A Tragedy

To fully understand the tragedy of this story you should read the post “In Electric Shock” first.

So the boat carrying all the island’s supplies, minus our fuel, came and left today. When it left three nurses left with it. One for maternity leave, one for annual leave, and one to take two patients to a more fancy hospital than ours– a hospital that can provide anesthesia with surgery.

I spent the evening at the wharf, with basically the entirety of the island's population, to say goodbye to all the boat’s passengers (and esp. the nurses). The boat’s coming and going is a big deal – much like the Oscars, the Olympics, or Indie 500 (remember these people don’t have televisions or shops or restaurants or mini golf). This once a month occurrence is “The Event” of the month.

When Fijians want to give a good wave hello or goodbye they use both hands and do an exaggerated double wave- moving both arms up and down like they are trying to fly. I love the double wave business and try to execute it whenever there is an appropriate occasion.

The boat left at 10pm and I stood with my flashlight on the wharf. As soon as the boat began to drift out to sea I began my Fijian double wave. I moved my arms up and down with such force that my poor flashlight became unhinged from my grip and flew into the water. It plopped into the ocean below and sank at warp speed. I yelled out a few expletives – because now I am flashlightless and now the electricity will not be working. Now I will really have to learn how to see in the dark. FML.