I just rode here on the back of a motorcycle (while my suitcase rode on the back of another one). Prior to that, I went to a village shrine (a vestige from the old pagan days before the missionaries swarmed the place) to get a blessing from the lady of the shrine, the ritual mediated by a lovely island woman who inherited the guardianship from her dad who inherited it from his dad, who inherited it … you get the picture. 

Right after that, I planted a coconut tree (well, I plopped a coconut which had already developed leaves into the soil. A rather symbolic gesture organized by Kaboua on his granny’s property.

Kaboua works for the ministry of agriculture (I think I should capitalize that) and specializes in coconuts. He has traveled the globe from training to training from symposium to symposium on the subject. I think he actually traveled more than the marine policeman from the ferry.

Before this flurry of activities, I spent the morning walking the beach, stopping in the shade every 50 meters. It is a crazy hot and humid day. After last night’s storm, the wind just stopped and the heat descended in full humid force. I walked and played my iTunes: first it was Spooky by Dusty Springfield about 7 times then Altin Gun, the Merlocs, Can, the Temples, Stereolab, Minami Deutsch… Fun remembering the reasons why each of these downloads happened. Other than Dusty, the rest is all because I saw the band live recently.

Then I lay in the shade for a couple of hours with only so much energy to hold my Kindle. That Dave Thomson’s book (Your Pretty Face is Going to Hell) is super interesting. The guy did some crazy amount of research. I wish I can retain some of the trivia he packs in there. Particularly those juicy Lester Bangs’ quotes.

Oh look, the airport agent i.e. the guy that weighed me and my luggage, checked me in (by not requiring any ID) and took the luggage to the grass knoll that is the runway, just rode a motorcycle up and down the runway chasing straight dogs ahead of the plane’s landing. And a kid with measles was trying to grab my leg… Goodbye, Abaiang!!!!