Monday, October 09, 2006
NO SOCIAL GRACES
we went to the opening ceremony for the melensian cultural festival. when we arrived 30 minutes early the stadium was already full, as we had been warned. we were told to try and sit on the side, but i went around and tried to sneak in through another entrance. jp, being the ever upstanding citizen was not pleased with me, and refused to try and be discreet behind a rather large pillar and opted to stand in view of the security guard. we had however made our entrance into a seated area near the vip section with a woman and her two children. within a few minutes of our not so stealth entrance she took some seats in the back and motioned for us to do the same. we started talking at it turns out she is from papua new guinea (PNG). she had told the security guard that they were "representatives from png here for the festival". she and her family have been living in fiji for three years as her husband works for an international company. she is very nice and we started talking between various announcements and music. her name is sarea, and she is very funny with great insight into melenesian & fijian culture. i asked a bit about png, her family, and her life. i then complimented her on her purse. it is a multi colored hand tied bag. she said it is from a particular region in pgn known for its beaches. she then promptly emptied the conents of the bag into a plastic grocery bag and gave me the bag i just complimented her on. i was dumbfounded. in western culture women complement each other on personal items as a way to connect not to gain new posses ions. jp was not pleased with my social faux paus, and shook his head. he asked if i had read the section in the guide book stating that it is not unusual when giving someone a complement on something to have them give it to you. needless to say i must have skipped that paragraph. i thanked her profusely and before the festivities were over we had exchanged contact information. i also found out where she worked, so the next day i paid her office a visit where i left a necklace i have made with the receptionist. she sent a fast email response thanking me for the necklace. though i know this was not necessary, i felt better sharing something with her. who knows maybe we will bump into her again.
WHOSE BOAT IS THIS ANYWAY?
another assumption we both have encountered is that we are sailing our parents boat. my mother says she would buy a boat when hell freezes over. jp's response is that hell is where it freezes (the logic of an island boy).
i was talking with an american boat in panama and joking about how young i am to be doing this. a little while later the husband gave me a ride back to zaya. after seeing which one was our boat he asked "is this your p' paren' [pause] is this your boat?" my response was yes this is our boat, and there is no way either of our parents would own a boat. this may be due to the fact that we have what what our friends call a 100 ft boat, or rather our boat looks really good from 100 ft away and then as you get closer you see that we could really use a new paint job (something i would not recommend for any boat about to go cruising). another boat in panama who was anchored about 500 ft away actually asked when we got our boat painted. we just laughed and said they had not come close enough to see the reality. the reality is jp got the boat for a good price because of the aesthetic deficiency of the boat (mechanically it is fine). the previous owners put a few scratches on the hull and did not keep up with the bright work (the teak trim). it took them a long time to sell the boat, as most people in america buy a boat which looks nice in order to show off (just a little). when you go cruising you want a boat which sails well and worry about the aesthetic later. as we have learned you either sail the boat or work on the boat. the really shinny boats don't tend to go anywhere. i can't imagine how stressful it would be to go through the panama canal or sit in certain commercial harbor throughout the world with a new paint job. some boats were quite upset going through the pumice, for us we only hoped it would clean out waterline (which it did a very unsatisfactory job!).
jp also had a woman in the Marquesas assume this was his parents boat. she is 23 and is living at home preparing to get teacher certification. we are roughly her age, and she had not concept that one could own a boat. many people were surprised that we could own a boat at our age, but when asked about the price of their car it was almost three times as much as zaya due to VAT, Polynesian duty, and transport costs of getting a suv to a remote island.
i was talking with an american boat in panama and joking about how young i am to be doing this. a little while later the husband gave me a ride back to zaya. after seeing which one was our boat he asked "is this your p' paren' [pause] is this your boat?" my response was yes this is our boat, and there is no way either of our parents would own a boat. this may be due to the fact that we have what what our friends call a 100 ft boat, or rather our boat looks really good from 100 ft away and then as you get closer you see that we could really use a new paint job (something i would not recommend for any boat about to go cruising). another boat in panama who was anchored about 500 ft away actually asked when we got our boat painted. we just laughed and said they had not come close enough to see the reality. the reality is jp got the boat for a good price because of the aesthetic deficiency of the boat (mechanically it is fine). the previous owners put a few scratches on the hull and did not keep up with the bright work (the teak trim). it took them a long time to sell the boat, as most people in america buy a boat which looks nice in order to show off (just a little). when you go cruising you want a boat which sails well and worry about the aesthetic later. as we have learned you either sail the boat or work on the boat. the really shinny boats don't tend to go anywhere. i can't imagine how stressful it would be to go through the panama canal or sit in certain commercial harbor throughout the world with a new paint job. some boats were quite upset going through the pumice, for us we only hoped it would clean out waterline (which it did a very unsatisfactory job!).
jp also had a woman in the Marquesas assume this was his parents boat. she is 23 and is living at home preparing to get teacher certification. we are roughly her age, and she had not concept that one could own a boat. many people were surprised that we could own a boat at our age, but when asked about the price of their car it was almost three times as much as zaya due to VAT, Polynesian duty, and transport costs of getting a suv to a remote island.
MY LOCAL TOUR GUIDE
if anyone isn't aware of this jp is multiracial (i.e. part indian, chinese, & french). Upon leaving reunion island he has been mistaken for everything from middle eastern, north african, to south american. this trip has been no different. it doesn't help that roughly 99% of people cruising are white, so people do not expect him to be on a yacht combined with the fact that we are about 25 to 30 years younger than the average cruiser, he is truly a minority.
The following are some funny encounters we have had along the way:
JAMAICA
jamaican: where are you from?
jp: africa
jamaican: but you don't sound african (because obviously all africans sound the same) from there a conversation would ensue about how jamaicans are pure africans with jp given quizzical looks as to the verity of his previous statement.
jp would then explain where his island is and they would often feign knowledge.one time we were walking through a little village and this came up to me and started hitting on me in front of jp, and finally we realized that he assumed jp was my tour guide. this is where i began joking jp was my perpetual local guide.
Panama
upon ones arrival in colon every boat checks in with customs at the yacht club. we walked in and the customs official took our passports. she looked at mine without a second glance. she opened jp's and a huge smile crossed her face, and said "francia es mulatto, es bueno!". she told us we had to come back to her when we checked out. we found out later it was just because she wanted to say goodbye.
in order to cross the panama canal every boat must have a captain plus three line handlers. this for many boats means getting three volunteer crew members. we line handled on two boats prior to our transit. it is actually very helpful as it prepares one for ones own transit. every pilot who came on board assumed jp was a hired local or"professional line handler", for they assumed that all yachties are white. most of them understood immediately that jp is mutlti-racial as a few of them are. one even went so far to assume that jp must be part lebanese (as others have done in the past).
jp's ability to blend was definitely a benefit as we never got hassled walking around certain areas of panama. he would just dress well in proper shoes, jeans, and a button down short sleeve shirt, none of the flips flops, shorts, and boat shirts of the other yachties. everyone once and a while i would hear someone speak to the person next to them and ask how that guy got a gringa girlfriend... we would just laugh.
ECUADOR
we did a lot of provisioning in ecuador in preparation for the pacific. this meant MANY trips to the market and various supermarkets in Manta. On one occasion we were walking through the market and JP was carrying a large plastic container filled with various items we had just purchased. someone went up to him and asked him how much he wanted for certain items. he was confused for a minute, and responded with the price we had paid. the guy thought about it for a minute, and said no and walked away. jp was further confused and then realized he had been mistaken for one of the locals who walk through the market trying to sell just a few items at a time. at first we thought this was funny, but then we wondered if we didn't get a good price for the items we had just purchased, if we couldn't sell them on the street.
Marquesas
in hiva oa we went on a tour of the island with another boat. there were seven of us piled into a small landrover defender (our tour guide, his brother, the other couple plus there daughter, and jp and myself). we were having lunch on the far side of the island. sitting having a picinic near the water. some kids from the nearby village wandered by playing various games and one even riding by on a horse. then one child came up and shook hands with our tour guide, jp and i, and finally the brother (in that order). he completely ignored the boat (who happened to be white). we later asked our tour guide and his brother if people would assume jp was a local. their response was a resounding yes, as he must be because he is not white so he can't be a tourist.our first day on the island of ua-pou we were surprised to see so many french, i.e. white people. this was in july when they have celebrations all month with singing, dancing, and a bit of drinking. people sit around the town center playing bachi and hanging out. it's quite nice. the first person to strike up a conversation with us is a frenchman from Marseilles. he started telling jp about how he arrived on the island by dating a local woman and all the trouble that got him into. he then explained he came to the Marquesas for tax evasion due to business problems in france. he then asked how we arrived on the island. jp pointed to zaya, which was in view from the village center. his next question was if we were in the marquisas for tax evasion purposes as well. jp said no, and thanked him for his offer of a drink, but declined as we didn't want the rest of the population to make a similar assumption (guilt by association).
NIUE
Niue has to be the only island we went to were people knew jp was not a local. that has to dependent upon the fact that there are only 1500 people on the island and they all know each other by site (we can only assume). though there are indians from india on the island who work in agriculture doing jobs the locals do not care to do. a few did not seem to be enjoying it as there is no thriving social life and the money was not as good as they had been promised. they asked us where we were from and if we would take them to france (we don't have plans to go to france). we told them it would take months of sailing to get to france, and this was something they were quite shocked by. then they asked us to take them anywhere else. they offered to pay us and sleep on deck (something i would not wish on anybody) and said they would work very hard. we thanked them but declined as this is very illegal and we really don't have the space for two twenty something indian guys whose grasp of the english language seems to end at "my country india" & "you like niue?...really?!".
FIJI
it is not too far fetched for someone to mistake jp for a fijian as a significant percentage of the population is indian. as there are so many indiands there is a thriving economy surrounding around indian goods. we are thoroughly enjoying the clothes, food stuffs, and movies. this is purely an assumption, but the indian business drive creates wonderful competition keeping prices low (something we have not seen since south america). jp has found the hindu language very interesting and decided to but a book in order to teach himself a little hindu. the girl at the counter immediately asked "why don't you know this, aren't you from here?" he has to explain that no he was from another island in a different ocean. if he tells people that he is from mauritus next to reuion, another island with british ties and a significant indian population they know it immediately, but Reunion being french is still a mystery to many. we spoke to a woman from papau new guinea (PNG), who asid jp looked like he could be from fiji, but had lived overseas by the way he carried himself and dressed.
we have met one other non white male who is the second black man to circumnavigate. he had the poor timing to show up in south africa during the fall of apartheid. he was the first black man to ever be served at the durban yacht club bar, where he was honored. when he showed up in capetown the officials thought he had stolen the boat. he has a great sense of humor and seems to have taken it all in stride.
The following are some funny encounters we have had along the way:
JAMAICA
jamaican: where are you from?
jp: africa
jamaican: but you don't sound african (because obviously all africans sound the same) from there a conversation would ensue about how jamaicans are pure africans with jp given quizzical looks as to the verity of his previous statement.
jp would then explain where his island is and they would often feign knowledge.one time we were walking through a little village and this came up to me and started hitting on me in front of jp, and finally we realized that he assumed jp was my tour guide. this is where i began joking jp was my perpetual local guide.
Panama
upon ones arrival in colon every boat checks in with customs at the yacht club. we walked in and the customs official took our passports. she looked at mine without a second glance. she opened jp's and a huge smile crossed her face, and said "francia es mulatto, es bueno!". she told us we had to come back to her when we checked out. we found out later it was just because she wanted to say goodbye.
in order to cross the panama canal every boat must have a captain plus three line handlers. this for many boats means getting three volunteer crew members. we line handled on two boats prior to our transit. it is actually very helpful as it prepares one for ones own transit. every pilot who came on board assumed jp was a hired local or"professional line handler", for they assumed that all yachties are white. most of them understood immediately that jp is mutlti-racial as a few of them are. one even went so far to assume that jp must be part lebanese (as others have done in the past).
jp's ability to blend was definitely a benefit as we never got hassled walking around certain areas of panama. he would just dress well in proper shoes, jeans, and a button down short sleeve shirt, none of the flips flops, shorts, and boat shirts of the other yachties. everyone once and a while i would hear someone speak to the person next to them and ask how that guy got a gringa girlfriend... we would just laugh.
ECUADOR
we did a lot of provisioning in ecuador in preparation for the pacific. this meant MANY trips to the market and various supermarkets in Manta. On one occasion we were walking through the market and JP was carrying a large plastic container filled with various items we had just purchased. someone went up to him and asked him how much he wanted for certain items. he was confused for a minute, and responded with the price we had paid. the guy thought about it for a minute, and said no and walked away. jp was further confused and then realized he had been mistaken for one of the locals who walk through the market trying to sell just a few items at a time. at first we thought this was funny, but then we wondered if we didn't get a good price for the items we had just purchased, if we couldn't sell them on the street.
Marquesas
in hiva oa we went on a tour of the island with another boat. there were seven of us piled into a small landrover defender (our tour guide, his brother, the other couple plus there daughter, and jp and myself). we were having lunch on the far side of the island. sitting having a picinic near the water. some kids from the nearby village wandered by playing various games and one even riding by on a horse. then one child came up and shook hands with our tour guide, jp and i, and finally the brother (in that order). he completely ignored the boat (who happened to be white). we later asked our tour guide and his brother if people would assume jp was a local. their response was a resounding yes, as he must be because he is not white so he can't be a tourist.our first day on the island of ua-pou we were surprised to see so many french, i.e. white people. this was in july when they have celebrations all month with singing, dancing, and a bit of drinking. people sit around the town center playing bachi and hanging out. it's quite nice. the first person to strike up a conversation with us is a frenchman from Marseilles. he started telling jp about how he arrived on the island by dating a local woman and all the trouble that got him into. he then explained he came to the Marquesas for tax evasion due to business problems in france. he then asked how we arrived on the island. jp pointed to zaya, which was in view from the village center. his next question was if we were in the marquisas for tax evasion purposes as well. jp said no, and thanked him for his offer of a drink, but declined as we didn't want the rest of the population to make a similar assumption (guilt by association).
NIUE
Niue has to be the only island we went to were people knew jp was not a local. that has to dependent upon the fact that there are only 1500 people on the island and they all know each other by site (we can only assume). though there are indians from india on the island who work in agriculture doing jobs the locals do not care to do. a few did not seem to be enjoying it as there is no thriving social life and the money was not as good as they had been promised. they asked us where we were from and if we would take them to france (we don't have plans to go to france). we told them it would take months of sailing to get to france, and this was something they were quite shocked by. then they asked us to take them anywhere else. they offered to pay us and sleep on deck (something i would not wish on anybody) and said they would work very hard. we thanked them but declined as this is very illegal and we really don't have the space for two twenty something indian guys whose grasp of the english language seems to end at "my country india" & "you like niue?...really?!".
FIJI
it is not too far fetched for someone to mistake jp for a fijian as a significant percentage of the population is indian. as there are so many indiands there is a thriving economy surrounding around indian goods. we are thoroughly enjoying the clothes, food stuffs, and movies. this is purely an assumption, but the indian business drive creates wonderful competition keeping prices low (something we have not seen since south america). jp has found the hindu language very interesting and decided to but a book in order to teach himself a little hindu. the girl at the counter immediately asked "why don't you know this, aren't you from here?" he has to explain that no he was from another island in a different ocean. if he tells people that he is from mauritus next to reuion, another island with british ties and a significant indian population they know it immediately, but Reunion being french is still a mystery to many. we spoke to a woman from papau new guinea (PNG), who asid jp looked like he could be from fiji, but had lived overseas by the way he carried himself and dressed.
we have met one other non white male who is the second black man to circumnavigate. he had the poor timing to show up in south africa during the fall of apartheid. he was the first black man to ever be served at the durban yacht club bar, where he was honored. when he showed up in capetown the officials thought he had stolen the boat. he has a great sense of humor and seems to have taken it all in stride.
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