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The Rai and Mana series (2014) – Polynesian culture
I love this comic duo from Bora Bora, Rai (Yves Edouard Malakai) and Mana (Manuel Marii Dany). They were inspired by their job in the hotel business to make these series of sketches of their daily life. We can thus see the essential of what it is necessary to know of the Polynesian culture. They make me laugh a lot and it’s a pleasure to hear Tahitian words. The secret of their success: it’s the desire to make people who are not in good spirits laugh! And I think they are good at it because there is this good-natured simplicity that I find nowhere else but in my fenua 🙂…
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Keeping a smile
People tell me that I have a very nice smile! It’s a compliment that means a lot to me, because smiling is something important to me. The Tahitian smile I have always felt “less” than others. I was a tomboy, childish, naive and reserved; I lacked a lot of self-confidence. The smile was a precious help for me to compensate for my silence and to hide my uneasiness. It allowed me to communicate when I didn’t dare to speak. I grew up in Tahiti, and Tahitians are so cheerful and spontaneous. There, everyone is on first-name terms. Warm, welcoming and smiling, they live intensely in the moment! Tahitians have a…
