Location Location Location

When I am in Tarawa I usually live in a little house in Teaoraereke right on the lagoon but have made a change. I now live on Betio island, which is an island separated by a 3 mile causeway from South Tarawa.

The real estate market here hasn't exactly taken off but when it does, I could be located in a prime spot. My house is within feet of key tourist attractions, two beaches and on a relatively pristine street with famous or infamous neighbors depending on your point of view.

Betio is the site of the famous WWII battle of Tarawa where 6,400 Japanese, Korean and American soldiers died over a period of just 72 hours. My new house is within 100 feet of two of guns from this battle. I walked over to take a look recently and found a man with his pants down and realized that the use has changed from artillery to public

conveniences.

Tarawa Lagoon





Pacific Ocean

If I stand in the road in front of my house, I can see the Pacific ocean on one side and the Tarawa lagoon on the other side. 

There is a handy convenience store on our street that offers canned foods, local fried donuts and a barbecue on Fridays.

My neighbors are friendly and include locals, a Kenyan couple and two couples from Fiji heading up some of Kiribati's best companies. The Kenyans are turning their yard into a farm to try and secure a constant food supply. This is a good idea but I just wish that their three roosters would sleep in on weekends.

I am also able to walk to work now as my office is only 3 miles away. I haven't decided yet whether this is an advantage or disadvantage considering the condition of the road and surrounding debris that I have to navigate through. It does make for an eventful morning though with people yelling out hey Imatang! all along the way and trying to avoid collisions with oncoming school kids, cars, pigs and dogs.

I came home from shopping the other day to find the police at the end of my road. They brought one of my neighbors out in hand cuffs and put him in the back of their truck. A few minutes later, his two sisters joined him. These are the same neighbors that had climbed coconut trees for me a week earlier to bring down my favorite drink here--the moimoto. When I asked what had happened, another neighbor told me that the man came home drunk and chopped off his brother’s hand. I still like my location but I think it is a good idea from now on if I keep my gate locked.

 

Long Noses of Maiana

 

Maiana is only a 10 minute plane ride from South Tarawa, which makes it a convenient weekend getaway as long as the plane comes back on Sunday. I decided to go for a visit when I heard about how the people there are famous for the lies they tell, black magic and powers over rain. It is also President Anote Tong's home island.



Airport

 The weekend started off well with a nice welcome at the airport and quick introduction to the caretaker of the local council hotel who took me to my accommodation on his motorbike.



Perfume Sprayers

On the way, we passed a group that offered to spray us with perfume in exchange for money.




The president's house

We drove past the president's house which wasn't much to write home about-- a small buia that needed maintenance.

After spending a more than a weekend on Maiana as it turns out, I can confirm that the people there do have long noses. It poured the entire time--the road was a big river and the plane from Tarawa would not come back on Sunday as scheduled because of the weather. No amount of Maiana magic could stop the rain. To make matters even worse,


Child enjoying a rainwater shower.

the locals do not fish when it rains, so on an island surrounded by some of the best fish on the planet, I ate noodles!


Black Magic Fish Wizard

I visited a man well known for his black magic spells who told me that he had killed a lot of people by composing songs for his customers to sing to bury their enemies.

However, on the way home, the hotel caretaker told me that the only spells he casts are those over fish traps.






Bride and Groom

Wedding Guests

I was invited to a wedding which was an entertaining instruction on how to seduce your lover. Everyone actively and I do mean actively participated.

 

The next day a truck went up and down the island's only road with screaming kids holding symbolic red sheets of the bride's virginity. It's up to you if want to believe that one.

 

If you do go to Maiana I would recommend staying somewhere besides the local council if you can.

 

The rooms at the council were crawling with scary looking bugs and the toilet did not work and hasn't for a long long time. The pigs that seemed to be taking over the place were very friendly on the other hand. This one took a real liking to me and kept following me around and kissing my feet.