Monday, September 22, 2008

The joys of wife sitting at Canco Hill

Yesterday evening: I am sitting on the floor of my new dream house painting the wall. Ana is standing next to me painting higher up. We hear Ana’s dogs (sitting on my porch) barking hysterically. We both look at the window to see what is our there. I cannot see anybody due to my lower position, but Ana’s tells me that is one of the neighbors walking her dogs. I grim and think (and say at the same time because, after all, I am a woman): “uaa, what is wrong with her dogs? Can’t they walk themselves by their own?” Ana looks at me with the same stunned expression “yeah, I know, that is so weird”.
We return to our painting… I keep on thinking how weird it is to walk a dog.
Then I realize how islander I can be sometime. After all, palagi dogs in palagi countries are not allowed to walk around by their own so they need to be walked. Some palagi that move here, still keep that tradition.
I guess it is like using the indicators to turn, or stopping at the stop sign when you are driving. Or complain is your food is served VERY late or it is just something that you did not order. If you do these little things, sometimes, it just feels like being home.

This week I have been assumed as wife-sitting. Brian went off-island and he asked me to go and stay home with his wife for the week. As I actually already stay and sleep at their house every time I am given a chance, I accepted without hesitation.
Wife sitting is awesome! I have somebody to chat with in the evening, Nadia also braids my hair, cook, reminds me about taking breakfast in the morning. The other night she was reading a book about nutrition while I was reading a book about Papa New Guinea. Every time she found out something interesting she would tell me. I think that is great! It is like reading two books at the same time, so efficient! I cannot believe some guys complain about it. The other day I wake up and something was hugging me. I turned around to see 2 years old Noa smiling and screaming “papa!”… No, I am prettier than that! Wife sitting is the way to go! ;)

Big news: I am moving right next door from Brian and Nadia, on top of Canco hill. The name, which I though was kind of exotic, actually was given when the hill was rented for residence for the guys building the tuna cannery. Can Company. Can Co. Hill. To me, Canco Hill always felt like a local Beverly Hill.
My new dream house as a wonderful view on Leone, the Tafuna plain all the way to the Aunuu, and you could even imagine something on the northern side of the mountain… a 260 degree view… There is a constant breeze that cools down the house all the time (which is going to be great since summer is coming soon here) and the house survived 5 typhoons already, which is great news too (while the stilt house where I was leaving would most probably not last a second)…

Yesterday afternoon I walked around the land with my new neighbors: here the papaya tree, here the mango trees, here the lemon tree, here the avocado tree, here the bananas, here you can find pineapples…. fresh tomatoes and salads are also available in exchange of a fresh loaf of Tuscan bread… I felt like Eve getting a tour of Heaven.

Can I ask for anything more??? Adam? Heeeeeelllllllllllooooooo? (coming soon, coming soon! ;))
(Plus, I got permission to kidnap one of Ana’s dog every night to sleep with me! Awesome!)

Last night I went for a walk with Ana. When I first moved on island, she was one of the first people I met that made me feel home. Now she is doing it again! The road was dark, but small lamps rechargeable with solar energy alone the road illuminated our walk. Along the road they were flowers blooming (that are always present on island), fruit trees and screaming bats (they sounds like fighting cats). The view on the Tafuna plain was wonderful. All those colored lights, the landing strip illuminated for the big Hawaiian Airline Sunday plane, and the half moon illuminating part of the reef and breaking waves. It felt like being in one of these fancy places in Tuscany where Romans go to spend the summer. I love this place!

1 comment:

That Guy said...

I've seen some people walk their cats. Now THAT is weird.