“Cock-a-doodle-doo! Cock-a-doodle-doo!”
The roosters decided to work their magic in the early morning hours Saturday, October 19th 2019 on Moorea island. And yes, I got to be the fortunate recipient of their morning cheers. I was awoken momentarily from my slumber by the roosters calls. Honestly, I wasn’t even that annoyed about it. It was the first time I was woken up by rooster crows and it happened in Moorea. How many people can say that? The simple things give me gratitude when I think about my experience in French Polynesia.
I shortly fell back asleep and woke up around 6 am. My right eye actually started to feel better. It was still red but wasn’t irritating me as much. So I put some more drops in from the pharmacy in Papeete to continue the healing process. I got ready and went to the kitchen area at the other cabin on the lodge to get some bananas to eat. They were smaller bananas and perhaps it was just in mind, but they seemed to taste more like they came from a tropical jungle. Anyhow, I got my clothes and bags ready as I was looking to get back on the ferry to Tahiti for around 12:30 pm. The taxi driver that took me to the lodge from the day before gave me her business card, so I called her to pick me up from the lodge and take me back to Vai’are, the port where the ferries came in and out of. Eventually, the taxi showed and it turned out she actually called one of her other taxi driver friends to pick me. He was very friendly and conversational as we headed to the port.
So finally I arrived at the port and then walked around trying to find where to put my luggage at so it could be loaded onto the ship. I had a little trouble at first finding a loading palette to put my bag on and I wasn’t the only one. A guy asked me where it was, and he actually asked in English too. Eventually, we were directed to the right spot. In the meantime, I asked him if he was American and he responded with yes. We introduced ourselves to each other. His name was Adrian and it turns out he was a freelance photographer on a work project that happened to bring him to Tahiti. We walked up to the top outdoor deck on the ship, sat down and continued to chat about our work and businesses. As you can see, the weather was a little dreary and actually rained a little bit that day. But as the ship pulled out from port in Moorea, it moved away from the rain. There was a nice cool wind blowing from the ocean that wasn’t too overpowering.
Back to the conversation between Adrian and me, he told me that while he was American, he had a place in Mexico with his girlfriend while maintaining his primary residence in Los Angeles. He was in Tahiti on a photoshoot for a magazine in which his stay and trip were fully paid for (future business goals for me). We talked about our business goals, our travels, our frustrations in business and the blessings that have come forth through our endeavors to go into business for ourselves in our respective fields. I think back to that moment and wonder what the chances were that I would run into an American at that place and time who is also in the creative industry. Finally, our ship arrived at port back in Papeete and we exchanged contact info to keep our connection. I got my bag and walked back to the Mahana hostel all safe and sound.
It was around lunchtime and I was hungry so I decided to get out and walk around town a little bit to see where I could eat. After some time of walking around the blocks and not really settling in a place I wanted to eat, I did the overly predictable American thing, I went to McDonald’s. Yes, there is a good ole Micky D’s all the way out in Tahiti. I waited in line which was a great opportunity to explore the menu. It turns out they have different terminology for some of the items. I ended ordering a meal with what would be the “Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese” in The States. In Tahiti, they call it the “Royal Double”. I took my meal to go, went back to the hostel and ate it there. While I was livin’ and lovin’ the Tahiti dream, there were little moments and here and there where I got homesick, so it was actually satisfying to get a taste from home.
Finally, sunset time was about to hit so of course, I had to go to my favorite hangout spot by the bay and then go to the eat more at the food trucks. I went back to the truck that I discovered my first night there, got my enormous amount of fried chicken, rice, lemon sauce, and bread and felt like I was living the life right by the ocean with the lights, palm trees and cruise ship in the background. As the first time went, I ate about half of my meal and got a box for the rest of it to take back to the hostel to finish another night. I put my food back in the fridge and went back out to walk around the city some more.
Tahiti, while incredibly beautiful and glamorous looking, is by no means perfect either. Some people have mixed feelings about not being a fully sovereign country because of France. It’s expensive to live so many people really aren’t just barely middle class, they’re poor. In Papeete, there were some homeless people on the street corners. Right next to my hostel, there was a man sitting and waiting for passerby’s to give him something. I decided to give him some Francs I had that evening. He gestured to me thank you with his hands as he could probably tell I was a foreigner. I know there’s that constant tension between helping the poor and not potentially contributing someone’s drug or alcohol problem, but at that moment I decided to give something. What he did with that wasn’t my responsibility. It was humbling to see that even in a paradise like Tahiti, there was a back-down-to-earth element to it that most people would never even see.
I got back to my room and began plotting my next day which would be Sunday. I had a lot planned for that day. I was going to rent a car, go to church, and drive to find a waterfall. I spent my time studying the way I would drive to find the church and the main road to get around the island since my data was turned off on my phone. Anytime I would use the internet while I was away would be while I was on wifi. I couldn’t wait for Sunday because I know I would get to experience more things that are all part of the Tahiti experience.
Join me for Day 6 to come!