I went today to the Marai where the first Tahitian left to voyage and find Hawaii thousands of years ago. Upon arriving on Oahu he sent his son back and the family returned and populated Hawaii. It’s amazing what they did and in 1976 after almost 600 years the Polynesian Voyaging Society sent back the Hokuleia to that very same Marai. The thousands of Tahitians from all over Polynesia greeted them chanting “what took you so long?” The place had great mana (power) and I was truly touched by all that it means for the history of Hawaii and the people of Raiatea.
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Back home it’s ten a.m. - here it is four a.m. I can’t sleep so I thought to write.
French Polynesia is warm and kind thus far - the rain feels like a warm cloak over the land. Last night I sent Brother to the airport alone to fetch the parents and the aunt and uncle - there is only room for five in the truck and we had no interest in someone sitting in the back of the truck in the rain for the short drive back to the hotel. I slept so well early but now I toss and turn.
I am learning bits about these Society Islands as we go along. This place, although it has modern conveniences, has a very low crime rate and aside from the traditional dislike between Tahitians and French (being a colony does not make for great bedfellows) there seems to be little issue with dislike of Americans. As Brother and I have both experienced the dislike for Americans on our separate trips to Europe it’s nice not to have any obvious prejudice although I am told that the homes with the blue and white flag for French Polynesian Independence may have an imu in the back yard in which to cook me it reminds me of a slightly better organized version of the Hawaiian Independence movement (signaled by an upside down Hawaii State flag in the front yard - thank goodness for flags). Here the independent movement has taken over the parliament (via votes of no confidence) and lost it (in the same way) at least once with no pullout of the French Navy ships in the harbor (what a great port to be stationed in) or Government. The Vice Presidency where Sister-in-Law used to work is one of the nicer buildings in downtown Papeete with cream stone and red roofs, beautiful courtyards and statues all over.
When Husband arrived in New York one of his brothers worried about me - there is a hurricane in the Caribbean you know! Yep, as might be a common thought, he assumed that Tahiti was in the Caribbean. Nope, we are over 2000 miles almost due south of Hawaii and just east of New Zealand (where local beef comes from - I may order some Steak et Frites tomorrow). Sister-in-Law discovered the same lack of global knowledge about this Island Nation when she went on an exchange semester in college (she has a Bachelors Degree in Foreign Language as used in Economics - not bad!) to Australia. On her first day of class as the students went around introducing themselves she said her name and that she was from French Polynesia. Where? Asked her professor. Tahiti she said, using a more common name although less official. Where? Asked her professor. The Society Islands she said - another common name for these islands. Where? Asked her professor. She eventually had to show him on a map. I find this fascinating as French Polynesia is not to far from Australia - in fact my flight that I came on continued to Sydney in only three additional hours.
We visited Hina and her daughter Orihei last night - I had met them before in Hawaii at Willie and Patea’s wedding, only then I had Papaya with me. I got to hold and tickle this little one who spoke only French (and probably Tahitian) but was so much like my little love. She liked to be tickled and read a book about animals, she danced for us all to watch and was a happy little girl. The last time we saw her she was already in underwear at just before two years old and I had to stop myself from comparing or worrying about Papaya just not being ready yet. This time I saw her in a diaper at night - and learned that like Papaya she goes back and forth. She is also newly in preschool and Hina told me this has increased her success at the potty. Amusingly Hina got a phone call from Orihei’s teacher updating on the progress - the little one who spends a lot of time with her father (her Mother sells cars full time for Chery - a Korean Car maker) plays just like a boy - rough! She even has learned to pee standing up as her father, only with girl equipment and they ask her to sit on the potty so as not to confuse the other little girls! Hina laughs with such pride at her little tomboy who loves to dance - I too know a little girl with those qualities.
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We took off late into a thunderstorm - a truly spectacular sight. As the plane rose above New York I could see the bridges below, the beach houses and the great thunderclouds lighting up the sky with an electric show. We were three hours late taking off but now we were in the air and the cares of the ground started to fade away.
A meal was served in bumpy conditions and quickly the airplane started to sleep. The man behind me in his soft snore, the twins giggling as they squish into one seat together rather than use the two their parents bought for them. What a fun adventure and sleepover this must be for them, an excuse to stay up at all hours and watch movies with their parents permission!
I think of my daughter now as I am over the pacific with no lights below. Of course I think of her - she is part of me and we are farther away than we have ever been from one another. She is now probably waking up - it’s seven a.m. back home - and cuddling her Daddy with her sweet good mornings. She’s asking for a book, a chance to run around naked before the day begins and probably, this is just a guess, a banana aka. “bana.”
She’ll come out into the great house and get settled after a long night on the road. As they left me at Kennedy Airport Adventure Dad lost, for a moment, his parking ticket. When he could not find the registration (taken out of the car accidentally last night when we discovered a leak in the passenger door) they backed him out of his lane and called the Port Authority. The Port Authority never came and he found his ticket and left but this delay put him squarely in New York City rush hour traffic on a friday afternoon - when I called last at about 8 p.m. they were still 30 miles south of Albany, New York with a few hours to go. So it must have been a late night arriving near eleven p.m. and going straight to bed for our little Papaya.
I’m looking forward to landing and seeing my brother. This first day in Papeete is alone with Pono until late tomorrow night when the rest of the family arrives. Pono and I have never taken a vacation together and although it would have been better if his new wife had been able to join us, I’m still so excited to see her home.
French Polynesia seems so idyllic that I feel as though I must now understand part of what many tourists feel coming to Hawaii for the first time. Growing up in Hawaii I often wondered what it was like to come here expecting the travel brochure and getting Waikiki. It’s a flat beach thats overcrowded in my opinion and certainly was never considered a place to “hang out” for this local family. We got antsy when tourists came to the beaches we liked because soon enough those beaches would be busy too and on an island space is at a premium. When the land below your house is valued at more than the home itself you start to realize that being alone, or close to only those you love, is a true luxury. I guess thats why I am excited to see Pono - we’ll get some time to reconnect alone as brother and sister but also as adults who care for one another - I get to know him better than I did only yesterday.
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