Santo, Vanuatu’s largest island, is home to Primrose “Rose” Siri and her family, and where she runs her namesake restaurant, Rosie’s, in Luganville. Her daughter is head server, and her nieces are cooks in this family establishment that offers catering for local businesses and medical facilities, as well as take-out and in-restaurant dining. A small restaurant with just ten tables, it’s open Monday through Saturday and is busiest at lunchtime.
Primrose is forty-five years old, married—her husband is a local corrections officer—with three daughters ages twenty-six, twenty-two, and nineteen. While she lives on Santo today, she comes from Banks Islands, among the most remote cluster of islands in the chain along its northeastern edge. There, ancient traditions are very much preserved and practiced by locals, including her brother Sandy Sur, who orchestrates presentations of Vanuatu traditions for locals and tourists alike. This includes water music performances, where women stand waist-deep in water wearing dresses made of palm leaves and crowned with fuchsia flower garlands, while producing trance-inducing rhythms by slapping the water with their hands, singing soulful chants that bounce up from the percussive splashing.
