Betel/Beetle/Bitel Nut

There is a very popular drug in the Solomon Islands that grows naturally here. It’s a small nut called Betel nut (pronounced beetle). It seems to act as a bit of a relaxant, and was traditionally used before big community meetings and debates to calm everyone down so that discussions didn’t get too heated. But, like every drug, it has it’s addicts. 

I didn’t get around to having a try of any, but thought I’d relate the process and what it’s like from what Mia told me. 

Powder, Betel nut, and sticks

You buy the nut along with the required lime powder  stick from any local market for around $2 (around 20p) and then you get a bush lime as well. You take the green skin off the betel nut and inside, is the little nut. It apparently looks a bit like a large browny macadamia nut – about the size of a walnut, but round. You then chew it until it gets soft  - I’m told it doesn’t taste all that great (apparently it also makes you salivate quite a lot). Next, you get a mustard stick, and dip it in the lime powder and bite that (with the betel nut still in your mouth). The result is a reaction to the lime powder which gives you the desired buzz and also turns the liquid a BRIGHT red. You then spit out the liquid when you’re done – and if you happen to be walking down the street you spit it right there – this is why I was a bit concerned that there were blood spatters EVERYWHERE when I arrived in Honiara. 

leftovers (normally spat onto street)

Different people have different reactions to the process. Some say they get a bit relaxed and calm. Most people get hot and a bit sweaty. Others get light headed and nauseous. Also, apparently you can increase the hit by chewing with tobacco as well. 

I’d really like to know what the chemical is that causes its effect as I’m not sure how much of addictions to it are social/emotional or whether is much physical dependence. One definite problem is that it does lead to skin cancers of the mouth – Mia has shown me a picture of one on the inside of someone’s lip – about the size of a tennis ball – not pretty!

Wantok:

The word ‘wantok’ in the Solomons refers to ‘family’. However, like in Africa, family doesn’t mean your parents, siblings or children. It usually refers to anyone who is related to, and sometimes to your whole village or tribe. That’s the meaning of the word, but culturally, the concept of wantok is far more complicated. 

You cannot say no to anyone in your wantok. If they turn up on your doorstop asking for help, you have to help them. If they see you on the street with your new pair of sunglasses and ask you if they can have them, you hand them over. If you own a business, they have a right to share in the profits and at times simply walk off with the produce. I’m sure that this wasn’t the original manifestation of the wantok principles of helping everyone in your area when they needed it, making sure people don’t starve, but in a modern world it can be a bit of a hinderance. It basically means that Solomon Islanders struggle to run their own business without being dishonest to their family. Consequently, most businesses such as supermarkets (particularly in the capital, Honiara) are owned by the Chinese.  It also means that government jobs are staffed by family members and government resources are used by relatives. Those who get good jobs often become a bit reclusive to try and avoid running into family members, but they still turn up on the doorstep at all hours of the day. 

Wantok catching a lift home

On the other hand, there are some times when it is advantageous, and the main one I saw was when people become ill. There is no blood donation service in the country, so blood is donated by family members, and when several units are needed, many family members have to donate in order to get the right number of matched units. When the family can’t say no, then it’s not as hard as you might expect in another country. Similarly, if people come to the hospital from far and wide, instead of discharging them home, you ask if they have wantok in the area that they can stay with and come back as an outpatient. It saves a lot of hospital resources and patients usually prefer it.

I do wonder whether this aspect of their culture may end up changing and eventually being lost in the effort to progress in a capitalist way. I think in many ways it would be a shame as it certainly helps to unite people and prevent starvation and extreme poverty. On the other hand, it's hard to know how the country will survive if changes don't happen. It would be interesting to come back in 30 years and see if anything has changed. 

Last days as a Tie Vaka

(Tie Vaka is the colloquial term for foreigners – roughly translated as ‘newly arrived in a boat’)

Honiara chinese: lobster and duck - yum!

I left Munda yesterday with mixed feelings. I was looking forward to spending Christmas with my family for the first time in over 10 years, and Rich’s first hot Christmas (he still thinks it’s weird!). On the other hand, I was very sad to leave all the lovely people that I’ve met and made friends with in Munda. There are some fascinating people living and working in that town, and I was made to feel a part of the community, albeit a fairly transient part. All in all, it felt very strange to get on that plane after a very quick 6 weeks. 

I very quickly cheered up on landing in Seghe when Mia and her boyfriend Zak boarded the plane to join us on the trip to Honiara. We spent the rest of the flight catching up and gossiping about the travellers we’d met in the last couple of weeks. We shared a cab into town, and after settling in to my hotel, I met up with them again that afternoon for some souvenir shopping. Then we all went out for a fantastic Chinese meal. It’s really great to have their company in the city, and I’ve repaid the favour by letting them use the shower in my hotel room because the place they’re staying has got no running water at the moment (it is free though!). First hot water Mia has had in 10 weeks. 

So, today, after a few hours chilling in the best coffee shop (only coffee shop?) in town I shall be heading off to the airport and heading back to Brisbane. It’s been a wonderful few weeks and I’m sad that it’s over – for anyone thinking of doing an elective here, I recommend it very highly. 

Life as a tie vaka has been pretty cool!

The swimming pool at the hotel (a worthwhile extravagance!)

Final Market

Friday was my last ‘market day’ in Munda. There’s a market every day, but the market on Friday is usually quite a bit bigger and people travel from all over to sell their wares, and obviously others to buy.  It usually means that there’s a greater variety of foods available and you can even get pineapples! It’s a great day to stock up on veggies as the quality is usually a bit better.

The atmosphere is always more vibrant and one of the local ‘supermarkets’ hires a guy to make sales pitches on a loudspeaker for all the town to hear. I can hear it from my room so by 4pm I’m usually very keen for the shop to close. After the markets and shops finish, the drinking begins in earnest. The nearby Cava bar is generally buzzing, and although they’re usually relatively well behaved, the work for the policemen tends to increase on Fridays.

Interestingly, the influx of people to the area also leads to an influx of people to the clinic at the hospital, and Dr Jenny and the other doctors are usually run off their feet for the day. It seems that most people can get lifts with their relatives who are coming to sell their wares and so they generally bring their entire family for checkups. 

more water sports...

We (Mia and I) actually decided to go into the water today. We joined the divers at their 3 sites today, and while they went down we stuck to the surface snorkelling and marvelling at the sights below. 
The amount and variety of fish we saw was absolutely incredible. I just wish I knew all the names so that I could tell you all. I know for sure we saw clownfish (Nemofish!!), parrotfish, trumpetfish, and angelfish. Beyond that, I'm a bit useless I'm afraid. 
We saw 4 sharks on the first dive/snorkel - all reef sharks fortunately, but by the end I was getting pretty jumpy. Only 2 on the 2nd one. The 3rd one we only snorkelled for about 15 mins because the fish were a bit deep for us to see properly. Still saw one shark in that time though. 
Personally I believe 7 sharks in a day (even if they're small or supposedly harmless) is plenty and in all honesty, the fewer the better! However, there are a lot of mental people here who seem to think that the more and closer the better, and would probably be enjoying it if a big one came up to them with it's jaws wide open. 
Surface intervals - so divers can prevent 'the bends' - were pretty lovely - we were taken to little beaches on the islands for a snack and some water and a bit of a rest. The 2nd one had a hammock which we all enjoyed!

Oh, and don't worry Mom, I was very careful and made sure I had about an inch of sunblock on every exposed bit of skin. I shall sleep very well tonight though!

Making it to Munda

The whole attitude towards time is very similar to Africa. “Solomon Time” seems to be very fluid and most people have no idea when you ask them how long something will take or what time something arrives.

An excellent example is my flight to Munda. I was concerned that they might give me trouble over the weight of my bags so decided to go to the airport about 70-90 mins before the plane was due to leave. However, after standing around for 5 mins looking for someone official to try and check-in with, a person in the crowd came over and asked me where I was going. So I told her and then she said – “Oh, your plane leaves in 10 mins, they’ve made it early [by and hour!]” Then she found someone to take my name and accept my bags. They didn’t ask for a single piece of ID, and barely even looked at my baggage, just writing down the weight. I did notice that they made one rather large man step on the scales

At the same time, there was an Australian girl who had been told her flight was cancelled. Still, unlike some places, they did pay for another night in her hotel and took her back (surfboard and all) in a taxi.

As there were no departure boards of any kind, I was a bit concerned that I wouldn’t know when to go through to the plane. However, I needn’t have worried, because someone must have told someone else, and suddenly the crowed surged towards the ‘departure gate’ (a tiny room to the side).  I then saw the size of the plane (a Dash8 apparently), looked at the group of people gathered, looked back at the plane and started to worry again. I was having visions of all of us rushing to get seats, and wondering how we were all going to get on there. As it happened, it turned out that anyone going on the plane had about 15 people seeing them off so it wasn’t any problem.

The flight was fairly uneventful and we landed in Munda an hour early. Luckily one of the hospital doctors had heard the plane landing so came down to pick me up. He and his wife are from the UK, and offered to give me some food that evening because all the markets had closed. They also took me out for a swim which was lovely although I’m not sure I’ll be going out again. That’s because when we got all the way out, Dr Jenny (apparently doctors are addressed by their first names here) warned me to keep a look-out for crocodiles which have been seen in the area.  Needless to say I was hypervigilant after that and made sure I was between the 2 of them for all the way back.

After dinner, it was completely dark, so Dr Graham walked me back by torchlight. I’m going to have to figure out what time sunset is here because after that, walking around is going to be VERY difficult, even with my little torch.

This is the road from the town to the hospital - right along the seaside

Honiara heat

From the minute our plane came in to land, I could see how much Honiara and the Solomon Islands was going to be similar to Africa.  From the run-down cars and buildings to the relaxed customs procedure and lack of information regarding where to go. To the Solomon Islander’s credit though, there was none of the officiousness and enjoyment of red tape that many African (or at least Zimbabwean) border control people seem to have.

Once through the airport, I exchanged some money and got a taxi to my b&b. Whilst it’s looks a bit more run down and dirty than the website, it really was quite lovely. I met a few other travellers there as well so it wasn’t too lonely.

I didn’t sleep very well though because I’m not used to sounds of (very loud) birds and various insects at night. Sharing a bedroom, bathroom and dining area with various creepy crawlies was also a novelty after so long in the UK. The geckos and lizards aren’t a problem but I did get a fright when a little crab moved out of the pebbles that form the floor of the shower.

The next day, I went in to town with a South African scientist who is travelling through the area – It was a bit easier to have a man to walk around with because I find it a little intimidating being a girl travelling alone. We used the local buses, which cost $3 (30p) as opposed to a taxi which would be $50 (£5) and when I say ‘bus’ – it’s actually just like an ET-Emergency Taxi in Zim. That is, it’s a small 10/11-seater van which is very beaten up and they just swerve off the road and pick up people as they are signalled. There is a kid in the back taking your money once you’re on the way. I was interested to see that the passengers signalled that they wanted to off by a simple sound – a bit like kissing teeth but louder. Very strange but effective.

I also noticed a lack of noise in the town centre. Back in Zim, I would expect crowds to be incredibly noisy, and even small groups tend to talk in shouts. However, the streets were pretty silent apart from the sound of cars and even the bustling market was very quiet. People also don’t try and sell you things in the same aggressive way. They just sit behind their stalls and wait for you to ask about the produce and then sort out the money very silently. I didn’t try and haggle because I get the feeling it’s not ‘the done thing’ here but hopefully I’ll be able to watch some people in action to make sure.