Happy Birthday King Tupou VI

Well, we sure did the King's birthday up right. Here are pics from that event. ( Sorry for the double blog, but too many pics to upload in one!)

Ryan's outfit for the performance......

Abby's outfit for the performance. Note to reader: I had a super cute athletic outfit all prepared, but then the moms came over and told me they would dress me for the performance. When in Tonga right?

The kids put their stockings on during the bus ride to town. Most took them off right up until the performance as they did not like having to wear them. Bear feet rock!

The King and Queen's viewing platform.

The performance field.

The King's flag flies!

Our favorite Tongan pride outfit of the day. This is Samu, one of the Ministry of Education officials.

Youth helping prepare the King's gifts.

These are just some of the beautiful, handmade gifts the people prepared for the King.

I am with Mele, one of my favorite moms and some of our neighbor kids. We had a righteous breakfast of homemade chocolate cake with homemade frosting. Moms went all out to spoil the kids.... and us!

Tu'anuku gets the call to come on the field......

and we pose to show our styling outfits.

We take our position as the top of the cross on the flag.

And wait to begin.

Still waiting to begin. All of us teachers tried to keep kids quiet and in their line. 45 minutes later, we gave up, relaxed together and let them have sock and arm pom pom fights. 

The high schools (called colleges in Tonga) parade in. They looked awesome!

The colleges performed more traditional Tongan dances for the King. They lined up on the field one behind the other so when one was finished, the next immediately took the field.

We all had so much fun eating cake, ice cream, watermelon and suckers while enjoying the beautiful entertainment. Ine is pretty content.

And after everyone left and Tu'anuku was still waiting for the bus to come get them, there was time for hill rolling

balloon popping

and tree climbing. All in all, a pretty spectacular birthday party.

P.S.- The King's license plate is better than your license plate!

Welcome to the Big Show

Well folks, the big Wesleyan conference and King's Birthday celebration has come and gone. Ryan and I have not been this worn out in two years!

First up was the Wesleyan conference. Preparations for this event have been months in the making. We have talked about little else with our friends and family in the village. For the first time, Ry and I were invited behind the scenes of feast preparation. We helped Tuki and Lolohea prepare their ten tables. We were astounded when we first arrived at their house the morning of the feast they were serving at. Every room in the house was a different food station. Ry and I joined some of the other ladies at the salad station. I put food in a container, and Ryan had to rubber band and pack them into boxes. Our station was incredibly ineffective as every 5 minutes Ryan and I were brought something to eat and told "Tangutu 'o kai."  (Sit and eat.) Needless to say, at the end, everyone had to come finish our boxes for us, but we did get the best ota ika (raw fish in coconut milk...so good!) of our lives out of it!

We then went to town and sat at the Wesleyan compound waiting for the lunch feast to finish so we could set up for the dinner feast. Once we got the call, it was crazy!  All teams moved into position and tables were set up in record time. It was such a neat experience. Our village had to prepare 50 tables. To make this happen, everyone in our village chipped in. Mormon families, Church of Tonga and Catholic families made tables to help share the load. Pretty cool.

Ry and I also went to watch our choir perform but were then made to try to sing. They told us just to try to mimic the sound of the person next to us to try to make the choir sound stronger. That was terrifying and awesome all at the same time! 7 hours later, we were sitting with the choir eating outside from the food baskets sent back with us at 1:00 a.m. It was funny watching my husband just tear chicken apart and eat his body weight in root crop at such an early hour. We finally collapsed into bed at 2:00 a.m. after fending off women continuing to bring us food.

Sunday we attended the big church service in town. The Queen Mother, the Crown Prince, and the Princess were all in attendance. We dressed up in our Tongan finest and enjoyed this service.  A tech guy even came by with headphones that translated the sermon from Tongan to English. Never had that option before!  After church, we again feasted with our families.

Here are some pics from the conference:

Well done cheese balls and Pepsi products. Well done.

Fine and I at the Tu'anuku feast.

Tuki and Lolohea's tables at the feast.

Ryan and Viliami. Looking good boys!

Tuki was happy with how their tables turned out.

Lolohea takes a moment.

Mele, Ane and I messing around after finishing prepping tables.

All the tables our village prepared.

Siua, Heamasi, and Lolohea with kava that will be presented to the King.

The King actually requested kutu mats from the women in our village. Kutu is a special plant that only grows near the lake. Thus, it is the signature mat of our village. Here, the women are preparing to present their gifts.

It was so fun to meet Tuki and Lolohea's extended family. This is Lolohea's niece from Tongatapu. We had a great time sitting together. Here we are with all our post feast booty!

My singing partner, Alema. She had a solo that I was to accompany her on. Let's just say I whisper sang as she was so good!

The choir waiting for the chair to show up and start the program.

Ane and Papani. Papani is the man who rings the church bell every morning at 4:30 a.m.

Ry and Lopini disappeared. I then saw them laughing in the back of the church taking pictures of each other. Boys!

Lopini

My favorite centerpieces. Tongans are so creative!

Tynesha and I in our Sunday best preparing to feast.

The Royal Kloberdanz's

Ryan has now personally met two members of the Royal family. Last year he had the opportunity to meet King Tupou VI (which we have all heard about many times over) and this last week we had the opportunity to meet the Crown Prince! 

One of our neighbor women came over early Sunday morning to remind us to look good for church and remember to bring our camera because the Crown Prince was coming to church. It was such a cool experience having him come to our tiny church in our tiny village!  Our congregation put on a wonderful service for him. Many members from other churches came to sing with the choir to give them a bit of added “oomph.” The choir dressed all in white and looked spectacular. Their singing was beautiful. Like opera singing, tears in your eyes beautiful. Even the Crown Prince seemed impressed!

Lolohea, Tuki’s husband and our Tongan father, delivered a powerful sermon and lead the service with gusto fit for royalty.If you recall, he was the one who arranged for Ryan to meet the King last year. The whole service was flawless. And the funniest part? 45 minutes folks. 45 minutes!!!!!!

After the Crown Prince left, everyone was giddy with excitement. They talked about the service, made us reassure them over and over the singing really was incredible, and then lined up for photo ops. We asked a few women jokingly why the service was so fast. They told me “Oh Epi, the Crown Prince can’t sit for that long. Us, we sit for 2 to 3 hours, no problem. But the Crown Prince, less than an hour.” Go figure. I am pretty much going to put this one in the books as best day of church ever.

The Crown Prince

Lolohea giving his sermon with the Crown Prince standing and a member of the nobility (far left) watching on.

Lolohea greets the Crown Prince like an old friend.

Here I am with some of the ladies, almost completely blocking out Tuki!

We had our last rehearsal for the King’s birthday. We have had a lot of questions about what this event is, so let me try to shed some light.  The current King Tupou VI’s birthday is actually in September, but he chooses to celebrate his birthday on the 4th of July to honor his father,  King Tupou IV (King Tupou V was his brother and had no children.) The King’s birthday is a national holiday for all Tongans, but the real party happens wherever the King is. This year, the King has decided to grace our little island of Vava'u for his big day. Some of you have asked us if this holiday is like Christmas. Not really. It really is like the 4th of July. The day will consist of a variety of performances. Traditional Tongan dancing and singing, a parade, and then all the elementary students on the island will “draw” the Tongan flag with their bodies. After they make the flag, we will perform a zumba number and sing happy birthday to the King.Then, his birthday presents will be presented After the performances, there will be feasting, a carnival, and a beauty pageant to select Ms. Heilala (named by the vanilla company that sponsors it). Everyone wears red to show pride in their country and support for the King. Tuki told us there will also be a “cocktail party” after the pageant, but told us this is mostly for the white people on the island, and not many Tongans will go to that. 

So, that will be our 4th this year. It will be a really special celebration. We will try to get as many pictures of the event as we can to share with you all!

Not much else is new here. With temperatures dropping to a mid boggling low of 67, Ryan and I have resurrected our flannel shirts and sweats from the creepy box under the bed. It is shocking how cold it feels to us right now. Let’s just say taking an ice cold bucket bath has come to be the part of the day I dread. I dread this more than I dread a long church service…. and that’s saying something. 

Have a great weekend everyone and enjoy that summer weather!!!

 I just had to include this picture. Lata, the pastor’s wife, made this mat below BY HERSELF! She worked on it every day for a month to finish it in time for the conference. She came to get me early one morning to ask me to take a picture of it before she took it in to give to the church. I could not believe how beautiful it was! I think it is the most beautiful mat I have seen woven here in our village to date. The patterns are grass dyed a darker color, then woven in these intricate patterns. They are not painted on. Can you imagine having the patience to do that????