March 15

Ward Conference is this Sunday and so as is custom here in Fiji our ward had a cultural night tonight.  It began with a dinner in the courtyard at the church. It is always a served dinner which we eat out of our laps while sitting on the benches in the courtyard.  If there are more people than benches we may eat in the cultural hall.

We were served the ever present chicken curry and rice along with a shepard's pie casserole, and bele which is like our spinach.  The shepard's pie was really good as was the bele.

The cultural part of the night were acts--called items in Fiji--done by each organization of the ward.  Mostly it is dances from Fiji, Samoa, Tonga, Kiribati, etc.  The senior missionaries were asked to do an item that was typical American.  Whoa!!!  No one was willing to dance and what dance would we do.  We tried to get President Klinger to play his teeth which we had been told was really good, but he refused.  I am sure that it was wise of him.  So we decided to sing, upside down.  You have seen it.  One lies on the stage, covers ones head from the nose up, paints or glues eyes on one's chin and then hangs one's head over the edge of the stage and sings upside down.  It is really a cute thing, however, I realized as I watched the other seniors practice that at our ages our necks do not bend backwards enough for the head to really hang down.  Not so good.  We did it anyway.  Ward members were nice enough to laugh at our participation which was all that mattered.

The Relief Society sisters had practiced a Samoa dance and had sulu jaba's (chamba) made out of matching blue fabric.  They looked so nice.  Blue is Samoa's color I take it.  They had practiced while I was teaching, so I did not buy the material or have a dress made.  When Sister Jackson found out, she hung her new jaba on our office door Friday morning.  She has another blue jaba and was willing to let wear it instead.  Nice.  However I didn't want to lie on the stage floor in her new dress, so I am saving it for tomorrow when I direct the sister's choir for Sacrament Meeting.

The cutest dance was done by the primary.  They did a dance from Kiribati.  At the end each child was given a small sack of candy and were supposed to throw the candy into the audience.  Most did.  It was cute, however, to see one little boy who watched all the other children throw candy.  He walked around watching and then when everyone else's candy was thrown, he just walked out with his full bag.  Too cute.

After there was a dance, but we were ready for peace, and our beds.