CORRESPONDENCE: DEAR meGEOFF
And a Further Letter from Tony
Tony Intas and I attended Loyola High School together in Montreal many years ago. He is meGeoff’s roaming reporter; a thoughtful man of multiple addresses. Today Tony writes from the Hawaiian Islands.
The Irony Is Not Lost on Me.
Ever since my caregiving responsibilities ended back in 2017, I have had the opportunity to spend the first three months of every year on the island of Molokai, Hawaii. I have been volunteering with the National Park Service on the Kalaupapa peninsula for about ten years now, which back in the 1800s was chosen - because of the remote geography of the place - as a site to isolate individuals suffering from Hansen’s Disease (leprosy) from the rest of the world. Who would have thought, over 150 years later, that it is an appropriate place for me to be during this pandemic. The irony is not lost on me.
Molokai is a very rural island and people are basically self-sufficient. Most residents, all 5,000 of them on an island smaller than Montreal, know how to hunt and fish. Most grow their own vegetables. and keep chickens. Enviable skills to have now!! Coconuts, bananas, mangos, avocados, papayas, oranges and other fruit are there for the taking from neighbours or out in the wild.
The people of Molokai are very protective of the lifestyle they have. They, and other Hawaiians, view Molokai as sacred. They are a very proud people and they want to keep their way of life. The community is very tightly knit and there are some families that have been on the island for generations. This is Hawaiian concept of ohana (family). Everyone calls elders “Auntie” or “Uncle.” There is only one town on the island, two gas stations, one bar, five restaurants, a bakery, a pharmacy, three grocery stores, an ice cream parlour and no traffic lights.
Very few tourists visit here. There is only one hotel, but there are several guest houses/vacation homes and four condominium residences that have some rental units - a source of contention with residents as it impacts their ability to rent accommodations at a reasonable price. Cruise ships are not permitted to visit here and large yachts are turned away at the one dock.
The people of Molokai, while they are friendly, do not welcome tourists like they do on the other Hawaiian islands. A good rule to follow when you visit Molokai is “do not act like a tourist.” Residents will respond to that. It takes time to make friends here. You will often be asked “who do you know,” so residents can “check you out” to see if you will embrace what has been created here.
On March 31, I will be taking a “repatriation” flight back to Canada, the same day that I was originally scheduled to leave my “special place.” I will be re-entering a world that has radically changed since I left it in January, coming from a place that does not change, wants to keep it that way and has been self-isolating for almost 200 years. Again, the irony is not lost on me.
(meGeoff update: Tony's Air Canada flight way back home has been cancelled. He's marooned in a former leper colony. No irony there. The good news is that a decade of volunteer work has paid for itself - Tony has friends and shelter on Molokai.)
Ever since my caregiving responsibilities ended back in 2017, I have had the opportunity to spend the first three months of every year on the island of Molokai, Hawaii. I have been volunteering with the National Park Service on the Kalaupapa peninsula for about ten years now, which back in the 1800s was chosen - because of the remote geography of the place - as a site to isolate individuals suffering from Hansen’s Disease (leprosy) from the rest of the world. Who would have thought, over 150 years later, that it is an appropriate place for me to be during this pandemic. The irony is not lost on me.
Molokai is a very rural island and people are basically self-sufficient. Most residents, all 5,000 of them on an island smaller than Montreal, know how to hunt and fish. Most grow their own vegetables. and keep chickens. Enviable skills to have now!! Coconuts, bananas, mangos, avocados, papayas, oranges and other fruit are there for the taking from neighbours or out in the wild.
The people of Molokai are very protective of the lifestyle they have. They, and other Hawaiians, view Molokai as sacred. They are a very proud people and they want to keep their way of life. The community is very tightly knit and there are some families that have been on the island for generations. This is Hawaiian concept of ohana (family). Everyone calls elders “Auntie” or “Uncle.” There is only one town on the island, two gas stations, one bar, five restaurants, a bakery, a pharmacy, three grocery stores, an ice cream parlour and no traffic lights.
Very few tourists visit here. There is only one hotel, but there are several guest houses/vacation homes and four condominium residences that have some rental units - a source of contention with residents as it impacts their ability to rent accommodations at a reasonable price. Cruise ships are not permitted to visit here and large yachts are turned away at the one dock.
The people of Molokai, while they are friendly, do not welcome tourists like they do on the other Hawaiian islands. A good rule to follow when you visit Molokai is “do not act like a tourist.” Residents will respond to that. It takes time to make friends here. You will often be asked “who do you know,” so residents can “check you out” to see if you will embrace what has been created here.
On March 31, I will be taking a “repatriation” flight back to Canada, the same day that I was originally scheduled to leave my “special place.” I will be re-entering a world that has radically changed since I left it in January, coming from a place that does not change, wants to keep it that way and has been self-isolating for almost 200 years. Again, the irony is not lost on me.
(meGeoff update: Tony's Air Canada flight way back home has been cancelled. He's marooned in a former leper colony. No irony there. The good news is that a decade of volunteer work has paid for itself - Tony has friends and shelter on Molokai.)
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