Rubies & Pearls: Tahiti

I have a deep draw to the Polynesian culture and land that was formed unexpectedly in the early 2000's. It start when unexpectedly when I was in grad school. During my first couple of years working on my Masters, I had also been traipsing around the Caribbean and Central America during my quarterly breaks. It was then that I started to have this vivid, reoccurring dream. In this dream, I was in a canoe, in the dark, paddling in the vast South Pacific ocean, always heading West. I was alone, paddling and paddling, heading towards a place that was pulling me like the full mood pulls the tide.

I had never been to the South Pacific. I was a Caribbean girl. Having had lived there in my early twenties and traveling back and forth for over a decade. The South Pacific was nowhere in my conscious thoughts. I had a list of locations I wanted to visit. The South Pacific (even Hawaii) was not on that list. And even though dreams have long guided, informed and prophesized many aspects of my life (and the lives of those close to me), I had never had reoccurring dreams. (and I have not had any such dreams prior or since.) But this dream, it would happen every few weeks, for months on end. I would wake up with the sense, in the core of my being, that there was somewhere I had to go in that part of the world.

Then in September 2001, I was called to travel to Oz. Australia was on list of places I longed to see and I was excited to visit the land down under, to experience the land, original people's culture and to see the wildlife. I clearly recall looking out the window, down at the vast ocean and thinking, "that's where my boat is." Oz was an incredible adventure and then 9/11 happened while I was there. That is a story for another day but I will say this, on the return fight, over the South Pacific, I remembered that dream again and this time thought, "Well, I am not heading towards the destination that is calling me but at least I am flying over it." And guess what, those dreams stopped. For about three months.

They returned in full force, every few weeks for over year. Finally, while sitting with where to travel during my next break (mind you, I worked two jobs, including live in-home care, while in grad school, to fund my excursions. Work hard, play hard!), I thought, "it's time to go to the South Pacific to see what this is all about." It took time to decided where exactly but eventually Fiji and Western (non-American) Samoa won out.

Those trips are yet another story but in order to tie all this together, I will say that Fiji was okay but Samoa. Wow. When I got off the plane at 5 a.m. and saw the most breathtaking sunset and felt the energy of that island, I knew this was where I was meant to be. After a too short of time exploring two of her islands, I returned home. And the dreams never returned. I know I will return there one day. I may bring the family but one day, it may be the place I go to and do not return.

I had only one another Polynesian dream. It was a single event. In 2005 had a dream that I was flying over Honolulu, just above the freeway, in a Jetson's type of vehicle. It was all so real, so vivid. I could see the cars, the traffic. Yet this was place I'd never been to. And then I heard a voice say, 'this is home.' I was a flight not too long after and my love affair with Pele and Hawaii has been going strong ever since. I have been to the islands about 15 times and the kids about 8 times. Both their plane rides were at 4 months old, to Kauai. But O'ahu remains the place I love the most. I would, and I just might yet, live there one day.

My family and friends all know the deep love I have of Samoa and Hawaii. What I have not always shared is a pastime of looking at a map of the various island in the South Pacific and my obsession with tracking flight fares. For over 15 years, I have longed to come to travel to other places in this remote, tropical part of the world. Over those years, we have been blessed to travel to some far flung, amazing locations and had some life changing experiences. But this part of the world, it called but was always out of reach. And then, recently, I saw a flight alert. I had been contemplating returning to New York, visiting friends, family, going to the theatre, hiking in the woods upstate. But there it was, the enormous increase in airfares except for flights to Tahiti. With some hesitation, I brought it up to my cousins who told me I was crazy for even considering New York. They were right. This was my time to return to the place that pulls me like the tide on the full moon.

Fast forward a few months and here I am, at 5 am, writing my story. I keep this blog for the girls, that one day, they can read it and not only have memories of their lives adventures but I want them to know me more deeply. Yes, I share things with them. We are open, honest and close. But they are still children (well, teens now!) and reading this when they are older may sit differently later on. I choose to schlepp my computer with me this trip, to write more in the present moment versus going home and reliving it all. I enjoy that but I wanted to see how this felt this time around.

So here is my first Tahiti post of the girls first trip to this part of the world. Hawaii is in the South Pacific too but it's 3,000 miles away. It's only been a few days so far. It's always bumpy after traveling overnight, time changes, etc. But so far so good. Only a few mild earthquakes, which did not last long. We had to switch locations the first night in Papeete because the previous travelers had covid and could not leave the unit (not surprisingly though, Covid has been minor here compared to the rest of the world). We ended up in a place that was okay except for the cockroaches. It was a good lesson on living in the tropics. We were able to go walk around the city. Amara and I made a beeline for the most wonderful Papeetee market (we will have to return to do souvenir shopping as we mostly got produce). I have to confess, I ended up with a tin Hello Kitty basket but mostly we looked with our eyes wide open at the vibrant colors on the crafts, fabrics and produce. And the people were warm, friendly and welcoming. It is French Polynesia (I won't get started on my anti-imperialist thoughts here) but at least that meant some good begets and cheese. Our first dinner, in our little airbnb was just that. Simple but yummy. Traveling allows for experiencing the difficult, the challenging, the fun, the out of the box.

Here are some photos of our first day or so.

I found a New Age type shop near the market. The women who owned it were open and lovely. Meeting people like that, spontaneously, is one of the great things about traveling.