nervous not having arranged things with Lyndsey. So I called her around 9, and low and behold, I woke her up. So we arranged to meet at 1:30, and since I was up I thought I might be productive, so I gathered my clothes to try to scrub them in the shower. As I went though, Sila, the guest house owner, suggested I wait until tomorrow, a friend of hers comes by and does it. I said great, and later remembered that on Sunday you are not supposed to do anything, not even laundry. So instead, I decided to go around and see the town, bringing along the vid cam. I thought to try some pan shots from the bike, driving down the various streets. Did a test on a back road: looked bad because it was so bumpy. Then I went driving around and heard some wonderful singing from the Churches. Made some sound recordings as I could, close as possible without being obnoxious. The rest of the town was deserted. Nothing open, except a cafe (here) that opened for 2 hrs starting at noon (then later for dinner).
well it is getting too late and I haven't even got to the beach yet so I can tell this is going to have to be a two-part message. I will keep going as long as l can...
I rode around and found the rich people's part. Some of the houses are completely painted white- the tin roof, the walls, the window sills, the steps. They look like ghost houses. Maybe it is a sign of prestige, because to keep the house looking that good white they must have to paint it every year. There is a church every few blocks, some of them massive, so throughout the town you hear various songs being sung. Everyone is in their Sunday best. I thought of going to the main church and filming everyone coming out at the end, but what would I do with that footage? Around noon I came to the cafe, had some coffee and eggs, then headed back home. The bicycling was extremely laborious because of the wind and my state of exhaustion. OK I think I have to end it there because they are closing soon. In the next note I will tell you about the sea turtle, my brush with death and dinner at Davida's.
Cheers,
Joe
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Day 5 (though it says 4)
Burned to a Crisp on DAY FOUR:
I am sitting in the lobby of the International Dateline Hotel because my usual cafe is closed. You would think that Saturday night would be the big night, but no. Everyone is getting ready for Church tomorrow, and it has rained heavily, so the streets are pretty empty. They have a TV here in the lobby, and of course, on Tongan TV, they are playing UB40. In any case, here is how today went...
I was to meet Davida at his house at 7am, and because we had already missed a flight in Perth, I was paranoid about being able to get up, not having an alarm clock. I set my phone alarm, but since I have no service here, the clock doesn't change time, so I didn't know if it would work. I also tried to set up an alarm on my computer calendar, but it just gives a little Beep. In any case I was so paranoid i didn't sleep very evenly, and was up just fine in time. went there and passed the Saturday market where a preacher was using a powerful sound system, and occasionally a choir group would sing. Tried to record some of it, will let you know. Davida and I gathered some stuff, bought more Petrol, and headed out. After much difficulty passing out of the harbor because of low tide, we ended at the mouth where Davida needed to get more supplies. I sat in the boat next to a woman sitting in the water processing some kind of sea life. It seemed like a plant, but it also seemed to have guts that she was eviscerating. The guts colored the water purple around her. Another woman was farther off cleaning shellfish- the ones that the people that walk in the water collect. We sat there for a while, and eventually an old man in a wheel chair was rolled out and down to the shore. Apparently he lived across the channel with his family. The only access to the house was across this channel- there weren't any roads on the other side, and the family parked their vehicles on this side. So he was carried to the boat and we used it to ferry him across. There was alot of wait time, and amid the conversations I heard "Palengi", which is a reference to me. A foreigner is a Palengi. I never know what they are talking about ( if I can't figure it out from hand gestures, etc) until I hear Palengi, then I know they are asking what I am doing with Davida, and it is usually followed by a laugh.
We then headed out to sea. We went straight out past the islands we went to the day before. It was a long distance and he was pressing it. I was riding on the front, holding on by a line lashed to the bow, and for the deep water parts it was like riding a bucking bronco. It got painful after a bit, but we hit the shallow areas between the islands and the water was calmer. We stopped at the next island along the line, and I walked around while he motored along the coast looking for fish. We got to the far end and met, and a storm was approaching so we anchored the boat and huddled under a tree. You get soaked riding across the water, you get soaked by the rain, then the sun comes out and you dry quickly. I got severely burned the day before, so I was slathering on lotion, but I still turned a good shade darker today. We get back on the boat after the storm and headed out again. He bi-passed two islands and I didn't know why, then as we were between islands we got hit by another storm. I couldn't keep my eyes open what with the wind rain and sun. He took us all the way to the second to last island, where there was a house and some folks. One of them helped us anchor and was talking to Davida as if he knew him. It turns out he did. The fellow's name is Paul, and he told me that Davida comes out once a week. It also turned out that this island was a prison. Paul told me that one guy in for drugs was going to be released next month, and another guy for breaking and entering was here for five years. But there were three guys, so I didn't know if Paul was the guard or just didn't tell me what he was in for. There were no locked rooms, no bars, just an isolated island. I don't know if they could have visitors or what. They just had to live out here for their sentence. They had knives, fishing lines, etc. i assume they just had to find their own sustinence, maybe they get supplies dropped off every once in a while.
I actually didn't find this out right away. It seemed like we were going to hang here for a bit, so I found a beautiful view and set up the camera to take a static shot of the palm trees, beach etc. Then we sat down and Paul told me this info. THEN Davida sat down and proceeded to make two of his bombs! I sat and watched the whole process, not feeling comfortable taking pictures or videotaping the actual bomb making. I will write it down separately some time. But the entire time while the camera is shooting this idyllic island scene, just out of screen two bombs were built.
We head off to the far end of the island, where Davida and Lavakei have a conversation. Davida explains to me we need to wait until the tide comes in, about an hour. So we go under the trees and sleep. I was too hot, so I swam in the ocean a little then laid down. There were sporadic drizzles that kept me up, but eventually I crashed hard. I was suddenly awoken to Davida saying "Joe! Joe! Fish!" And I scrambled up, grabbed the camera, set it up, but then we were hit with another rain storm. So we bagged it and waited again under a tree. When it dried up we got out there again, I with my camera, Davida with his bomb, and he quickly spotted a school, lit the bomb from his cigarette, and BOOM! I caught it on tape! The other guys heard the boom and came down the beach to help gather the dead fish. Not a giant catch, mostly what Davida called Cod (I don't think it is the same though) and one large silvery fish. We went and cooked, ate the fish with boiled green bananas and boiled breadfruit. The "Cod" we ate raw, like the fish from the day before, even though these were much larger. They cooked the silver fish but I was stuffed by then. I thought that would be it but Davida wanted to take another look, so we walked back down the island and he saw a giant school, threw the other bomb and BOOM, there were fish sticking up everywhere. Lavakei ran across screaming happy and dived in to start gathering fish. I caught it again on tape. There must have been sixty fish we pulled out. The bomb caught the attention of two passing boats, and they both came in and talked to Davida. (fish bombing is illegal, but I couldn't tell if the boat men cared or not). The second boat, Davida ended up giving them some of the fish. It all seemed friendly, but I of course don't know since I couldn't understand anything. We then divied up the fish and we left the island, going hard as we could back to the main island. We got back, had some tea, and his family insisted I take some fish, as well as papaya and bananas we had gotten from the prisoner's island, over to the guest house. Another big storm came so we waited inside, and I solidified plans with Davida's father about going to the Ha'aipi islands on Monday. I am supposed to spend tomorrow with Lyndsey and her family, then stop by to visit Davida's family again. We will see. I am exhausted.
Since I am going to Ha'aipi I am pretty sure there is little power there, so I may not be able to send emails for a few days. I should be back here on Wednesday, your Tuesday, so you might not hear from me until then. Tomorrow, Sunday, all stores are closed, so I won't be able to send anything then.
I am attaching a picture I took.
Yours,
Joe
I am sitting in the lobby of the International Dateline Hotel because my usual cafe is closed. You would think that Saturday night would be the big night, but no. Everyone is getting ready for Church tomorrow, and it has rained heavily, so the streets are pretty empty. They have a TV here in the lobby, and of course, on Tongan TV, they are playing UB40. In any case, here is how today went...
I was to meet Davida at his house at 7am, and because we had already missed a flight in Perth, I was paranoid about being able to get up, not having an alarm clock. I set my phone alarm, but since I have no service here, the clock doesn't change time, so I didn't know if it would work. I also tried to set up an alarm on my computer calendar, but it just gives a little Beep. In any case I was so paranoid i didn't sleep very evenly, and was up just fine in time. went there and passed the Saturday market where a preacher was using a powerful sound system, and occasionally a choir group would sing. Tried to record some of it, will let you know. Davida and I gathered some stuff, bought more Petrol, and headed out. After much difficulty passing out of the harbor because of low tide, we ended at the mouth where Davida needed to get more supplies. I sat in the boat next to a woman sitting in the water processing some kind of sea life. It seemed like a plant, but it also seemed to have guts that she was eviscerating. The guts colored the water purple around her. Another woman was farther off cleaning shellfish- the ones that the people that walk in the water collect. We sat there for a while, and eventually an old man in a wheel chair was rolled out and down to the shore. Apparently he lived across the channel with his family. The only access to the house was across this channel- there weren't any roads on the other side, and the family parked their vehicles on this side. So he was carried to the boat and we used it to ferry him across. There was alot of wait time, and amid the conversations I heard "Palengi", which is a reference to me. A foreigner is a Palengi. I never know what they are talking about ( if I can't figure it out from hand gestures, etc) until I hear Palengi, then I know they are asking what I am doing with Davida, and it is usually followed by a laugh.
We then headed out to sea. We went straight out past the islands we went to the day before. It was a long distance and he was pressing it. I was riding on the front, holding on by a line lashed to the bow, and for the deep water parts it was like riding a bucking bronco. It got painful after a bit, but we hit the shallow areas between the islands and the water was calmer. We stopped at the next island along the line, and I walked around while he motored along the coast looking for fish. We got to the far end and met, and a storm was approaching so we anchored the boat and huddled under a tree. You get soaked riding across the water, you get soaked by the rain, then the sun comes out and you dry quickly. I got severely burned the day before, so I was slathering on lotion, but I still turned a good shade darker today. We get back on the boat after the storm and headed out again. He bi-passed two islands and I didn't know why, then as we were between islands we got hit by another storm. I couldn't keep my eyes open what with the wind rain and sun. He took us all the way to the second to last island, where there was a house and some folks. One of them helped us anchor and was talking to Davida as if he knew him. It turns out he did. The fellow's name is Paul, and he told me that Davida comes out once a week. It also turned out that this island was a prison. Paul told me that one guy in for drugs was going to be released next month, and another guy for breaking and entering was here for five years. But there were three guys, so I didn't know if Paul was the guard or just didn't tell me what he was in for. There were no locked rooms, no bars, just an isolated island. I don't know if they could have visitors or what. They just had to live out here for their sentence. They had knives, fishing lines, etc. i assume they just had to find their own sustinence, maybe they get supplies dropped off every once in a while.
I actually didn't find this out right away. It seemed like we were going to hang here for a bit, so I found a beautiful view and set up the camera to take a static shot of the palm trees, beach etc. Then we sat down and Paul told me this info. THEN Davida sat down and proceeded to make two of his bombs! I sat and watched the whole process, not feeling comfortable taking pictures or videotaping the actual bomb making. I will write it down separately some time. But the entire time while the camera is shooting this idyllic island scene, just out of screen two bombs were built.
We head off to the far end of the island, where Davida and Lavakei have a conversation. Davida explains to me we need to wait until the tide comes in, about an hour. So we go under the trees and sleep. I was too hot, so I swam in the ocean a little then laid down. There were sporadic drizzles that kept me up, but eventually I crashed hard. I was suddenly awoken to Davida saying "Joe! Joe! Fish!" And I scrambled up, grabbed the camera, set it up, but then we were hit with another rain storm. So we bagged it and waited again under a tree. When it dried up we got out there again, I with my camera, Davida with his bomb, and he quickly spotted a school, lit the bomb from his cigarette, and BOOM! I caught it on tape! The other guys heard the boom and came down the beach to help gather the dead fish. Not a giant catch, mostly what Davida called Cod (I don't think it is the same though) and one large silvery fish. We went and cooked, ate the fish with boiled green bananas and boiled breadfruit. The "Cod" we ate raw, like the fish from the day before, even though these were much larger. They cooked the silver fish but I was stuffed by then. I thought that would be it but Davida wanted to take another look, so we walked back down the island and he saw a giant school, threw the other bomb and BOOM, there were fish sticking up everywhere. Lavakei ran across screaming happy and dived in to start gathering fish. I caught it again on tape. There must have been sixty fish we pulled out. The bomb caught the attention of two passing boats, and they both came in and talked to Davida. (fish bombing is illegal, but I couldn't tell if the boat men cared or not). The second boat, Davida ended up giving them some of the fish. It all seemed friendly, but I of course don't know since I couldn't understand anything. We then divied up the fish and we left the island, going hard as we could back to the main island. We got back, had some tea, and his family insisted I take some fish, as well as papaya and bananas we had gotten from the prisoner's island, over to the guest house. Another big storm came so we waited inside, and I solidified plans with Davida's father about going to the Ha'aipi islands on Monday. I am supposed to spend tomorrow with Lyndsey and her family, then stop by to visit Davida's family again. We will see. I am exhausted.
Since I am going to Ha'aipi I am pretty sure there is little power there, so I may not be able to send emails for a few days. I should be back here on Wednesday, your Tuesday, so you might not hear from me until then. Tomorrow, Sunday, all stores are closed, so I won't be able to send anything then.
I am attaching a picture I took.
Yours,
Joe
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