RAPA NUIIIIIIII!!!!!

Yup, you read correctly, I went to Rapa Nui (Easter Island) this past weekend (from saturday to tuesday to be exact). It was an absolutely amazing experience. For those of you that may not know, Rapa Nui is the most isolated place in the world, an island which is famous for the thousands of maoi (giant heads) that are scattered all over the place. Nobody knows the exact purpose of the maoi, although most say that they were representatives of prominent island members who passed away, but one thing is for certain; these maoi are a unique testament to a civilization and culture that destroyed itself.

In fact, the plight of the Rapa Nui carries with it extremely important lessons for our world today. Due to its remoteness, the island's inhabitants had to sustain themselves using the resources available to them on the island. They were extremely good at that, particularly when one realizes that they found the time to build thousands of statues (each about 50+tons) all over the island. The problem is that, due to an enormous pride (embodied in the moai), they depleted their resources, cut down every tree, and overpopulated the island (at one point 10000 people lived on the island, compared to the 3700 that live on it now). Sound familiar? What happened in Rapa Nui centuries ago is a microcosm of what is happening as we speak. Our forests are dissappearing, our resources are running out, and our population keeps rising. Where will it end? For the Rapa Nui, it ended it extremely bloody civil wars that left the once prospering island with a population of 111 at its lowest point. For us, we dont know yet, but given the nature of our predicament, wars in the most impoverished places will almost certainly happen. The lessons of the Rapa Nui, embodied by the testament they have left us in the moai, are extremely relevant to our situation, it would be unwise for us to ignore them.

What's left of the Rapa Nui culture is very little. Nobody can read their writing, nobody knows for sure how the moai were transported from the Rano Raraku volcano to their finally resting spot, and nobody knows where the first Rapa Nui people came from (Polynesia, South America, or New Zealand?). Theirs is a culture of mystery, which is part of the allure of the island. Even the natives themselves have a very vague idea of the culture of their ancestors.

Needless to say, the natural beauty of the island is outstanding. At each corner of the triangular island sits a dormant volcano, with the Rano Kau having the most impressive crater (it really is a breathtaking crater, I couldnt believe how amazing it was). Most of the coastline is cliffs made of volcanic rock, but there are two pristine beaches near the northern end of the island. A lot of flowers adorn the place, but very few trees (remember, they deforested the entire island, it used to be chalk full of trees). At night, the sky lights up with stars, in fact, I saw more shooting stars (3), this past weekend, than my entire life.

But, at the end of the day, what Easter Island is famous for is for their mysterious guards, the moai. Being in their presence leaves one with a feeling of uneasiness, as if these silent sentinels have witnessed the history of the entire world on their own little piece of heaven.

I GO TO BUENOS AIRES TOMMORROW!!!!