April 17 - Limited WiFi; Lots of Updates from Last Days on Moorea

The following are some final reflections of experiences on Moorea. We have traveled to Tetiaroa and will have some more updates in the days ahead. We appreciate your patience with the irregularity of the posts; WiFi access is limited on the atoll! David, Fakehereddine, and Jennifer

The Weekend with Host Family - Daniel

Stellan and I started our weekend with a relaxing morning – reading on our families dock and looking at the fish and the mountains – before our host mom and 17-year-old brother took us on a driving tour around the entire island while we listened to the Tahitian radio. Our first stop was the Rotui juice factory where we sampled all the juices (my favorite was mango and Stellans’ was multifruit). Then we headed up the central island mountain to a viewpoint of Cooks Bay and Opunohu bay with Rotui Mountain separating them. After the viewpoint, as we drove along the beach and around the island, we stopped to get ice cream, then went to another viewpoint of the reef with Tahiti in the distance, and then got lunch at our mom’s sisters’ pizza place. We got back home right before shark o’clock and went straight to the dock where we watched black tip reef sharks and Tahitian rays swim by, while four lemon sharks played below us.

Every Sunday our host family enjoys a breakfast feast of traditional Tahitian food. Easter Sunday was no exception and we started off our day with a breakfast of coconut bread, sweet pork, salty pork, chocolate croissant, breadfruit and taro root dipped in condensed coconut milk, raw fish marinated in coconut shavings and cream, mantioch cake (tapioca cake?), multi fruit juice, and the first of our tri-daily 3-foot baguette. It was a great meal shared with our family, and our mom was very happy to see how much we enjoyed the food. Two hours later we arrived at the beach for a potluck with all the students and their families where we ate pasta, traditional Tahitian doughnuts, and drank local juice out of coconuts. We spent the next three hours playing spike ball on the beach, snorkeling in the bay, throwing the frisbee in the water, surfing on each other’s backs, and having chicken fights and riff offs.

It was an amazing weekend and it made me really grateful for my host family. They gave up most of their weekend to show us around the island and make sure we had a good time. Over our two week stay they expended so much energy helping us feel comfortable in their home and immersing us in their regular lives that we could not have asked for anything more.

A Morning at CRIOBE Eco-Museum -- Hannah

Bonjour! This morning we went to the CRIOBE museum, which was created to help bridge the gap between local people and scientists by sharing their work. The tour guides are all local people who just have an interest in the work and the island, and might or might not be scientists themselves. We learned all about corals and how they feed, reproduce, and endure bleaching events (or not). We also learned a lot about the taramea (crown of thorn sea stars) and their role in the ecosystem. Then we watched a video about the role tectonic plates and a hotspot had in the formation of Moorea and its motus and mountains. We also looked at their aquariums! Our tour guide, Kirahu, walked us out to a wetland type area and showed us some tree snails. She is currently studying them and monitoring their reintroduction into the ecosystem. There are several United States zoos involved in this process (they raise the snails until they can be introduced into the environment on Moorea), including our own local Woodland Park Zoo! We then ate some delicious oranges and took and excellent group photo. It was a great morning and I learned a lot!

Farewell Feast Preparation – Alison

To close off our time in Moorea we all helped prepare, and enjoy, a traditional Tahitian feast. From the start of the trip and even in Seattle we had heard so much about this big feast we would be having with our host families. It exceeded expectations.

Feast preparation began the previous day with chopping veggies and preparing bananas for various dishes and a banana coconut dessert. The next morning, we started our day at Atitia with even more vegetable prep (cucumbers, garlic, carrots, cabbage, and turnips). This was followed by preparing the Tahitian oven, in which almost everything was later cooked in. To do this we made tinder bunches with dried palm leaves and tore up coconut husks into small pieces. We also learned how to weave baskets using palm leaves, this was quite the challenge, but in the end, we were amazed with how it all came together.

The oven itself is a big circular pit dug into the ground. We began with placing the dried palm leaves and coconut husks on the bottom of the oven. This was followed by pieces of wood placed around a larger central vertical log. Finally, we covered it all with volcanic rocks because normal stones would explode in the oven. While rehearsing a bit of dancing, drumming, and singing, Hinano and Cedric started the oven. When we returned, it was a glowing bed of hot volcanic rocks, the heat was incredible. To cool the oven down a bit and to add some steam, we placed strips of banana tree trunk over the rocks. On top of the trunks there was pork and plantains, placed in our weaved baskets, surrounded by pieces of breadfruit and pots of vegetables. To seal the heat in we placed giant banana leaved on top of the oven followed by strips of cold, wet, burlap sacks (although traditionally this was done by weaving a cover using leaves). This concluded the first portion of our day. Overall, it was an incredible experience to help out and see how Tahitian feasts come to fruition.

 

Closing Feast with Host Families - Stellan M.

Our 11 days in Moorea immersed in Tahitian culture culminated in last night’s performance and feast with our host families—a celebration of the connections formed in our brief but meaningful time on the island. As families trickled into the Atitia center at around 5:30, we prepared for our dance performance by dressing in pareos (a traditional Polynesian skirt) and crowns made of flowers and leaves. To begin the festivities, we gathered around the pit oven and uncovered the feast—steaming baskets of roasted breadfruit, taro, bananas, and pork—under layers of burlap and palm fronds. Afterwards, Avery recited a blessing in Tahitian (memorized in one night, no less), and we performed our dance and drum set which we have been rehearsing throughout our stay. Before we dug into the feast, David, using Ustad as a translator, gave a speech to our host families explaining the depth of our gratitude for the endless generosity with which we were met, and that we, in some small way, hoped to express through our performance.

At tables with our host families, we enjoyed the food from the pit cook, poisson cru, banana juice, and fafaru, a particularly pungent fermented fish eaten with coconut puree (an acquired taste—perhaps not all of us enjoyed this one). Musicians gathered at the front, seemingly spontaneously, serenading us with Tahitian tunes on ukeleles and drums. Soon, we were singing “Aurevoir chers amis”, a farewell song, and wishing tearful goodbyes to our host families, who two weeks ago, somehow, had been complete strangers.

For so much of the home stay experience, I’ve been searching for words beyond “merci beaucoup” (about the extent of my French) to express my gratitude. Last evening, I think, helped show our appreciation without language barriers. I won’t soon forget last night and the open heartedness our host families have shown us.

 

Farewell to Our Host Families – Kayla

Today we said our final goodbyes to our host families. We all met at the Atitia center around 4:30. Families sent us off with different gifts such as shell necklaces, collared shirts, bracelets, flower clips, and much more. We all sang a goodbye song and said our final goodbyes. The emotions were high, and we wished each other the best of luck in the future and promised to see each other again. It was a true testament to the connections we all made with our families, and when our bus couldn’t manage to get us in time for our ferry, our parents immediately scrambled to drive us all to the ferry. All students got on to the ferry and waved to our family’s goodbye, saying our final “mauru’uru” for now. We got on the ferry in time and made our way to Tahiti. We then took a three-hour boat ride to our destination of the trip, Tetiaroa. Everyone was in awe and feeling a great appreciation for this experience and our surroundings. The class is now able to spend great time together and explore new ideas and viewpoints about the world in a new environment.

We all began to settle into our new home for the next eight days. We made our rooms, explored the area, and even took a trip to the beach. We are so lucky to be beachside and watch the sunrise and sunset every day. Through this we have a great view of the ocean surrounding us. We have many different fish we have studied right at our feet. We were lucky enough to see sea cucumbers, baby mullets, rays, a moray eel, and even black tip reef sharks. We were also able to see the stars by looking out from our open community space. We were all able to talk about the different constellations around us. We are very excited for our new journey on Tetiaroa. The first night gave us only a little glimpse into the amazing things we will see and the new experiences we will obtain.

And a couple quick pictures from Tetiaroa: 

After a three hour boat ride from Tahiti, we had to board a smaller boat (pictured below) to make it through a gap in the reef into the lagoon where we boarded yet another boat for the final shuttle to shore.

And a view from the area where we eat and sleep!

More to come from Tetiaroa. in the days ahead...