Abaiang
05 May 2011
I went on to say that this is the hardest part about making friends from other countries…saying goodbye…but that she should keep making friends with the boats that come here…that she is a very kind, nice person for people to meet when they visit here, and that she should keep being friendly like that…that she has made Abiang very memorable for us, and that we will always remember her. That her friendliness and her charming laugh makes her very special, and that she should never lose that. She bawled her eyes out. Finally the embrace was released and we said our final goodbyes. She waved repeatedly as we drifted slowly out to our boat.
I have been struck for months by this experience – will likely never forget it.
We have had many less emotional goodbyes from people we knew much better than her. It seems that we represented to her, a different way of life, an option she had never thought of before. It made me think how vulnerable the people of these islands could be.
I think as cruisers we become accustomed to saying good bye to our friends, knowing we will make other friends in the next anchorage, or will see our friends in an anchorage somewhere over the horizon. But to this girl...even if she learned English well and finishes her education, it’s probably only a very small chance that she will ever leave her village or see more than Kiribati at best. I feel so fortunate to have been born an American.