Into the Jungle

Well, it's Pete and I would just like to share with you a little story about what I did last Wednesday during our long weekend.

At about 10:30 in the morning just as Taylor and I were starting to mosey around the house and the sun was beginning to wear out it's welcome as it does for about 6 hours every day, my three Pohnpeian brothers, Anthony, Dan, and Rico (several European empires have had more than just their hand in this island's cultural evolution) burst into my house. Their faces were bright and I could tell spirits were high.

"Madau!" (That's my title, pronounced 'Matao') the word spilled out and before I could reply... "Madau we're going into the jungle, bring food. Let's go!" I was a bit dazed by the suddenness of all this but as I've started to realize, that's just the way things happen here. "Ok, ok" I said, "should I bring a knife?" He nodded and after indicating which of my machete's was the right size for this particular outing, we were off.

We were fortunate to get a ride for the fist couple of miles. Our grandma's van took us inland to thicker jungle. I couldn't get a straight answer as to what we'd be doing when we got there but once again, I am becoming more accustomed to ambiguity than I'd like to be. Finally, when we hopped out, we found ourselves in somebody's side yard. The boys led the way which seemed to be straight into this guys land. Going into the jungle, first the trees get closer together and there are more and more fruit plants and other bushes. Next the grass gets higher and higher and pretty soon the only way through is with a machete. We wound our way into the jungle, over slick logs, under fallen trees, through deep mud, past all kinds of fruit. The grass was chest high and all of us were hacking away. At one point we stopped and Rico ascended a tree effortlessly to retrieve a special leaf which they chew with their betel nut (I have read that betel nut is actually the most commonly used stimulant in the world. Think India). We came upon a stream with clean, delicious water and after stopping briefly for a drink we continued straight up a rocky, rooty mud hill. After maybe an hour of working our way into the jungle, Dan said in a low voice "ok, don't cut anymore or they will know where we are planting" so we continued straight through the thickness until we reached a satisfactorily remote spot. They explained to me that last year they had planted in their usual spot but when they came to harvest, someone had beaten them to it and they had lost a lot of bananas and Sakau (Kava). Apparently theft is making it harder and harder to find a safe place to plant.

Once we arrived at our spot we had to clear the land. This basically meant razing anything that wasn't bananas or Sakau. Each of us had to sharpen our machetes at some point in this process. Mine was to dry to sharpen so they simply stuck it through a banana tree and when it came out it was dripping wet. At one point we heard some whacking from not far off. Clearly we weren't the only ones taking advantage of the days off. It was a bit tense when I think all parties involved realized each others' presences but fortunately the other party moved on.
After a good amount of clearing and planting under the high sun we set back for the river. We followed it up a ways to a beautiful, hidden, red waterfall where we swam to cool off. On the way back Anthony stopped, looked up and asked "you like Karat[variety of banana], right?" before pointing to the top of a 30 foot banana tree and saying you can have those. "Really?" "Yes, just cut the tree." And after felling the tree, the vitamin A-filled bounty was mine.

On the way back home we had no ride so it was about 3 miles hauling the bananas in the sun. What a day it was. They told me we're going to be doing that a lot soon so I'm excited. I'm sure I'll have more to tell. Sorry the end was a bit rushed but I gotta run to class. That's the way it is, you know?