Diving
Being ill (coughs heartrendingly) does at least give me the chance to catch up on some long-recorded television and I've just been watching freediving champion Tanya Streeter diving with the fishermen of a remote Indonesian tribe who live in houses on wooden supports above the water. They dive every day into the clear, warm water and live entirely by fishing.
They dive deeply without any kind of aids - no aqualungs, masks, goggles, wetsuits or flippers. It was fantastic to watch even the children diving down to a depth of more than twelve metres without any problem.
I was watching it thinking hey, gi's a job, I could do that. Well, a bit, anyway - I've always been able to hold my breath for a long time and I've always been rather good at swimming underwater. I've always rather put it down to Russian peasant ancestry = broad back = good lung capacity.
A theory which I fear is entirely flawed, as Tanya Streeter is about an inch wide and twelve feet long, damn her, and this island tribe were all built amongst much the same lines.
But still, I thought, I'd rather be one of these than, say, a Bedouin, because living next to the water - especially such warm, blue water - and swimming every day is something that really appeals to me.
Aaah but - - then I thought a bit about what I'd seen. All the people who were freediving with Tanya Streeter were of one kind - the male kind.
And when she said "I was diving with the children" what she actually meant was "I was diving with the boys".
In fact, we didn't see one female person in the water in the whole programme apart from Tanya. And this is clearly not because men are better divers, because look, there's Tanya, swimming gracefully deep, deep in the water.
So where were all the women? At home, making the tea, looking after the children - and, of course, in that society, it makes perfect sense - this isn't a "Bring Women's Lib to Indonesian Tribes" piece. Everyone has a clearly-defined role and the men are the hunters, even though they're hunting under the sea.
Interesting, though, that Tanya never thought to mention it. Yes, as an honoured outsider, she had a great time diving with the fishermen: but if she was actually a member of the tribe, she wouldn't be diving at all.
They dive deeply without any kind of aids - no aqualungs, masks, goggles, wetsuits or flippers. It was fantastic to watch even the children diving down to a depth of more than twelve metres without any problem.
I was watching it thinking hey, gi's a job, I could do that. Well, a bit, anyway - I've always been able to hold my breath for a long time and I've always been rather good at swimming underwater. I've always rather put it down to Russian peasant ancestry = broad back = good lung capacity.
A theory which I fear is entirely flawed, as Tanya Streeter is about an inch wide and twelve feet long, damn her, and this island tribe were all built amongst much the same lines.
But still, I thought, I'd rather be one of these than, say, a Bedouin, because living next to the water - especially such warm, blue water - and swimming every day is something that really appeals to me.
Aaah but - - then I thought a bit about what I'd seen. All the people who were freediving with Tanya Streeter were of one kind - the male kind.
And when she said "I was diving with the children" what she actually meant was "I was diving with the boys".
In fact, we didn't see one female person in the water in the whole programme apart from Tanya. And this is clearly not because men are better divers, because look, there's Tanya, swimming gracefully deep, deep in the water.
So where were all the women? At home, making the tea, looking after the children - and, of course, in that society, it makes perfect sense - this isn't a "Bring Women's Lib to Indonesian Tribes" piece. Everyone has a clearly-defined role and the men are the hunters, even though they're hunting under the sea.
Interesting, though, that Tanya never thought to mention it. Yes, as an honoured outsider, she had a great time diving with the fishermen: but if she was actually a member of the tribe, she wouldn't be diving at all.
posted by Daphne at 10:31 am
3 Comments:
you should watch The Big Blue by Luc Besson
here on Amazon
Yes, John, I think you're right - I should and I will.
The Big Blue is in my top three favourite films. The music by Eric Serra is gorgeous. The character Enzo played by Jean Reno was based on Tanya Streeter's diving instructor and former world champion Enzo Ferrari.
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