Post #65772 by Swanky on Sat, Dec 20, 2003 11:15 AM

On 2003-12-19 21:02, fatuhiva wrote:
I felt that although they didnt research the place as much as they probably should have (the last time they had even been to the island was 10 years prior) they didnt do things a whole lot different than anyone else would.. they made friends with some of the people there. But let me tell you- showing up on an island like that you don't always get the glad hand everywhere you go. People are people no matter where you are, and there's friendly types and not so friendly types.. I felt a bit for those two- having recently moved from the west coast to a small town here in the south. Now it's not as drastic a change, but let me tell you, culture shock was a reality I definitely had to deal with. It seems every beautiful wild place has its equal share of oddness.

They did their best, and imho did the right thing coming back. Their baby was risking pneumonia, and thats not something you want to deal with on Raratonga. The local people there have generations of immunity to things that could level one of us.. and vice versa.

The big mistake they made was thinking they could pull it off with a newborn. That made me think they were looking at it a bit with rose-colored glasses. Solo adults, yes.. you can just deal with things as they come, but with a young child- that child is going to get sick, and then what do you do when you are used to the luxuries of modern medicine?

When I read how young those two girls were, I thought they were really taking a big risk.

But hey, they tried it. Alot of people gave them a really hard time about it, it was probably destined to fail, but at least they tried it.. thats more than the naysayers can attest to.

I would aggree with you, but I am told otherwise.

I spent time with a man who goes to the islands at least twice a year. He has done so for the last 35 years. He's been to all of them pretty much. When I asked his suggestion on where to go if you are gonna make it maybe once, he said the Cook Islands because it is not crazy expensive like Tahitit, but for natural beauty, it's like Tahitit made over by Disney. They speak English. The culture is intact. But he also said they are very friendly. He told me about arriving at 2AM on a plane and finding a crowd of people there to meet the plane. Why? Because there's not a lot to do on the island and that's what they do. VERY friendly people.

So if the man that has been to all the islands says Cook Islanders are perhaps the friendliest of all the islands after talking for hours about the incredible hospitality of all of Polynesian, it means something.

But, I think if you move there like you are moving to Boise, it will not work out. You really need to move there and become involved.