By Chelsea McBroom
February 27th, 2014
The last couple days I’ve been stocking up on groceries with Donald and Maria to prepare the Picton Castle for the sail to Papeete. We took the skiff in this morning with some of the port watch going ashore for their day off. The port bumpers were put out on the skiff as Pania maneuvered the boat around and docked it alongside the cement, the tide being very low and the steps beginning a couple feet above. A man was fileting a large tuna on a wooden table there, and as he cut and cleaned it, the water ran towards us, down the steps and over the side. I gracefully lifted up one leg onto the step and collapsed it into the puddle of water as I pushed away from the skiff, eventually hauling myself up during my crewmates’ fits of giggles. Vai was wearing a beautiful Polynesian style dress, red with white flowers, and managed to pop herself out without a tear or a drip.
Maria, Donald and I checked first to see if Henry was around. He was going to supply us with some fruits, but he wasn’t there yet, so straight to the grocery store we went. Those who worked at the store had become familiar with us; we raced around grabbing piles of canned goods, pasta, and frozen meat and bringing it straight to the counter where the lady there was ready with a box or two – ringing it through and packing it away for us. Employees came to us with boxes of goodies asking if it was something we may need, for example little yogurts that didn’t need to be refrigerated or sacks of potatoes, all received with encouragement and appreciation. At the end of it we were given a bag of mangoes, “Present,” the woman at the cash said, pushing it towards me with a smile.
Already a man that worked there was carrying the boxes of purchases into a covered pickup truck parked in the back. I jumped in the front with the lady driver and Maria and Donald sitting in the back with our purchases. Many of us have hitchhiked in town, and each driver seems to recognize us and point excitedly at the wharf to confirm our destination, this also occurred in the truck and I nodded smiling. We piled our things next to the water and the skiff came to pick them up.
We then went back to Henry who had three bunches of bananas for us – all three different shades of green or yellow. Donald had one of our basket bags filled with grapefruit, mango, bread fruit and small pineapples. Maria reminded me to pick up our laundry from Yacht Services, a little yellow building beside the café. We had to give them three days for it to be washed and then hung to dry on a covered patio in the building. The lady there had helped us with everything from refilling propane, laundry, tours, and taking two totes of books off our hands which she now keeps at the back of her shop for people to borrow. There I bought a bold fuchsia, blue, yellow and brown sarong, the print of people dancing.
We went back to our friends at the farmers market while Donald went back aboard to make lunch for the starboard watch. I walked up to our favorite stand and after counting (to myself) to eight on my hands in French, used that amount (if only I could spell in French) in asking for lettuce heads. I wish I could recall more French phrases here; I yearn to be as polite as possible but don’t even know where to begin. At the post office I could remember, “Parlez vous Anglais?” and she responded in French that she knew a small amount and I’m pretty sure she asked me something teasing like how I had become so fluent in French, and laughed politely before speaking to me in English. It’s clear they appreciate the effort and I speak for all of us when I say we have felt most welcome here in Nuku Hiva.