Tahiti on My Mind

It looked like our dream vacation to Tahiti was ruined. Our meals were not included in the tour as they were supposed to have been, and we realized that this could add hundreds of dollars to the price of our trip. I wasn't sure if the rest of our tour was booked correctly, and there was no telling what other surprises lay in store for us. I got to the hotel lobby phone and dialed our travel agent in California to straighten things out but the office was closed, several time zones removed from this warm Tahitian afternoon. I was devastated. Looking behind the counter I saw a phone directory, a rare item in Tahiti, and I thumbed through it, and sure enough there was a listing for "Alcooliques Anonymes." I wrote down the number and retreated to our room, restless, irritable, and discontent. I dialed the number and though my French was poor and the man who answered spoke poor English, I learned that the weekly meeting in Faaa, which was on the outskirts of Papeete, was that night. We negotiated to meet outside our hotel at seven. He said that there might even be a group member at the meeting who spoke English and I immediately felt better about life. As we stood in the dark outside our hotel, my wife asked if it was wise to get into a car in a strange country in the dark of night with a strange man we could barely speak to. I assured her that it would be fine, all the while wondering if it was wise to get into a car in a strange country in the dark of night with a strange man I could barely speak to. No matter, I was determined to get to a meeting. After all, I had a major disaster to deal with!