Airport Queues, Moana and Polynesian Myths

Toothed Whale Skeleton, Museum Bremen

Holiday travelers to European destinations are finding up to four hour queues on landing just to get the passport control. This is not an evil pre-Brexit introduction but the reality of new security checks for visitors coming into the EU, from countries not in the Schengen agreement. The delays are a result of having a new policy but not enough staff to handle the consequences.

In contrast, our return trip to Cambridge was relatively uneventful, probably for two reasons - we traveled cross-country rather than on the motorways, and it was a dreary rainy day.

Congress forces President Trump to sign sanctions on Russia, and he is not pleased about it. Neither is President Putin. The Russians consider this tantamount to a trade war.

Jane and I had watched Moana on Saturday, Disney's recent film based on Polynesian culture and mythology on Saturday. Whilst reviews from a Polynesian view were mixed, generally, they were more favourable for a positive representation of their culture. It made me curious about a whole new area of mythology, something my sister would also have enjoyed.

As a result, I've been reading the collection of 'Polynesian Myths' (based on the New Zealand traditions), originally complied by the Governor in chief of the islands in the late 1800s, George Grey. Whilst the language is of the age, I soon got drawn in and learnt more about the youthful trickster, demigod and hero Maui-tikitiki-o-Taranga and his sister Hinauri (who does not feature in the film.)

The Polynesians colonised the islands of the Western Pacific (e.g. Fiji and Samoa) around 3,500 years ago. Then there was a 2,00 year pause till a great wave of expansion into New Zealand and the Eastern Pacific began again after 'The Long Pause'.

Moana, whose name means 'Ocean' hints at this move from a settled culture to the beginning of the new era of sea-going colonisation.

Having read more of the Polynesian Myths, I'll have to revisit the film sometime and see it with new eyes.