Au revoir Tahiti
Pape’ete
Topics of the day: Musée de Tahiti, final things to do, leaving on a jetplane
This morning I went to pick up the pictures and get another something at the market I’d forgotten yesterday. Roti, Hinano and I went to the Musée de Tahiti – they had planned on going anyway so I was happy to tag along. We walked around separately and there weren’t many other visitors so I enjoyed the peace and quiet in the deserted exhibition rooms. I love museums!
I must say that I got the impression the information boards were written by the French… they were all quite uncritical about colonization – but again – it is not for me to judge…
Back home we had lunch, I packed my things and then cycled to the beach (by the Royal Tahitien – not sure about the water quality so close to the city but since I didn’t have much time I decided to suppress that question – we’ll probably all die of cancer anyway and compared to the majority of humankind I probably live in a relatively (!) clean environment) while Roti had an appointment somewhere. I effectively used the time to make her a little photo album and write some last-minute postcards – and of course I took the time to jump into the pacific one last time…
When I got back Roti made me a 45-minute-summer dress (she’s amazingly fast! …but I’m afraid I will hardly ever get a chance to wear it) and helped me with the newsletter I was about to send out to the roughly 400 e-mail-addresses we collected during our stay (they add up to about 0,15 percent of the population, which might not sound much but if these people perpetuate the idea it might actually take off and spread :).
Just before I left I noticed a big wet spot (upon closer inspection I smelled cat-pee) on my pillow – Roti’s cat had decided to abuse it as a comfy toilet (if I hadn’t already had dinner, wasn’t a vegetarian and didn’t know how much Roti loves that little beast…). We quickly cleaned it and then went to the airport with Vaitua (conveniently he worked tonight so at least the car was full). Roti waited with me and gave me two necklaces with shells and seeds before I went through security.
Final thoughts of the day: I am so grateful that we met Roti!
It’s unfortunate that one can’t have little doors everywhere in the world through which one could just jump for a short visit – have a cup of tea with a friend…
There was a power failure (astonishingly the first one in three months) at the airport so they couldn’t weigh my backpack (on the digital scale) – that was probably a good thing – at least for my wallet… probably not for the poor luggage-guys who have to lift the thing.
We’re so dependent on electricity – nothing seems to work without it… well, except for love, I guess – apparently the birth rate nine month after power failures increases noticeably ;D
How much technology do we need?
Were the Polynesians happier before the Europeans landed on their shores?
When I sat in that steel bird I wondered how many people around me questioned whether it was right to fly or not… I also questioned my contribution to the success of this project…