On-the-Road Tales

I bolted out of bed a mere few hours after settling into it and rushed into town for mass. Been in a lot of churches on this journey but actually getting my travel schedule to coincide with a Sat/Sun mass time and location has not been too successful!I missed the 0900 because I was not going to appear on 2.5 hours sleep but luckily the 1100 was still on. The church is a combination of tradition and the influence of missionaries. The statues of Christ and the Virgin Mary, guardian angels, saints are carved out of wood in a manner similar to the Moai. Very unique and amazing craftsmanship. The altar incorporates the seascape and Rapa Nui prayers are written on the walls. One of the early priests on the island was instrumental in helping to catalog the Moai and spent his life trying to raise money and awareness of the culture around the world. The local museum is named after him.

I arrived home and it was family dinner. Everyone was gathered around outside on porch -everything happens outside at the house- and I was sat down for some chicken (probably the one the dog killed the day before – yeah hope not), and watermelon. Some more people arrived for lunch and I kept looking at them thinking they look awfully familiar – then I realized it was the guys from the band the night before. Guess everyone is soemhow related amoung the 3000 people on the island!

I was told to hurry up bc I had plans. What? What are they talking about? Bad translation because I had not figured out what the day held for me yet. But no I was informed my friend had rang and was arriving in less than an hour to pick me up and go to the other side of the island to the beach. The beach, Anakena, is located 16 km from the town. Many people do not have cars since they are wicked expensive to ship 3000 miles out from Chile. There is only one main town and taxis are cheap so most of the locals rely on them. Many of the local men use horses – no saddles, barefoot, and barechested with Rapa Nui tattoos but more on that later. Luiz showed up in a white truck with another family friend I had met except now he was in uniform. He was on duty which apparently included borrowing the Navy seal emblazoned truck for a spell to drop us and another family off at the beach for the day. I felt so privledged with my military transport! We brought a picnic and headed out to swim and do some hiking. The family brought a harpoon gun for fishing and since the other guy was a free diver, he would going down 15 meters or so forever to collect neat sea stuff. It was really interesting to talk to these folks about politics and police and pride considering Chile’s spotty recent history. Pre/post Pinochet etc. Fascinating to hear the military perspective and discuss some of the differences in training , education etc. Turns out Chile has a kickin Navy/Marine contigent consdiering their lengthy coastline.

Lovely day and I tried out Easter Island Ceviche for dinner. Not bad but too much raw fish in one sitting does not appeal to me. On the walk home, I went past the cemetary. Only part of the road that was not lit naturally. Enjoying the night sky I heard hoofs gallopping towards me. I watched Sleepy hollow while in Brasil so I was a little apprehensive bc the chances of Johnny Depp appearing from the bushes on Isla de Pascua were slim. I met my horsemen and he stopped and turned towards me. Like I said – a Rapa Nui with his polynesian features and intricate local tattoos seated bareback atop a horse in the middle of the road on a dark midsummers night is quite a sight – he asked me if I would like a ride home in spanish thankfully, not local tongue. Some of the local legends tell of Rapa Nui princesses being kidnapped and absconded and I could not help some primal vision coursing through my head of being whisked off to some cave never to be heard from again. But – I regained my composure and thanked him for the offer but respectfully declined. I chuckled on the short remainder of the walk home but kept my ear cocked for falling hooves just in case.

Tags: Travel

This entry was posted on Monday, April 9th, 2007 at 11:12 pm and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.