Could I Live the Simple Life?

In response to the story I posted yesterday, a sharp and inquisitive friend of mine responded by asking me whether or not I could be content living the life of a simple fisherman? My response became prolific before long and now I share it with you:

"Do I think I could be content with the simple life of a fisherman? I think not, but I think this may be because I have already been corrupted, in a way. I don't use that word, corrupted, to necessarily mean anything evil. What I mean is that human kind, when raised closely with the land, will develop a deep and profound sense that you are a part of the land. In my project this summer I have interviewed a great number of people who are living this life. I am interviewing anybody who is involved in agriculture here on Mo'orea; from the government subsidized large scale "modern" farmer, all the way down to small groups and individuals who live in the valleys, without income, subsisting off the land and the sea. It is in these subsistence farmers that I see and feel this closeness with their environment. For them, the modern world holds no sway over their imaginations. Remember in "Ishi" when the anthropologists bring him to San Francisco? Ishi is unamazed, stating that the earth has built larger mountains than the buildings he sees before him. For myself, I feel I am somewhere in between. Alone in nature, I feel all that hippy peaceful stuff, but there is more. I feel alert and alive. I feel like a hunter; my body electrified and my senses keen. In these moments I know that I am tapping into that connection with the land that the farmers of the valley feel every moment of everyday. Alas, the feeling is fleeting, and it is difficult to conjure when I am 3 floors below the earth in the middle of the night, studying for midterms, in a room lit by florescent lighting. In these moments I am a perfectly modern man and I know that my connection with the land has indeed been corrupted. So to answer your question from a slightly different angle: I think that, only those people who's connection to the land has not been corrupted can thrive and be contented with such a simple life. Others, like myself, will come back to, and be drawn by, our memories of the modern world. We are as comfortable in that world as the farmers are in their valleys. We understand the value and the beauty of intensive human production (for all it's faults) whether it be in a bustling market, mind bending works of art, or advanced communication technologies. Unfortunantly for us the subsistence farmers win big time on the sustainability front, but this does not change who we are or will ultimately make us happy. Word?"

So what do you think? Could you be content? Why, why not? Leave responses of epic proportions below :)

Peace,
C

While checking out the website of a popular Polynesian news magazine , Tahiti Pacifique, I came across this wonderful little story that I thought should be shared with you all.

"Business in Paradise"

In a small village, on a small atoll in French Polynesia, a vacationing businessman walks on the beach along the lagoon. A fisherman in an outrigger canoe returns from the ocean through the pass and pulls the canoe on the beach. Several big tunas are lying inside the boat. The foreigner admires the size and the freshness of the fish and compliments the Polynesian fisherman, asking him how long it took to catch them.
-" Not very long ", answers the fisherman.
-" But then, why didn't you stay out there to catch more ?" the tourist asks.

The Polynesian replies that these few fishes will be sufficient to feed his family.
The visitor then asks:
- " But what then do you do the rest of the day? "
- " I sleep late, I fish a little, I play with my children, I take a nap with my wife. In the evening I go to the village to see my friends. We drink a little beer and play the guitar. I have a simple but well filled life. "

The "Popa'a" (foreigner) interrupts him :
- " Listen! I hold a Harvard MBA, I even studied a year at Yale. I am an educated man. I can help you. You should begin with fishing much longer and sell the fish you don't need. With these profits, you can then buy a bigger boat. With the money which this boat will earn for you, you'll be able to buy a second boat, and so on, until you possess a whole fleet of trawlers. Instead of selling your fish to wholesalers, you could directly negotiate with the cannery, better still, build your own factory. You could then leave your small village and move to Papeete, then maybe on to Paris, where you would run your business from. "

The Polynesian thinks things over, then asks:
- " How long would it take to do all this?
- " 15 - 20 years " answers the businessman.
- " And after that, what do I do? "
- " After that ? But this is where things really get interesting ", announces the expert, beaming: "you will then be able to sell shares of your business on the stock exchange and this is how will earn you millions, hundreds of millions! "
- " Yes ? Hundreds of millions !!!? But then, what do I do with these millions? "
- " Then, let's see. You will be able to retire, to go and live quietly in a small village on some small island, on the shore of a nice lagoon. You can then sleep late, play with your grandchildren, go fishing a little, take a nap with your wife and spend your evenings drinking and playing the guitar with the few friends you'll still have.
You'll be able to do what the whole world dreams about! "

-Alex W. du PREL

Aftermath

I think one of the worst parts about being robbed whole thing (though this may be particular to a place as small as this) is that I look at everybody as though they were the ones who did it. The community here is very small and everybody says they know who the people are who are typically involved, but nobody is willing to spill the beans to a white guy. So instead, I walk by every group of little 20 yr old punk ass loudmouth bitches assuming it was one of them. The paranoia and suspicion grates on me and I can feel it making me a person I don't want to be.

That was until this week. I think I'm finally moving past it and getting on with my life (and my project). I spent all of last week rebuilding security at my house, including our new, ugly ass pitbull, Bingo :)

I promise to make my next blog entry more uplifting...

Robbed

Fuck me. Last night our house was broken into and our computer was stolen. That includes all of my work, photos, and my semi regular access to the internet. What does this mean for the blog? expect even less action (not like I was writing much anyway). What does this mean for my image of paradise? In a word, tainted. The first Tahitian I saw today, I mugged like he was the thief.... grrrr.

Work Blog!

Hey everybody,
So just wanted to let those of you who are interested in following my project, that my work blog is up and running.

I don't have a link for it but it's called "Polynesian Roots" and you should be able to search for either by clicking on me as a blogger, or just by searching blog titles in the search bar. Woohoo!

Da blog, and why I'm here.

Well hello everybody and welcome to my first attempt at blogging. I suppose it's really not much different than the mass emails I used to send out other than the fact that you must now come to me *cackle cackle*. So before I get going on about my adventures and exactly why the hell I'm in French Polynesia, this is the way it's gonna work. This here bloginho (to quote the great Youminho) will include all of my personal exploits while another, as of yet to be created, blog will include insight and analysis concerning my project, which is the primary reason why I am here (details to come). In addition to this blog, and the 1 or 2 pics I may or may not put up with each post, I am also keeping an online photo album. The internet is really bad here so over the course of 3 months I'll likely upload no more than a couple hundred low res pics. I take care to load only totally awesome images so be prepared and don't sue me if your head explodes. Alright, let's do this!

Let me just back up a bit to bring everybody up to speed on how I got here in the first place. Last fall semester I was lucky enough to be admitted into UC Berkeley's "Biology and Geomorphology of Tropical Islands" course, which spends 9 weeks on the sister island to Tahiti, Mo'orea. The course itself was wonderful, including amazing professors, great material, and of course, 9 weeks on Mo'orea (check out pics here)! Along side of the research I was doing, my classmates and I became involved in a wide breadth of Tahitian experiences (dancing, canoeing, music, language, etc.) It was through those exploits that I came to know the great Hinano Murphy. Hinano, whom you will hear much more about espically if you visit my project blog, has built a cultural center here called A'titia, who's mission statement is "to preserve Mo'orea's bio-cultural heritage". Remember, this is Tahiti, so when you think "center" this is not some stucco building with motion sensor doors, but rather an outdoor area cut from the jungle, with a few Polynesian thatched roofed gazibos (Fares) for classes on dance, music, language, etc., gardens with traditional Tahitian crops and medicinal plants, and artwork. A'titia is meant to be a living library: a place where, if the traditional Tahitian way of life is completely lost everywhere else, it will live on as a relic at A'titia. Hinano's ultimate vision for A'titia is that it will serve as a meeting place and mixing pot for Tahitians and the scientists who visit the research station just down the road. Many Tahitians and scientists alike are concerned with improving and protecting life on these fragile islands, but they live in separate worlds. Hopefully A'titia will bring these groups together to exchange ideas and gracefully integrate local and scientific knowledge. I could go on, but really I should save it for the project blog.

Anywho... As you can tell, I found this all very fascinating and wanted to come back to work with Hinano at A'titia. I wrote a grant, got funded, and now I'm back. I promised Anni I wouldn't come back without her, so this time I packed a girlfriend too. If you go check out the photos you'll see some of the adventures we've been up to before I had to get to work as well as a photo tour of our beautiful new home :)

Alright, I'm gonna end this one here and leave the adventures for later entries. Look forward to hearing about being homeless, climbing a mountain with a hole through the top, epic snorkeling, world cup madness at the Hilton, Tahiti's massive strike which shut down the airport for a week, and the latest Haka!

Love life,
C