OBOC - Kiribati

Just when I was questioning if OBOC is actually helping me understand any nation any better, I realized that it is actually helping me discover nations that until now I didn't know existed in the first place! (Note: This from a person who prides on being above average in geography and knowledge of other cultures). But for OBOC I wouldn't have known Kiribati existed and would've also not known that it is to be pronounced as Kiribaas. Of course the "colonial upbringing" meant that Gilbert Islands seemed vaguely familiar, still I never imagined them to be a separate nation.

 I compromised and picked a non-native author from Kiribati as it was hard to find a beacon of literary treasure from Kiribati. I could've gone with Teresia Teaiwa but I desperately needed some light reading for the Holidays when I was going to be surrounded by 20+ people within a 2500sqft space. Not a time for serious contemplative reading. Maarten Troost's "The Sex Lives of Cannibals" was the final choice for Kiribati.

At the age of 26, tired of moving from one temp job to another, Troost grabs the opportunity to go to what he envisioned as a tropical paradise, Tarawa the capital of Kiribati where his stalwart bride Sylvia accepted a government position. His hopes and dreams of a paradise are completely shattered as he realizes that Tarawa is not a dreamy, exotic vacation spot, but just a hot cauldron with limited sanitation, hygenie, food, vegetation, and infrastructure of any kind.

Troost in a very wodehouse like manner captures his adventures in Kiribati over the two years he and Sylvia spend in the island, so much so that some of his (mis)adventures are plain laugh out loud funny. The island is also replete with colorful characters both human and non-human, especially of the canine variety. How he survives the two years by slowly unlearning his i-Matang ways and acquiring some i-Kiribati skills and in the process actually comes to admire some of the islanders way of living (without romanticizing it too much - after all it is hard to do when surrounded by filth and fish) forms the crux of the book.

I enjoyed it despite the stereotypes and somewhat cliched humor.  Recently I spent a week in not-so-remote villages in India. Having grown up in India, I assumed i would be at complete ease in such an environment. I would be lying if I said that was the case. Having to choose between exercising a 10hour bladder control to venturing into a pitch dark squat station during the day, I chose the latter. The acrobatic skills that were required to accomplish such a seemingly simple task with a Nokia phone clutched in my mouth as flash light while I vigilantly scanned the room for lizards and roaches told me how much I take things for granted. Now take that experience and multiply it a 100 times, that was Troost's. No wonder it made a funny and compelling read!