Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Solomon Islanders Part I: First Impressions

They say that first impressions are the strongest. When it comes to societies, rather than individuals, this seems to me particularly true, for only in the first week or two of being in a place do shared characteristics and national traits really thrust themselves upon you. Before long, as you get to know more and more people properly, these commonalities quickly begin to unravel and the complex mix of individuals and groups that make up society comes to dominate. Already now, those first impressions of people here that were buzzing round my mind so strongly in the first couple of weeks have begun to melt away. Nonetheless:

First and foremost, any visitor to the Solomons cannot but be struck by their reserved sweet natured-ness and infallible good humour. Wherever you are, whether in some dirty shack selling cheap “likker” or in the offices of the Central Bank, there are invariably a couple of people within earshot enthusiastically laughing away. Do types of laughs vary between nationalities? It appears so, for in the Solomons there is a distinctive high-pitched giggle that you hear everywhere, which in moments of real hilarity (i.e. the smallest amusement) heightens to a shriek of absolute glee. Extremely contagious, though also sometimes alarming as opening the mouth to laugh reveals the “betal nut” chewers razor sharp dagger-like teeth, with the blood-red juice dripping from them.

The next thing you notice is how incredibly shy people are here. This is seriously disconcerting at first. You approach the counter of a shop, try to catch the salesperson’s eye to ask for something, and their reaction is to give a sweet slightly-nervous giggle, and to stare at their feet. Even in work, asking someone about some issue or another, I found at first the answer was often addressed to their feet or at the wall in the opposite direction to where I was. Soon though, you get used to it, and feeling like an over-dominant Western brute for such an aggressive act as looking them in the eye you end up yourself looking at your feet when speaking to someone you don’t know. There is something very natural and bird-like about this interaction, a dance in which eyes are raised occasionally, are less occasionally met, and momentary half-smiles flash across lips. Still, it is a relief that many people involved in business or politics do not have this way about them, and that when you get to know the shy ones, eye-contact becomes normal.

There is a funny contradiction between this gentle nature, and the appearance of many of the younger men here. When I first walked the bustling street (singular) of Honiara, head still somewhere over the Bay of Bengal, I thought I had stumbled straight into a gang ghetto. The men look tough as shit, their feet flattened wide and toes spread-eagled from walking barefoot, clothes dirty and torn, many are massive fellas and covered in home-made skin-carvings or tattoos. But…then you notice them walking along holding hands, giggling together like schoolgirls, and eager to exchange a friendly smile with the white zombie. I have not once witnessed a single aggressive act in the four weeks I’ve been here, let alone a violent act. (Actually, I lie: one exception was an outraged 8 year-old whose older brother made the mistake of seriously pissing him off – here another remarkable feature of Solomonanders became clear which is their ability to throw stones very hard and with remarkable accuracy from a very young age: during the riots in April apparently you would often see the Aussie peace-keeping soldiers with big black eyes after getting clomped by a just such a missile). In light of this, I find it startling that as a people they could be capable of such brutal and meaningless blood-shed as occurred during “the tensions” (which started in 2000, more on this at a later date). The sad explanation, as always, is they were the actions of a relatively small minority.


Other characteristics? They are extremely diverse in their appearance, with clear differences depending on the island from which they happen to originate. Their eyesight is so good it makes me feel I need glasses. They are as a rule very devout Christians, though the tiny population includes more denominations than I am able to keep count of. Perhaps related to the previous, they sing beautifully. Those that can swim, swim like fish. Remarkably, many others (at least in Honiara) cannot. People go to bed early and wake up at dawn (something to which I aspire, but am yet to master). On that note, “me go slip nao”.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

How well I remember my own brief visit to Honiara many years ago. I also was initially intimidated by the droves of young "gangsters" in the town centre. My fears vanished when they swaggered over to Honiaras only set of traffic lights, and waited patiently for the lights to change, permitting them to cross the road safely. This despite the dearth of traffic on the main road.
Monty

Will said...

Thanks for the comment Monty, though I'm not sure who you are, or if I know you or not.

Well, I don't know when you were here in Honiara, but things appear to have gone backwards since then, as now the "only set of traffice lights" have been removed, and this despite what is now a fairly busy traffic flow on the main road. Not the only example of bad road planning/maintenance in these parts, to be sure.

Will