American Tourists

One day at Juliette's home, she suddenly started yelling for me to come to the garage. Sometimes Tahitians speak in French and Tahitian -which at times has made it more difficult to learn French. Tama told me that she was calling for me and it sounded urgent. When I got there I discovered that an American tourist had wondered up to her house hoping to get directions to hike up Tapioi Mountain. Juliette doesn't speak English so I can only imagine what this tourist was thinking as she started yelling excitedly. I'm sure the last thing he expected to see was an American come running out of the house.
He was from the Santa Barbara area and as we rounded the corner we were joined by a couple from Phoenix. They were all on a cruise with a beautiful ship I've seen docked many times in Papeete -the Paul Gauguin. A storm in Bora Bora had delayed them from leaving and I suppose that the crew had made the recommendation for the hike. But it can be a little tricky to find so I was happy to help. As we headed toward the trail, Steve's father, Marcel, recognized me and said, "Tu es la guide!"
I wanted to accompany them to the first of two "y's" in the trail where it can be confusing to know the way. I explained how to navigate the second one -and also that they should expect to see pigs, horses and cows on the trail. They didn't have much reaction to that and probably thought, "So what? A bunch of farmyard animals." So I just left it at that.
They were very nice and it surprised me how odd it felt to hear English with an American accent. Afterall, I've been here over a month now. They asked many questions and I really started to feel like a native Tahitian. It hit me all over again that I've been coming here over a span of 11 years.
When I left them, I assured them that the view at the top is worth the hike. Later on I saw them in the town and they agreed. The man from the Santa Barbara area said that if I ever wanted to go square dancing, it's a great place to go. I never thought I'd be invited to go square dancing in Santa Barbara while on an exotic island in French Polynesia.