Post #578218 by Club Nouméa on Tue, Mar 1, 2011 3:56 AM

Part 3: Do You Know The Way To San José?

"So why are we driving to San José again?"

I was bored with the endless concrete vista offered by the freeway, interrupted periodically by more concrete shaped into various sorts of buildings.

"Because it's temporarily a center of tiki culture." Ms Nouméa was slightly annoyed at having to answer this question yet again.

"Temporarily? What does that mean?"

"You'll see when we get there."

The freeway turned into an off-ramp which turned into a main street, lined with various ethnic restaurants, and soon we were downtown in San José.

Then there was a side street and an underground carpark. Followed by a lift, and a short walk around in circles in the town hall until someone behind a desk helpfully pointed us in the right direction, and then we were there:

"This is the guy whose works were reproduced on all those tiki restaurant menus and matchbooks etc." said Ms Nouméa. "And these are the original artworks they stole from."

I read on:

Then there were the murals themselves; so big I could barely fit them in the camera frame:

"Native Dwellings of the Pacific Area" mural.

"Native Means of Transport in the Pacific Area".

"The Fauna and Flora of the Pacific"."Hey, look at the cute animals for New Zealand!" exclaimed Ms Nouméa:

And then there was the "Peoples of The Pacific" mural:

"Hey, look at the Maori warrior!" she exclaimed:

"Hold on," I grimaced, "that doesn't look right. Why is that crazy Maori stomping up and down on Te Wahipounamu? That's sacred land - the source of Ngai Tahu greenstone! The site of Mount Aoraki! Has that Mexican painter no respect?"

Ms Nouméa was starting to get annoyed: "So what's your problem?"

"Well, I don't see no Native American stomping up and down on Mount Rushmore over in YOUR country, do I?" I said, gesticulating at the appropriate part of the mural.

Ms Nouméa looked skywards, further up than the top of the mural even.

But there was worse to come - "The Economy of the Pacific" mural:

"So why has he painted it so it looks like that sheep is pooping on Auckland? And what's with the cow's butt? And what on earth is going on with that fish swimming straight towards the cow's butt? With a faint smile on its face even..."

Ms Nouméa was not impressed: "You're crazy! It's just a painting!"

"Did this Covarrubias guy have some sort of anti-New Zealander thing going? I feel I ought to know...."

"Nuts! Completely nuts! I'm going back to the car!"

And so ended our trip to San José.

CN

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Toto, j'ai l'impression que nous ne sommes plus au Kansas !

[ Edited by: Club Nouméa 2011-03-01 04:08 ]