Then it was one last swim with the tortugas and back to the guest house to pack where assistant Kia told me that my flight is 6 hours late. So here I am stuck on Isla Pascua. Poor me. I dropped my bags at the airport - Kia the assistant insisted on accompanying me. There was a huge line up so I had a nice long chat with her.
While her father is Rapanui she didn't really know him until a few months ago and has spent most of her 21 years in Australia. Now she's on an 8 month break from college to be here and get to know her father and that part of the family. Instantly she went from being an only child to having 4 brothers, countless cousins and in fact is related to almost every Rapanui on the island. It's interesting that she's working on her BA with a focus on writing and indiginous studies. I told that she *has* to write about this experience and she said that that's the plan but she's still trying to wrap her head around learning Spanish and Rapu Nui at the moment and says she can't put together a proper sentence in any language.
I also asked about all the cops here - why were there so many on an island with no crime? There were many hanging out around the soccer field, they were escorting a Japanese tour, they were stopping cars and directing "traffic". Maybe this made the north american press but I didn't see it...a group of Rapa Nui went into one of the government houses and occupied it out of protest. The Rapanui have been jerked around by various governments and have just recently started to make headway towards self determination. Curious to note that Pinochet is fondly remebered here as that particular dictator saw some strategic naval benefit in Isla Pascua and actually improved life here for the residents while wreaking havoc in the rest of Chile. So a couple weeks ago at 5a about 50 police, in swat gear, imported from the mainland, laid seige to the occupied house and shot rubber bullets at the protestors injuring a few quite seriously. Needless to say this sparked a bit of retaliation and a police vehicle had a windshield smashed in. I'm not entirely clear of the timeline but after things started heating up the government sent 150 riot cops in by private plane - it's a big deal when an unscheduled flight lands here - basically to intimidate the "trouble makers." There was another house raid that included two uncles and an auntie of Kia's who were merely peacefully occupying a building. There were more needless injuries and unnecessary ill will generated.
I asked Kia if this was just a small group or whether the protestors were representative of all the Rapanui. She said that *everyone* was in support of the protestors. So there are an extra 200 cops on a tiny island that usually has about 30. There's nothing for them to do so they've been out making work for themselves writing out traffic infractions, patrolling the sleepy streets and generally annoying the locals. One hopes that everyone just gets bored and goes home...and no, there is no danger to the touristas.
I finally got my bags checked and got a lunch coupon - at Cafe Ra'a where I'm writing this from...and look there goes Edgar. This time he's picked up a South African couple to hang out with - what a guy.
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