On Sunday, I went to watch the World Cup final at 8 am in a local bar called Le Patio. It was full of about 60 French fans and about 10 Italians (or fans of Italy; it wasn't clear which). There were a few Chileans, putative Australians, and two Americans (myself included--this didn't stop our French companions from drawing tricolors on our faces) to round things out. Because I live in the US, I've never attended a soccer game about which the audience got so excited. The French were shouting almost continuously, cheered every time Zidane took the ball, and stood up every time it looked as though a goal was about to be made.

This was a lot of fun, but things got more entertaining during the penalty kicks. One of the Italian fans requested a box of dry pasta from the waitress and started throwing handfuls of it at all the French seated around him. A Tahitian guy turned up behind me and started shouting continuously in Tahitian, and when Italy scored the winning penalty kick, added triumphantly in French, "It's their fourth World Cup!" As we left, he saw us with the tricolors on our faces and shouted in French, "You lost!"

Afterwards we headed to a barbecue at my friend Jérôme's house, which was a surprisingly nonsomber affaire given that nearly all the guests were French and had watched the game. Jérôme works on a biological control project at the Gump Station here on Moorea, and his French roommate leads catamaran tours. One of the guests was their next-door neighbor named Herman, a mostly Tahitian guy whose great-grandfather was apparently from Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

Later that afternoon four of us ended up snorkeling across to the passage between two motu (Tahitian for "offshore islets") from the beach down the road from Jérôme's house. This was a lot more arduous than I had expected, because we had to cross a channel with a surprisingly strong current that I was afraid I wouldn't be able to traverse. But I made it! Once we made it over to the passage, the current was absent and I was able to snorkel around some beautiful coral reef with all kinds of fish I can't identify. On the way back, we saw a barracuda as long as me in the channel. Later I found out that they do actually follow swimmers on occasion.

It was a fun Sunday, but I was pooped. I think I've had enough joie de vivre to last me for a week!