flip-flop flas

When I was last in Port Vila I went for a little walk in the Vila cemetary. I like walking around cemetaries when I am abroad. They are quiet places of history and culture, and invariably you will find things and sights of interest there.

I like the way these two graves are situated next to eachother. Rich and poor lying side by side for ever. Or perhaps not rich and poor, but just families who choose to spend a lot of money on a grave and families who do not. Who is to say?

But the best thing about this picture I find the mysterious newish pair of black-and-blue flip-flops decorating the grave on the right. To what purpose, I wondered? Did some-one forget them after the funeral? Or did the family of the dearly departed not have an opportunity to put them on his feet before the burial? Do they hope he will find them there on Judgement Day so that he can walk into the Kingdom of Heaven rather well shod?

I decided to put this last premise to my colleague Ellon. She listened intently, then pulled a face and said: "Bhf, mi ting hemi flas blong hem nomo!" (Bhf, I think he is just showing off!). 'Flas' is the Bislama word for 'showing off', and is seriously frowned upon in Vanuatu. I guess 'flas' comes from the English word 'flash' or 'flashy' and is a sin quite easily committed: raising your hand at school because you know the answer to the teacher's questions, wearing a little ring with the tiniest little glittering stone, or evidently having a pair of flip-flops on your grave will be considered flas. Modesty rules.

So there went my theory about Kindom Come, but while on the subject Ellon and I continued an interesting chat about cemetaries. She explained that she didn't like the cemetary in her village and had therefore buried her mother- and brother-in-law right next to her house. Her kids usually sat on the graves in the afternoon and chatted with their grand-mother. Other family members are to join them there in the future when their time has come. Again she, a practical woman, pulled a face: "They do take up a lot of room though." Lucky for Ellon's family they own a lot of land. So if it gets too cramped around her house they will just pack up and set up house somewhere else.

Some gravestones in the Port Vila cemetary I found very touching. Like this one, erected by some-one remembering the birth and death of a little girl on the very same morning in 2003...