Summary Part 2

This section starts off with the local creation myth of Tarawa. The spider god Nareau created the island of Tarawa, and he flung grains of Tarawa to the wind to create the other islands. After this brief introduction to mythology, One interesting thing about the mythology Tarawa is that the ocean was present before the gods, which shows just how centered the ocean is in the culture in Tarawa. Troost described the island, noting its landmass, shape and vegetation. Then, he described some research he did involving how the inhabitants of Tarawa got to their island, and how the first I-Kiribati, or white men, arrived.

The next chapter begins with a description of what Sylvia, Troost's wife, did at the island. Her job was to manage programs that work to improve the life of the people of Kiribati. Some of the programs she ran sought to increase sanitation, and reduce vitamin A deficiency. Troost also discussed his goals on while on Tarawa. He planed to write a great literary masterpiece, which he quickly developed writer's block on.

Chapter seven starts off with a detailed description of the Kiribati diet, which contains mostly fish. Kiribati is rich with fish, but this is not necessarily a good thing. Fish is pretty much the only thing that people can eat in Kiribati, making their diet very limited. Troost then describes some fruitless attempts at getting spices, and food other than fish. Troost then went into a description of the different parts of the island, including the lagoon to the south, and the islets to the north. He also talked about the ship that brought supplies to the island, and the frustrations he had with the hording wives. Troost also described the importance of alcohol in Kiribati culture and the devastation caused by a shortage of beer.

The last chapter in the section is all about the importance of a working water system in a society and the problems with a deficient one. Kiribati suffers continual droughts, and there is always a shortage of water. Troost went over his experiences with trying to deal with this problem, including relying on neighbors, and attempting to move five cubic meters from the water tower to his tanks at home.