I caught a plane to Nadi Fiji and lived with a Fijian family whose relative in British Colombia set me up and a joy to be with.
They smoke ganja with.a drink made from the root of the black pepper plant carefully dried and pounded into a powder. Mix it with water and pass it around the circle of bored men until you itch.
I left Fiji on a sailboat headed to Neiafu in the Northern Group of Tonga with Linda and Bill who were well married. After a month of hard labor in Neiafu painting the International Hotel with lead based paint, I was able to ship out on an aluminum sailboat that was salvaged by a Swiss druggie who used to run heroin from Afghanistan to Zurich on a motorcycle.
The dope was hidden in the tubing of the motorcycle. This was a common trick back in those days. The sailboat was now the hideout for this junkie. Unless you are wanted, no one will come looking for you. He simply got away with it. He was living a sailor's life with a Creole wife and baby in the South Pacific not bad in anyone's book. He was all hot and bothered because he was changing into a parent. Living the hell life of a man with no conscience.
We were starving, though. The rice was just about to give out. With many mouths to feed plus the baby, we needed to catch some fish. I had the fishing tackle that I acquired in Honolulu. I tied fancy lures with dyed chicken feathers of yellow and red that looked to be an injured fish trailing blood and guts. I inserted a bullet weight that slides along the line to vary the depth of the lure as it is towed just under the surface glare.
It was not long before a young Dorado started a pursuit. This fish was jumping and straining to keep up. The skipper put the helm over so the lure slowed and this young Dorado could then make an attack. He was soundly hooked. Everyone lent a hand bringing him to bear alongside the swim platform mounted at the stern. We hauled the fish up and laid it on the deck. It was not long before all the greens, blues and yellows of South Pacific sea life gave way to the slate grey of death.
The change was startling to all and will always be remembered. This juvenile dorado gave his life to us so that we may survive. The fish soup was the best we ever tasted.
We continued on for Nuku'alofa passing through the Ha'api and Vava'u Group. I laid on the fore deck with a tee shirt over my face. under the shade of the mainsail. I fell asleep in the heat and tropical breezes. The crew didn't wake him for hours. We were at the edge of the ozone hole so the intensity of the ultraviolet light was very high. He was burned to the second degree on one side of the face.
We tied up to the transit dock in Nuku'alofa. I said goodbye after having a beer with everyone. I lived in a small room above a bakery for weeks while the face peeled many times and healed from this sunburn injury. I felt like the phantom of the opera who had to hide his disfigurement. Even though being severely burned for the moment, I was happy to be in Tonga. I lived on fresh baked wedding cakes during my stay there. They were slightly old but still sweet enough to fill the emptiness I felt. I got all my nutrients from the fruits and vegetables of the Morning Market where everyone came to barter for fresh food.
I was walking on the highway coming from my visit with German expats who were raising the mysterious burgundy breasted parrot. Talikai stopped and offered me a ride. Talikai is a Tongan policeman. We hit it off immediately. Talikai invited me to stay with his family. This sort of thing never happens in America, so I knew this to be a special moment.
We continued on for Nuku'alofa passing through the Ha'api and Vava'u Group. I laid on the fore deck with a tee shirt over my face. under the shade of the mainsail. I fell asleep in the heat and tropical breezes. The crew didn't wake him for hours. We were at the edge of the ozone hole so the intensity of the ultraviolet light was very high. He was burned to the second degree on one side of the face.
We tied up to the transit dock in Nuku'alofa. I said goodbye after having a beer with everyone. I lived in a small room above a bakery for weeks while the face peeled many times and healed from this sunburn injury. I felt like the phantom of the opera who had to hide his disfigurement. Even though being severely burned for the moment, I was happy to be in Tonga. I lived on fresh baked wedding cakes during my stay there. They were slightly old but still sweet enough to fill the emptiness I felt. I got all my nutrients from the fruits and vegetables of the Morning Market where everyone came to barter for fresh food.
I was walking on the highway coming from my visit with German expats who were raising the mysterious burgundy breasted parrot. Talikai stopped and offered me a ride. Talikai is a Tongan policeman. We hit it off immediately. Talikai invited me to stay with his family. This sort of thing never happens in America, so I knew this to be a special moment.
Talikai was big. His legs were like tree trunks. His arms and head were massive. He had the huge gut that all Tongans develop from eating European canned food. Gb told him of his desire to learn the culture and language of Tonga. Talikai made a deal with him. If he taught his family the English they needed to immigrate to Australia, Gb could live and work with him and his family for the remaining two months he had left on the visa. It was easy enough to say yes. He was in Tonga for God's sake!
He bought Talikai a black tee shirt as a gift of friendship. It was the largest they had. He tried it on and it tore in pieces because it was made cheaply. It's the thought that counts. Valu, his wife is such a charmer. Valu means eight in Tongan. Always the perfect wife and mother she treated me like one of her own.
I started the day with a lecture about food. They listened intently but failed to adopt the diet of their ancestors. We would go to church on Sundays. Valu wanted me to dress like a Tongan prince. I got to wear a pocket Sulu and with a tapa wrap and a cowrie apron and breastplate that a young chieftain wears. One felt foolish but somehow stylish.
I instantly became an item for the beautiful Tongan girls. Church is a great place to meet young women.
Since I am a baritone singer, I could harmonize with the choir which just added to the fascination the girls had for me now.
Since I am a baritone singer, I could harmonize with the choir which just added to the fascination the girls had for me now.
Not knowing what was being said in Church since it was all in Tongan was unnerving. We were in the King's Church. You simply smile at everyone and every gesture. Malo Lei Lei and Fe Fe Haki is really all you need to know to get along in Tonga.You are saying hello how are you? The dictionary of the Tongan language is huge. There is no word for snow.
Talikai would take Gb to his fish trap before sunrise. This is not what you think. He caught his fish using the old way. Tidal traps are built with modern day chain link fencing shaped in a vee. If built just right the thing traps the fish on the falling tide leaving them high and dry. These particular spots are handed down father to son and are protected from poachers. All we had to do was go and pick up the dying fish and put them in a burlap sack. Talikai would then sell the excess from his garage to his neighbors in the early morning hours before work.
Talikai would take Gb to his fish trap before sunrise. This is not what you think. He caught his fish using the old way. Tidal traps are built with modern day chain link fencing shaped in a vee. If built just right the thing traps the fish on the falling tide leaving them high and dry. These particular spots are handed down father to son and are protected from poachers. All we had to do was go and pick up the dying fish and put them in a burlap sack. Talikai would then sell the excess from his garage to his neighbors in the early morning hours before work.
One day he brought home a sea turtle that got tangled in this trap. We felt so bad for this turtle as it lay on its back crying tears of anguish. This was food for a native family. This is a wild animal that was caught by an apex predator called a human. We soon rationalized this in spite of what our hearts were saying: Free this animal!
One morning, I heard a squeal outside of the room I was given to sleep in. I looked out the window to see a dying pig with its throat cut gasping for breath. Talikai was painting his son's face with the pig blood. This is a rite of passage for young men to reach manhood.
One morning, I heard a squeal outside of the room I was given to sleep in. I looked out the window to see a dying pig with its throat cut gasping for breath. Talikai was painting his son's face with the pig blood. This is a rite of passage for young men to reach manhood.
How to kill to sustain the family is one of the most important lessons taught by the father to the son. We had roast suckling pig that night cooked in the umu.
The umu pit is dug and lined with lava rocks. A fire is built and tended down to coals. The suckling pig is flayed and slow roasted to perfection while the yams, breadfruit and fish wrapped in banana leaves baked in the remaining embers. Nearly everything is dipped in coconut creme. Tongan feasts are a huge family affair celebrated on Sunday afternoons. You can smell the Umu throughout the islands on any given Sunday in all island communities.
There are five children.... two boys and three girls. I would read children's stories in English to the whole neighborhood explaining each word as we read so that the older girl who spoke English could translate to everyone else. I would get these books from the little library in town. It became a popular stop for all of the children to come and listen to the story. It actually made my job easy to teach English this way without all the theory which makes learning difficult.
There are five children.... two boys and three girls. I would read children's stories in English to the whole neighborhood explaining each word as we read so that the older girl who spoke English could translate to everyone else. I would get these books from the little library in town. It became a popular stop for all of the children to come and listen to the story. It actually made my job easy to teach English this way without all the theory which makes learning difficult.
Practice with your children. Let them hear words spoken correctly. The rest of it comes naturally in time. I left the Plain English Handbook with an Australian who was permanently there and would continue teaching the children.
During our free time, we would go and see the farms of squash plants that the Tongans were growing in the coconut groves for the Japanese Christmas market. Each squash must have the stem removed by hand. This was done by groups of women who spent their day gossiping and sharing stories of their families. If you joined in they would hand you a tablespoon and demonstrate how to dig out the stem so that the fruit does not rot from stem decay.
During our free time, we would go and see the farms of squash plants that the Tongans were growing in the coconut groves for the Japanese Christmas market. Each squash must have the stem removed by hand. This was done by groups of women who spent their day gossiping and sharing stories of their families. If you joined in they would hand you a tablespoon and demonstrate how to dig out the stem so that the fruit does not rot from stem decay.
Market time was before sunrise when it is cooler. Along about 10 am things get too hot to continue. The vegetables start wilting and tempers flare for no good reason. You just don't want to be around petty, fighting Tongans.
We would go swimming at the boat ramp during the sweltering periods of the day. Along about sunset the colors begin revealing themselves in riots of passion. It became so beautiful one simply has to stop and stare at this wonder. The sun takes a long time to set in these latitudes.
We would go swimming at the boat ramp during the sweltering periods of the day. Along about sunset the colors begin revealing themselves in riots of passion. It became so beautiful one simply has to stop and stare at this wonder. The sun takes a long time to set in these latitudes.
There is ample time to get on the path homeward in the mysterious twilight. Many wonderful things can happen in Tonga. This wa mes the most enchanting.
There are German expats living in Tonga. We suspected but did not know for sure, that many of these Germans are relics of Nazism from WW II escaping prosecution by opening German pastry shops right there in Nuku' Alofa. Remember every German family knows someone or related to someone who was in the Third Reich. The likelihood of this being true is enormous. In the short three months we were there we met many Germans. Some legit and some not so legit.
There are German expats living in Tonga. We suspected but did not know for sure, that many of these Germans are relics of Nazism from WW II escaping prosecution by opening German pastry shops right there in Nuku' Alofa. Remember every German family knows someone or related to someone who was in the Third Reich. The likelihood of this being true is enormous. In the short three months we were there we met many Germans. Some legit and some not so legit.
We once entered a half built mansion on the cliff above the ocean in the remotest part of Ewa Island. It was built by a wealthy German that was forced to return and face the music of WW II. Another German technician was developing optics and took a vacation to Tonga just to refresh himself before he faced the long European winter.
I met the strangest people traveling around the world. I'd see the most beautiful women as well. The English women were completely untouchable but so lovely they would take your breath away. They wore nothing but a revealing summer dress. I knew who I was looking at because the diplomatic services choose the most facinating women. I should have stayed with the diplomatic corps when I had the chance. You live and die by the choices you make in life.
Travel while you are young. You won't regret it. Get your essential passport and step out to a new level of education.
No comments:
Post a Comment