Monday, 13 March 2023 // London, Kiritimati - LINNIX
8:20pm
London, Kiritimati
Sitting at the LINNIX [Line & Phoenix Islands governmental] offices (for internet connection, sitting at my “office,” on a bench outside the IT office) in the evening, 8:20 PM to be precise, I can hear the heavy surf on the leeward side of the island. The last three days have been huge surges, with 15 foot waves, coming all the way from Hawaii and beyond.
wiki: The Ministry for Line and Phoenix Islands Development (MLPID, also known by the portmanteau Linnix; Gilbertese: Botaki ibukin karikirakeaia aaba n te Aono Raina ao Rawaki) is a government ministry of Kiribati, headquartered in London, Kiritimati. It focuses on the development of the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands. The ministry was founded after the 1978 Gilbertese Chief Minister election by Ieremia Tabai.
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Heavy surf, from Honolulu and beyond. From Point, London.
LONDON CALLING! Does this London crosswalk look familiar? It should, as the Beatles used this very crosswalk on the cover of ABBEY ROAD. The LINNIX offices are to the left of the yellow/black pole. I have no idea why the pole is there.
Having been here for close to four weeks, it’s only upon taking this photo that I notice fish shapes outlined with lights above the awning. I’ve never seen them lit. Under the awning will be cars, trucks (“A GIFT FROM THE PEOPLE OF JAPAN” on some of them), motorbikes, and the occasional woman selling food, around lunchtime. The LINNIX building houses about a dozen or so administrative office for all of the Line and Phoenix Islands, each of which have eight islands, separated by a LOT of water. Two thousand miles. The distance between Boston and ?. Or for those who favor OG Colonial-centric distances, about 130 miles shy of the OG London to Cairo. Regardless of scenario, imagine only 16 small islands in all that distance.
The LINNIX offices have become my office, as I have no internet connection anywhere. My first stop is to the IT office, gain their link/password. The bench outside their office becomes my office, most often before they open, or late at night. Until I realize I can get a blast of air-conditioning, if sitting outside the Tourism office, using their link/password. They have a small, sliding plexiglass window, to communicate. Tuiti Biribo, the research and statistics guy, hips me to the sliding window. Which opens even when the office is closed. Only drawback: mosquitos in the alcove where the bench is.