Rano Raraku

Today, i started the day by a quick trip to the only bank on the island. The only ATM only accepts MasterCard so you have to go in the bank and show your passport to get your money. You can't get more than 200000 Pesos, which is 370$, i suppose they are afraid someone might try to buy the whole island.



Today's visit was more about moais over time, the way they were erected and how they were moved from the stone-pit to their slab. The slabs were the moais are placed evolve with each passing generation, the pascuans will use the old moais to increase the size and height of the slab before the arrival of the brand new moais. The slab is also used as a graveyard, the pascuans would put the remains of their deceased in between the rocks. when looking closely at 2 moais one can actually see that no 2 moai look alike, each moai reproduce the physical characteristics of the ancestor it represents. Only when the moai received its eyes that it becomes the one "that talks with the sky", before that it is only stone.



As in many primary culture, the masculine and feminine phallic symbols are often depicted: the moai is in fact the representation of the male genitalia and the neck would be its foreskin. The legend says that young stone cutters didn't know how to make the neck on the moais, they went to see the master so that he would explain to them how to sculpt the moai's neck. While they were staying at his home, they talked about a lot of thing but none of them the reason why they came to see him. Having learned nothing they decided to leave, as they were on the way he shouted at them: "to solve your problem, look between your legs!". The pascuans would wear their hair in a bun, thus the moai is wearing what is called a pukao
- Moai=mo + ai=phallus + action
- Pukau=pu + kau=hole + labia minora



Moai paro is the last moai that was seen standing by the foreigners before the locals decided to put it to the ground. In pascuan history the moai would be put to the ground by a rival tribes, that would be the worst offense that could be done because the moai who is the symbol of one ancestor can't look to the sky anymore hence he can't talk with god anymore. When the foreigners started coming regularly, they brought their fare share of disasters and illness to the island, pascuans decided to put their moai to the ground hoping the ancestors would no longer send them more ills. This moai is 33.1 feet tall and 41.3 feet with its pukao on top.



On Anakena beach, one of the few beach of the island, you can sometime see a pascuan wearing only a cache-sexe climb the coconut tree, throw down some coconuts, open them by crushing them on a stone then offering them to the tourists. I can tell you that my wife liked him very much.