tropical

tropical

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Tropical is the word of the day. This island I am living on lies on the Tropic of Capricorn. That means that in the Winter Solstice around 22. december at noon the Sun shines from straight above. In the Summer Solstice in the middle of the Austral Winter it rises ”only” about 45 degrees above horizon. In the North where I come from the highest the Sun ever rises in Midsummer is around 53 degrees.

There are some direct consequences of this setup. The first one is that the sun’s rays cross a far lesser length of atmosphere before reaching the ground here than in the north. So the energy of the radiation is far greater and the risk of getting roasted alive very real. The second one is that the sun shoots up from the east between 6 and 7 o’clock in the morning and rushes down in the same hours of the evening. It takes time to get accustomed to its speed. ”Darkness fell” is a typically tropical expression. You can almost hear the ”thump” as it does so. The third one is that with the sun, there is the whole ecliptica nearly at right angles to what you are used to. So the signs of the zodiac instead of tangenting the horizon pass right above your head. Planets as well. And finally, the sun goes down with a leftward tilt. It took me months to accept this fact even though I saw it daily. As an experience it resembles slightly objects falling sideways.
They never used to do so but now they do it all the time and nobody’s seems to notice...

When somebody says ”tropical” he brings to one’s mind a picture of palm trees, sandy beaches, iced drinks and bikinis on the beach and hot parties in the night. This association comes from what we norhterners use the tropic for. We use it to escape from the weather of our winter, to get a break into our nine-to-five that has the color spectrum from grey to black. There are many people I’ve met here who have never seen ”live snow”. They freeze in their ”winter” when the temperature drops to 17 degrees centigrade. They give me, my T-shirt and shorts, the strangest looks in their parkas from below their woollen caps. If they’d know what kind of a weather we routinely face in Finland –voluntarily– they’d probably lock me up in someplace safe.

A tropical island is traditionally a place where one does not have to worry about tomorrow’s meal or anything else for that matter. Of course this stereotype is false and the times when small human populations could actually live off the nature are forever gone. But at least a part of the tradition is still alive. In the North we have things to do and if we do not make them in due time, it is serious. The things themselves might not be a big deal but the deadline is.

A short flight of fantasy explains why: There is the Winter. If you do not gather firewood, salt away fish and meat and mushrooms and fill your stocks with grains and tuberosities, the winter will get you. Once the ground freezes you are on your own living off your reserves. You can hunt some and fish but your neighbour –your rival–is doing the same thing and the resources are scarce.

Whereas in the tropic there is always something growing and flourishing and ready to be harvested. The sea never freezes, the fish are plentiful and dumb and can be caught with bare hands or a sharp stick. Your neighbour is doing the same thing but as the resources are plentiful you smile and share and enjoy his company.

Now as the times have changed and there are clocks and calendars and working hours and lunch breaks and deadlines this attitude does not fare very well. As the population has explosed and needs to be fed, driven around in automobiles and served soft drinks and satellite TV the quest for efficiency calls for the northern methods and mentality as well. Money wants to hear no ”manana” but ”done”.

So in the North it would be out of the question to have a bank make you wait for opening your account for three weeks. Or to have to go to the agency eight times only because somebody did not know what documents are needed to complete your dossier. You could not dream of having made a transfer three days ago and coming back from the weekend to see that not a penny had moved. You would not also expect the personnel know the details of your personal and professional life or to meet somebody at a party you’ve never met before who knows where you have been and how much you have been asking for.

One has to make choices. I have recovered from much worse than the slight frustrations that the manana might bring about every now and then. Here, the sun will come up tomorrow and the day after and if I do not get things done in my life, maybe my son will or maybe they do not matter at all.

So let’s just have a swim and a lunch.
And a nice day!