Reflections of Joanne

Luci Martinez

The second best thing that occurs on dry land on a sparkling weekday afternoon to me was my acquaintance with Luci, a true born-and-bred Rangiroan. As this 26 year-old beautiful girl shares her life story with me, I began to feel the ride she described with her two young children in the flatbed of the family pickup to St. Michel's church on a Sunday morning outing. Built of beige stucco, with a red tin roof and shuttered belfry, perches at the edge of the channel that divides the largest motu or islet. Across the water, a small village is clearly visible from the outdoor shrine of Stella Maris - a grotto studded with sand-polished pieces of green glass, harboring a statue of the Virgin Mary bejeweled with a shell crown. Parishioners, fanned by a steady but gentle breeze, gather before church, catching up on news, while inside a choir practices the day's program at the end of the town, where we bicycled the other day.

I entered her world with no great expectations, but found myself beyond the enjoyment of melodic singing. Luci has an immediacy that is refreshing and instantly involving. Her black-haired, angelic-looking eyes tell the story of her life-changing event, where she met he, a French man on business assignment. How they fall in love, how he promises to come back to ask for her parents' hand in marriage, to her relocation to France with him eventually. Her subsequent return to Rangiroa to raise her two sons and their long distance relationship separated by ocean deep blue. His final decision to return to her home country to be with all that dazzled him in the beginning and still is, and the Cinderella story that steels my heart away while we speak.

It is such a beautiful gesture, I think to myself, to be able to communicate despite of language barrier. She speaks only French and a limited understanding of English whilst I could only utter a few essential French sounding words. Glancing up, I realize that Luci in the sweet-scented le Boutique et Kia Ora Village has mirrored the connection. We are all, strangers and natives; Asian and Polynesian, united in heart of emotions, in this small but vital role of human relationship that need to reach out and be connected.

Shared acceptance is the basis for friendship, the common ground for any relationship, and to experience it so unselfconsciously in action on this ordinary afternoon is to be reminded forcefully of the potential of our species for harmonious coexistence.


just experience \| just sights \| just blah \| just write all photos, travelogues and journals are made available for non-commercial use only. © 2000 JSL
*RANGIROA, POLYNESIA'S BEST KEPT SECRET*
At the Airport \| Pension Teina et Maria \| Debating about Diving \| Check out dive in South Pacific \| Drift dives with the Currents \| Hanging to the walls \| Against the Current \| Shark Encounter \| Closing Dives \| Downdown at Kia Ora Village \| Sun Basking \| Bicycling \| Luci Martinez \| Saying Goodbye
	Luci Martinez The second best thing that occurs on dry land on a sparkling weekday afternoon to me was my acquaintance with Luci, a true born-and-bred Rangiroan. As this 26 year-old beautiful girl shares her life story with me, I began to feel the ride she described with her two young children in the flatbed of the family pickup to St. Michel's church on a Sunday morning outing. Built of beige stucco, with a red tin roof and shuttered belfry, perches at the edge of the channel that divides the largest motu or islet. Across the water, a small village is clearly visible from the outdoor shrine of Stella Maris - a grotto studded with sand-polished pieces of green glass, harboring a statue of the Virgin Mary bejeweled with a shell crown. Parishioners, fanned by a steady but gentle breeze, gather before church, catching up on news, while inside a choir practices the day's program at the end of the town, where we bicycled the other day. I entered her world with no great expectations, but found myself beyond the enjoyment of melodic singing. Luci has an immediacy that is refreshing and instantly involving. Her black-haired, angelic-looking eyes tell the story of her life-changing event, where she met he, a French man on business assignment. How they fall in love, how he promises to come back to ask for her parents' hand in marriage, to her relocation to France with him eventually. Her subsequent return to Rangiroa to raise her two sons and their long distance relationship separated by ocean deep blue. His final decision to return to her home country to be with all that dazzled him in the beginning and still is, and the Cinderella story that steels my heart away while we speak. It is such a beautiful gesture, I think to myself, to be able to communicate despite of language barrier. She speaks only French and a limited understanding of English whilst I could only utter a few essential French sounding words. Glancing up, I realize that Luci in the sweet-scented le Boutique et Kia Ora Village has mirrored the connection. We are all, strangers and natives; Asian and Polynesian, united in heart of emotions, in this small but vital role of human relationship that need to reach out and be connected. Shared acceptance is the basis for friendship, the common ground for any relationship, and to experience it so unselfconsciously in action on this ordinary afternoon is to be reminded forcefully of the potential of our species for harmonious coexistence.