Santa's Village

Here are a few more pictures, this from the village about 20 min. walk from our villa. The name is one we gave it because of the numerous boxes hanging about with red, green and an evergreen tree silouhette. Perhaps it was a school craft project? At any rate, all were very friendly, both adults and children. A few of the children (Michelle, Raphael, Emanuel and ?) gave me a bicycle escort through the village and what could be more welcoming to this bicyclist than that? Frequent calls of "Hey Meester, good morning!" Even the cars and motorbikes on the walk tooted and greeted. It all seemed so genuinely cheerful. More like a homecoming than a touristic amble.

Also in the village was my first sight of nutmeg and cloves drying. They were the chief spices of the Spice Islands (along with mace) and so it touched my historical interest for coming here: the desire for these and pepper really changed the course of humanity. The cloves when fresh (pic below) are colorful red and yellow before drying into the coffee-brown we see back home. There also was corn growing at just above the high tide line (pic below) and why it can be so salt tolerant is beyond me. Here, like other villages we have seen, the speed bumps are small coconut trunks halved lengthwise and laid across the road.

Lastly, dear reader, is pictured a typical scooter hawking stuff. Note the Lucky Strike banner in the background.

Selamat siang! (Good day!)Read more