Io orana from Boora Boora

Yesterday was already half-way into our round-the-world trip… We had such a great time in Polynesia that it's with a bit of sadness that we are now leaving these enchanted islands.

The last week in Bora Bora has been very relaxing: our days were spent hitting the beach and swimming in the turquoise lagoon, eating (fish), watching beautiful sunsets and falling asleep with the sound of the waves under our bungalow. Such a hard life!! Still to do a bit more than complete beach bums, we also went biking around the island a few times, shopping (of course), kitesurfing and massages. Guess who did what?!?

A special thanks to a couple of people we met:

Manuela, Alessia's shiatsu masseuse / yogi master. From her name, you can guess she was Italian and they immediately connected. Thanks a lot for the spiritual experience on your peaceful beach… and the tips on Bali! We hope we meet again.

Alban, François kite instructor: for the French-speakers a total "Brice de Nice", but with impressive skills both on the board and as a teacher! He was very patient with me dropping my kite numerous times in the water and always very encouraging when progresses were made (waterstart, first laps etc).

Paul the octopus, who was living in the corals under our bungalow and told us Belgium would win the next World Cup!

To finish off with a bit of culture, beyond the classics like Taboo and Tatoo, here are a few words or habits we learnt in Polynesia:

Fiù: It's a typical Polynesian sickness that you risk contracting after two or three days of work. Symptoms are: fatigue, depression and… a lack of motivation at work. People then complain about "having the Fiù" and are therefore incapable of achieving anything! But don't worry: there is always a sister/friend/cousin that will cover-up for you at work. The first person we met who was "infected" was our hostess on the boat: she showed the first symptoms after the second day, not wanting to cook anymore and got a friend to come on the boat to finally fully replace her after about four days! We were surprised at the beginning, but we saw that there was a complete epidemic in Bora Bora too! We just hope it's not contagious and won't affect us in October when we get back to reality.

Urchins (in French "oursins" and in Italian "ricci di mare"): you can find them on the bottom of the sea a bit everywhere and if you step on them, they really hurt: François can testify…  On his second kitesurf session, while struggling to get his kite back up in the air, he unfortunately stepped on one of them. The first recommended treatment by locals was to pea on the needles remaining in the skin, then go through a few painful surgical attempts executed by your wife… to finally finish it off with vinegar and lemon juice (the vinegar was not balsamic). As Polynesian traditional medicine is not guaranteed to work on Belgians, a visit to a real doctor in Tahiti is still suggested, and it usually gets you away from a good two hours of shopping!

Réré: Réré's are the local transsexuals… they are very well integrated in society and not just working in discotheques: you will see them at the hotel reception, waiting at restaurants, participating to traditional dance shows, in shops etc. They can also vary greatly in style, ranging from very pretty "girls" to hairy 2-meter giants. What's interesting is that it is not a personal choice to become a "Réré" but a decision taken by the parents. The tradition comes from way back, when Polynesians were still cannibals and fathers would eat their first sons in order to gain "Mana" (local word for spirituality) and physical strength. To avoid this, mothers would disguise and educate their son's as girls! The tradition continued afterwards in families without daughters, as Mamas wanted to get the help at home from "girls" for cooking, cleaning and taking care of them. This gives you a totally different perspective on the beautiful paintings from Gauguin, if you ask us!

Body Mass Index (BMI) after marriage: While usually very pretty/handsome until their wedding, Polynesians have a strong tendency to completely blow-up after the big YES… and the following pregnancies. Apparently they all gain 15 kilos per child and accumulate them kid-after-kid… Also here we hope it's not contagious!

Io Orana and local greetings: Polynesians are VERY friendly people. Every time they cross each other by car, boat or even plane/helicopter, they greet each other with a sign of the hand, sticking their thumb and pinkie finger out and shaking it… Very surfer style! Alban, my kitesurf instructor, was totally into it: he was raising his hand to made this specific gesture every time a helicopter would fly above us! Ride on dude!!!

Pictures from Bora Bora