Święto omleta ;-)

Rokrocznie, niedługo po Świętach Wielkanocnych miasto Dumbéa celebruje „Fête de l’Omelette et de la Rivière”, czyli festyn ku czci omleta (!) i rzeki. W parku Fayard, położonym nad malowniczą rzeką, przez cały weekend można napawać się urokliwym kiczem lokalnego jarmarku - z wesołym miasteczkiem i kiermaszem bibelotów. Na scenie - pokazy taneczno-wokalne artystów z wyspy, jak i z okolic (Fidżi, Vanuatu, etc.) Kwintesencją imprezy jest niedzielne pichcenie wielgaśnego omleta z 7000 jajek, smażonego na patelni o 3,5-metrowej średnicy! Tym razem miałam niestety jedynie okazję przypatrzyć się sobotniej części imprezy, ale przynajmniej patelnię sfotografowałam ;-). Ta oraz parę innych ciekawych fotek – poniżej.

Every year around Easter time, a Giant Omelette Festival is held in the town of Dumbéa. The celebrations take place in the Park Fayard, by a nice river. Throughout the weekend, families enjoy the “charming” kitsch of a local event – from a small amusement park, to souvenir stalls, to snack stands, etc. I particularly liked songs and dances performed on scene by local and foreign artists (from the Fiji Islands, from Vanuatu, and other). The culmination of the celebrations is preparation of a giant omelette, made from 7,000 eggs, and fried on a pan of the 3.5-meter diameter. Unfortunately, I could only attend the Saturday part of the Festival. Below – at least a photo of the giant pan, as well as some other interesting shots.

Parc Fayard, Dumbéa

Local “mamies”

Frédérique

The giant pan

Popisy tancerzy z wysp Fidżi ;-)

Le tayo

The tayo, also known as the patois of St. Louis, is a linguistic phenomenon. This language came into existence between 1860s and 1920s, when the Catholic Mission (La Mission, photo above) of St. Louis was being implemented. At the time, groups of native Melanesians, predominantly from three areas of Caledonia, were resettled to work for the missionaries and ultimately remained in the territory – constituting the present village of St. Louis. Given that the missionaries spoke French and that members of each resettled group spoke a different language (nowadays it is still estimated that some 27-28 various languages are used in the territory), at first a sort of patois was formed, with predominantly Franco-Caldoche (Caldoche – originally, the French colon of New Caledonia) vocabulary and phonology, and Melanesian syntax and semantics. The patois was then retained by the generations to follow and ultimately took the form of a language per se. It is nowadays classified as the only French-based Creole language in the South Pacific.

Until present days the tayo is relatively unknown. A purely oral language, it is only spoken by a small community of approximately 1,500-2,000 people. While in the West Indies, on a number of occasions I mentioned my project to later study tayo in New Caledonia. Not once did I meet a person familiar with this patois. Even the inhabitants of St. Louis tend to describe their language as a lower, or an improper, version of French. Due to a constant contact with the latter one, the tayo has gradually lost a great part of its Melanesian linguistic roots and contains more and more French vocabulary.

Linguistic documentation regarding the tayo is very much limited. As far as I know, the last and at the same time the most detailed research on the language of St. Louis was conducted almost twenty years ago, by the German Professor Sabine Ehrhart. Before then the tayo was only mentioned in generalized linguistic classifications and briefly described by Chris Corne. In the 1990s Karin Speedy from New-Zealand hypothesized that the formation of the tayo was originally influenced by the migration from another French colony at the time, Réunion in the Indian Ocean, but the origins of the patois remain disputable.

Given that there has been at least one generation shift since the time when Professor Ehrhart conducted her research in St. Louis, during my stay in the village I will try to compare the language spoken by the elderly to its more recent version spoken by the youth. I expect some difficulties because, unlike the other Creole languages I have looked at, the use of the patois is restricted only to convivial situations. The tayo is hardly ever employed in presence of the “outsiders.” Except for a few local songs there has not been any major production (TV/radio) in the language. Moreover, it will seemingly be impossible to appear incognito (by no means do I look Kanak :-) in order to listen to some informal speech.

St. Louis

Fragmenty z pamiętnika:
(Excerpts from my diary)

Dziś jest środa. Przedwczoraj wieczorem, po niemal 30 godz. w podróży, dotarłam na lotnisko Tontouta, oddalone o ok. 40 km od stolicy terytorium – Nouméi. Stąd Jessica i Kyo zabrali mnie do St. Louis, gdzie mieszkam u rodziców Kyo – Josiane i Narcisse’a.
Today is Wednesday. Two days ago at night, after a 30-hour-long journey, I finally arrived at the Tontouta airport located some 40 kilometers north of the island’s capital, Nouméa. Jessica and Kyo came to pick me up at the airport and took me directly to the village of St. Louis, where I will be staying at Kyo’s parents’ – Josiane and Narcisse.
St. Louis to położona w strefie rezerwy etnicznej „tribu”, czyli wioska plemienna. Zwykle przyjezdni nie mają tu wstępu. Nie budują w okolicy domów ani nie wynajmują kwater. Niezwykłym szczęściem, a nawet zaszczytem, jest więc fakt, że dzięki profesor Sabine Ehrhart (kontakt mailowy) porozumiałam się z Jessicą, która następnie zaproponowała mi, bym zamieszkała u jej cioci.
Located within the confines of an indigenous reserve, St. Louis is a tribal village. Usually the out-comers do not stay here; they do not build houses or rent apartments in St. Louis. I thus consider myself particularly lucky, honored even, to have been invited to stay in the village together with Jessica’s family (I got in touch with Jessica, who later put me in touch with her aunt and uncle, thanks to Professor Sabine Ehrhart).

St. Louis nie cieszy się niestety dobrą reputacją. Sięgając jeszcze lat 80., czyli epoki tzw. „Les événements”, aż po współczesne kradzieże samochodów w Nouméa - dokonywane ponoć przez chłystków z okolicy - nic tu przybysza nie przyciąga (dane mi to było do zrozumienia już na lotnisku, kiedy to celnik zdziwił się bardzo, kiedy mu oznajmiłam, że zamieszkam w St. Louis). A jednak, perełkami wydały mi się wczoraj mijane „cases” [kaz] – tradycyjne domostwa miejscowej ludności Kanak, kryte strzechą, które dziś służą w wiosce głównie jako sale zebrań.
Unfortunately, St. Louis does not have a good reputation. Since the period of “les événements” in the 1980s, up until the recent car thefts in Nouméa (blamed on “les villageois” de St. Louis) – the tribu has earned itself a rather negative image in the south (I could sort of sense it already at the airport when the customs officer seemed somewhat surprised upon hearing that I would be staying in St. Louis). Nonetheless, the beautiful “cases” – traditional Kanak houses, nowadays mainly used for meetings - seen yesterday, have so far left me with a very poetic image of this neighborhood.

Ja sama też mieszkam tu w „la case” (!). Kryty strzechą i wykończony drewnem, budynek służył wcześniej jako miejsce większych imprez. W jednej jego części znajduje się moje studio. Narcisse meblował je przez kilka ostatnich dni. Mam tu swój pokoik z wiklinianym fotelem, sekretarzykiem, szafką nocną i – co najważniejsze – pięknymi drewnianymi słupami („les poteaux”), rzeźbionymi na wzór totemów – ku czci przodków. Architektura „la case”, droga do niej wiodąca, „les poteaux”… - w tradycji Kanak wszystko ma swoje szczególne znaczenie i symbolikę, które – mam nadzieję – już niedługo przyjdzie mi nieco poznać.
I actually happen to live in a „case” too! “Paille-roofed” (I forget how o say “paille” in EnglishL) and with wooden elements - before the building was used to hold bigger parties. My studio has been furnished in one of its ends. Narcis spent several days preparing this cozy corner before my arrival. Apart from bed, a closet, and a small sofa – in my room there are three traditional “poteaux” – wooden totem-like pillars sculpted by Nassis and his family to honor the ancestors. These “poteaux,” as well as the overall architecture of the “case” and the path leading to it, all have a special symbolic meaning in the Kanak tradition. In the months to come I hope to learn more about the local beliefs…

New Caledonia – New Chapter

Two months at home in Warsaw were a long but necessary break from my Watson travels. Fortunately, now the leg is like new and two days ago I finally boarded the plane – which this time took me to New Caledonia, a French overseas territory whose population within the next decade is to decide (via a referendum) whether the island should remain a French dependency or become an independent country.

New Caledonia is one of the French territories situated furthest from the Hexagon. Located about 1700 km east of Australia and approximately the same distance north of New Zealand, the island can be reached from France via South Korea or via Japan, duration of both itineraries being over 25 hours.

For me arriving in NC is like opening a new chapter. I am above all thrilled that I could come here despite the fact that just three months ago I survived an accident whose consequences might have totally changed my Watson, if not life, plans. Luckily, today I am back on my track, and actually – I happened to arrive in Nouméa more-or-less on the day I would have arrived here had there been no complications.

Moving from Europe to the South Pacific has been like meeting a snowman in the desert. There is a 9-hour time difference between Warsaw/Paris and Nouméa, and the local summer is shifted with the European winter (so now we are entering winter here, or what is called “la saison fraîche”). Yet, more than that, moving from one Watson destination to another always implies new discoveries, new friends, and new adventures. Some of my reflections – to follow…