Introduction:
What is Paradise? For some that image comes to mind
when seeing the mountains, others believe to be in Eden with just feel the sea
breeze and listen to the waves of the sea. But I think the great majority of us
discovered Paradise by becoming PADRES.
I feel identified within this group of beings touched
by the Grace of God, that when we receive our children in this wonderful
earthly world, we feel we have KNOWN PARADISE; and as the great Serrat says in
his wonderful song. Those crazy little ones, children often resemble us, and
often they are interested in the same things that we care about. And ... a few
times "fall in love" with the same things that we fell in love with.
Then we are doubly happy, enjoying fully by sharing with our own blood what we
are passionate about. Tahitian, gave me the blessing of being among that
privileged group of people to whom this happens to them, since my children
inherited my immense love and passion for the ocean and for the French Polynesia.
I thank God, who offered me one of those things that
are seldom given.
For more than 30 years I fell in love, because when I
first stepped on Tahitian soil, it was "love at first sight". I fell
under the charms of that millenary culture that permeates the 118 islands that
make up French Polynesia. I was drunk with its aromas, sensual dances, the
majesty and exuberance of its generous nature and above all things, which made
this place choose me, it was its people "TE NUNA'A" in Tahitian,
where the legendary tradition Hospitality that the Polynesians offer to the
visitor makes one want to return again and again.
From your welcome greeting "IA ORA NA",
equivalent to our "good morning" and which literally means "life
for you" to your farewell greeting «PARAHI! "which means literally
sit down, and expresses the wish that we do not leave …
My love for the ocean:
The love for the ocean that I had since I was a child,
was filled with knowledge of these islands of the South Seas that make up the 5
Archipelagos of the Polynésie française (Society Islands, Tuamotu, Marquesas,
Australes and Gambier) Islands Which with just a little more than 4000 km2
of surface, cover more than 4,000,000 km of water!
POLYNESIA in Greek means many islands, islands that
inspired famous writers such as Paul-Emile Victor (1907-1995), Herman Melville
(1819-1891), Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) and James Norman Hall (1887,
1951) to name a few.
Being the most famous in the Julien Islands Viaud,
known as Pierre Loti (1850-1923) whose most famous work, Le Mariage de Loti
(The Marriage of Loti) which develops its history in the islands of Polynesia
and actually read this novel it will introduce you to the wonderful MA'OHI
(Tahitian) culture.
Beneath the charms of these islands fell from famous
painters like the great impressionist Paul Émil GAUGUIN, to singers of the
stature of the famous Jacques BREL, author of the beautiful and desperate, Ne
me quitte pas (do not abandon me)
These two great artists as well as being bewitched by
Polynesia, their people and their culture, lived and died in Hiva Oa (Marquesas
Islands). Today this wonderful island is a pilgrimage point, since their bodies
rest side by side in the Cemetery of Atuona, Capital of Hiva Oa.
There were also Hollywood celebrities who put aside
the frivolity of the movie world by falling hopelessly in love with these
islands. The most famous was the great Marlon BRANDO (1924-2004) who in the
early 1960s came to Tahiti to film Motin a Bordo. There he meets Tarita
Teri'ipaia, with whom he will star in the film. From that moment the great star
would fall at the feet of this beautiful Tahitian girl born in Bora Bora with
whom she would have her Tahitian children, adopting until the moment of her
death the culture and simple way of life of the Tahitians, and to say of the
mythical oceanographer Jacques COUSTEAU, that for his investigations on the
oceans of the world and his fauna chose the waters of the Tuamotu Islands to
study TE MAU MA'O, the sharks in Tahitian. Embarked with his son Philippe and
the crew of the legendary CALYPSO will carry out his investigations there on
the behavior of the squalids.
These videos are part of the legacy of documentaries
most viewed by divers from around the world. For TE MAU MA'O polynesians are
sacred animals, since they believe that these are the protective spirits of
their ancestors and that they also protect them and all the activities that
they develop in the sea.
*Guest Blog post by Marcelo Haunui Prandi
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