still nukuhiva

So, where to start, so Denis, the one crew already left again after 4
days. him and holger are old friends, hadn't seen each other in 8 years
and apparently had forgotten how they have way different temperaments.
lucky for everyone involved that they discovered it BEFORE departure here,
i don't knoiw why they didn't realize it before making the plan, and
before having denis travel from france to mexico, to here to meet the
boat. i personally liked him, found him an interesting person and would
have gotten along with him fine.
the other crew Ira from sausalito arrived yesterday, he is pale and looked
tired, so we just had cocktails and dinner and talked and today nobody did
that much either, it is an exceptionally hot day.
yesterday arrived the second cruiseship during our stay, they appear on
the horizon when we have coffee, set anchor when i'm doing dishes and then
decend their cargo upon town for about 4 hrs. some go driving around, some
go for walks, some only are ashore for 1 hr, it is bizarre, all of them
walk down the quay where i have my second round of coffee at a restaurant
if i get to go ashore, and take a photo of their cruiseship. the other
side of the spectrum is much more interesting....
last weekend the surprise was even bigger, there was the NOAA ship
Ka'imimoana from Hawaii and a french navy troop transporter named L9032.
the yanks were here for booze and the froggies for maneuvers in the
djungle (i guess in case there'll be another vietnam....) it kinds ruined
our view for the weekend, which by the way was very very boring. i have
cabin fever on the boat, they don't seem to care, at sea i don't mind, but
i could have hiked around the island by now in all the idle time i spend
aboard just sitting around...
last thursday i went to find the island's tattoo artist to maybe get a
tattoo, but he's out of town, instead i got to meet his mother and his
sister. they were both very nice the sister has a beautiful tattoo around
her waist that he did, she is only 14...
the mother Pere does arts and crafts, coconut carvigs and bead leis etc
and we talked shop a bit coz we own the same dremel tool. she had one arm
and one leg entirely tattooed also. anyways i asked her for a hiking
trail, maybe to taipivai (Melville's "Taipee") and she said, what do you
need a trail, there is a road.... anyways it turned out that her and her
husband were going there in the adfternoon, so i got a ride and back...i
did tell tracy and she came along, but she tends to dominate the
conversations, well, or i am too respectful and quiet....
anyways people are so super nice, pere and her husband gave us bananas,
papayas, mangoes, lychees and lemons, and then they wanted to give us more
but i declined coz we still have so much on board, so i had to promise to
come back the next week (tomorrow) to get more stuff....
one night we also went to watch the marquesian dance troop rehearsal which
was very cool, no costumes, but dancing. the women don't dance but sit on
the ground and do some sort of upper body hula, and sing super in harmonie
etc kinda like the voix bulgares.... the men dance and chant and stomp and
are very warrior like. the one dance was the dance of the pig, presumably
for hunting and they sang in grunts and some of it was like throat
singing, and all the guys needed a break afterwards, were laughing,
caughing, spitting, and then lighting a cigarette.
speaking of, i haven't smoked and rarely craved a cigarette since the day
we left.
saturday morning we went to the weekly market at 4:30 am. last time were
there at 6:30 and most stuff was already gone, so this time we managed to
get lettuce and cucumber and tomatoes. there were also hunters again, this
time selling goats, they had them hanging picturesquely from a frangipani
tree at the quay, skinning them right there, unfortunately it was too dark
to take a picture...
sat was holgers b-day and we went to a fancy restaurant and it wasn't
good, then sunday i fell asleep while reading and being bored, so i
sunburned my belly and it itches now.
overall, i think i am missing my peers a lot, someone with the same sense
of humour, someone who understands what i'm saying the first time
(literally or figuratively) ... yeah, ira brought a bunch of parts from
the us also, so we WILL do work on the boat, but lately i feel reduced to
a household aid and am not liking it at all... plus if the tattoo artist
comes back into town tomorrow, i need time off then instead of for the
past 4 days when nothing happened....
anywho... you can tell i am a bit frustrated, i hope it will change. it is
so beautiful here and tropical and nice and the boat atmosphere is a bit
of a damprer in any respect, humor, vitality, fun... as it looks now the
plan is to leave here next sunday...