August in pictures

The bulk of my afternoons was taken up by visiting the construction of the falekomiti - the meeting house for the women's committee. I liked to hang out and help with the cooking, although they only thing they let me do was shell the cocoa beans, which I actually quite enjoyed.

Love the facial expressions in this picture!

All the kids love when you take out a camera, and they all swarm...

Yes, I've been swarmed by year 2 students

Swarmed again by year 1

This is one of the kids of my year 1 teacher. His name
is Masina, Sina for short. He is THE MOST ADORABLE
kid on the face of the planet. Too bad he doesn't swarm
the camera like the rest of them do.

Part 1 of the wedding - the ceremony

Part 2 of the wedding - giving of traditional gifts to the families
and important guests (mostly pastors qualify for that status)

The fine mats - these take months to weave, and they are huge!

Picture out of order - the cocoa beans. They cook them on a piece
of metal over a coconut husk fire - ridiculously hot!

Part 3 - the reception. The cake tiers are given away to
important guests, and one or two big tiers are cut up
so each guest can have a piece at the reception

From left to right: my neighbor, La'uvale, my neighbors' cousin (can't
remember names!) and my year 7 student, Leti



Same neighbor's cousin, neighbor Jane. Family
of the bride and groom are conscripted for work



There were 12 flower girls and 25 bride's maids

Neighbor Alofa

At the dedication for the falekomiti. I got to give one of the traditional
gifts. I think I need more practice. There was lots of ice cream and
dancing.

These are my two favorite little girls in my village (names also
unremembered). They live across the street from each other, and
any time I walk by, they come running from their fales to talk to me.
They speak slowly and enunciate all their words, so I can understand
them perfectly up until they use a word I don't know.