I like it in the Huahine and I don't care who knows it

I ended up getting on the flight. I forgot the "island time" aspect of life down here. I got admitted to security 5 minutes before the plane was due to take off. and then boarded 15 minutes after it was to have already been gone.

Landing in Huahine was fun. You walk off the twin otter and onto the tarmac. There was a 10 man drumming band and about 5 greeters. Two luggage carts got pulled in by hand and stuff started being thrown onto a table. The drumming started getting faster and faster and everyone was worked into a smiling frenzy. I think that on this trip so far, it was probably the closest that I have come to a "savage" experience ;) The music stopped and then the dudes all climbed in the back of a pickup truck with all kind of flowers attached to the sides and two huge flags. They drove off into the night hammering on the drums and bamboo xylophones. Good start, but I had to ask myself "what the heck just happened?"

I'm glad to be rid of Papeete. Papeete is a big urban centre. Its got regular urban stuff going on. Its one more place that I can say that I've been to, but its one more place that I wish I wasn't forced to spend so much time in. I learned this before and its all too familiar (Bangkok, Hanoi). You can't get anywhere without going through the hubs in places like this. Invariably there are going to be a day here and there while waiting for connector transports in order to "see the town". They are like public toilets. Now there are some nice toilets out there, but you don't carve off 3 days to make sure that you get the "full toilet experience". Seeing the toilet is just something that's going to happen during the regular course of business. When you find yourself in one, you get in, do what you have to do and then get the heck out of there.

The night out on the town in Papeete: Take a smelly basement type place, play cheesy euro dance LOUD and then take $13 out of your wallet and buy a small bottle of beer. Don't make eye contact with dudes, as you are always one hair away from getting into a fight, and for the love of God don't go anywhere near their property (women). Or, if you want to get off the beaten track a bit, you can get fondled by ugly transvestites 4 blocks over for only $7/beer.

Don't mistake me, I'm not a prude. I've sought out, been a part of and born witness to some pretty harsh shit in my life. Its just that this stuff is just so fucking boring now. Its the same thing all over again, just a different hell hole in a different corner of the world. I used to think that kids twitching in corners (big crystal problem in Papeete) and odd "big city" stuff were fun, and somehow made me feel hardcore. I don't feel exotic, I don't feel on the edge, I just feel worn out and that I want to be somewhere else. I am getting old. Me = Jaded and self righteous.

Now the market is nice, the food is delicious, a few walks around the place to see whats going on is time well spent, the cafes are great people watching and the vibe is raw. OK - 1 afternoon down. I don't have enough time to get sucked up by this urban sponge and that's not why I'm here. But time goes under the bridge and suddenly you've been in the toilet for a week. It smells, your legs are asleep and its dark. The "skin" of Papeete is too thick for my calender and will right now.

I'm not being entirely fair, I was pretty ill through most of my time here and I did go into some bars / cafes that had more of a fun, down home atmosphere. Its just that they all had a bad vibe / mix of drunk and high smarmy dudes. I also came across a bunch of folks with a sound system and DJs spinning on a side street. Now this was fun and its one nighttime Papeete experience that I am glad to have been a part of. The hipsters, the wanna be's, the hippies and the break dancers were all there just listening and dancing to some softer, electro flavoured house beats. It all had a lack of sophistication around it which I really enjoyed. French Polynesia is France and although its not my cup of tea, I could / would never call the French house scene "unsophisticated". It was just fun listening to some party music, with dudes doing one armed handstands by the light of the parking garage lights and others learning to spin fire while everyone threw their party arms solidly in the air without a lot of pretension.

(note: my eating was still screwed up. I went to McDonald's the next morning to try to get something to stick to me and I saw one of the DJs from the night before with a hairnet flipping burgers. We gave each other "the nod". Small world)

My strong recommendation to anyone visiting Papeete for less than a month is to leave as quickly as your mode of transportation will carry you. You don't have time to find what you think you will get out of it or it is not there.

Now if Papeete is thick skinned, the island of Huahine has no skin. The folks here have their arms so tightly around me that I really don't know how I am going to be able to leave. More on this to come.