Rapa Nui Reflections
For some reason the internet is running very slowly tonight - so I apologise for the lack of photos. I daren't test it beyond a few words and a promise to upload some of the spectacular scenery of Rapa Nui when I get back to Santiago in a few days (see what I did there to keep you coming back for more?).
Maybe the internet knows that it is Sunday, a day of rest. A day for church bells to ring out, families to stop into the few little cafes open after the service and treat the children to ice-creams, while they sit and watch the surfers (I believe there is a surfing competition tomorrow). For an economy that is driven by tourism, it seems bizarre to have so many businesses closed on any day, but that's what I like about the place. It is determined to stay small and as a result it remains as authentic as possible for such a tourist attraction.
And talking about tourists... I am sunburnt, my legs ache from the combination of stairs and hills climbed, and I have my first blister! But the flowers on the lei that was placed around my neck on arrival are still fresh as they sit around the moai lamp by my hotel bed, my Spanish is improving to the point of managing small talk with the natives about sunscreen, and today I managed to meet the world's most eminent expert on spitfire planes!
Oh - I can't write a post without mentioning the moai! Whether toppled, decayed, or half completed, they are all fascinating. All that effort to ensure someone we care about, and who cared for us, is watching over us, even beyond death. There are some things all cultures share, I think. But constructing 4 metre high statues and transporting them halfway across an island is unique. And there is a certain serenity about their steady gaze. They are solid and prescient. I can see how they would give comfort out here in the middle of nowhere.
Talking of the island, the landscape is reminiscent of parts of Hawaii, parts of New Zealand and rural Australia. The latter would be as a result of the eucalypt forests here. Yes. Forests! With the pasture and grazing cows, it would be easy to think some parts of the island are just out of Ballarat! Except for the volcanoes! Today we visited the rim of one of the three volcanoes that form the island (all extinct), and the site of a most interesting solution to internal power struggles 300 years ago.
This is the Cult of the Birdman.
Each year all 10 tribes would gather at spring equinox and a nominated warrior for each chief (who had been training since childhood) would compete on a small island a kilometre off the coast for the first egg of the migrating sooty tiern. To get there they free climbed down the perilous cliff, and using a reed surfboard, swam out to the island, and set up camp to wait for the first egg from this bird. Part cunning, part observation, and certainly requiring physical and spiritual strength, the winner's tribe would rule the island for the next year.
Believed to also represent a fertility ritual, the Moai in the British Museum was retrieved from this site on the island, and has on its back the carvings of the birdman, as well as vulva and penises (or so the interpretation goes!). You will not be surprised to learn that 2 years after the catholic missionaries witnessed this ritual, it was shut down (this is in the 1860s).
Fortunately, Katherine Routledge in 1914 was able to interview remaining Rapanui who had participated in this ceremony and was able to document the details. Now the annual festival is still run (in Feb I think) to celebrate the Rapanui culture (and I daresay a good time to visit) with carving competitions, and other competitions of skill and strength (and lots of bared buttocks in authentic dress!).
Well, even with words my blogger site is sending me warnings about problems saving this post. Here's hoping it gets to you... and while I don't have any bared buttocks photos, there are some nice shots of the island that I hope I can upload. Until then - Aveline. :-)
