Where in the World is Matt Lauer? Monday he was on Rapa Nui...

I don't watch the Today show but my wonderful mother caught it and taped the whole show for me. Very informative feature throughout the show. Replica eyes were placed in the moai at one of the main ahu just for the Today show feature as well as an interview with Segio Rapu who was one of the archeologists who discovered found coral fragments fit precisely in the eye socket of a moai. Other island sites were featured also... an interview with another archeologist at Rano Raraku, Dr. Jo Ann Van Tillberg, who worked on the Easter Island Statue Project. the type of tools used to create the moai were also shown.

There was a segment on how many locals are worried that things are changing too fast on the island... and they don't want to lose the traditions and heritage to the ways of the modern world...

Another segment featured traditional dress and dance, song, and food...

Video online can be seen here... I haven't seen this yet so don't know what the content is...

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3041544/

[ Edited by: Lake Surfer 2005-11-08 23:19 ]

where in the world is lake surfer??

there's already a thread on this topic.....

I image the powers that be can merge these topics, or move mine...
I searched for "Where in the world" instead of "Matt Lauer" or "Today Show"

Luckily, my sister tipped me off to the episode, so I did catch some of it. He described past history (lost language, Cat's Cradle) and the recent history, including about Rapa Nui being privately owned for sheep grazing etc.

The eyes were restored to the moai for the occasion, creating very dramatic images.

The episode also featured Easter Island native dances and discussed the festival which occurs in February.

He also discussed the economic growth pressures facing Easter Island, including the possibility of a large hotel development (reminding me of the discussion I had with TikiBars).