Going Bananas!

About three weeks ago, Xav and I were confronted with the same question that Adam and Eve were probably struggling with like a gazillion years ago – should I take the forbidden fruit that tempts me oh so much? In Adam’s case, it was an apple. In ours, they were bananas :D

For weeks now, we’ve been eyeing a banana tree heavy with fruit just off the side of our house – the side that plummets into neverending greenery to what I can only imagine as the bottom of the mountain on which we were sitting on. There could well have been some houses scattered on the leveled parts of the mountain. We don’t know – we can’t see past the trees!

The banana tree in question was just at the tip of the steeped land which made it dangerous for us to attempt cutting the fruit off. Every time we thought about it, we decided against taking the fruit. Moreover we were not certain if the land on which the tree grew belonged to someone who would undoubtedly be incensed at seeing his banana tree de-fruited. So we left it at that.

But, temptation was there everyday, as the side door from our bathroom opens into a view of this tree. One fine evening, we could resist no longer and succumbed to this unbelievable enticement. We read up on banana trees on the internet and learned that when we cut off the fruit, the tree dies and another grows just beside it. Each tree bears fruit only once.

Excited at the thought of having delicious bananas, Xav purchased two machetes to do the job. Unfortunately he couldn’t find work boots, which are a necessary part of the operation, as we would be climbing down through knee-deep growth. In addition, Tahiti is well-known for its cent-pieds, or centipedes (cent is for 100, pieds is for feet = 100 feet! Cool eh?). Xav had already spotted one on this side of the house and we didn’t want to take the risk of getting bitten by these creatures. So we postponed it – again!

Not for long though! :D

Xav and I just put on our running shoes and he ventured down the side of the mountain, machete in one hand while the other held out at his side to achieve balance. The first attempt failed miserably, since it was too slippery and Xav was losing balance. Plus the thought of stepping into a dense growth of creepers is a bit unnerving. All sorts of thoughts run through our mind – are there centipedes, bugs, cockroaches (incidentally, we usually spot cockroaches from this side of the house too). Nevertheless, we were undeterred.

I believed it could be done – we just needed strategy. We grabbed a pail, tied a strong thin rope to it and anchored the end of the rope to the sturdy pole that held our fence. Then we lowered the pail until it reached the tree. This pail would later be used to place the bananas inside so that we could easily pull it up. Xav again treaded carefully down the steep incline, achieving his balance by holding on to the rope. In one hand was the machete which he used to chop through the thick undergrowth, making a small path for himself.

When he reached the tree, he made strong footholds before releasing his hold on the rope. Then, he quickly cut the fruit off – he had spied an army of black ants on another branch and didn’t want to risk having them creeping all over him. He placed the cut bananas in the pail and I pulled the pail up, with him holding on to the rope to climb his way up.

We were thrilled that we successfully managed to attain the bananas without any major problems. We needed to hang the bananas up, according to what we read on the internet. So we roped them up onto an unused curtain rail. The curtain rails here are made of wood, so they are solid enough to hold the weight of the bananas.

Two weeks later, the bananas were still green before we realized that we should have actually hung the bananas upside down! We immediately changed its position, and the next two days saw some change in colour – from green to less green and even light yellow – and the strong aroma of ripening bananas were finally present in the house.

Alas it was still too late to save the bananas! They had already begun spoiling during the two weeks that they hung the wrong way, and when we switched the position, it just speeded up the spoiling process. So, we didn’t manage to taste the forbidden fruit :( Is it possible that its ‘illegal’ attainment branded it sinful to eat, and therefore we have been denied this possibly delectable treat?

Who knows? We’ll find out soon enough – there is a second banana tree already bearing fruit ;D