A Trip to Remember

Last week we were really busy, having 14-20 divers everyday for a
week. Things around the shop were busy, and my boss had his birthday
and went away for a few days. When they got back I had planned a
holiday for myself to the island of Ranogga, and stayed in the village
of Kougu. I have a friend from their named John F Kennedy. His
father, Erin was one of the two local scouts that rescued JFK during
World War II. They invited me to their home, to relax and spend some
time with Erin. This was an opportunity I could not pass up before I
leave.

So Tuesday morning I got in a large dug out canoe with a 15 HP
outboard, and started a slow trip across the sea to their village. I
just had a few clothes, my laptop, and some gifts of rice and flour
for the family. The trip took about two hours, the seas were very
calm, but there was a large swell, it is a bit intimidating being in a
large tree in a 10 foot high swell! But I was able to lay down and
sleep most of the way. The kids in the village all knew I was coming
and were waiting by the sea when we arrived (they all skipped school
apparently).

Erin is now 94 years old, or so they guess, and is very hard of
hearing. This was most entertaining as he always wanted to hear me
speak, and I do speak Pidgin the national language, but he does not,
he just speaks the language of Ranogga. So I had to shout in his ear
the Pidgin then someone else would shout the translation to him. He
is always laughing and full of life, playing jokes on the kids, and
still quite active out gardening, and watching over his land and
family. He has 9 kids, aged from there 60's to 30's. Kennedy my
friend is the youngest.

Kerrie, my boss, suggested bringing some local tobacco for him, when I
gave it to him, he laughed, and said it must be Kerrie who sent that.
He is good friends with my bosses and a very respected man. He has
built a memorial to JFK, and took me the 30 Min walk through the bush
there, then used a bush knife (machete) to clear the up growth around
it. It was pretty impressive to see the strength he still had. He
loves the US, and loves JFK. Not for political reasons as he would
not really know them. But I started to ponder why he had this
obsession, and it becomes clear. The Japanese here were very ruthless
to locals, torturing them, shooting children out of coconut trees, etc
etc. The Americans however were liberators to the local people. When
they found JFK he befriended them, and this was one of his first
encounters with white men, he gave them gifts as a thank you, and
invited them expenses paid to his inauguration (for other reasons Erin
could not attend). I guess Erin never expected the young man he
rescued to become leader of one of the most powerful nations on earth.
While are you are here the US seems so distant, almost impossible,
and JFK is the one that fused them together. Erin has a US flag that
he host and lowers every morning by his house, overlooking the Pacific
Ocean.

I arrived on Tuesday, and went swimming with the kids, but immediately
felt the language barrier, as Kennedy told me, most kids have never
been to Gizo where I live, which is a huge town to them. They don't
see many white people, I was constantly touched, and hair from my
head, arms and legs taken. They are very touchy people here, and the
young kids, would always sit touching my knees and arms, to see how I
felt. They found my tan lines from my watch very funny. The older
ones have started to learn pidgin from others, and would talk more
once they got to know me. There was one boy Mathew who was just
adorable, and silently followed me the first day, but opened up the
second day, picking up Pidgin and English quite fast. That evening
everyone wanted to watch a video, I used my iPod to let Erin listen to
music, quite amazing to see him using it, dancing, laughing, singing.
After a dinner of kasava, tuna, and noodles, we put on a film for the
kids, and the house was very quickly full.

Wednesday morning, I awoke with the sun, sleeping on a small mattress
in an open leaf house does not allow you to sleep in. But was well
rested and had a nice tea and breakfast of rolls with the family as
the kids prepared for school. Kennedy's youngest son, Nusa Babi, is 7
years old, and is always the first at school. He told his dad he
wanted to be a pilot, so his dad told him, all pilots need to be good
at Math and English, so since then Nusa Babi is the first to school,
Kennedy said he likes the Pilot idea after he saw how it made his son
so dedicated.

At ten I was supposed to go to the school to talk about the US, and
show some pictures on the computer to the kids. As I left the house
to walk to the school Mathew started following me, and repeating my
Pidgin, he came and sat outside of each class as I talked. I did all
four classes and was always asked the same question by the girls, "Do
I have a picture of my wife?" Wife here just means girlfriend or
partner, so I pulled up some pictures of Emma, and all the girls
always came close to see and say how pretty she was. When I finished
there Mathew and I walked back to the house, were Kennedy was waiting
and we headed to his fathers land where his memorial was to JFK. We
found some fruit and bettle nut along the way, then took some photos
with his father at the memorial. It is a large concrete memorial, the
photo has been ruined by the sun and salt, but it is quite an
achievement to build such a memorial so high up, in such a remote
place.

Next we headed to the sea where Kennedy was moving some timber, and
the school kids had come down to gather stones for the school garden.
The village is about a 10 min walk up a narrow path, and sits about
200 feet above the sea on a cliffs. So each kid had to come down and
get a large stone for borders to flower beds, but they all just went
swimming first. After that we had some lunch of Kasava pudding with
coconut cream, then the kids all took me to a river to spearfish for
Hulia, or Crawfish. As we were leaving Mathew wanted to follow but
the others said he was too small, so he was crying when I picked him
up to carry him, he was so happy when he figured out he was going. We
spent the next three hours walking up a river with small goggles and
homemade spears guns fishing for Hulia, and getting about 60(I got 2,
1 was a dead one the kids through in front of me though). When we
finished we all climbed up a rock face to an old logging road to
follow back to the village. We had not taken any water, but people
here are so used to living off the jungle, that the kids then went and
climbed coconut trees to get some coconuts and used rocks, and their
teeth so we could all get a drink. Even little Mathew found Nallie
Nuts for everyone, a nut like an almond but he got a few kilos in
about 30 mins, so we could all eat. It is amazing how resourceful
they are, and know what to eat as they are walking. And bettle nut is
always found for a good break.

When we got back I needed a break, and read for a bit and took a nap.
Mathew was watching me read when I said "Ui like Sleep", and he said
"Mi Les", he did not want a nap, he just wanted to play. He was wound
up all day, and kept up with all the big kids, and went strong until
about nine that night when he finally crashed. While we rested all
the men went spear fishing for a BBQ that night, and they shot about
20 fish in two hours.

That night we all had a big dinner with the fish and craw fish, then
watched a movie before heading to bed. The next morning we got up
early then I followed the same dug out canoe back to Gizo. It was one
of the best experiences I have had here, everyone was so friendly and
helpful. They are so respectful of Erin, and I as his guests, I just
felt so at home. It is a place I will defiantly return to and wish
that all of you could experience it, as it truly is what the people
here are about, and you see there true face.

Luke