Easter Island, to the jail and back, and other stories...

The trip to Easter Island as part of this exchange was a later addition to the program and was graciously funded by the district governor of district 5080. We were all super excited to go to the island and the long, long plane ride over just ocean terminated with us walking down onto the tarmack and being immediately garlanded with lais of island flowers by several members of the Rapa Nui rotary club. From the moment we got there until we (somewhat sadly) stepped back onto a LAN plane, we were really well taken care of by the rotarians and others on the island. We stayed at the Tupa Hotel and we toured around many of the island´s cultural sites courtesy of Richard, a rotarian who is also a guide. We ate many delicious meals courtesy of Monica, the cook, and Hermann, the owner at ´Le Aleman´ restaurant and we also spent some time in the jail!

Rotary headquarters, Rapa Nui

The rotary club of Rapa Nui is 11 members strong, and with a total island population of only about 4000 people, that is as high a percentage as in many other cities or towns. They took on a big project several years ago to restore an old jail of the Chilean Navy (Armada de Chile) and that is where the meeting was held. It is a beautiful stone building right in the center of the main town of the island, Hanga Roa, where 90% of the population lives ( see photo above). The meeting consisted of the business of the club, our presentation, a massive barbeque of delicious meats, a delightful mini-recital by Jason on violin, and much pisco, wine and other drinks. A group of us followed up the meeting by heading out to see a local band called Topa Tanji at the club of the same name. Dancing til dawn is the name of the game if you can last in Chile. The band was excellent and was sort of pop-polynesian style with extra helpings of ukelele and an upbeat sound.

Coastline view on Rapa Nui´s Southeast shore

It is hard to capture the essence of our 4 days on the island. The island life runs at a mellow pace, which was a nice contrast to the big city lifestyle we had been experiencing prior to this trip. Each day we did some touring of the many cultural sites and learned something about the history and the theories of the archaeologists and anthropologists about the fascinating culture that carved and erected the massive moai statues around their island. But we also had some free time on the island, which was great to just wander, peruse the many shops and explore the trails. I was lucky enough to get a chance to do a SCUBA dive on our second last day and Jason and I did a bit of surfing one day as well. It was the friendliest line-up I have ever encountered with locals chatting to us and telling us good places to sit to catch waves. All in all, it was am amazing mix of relaxing time, educational time and time to socialize and learn more about the people who were hosting us.

There are many cars on the island and many motorcycles too, but a lot of the young people also use the many horses that run free over the island to get around with saddles that look like they are made of wood and covered with a bit of leather. In my vocational day, I spoke with a fellow who is working on a sustainable management project for the natural resources of the island and learned from him that the 5000 horses and many cows that roam the island are a major concern because they eat a lot of the native vegetation that they are trying to rehabilitate. However, it is problematic to control the populations as cows and horses are generally seen as a status symbol and the more one owns, the higher the status.

The weather on the island was a major change from the ´continiente´where fall is getting cooler and cooler. There was high humidity, hibiscus blooming and warm air and water. The sea was about 24 degrees and we saw some turtles one day come into the nearshore area to feed. Fantastic.

Jason at one of the unrestored Ahu (platform) sites

I won´t describe much about the theories and history of the moai here since there are many sites that do it better, but I will say that the carving is magnificent and the settings in which the ahu sit are incredibly beautiful and powerful. One example of the many sites with detailed information can be found at: http://www.netaxs.com/trance/rapanui.html.

Moai in the quarry, half buried in eroded volcanic material.

Sorry for the scattered nature of this posting, but I wanted to get something up today since we have been long absent from the world of blog and I am a bit tired. Happy Mother´s Day to all the moms out there!

Robyn