Man has little chance to match the beauty that Nature creates!

Apparently most people in this island have pigs. However, for sanitation purposes, they do not keep the pigs near them. Everybody keeps their pigs on the other side of the runway specially earmarked for pigs. And twice a day, they dutifully go there to feed them and all that.

That is some sensible thinking…

This island really has no open area other than the runway. Not sure if this is going to be a political speech, a religious sermon or plain old island music playing!

He is sprawled on the very runway that planes land and take off from!!

Today, no running. I will walk up and down!!

I have not had one of these days in a long time. The island shuts down on Sundays, so I had nowhere to go and nothing to do. I took the scooter for one lap around the island, and then settled into my chair by the water to read a book. Just like in the morning.

Only this time, instead of coffee, I had red wine.

One of the first problems I had to solve after landing in Tuvalu on Friday afternoon was… Sunday.

Everything shuts down on Sunday. Restaurants are closed. Stores are closed. If you have not planned ahead, food can become a real problem.

That reminded me of an incident from many years ago while I was trekking through Mongolia.

I met an American father and daughter who were traveling on the Trans-Siberian Railway. They had started near the North Korean border, made their way through China and Mongolia, and were headed all the way to St. Petersburg.

The trip had a deeper meaning. They had recently lost his wife, her mother, and this was their way of celebrating her life.

Having already spent a few days in Mongolia, I knew how challenging the local food could be for the American palate. So I asked them, “How are you solving the food problem?”

They shared a very practical trick.

“No matter where you are in this part of the world,” they said, “you can always find hot water. They constantly drink tea here.”

Every train compartment had a large hot water urn for tea. Every station seemed to have boiling water available. Before starting the journey, they had simply filled a backpack with instant noodles.

It was such an elegant solution that I never forgot it.

Standing in Tuvalu decades later, I suddenly remembered that conversation.

I found a five-pack of instant noodles at the Tokotu Beach Convenience Center. My room had an electric kettle for making coffee.

And just like that… Sunday was solved.

Coffee, a book and the boundless blue!