Fakame

May is a very special month here in the Kingdom. May is the month dedicated to celebrating the family. The first weekend is dedicated to the children, the second to mothers, and the last to fathers.

Everything kicks off with a bang the first Saturday of the month.  Every Tongan and their mother leave the village, head into Neiafu and shop ‘til they drop. It is tradition that on this weekend, every Tongan child gets a new outfit. Each family brings in clothes to sell the others. Known as ‘fairs’ these aren’t a laughing matter as lookin’ good is the name of the game.

‘Sapate Fanau’ (Children’s Sunday) is the first celebration. At Church…wait, did I tell you this was about church? I just kind of assumed you would know that by now, but just in case, let me repeat…EVERYTHING here is about Church.

Okay, moving on. Morning Church is an occasion to wear white, as all the children are bedecked in Tongan dress to read and lead songs during the service. Hold on to your butts folks…. running time for this service with acted out Bible stories, thank you speeches, crying, AND communion….about 3 ½ hours. Man, it was a doozy. But the kids did a wonderful job and really enjoyed being the ones who lead service.

Lookin' good Tu'anuku!

Next comes the main event, the Sapate Fanau performance. For this year’s festivities, our church prepared several different programs that all in all took another three hours to perform. Who is running this show? None other than our Tongan mother, Tuki.

The hardest working woman in show business, Tuki, with her daughter Ane.

Holy handsome! 

Finally, the performance goes off without a hitch. After this is the traditional tea, where cake, cookies, and bread are served in portions that literally inject the diabetes straight into the bloodstream. While Abby and I are polishing off the last of the cake, and Tuki is giving the thank you speech (still haven’t seen her sit down yet) we are brought out a tub of ice cream as thanks for helping with the show. Which we consume at the 10 o clock hour before sleepy time. It was the happiest and fullest moment of our lives.

My kind of dinner!

Of course we could barely peel ourselves out of bed the next morning and who do we see, leading the 5:30 am Church service, then heading to her job in Neiafu, where she runs a kindergarten? You guessed it, Tuki.

On the next Sunday of Fakame comes Mother’s Day, which we celebrate in Tonga along with the rest of the world. Here is where things get a bit dicey. The good people of our village want us to have a baby. Very badly. Some are convinced we have children back in America but most just go on the full court press for us to have a baby in Tonga. Not gonna happen. But that didn't stop them from bringing us a multitude of traditional Mother's Day cakes and a feast on Sunday. All just to up the ante. Let me repeat Tonga, Not Gonna Happen!

One of the cakes brought to us. 

Our Mother's Day haul. We're still full.

The rest of Mother's Day was great. We made Tuki her favorite dish and when it came time for each family to present a family prayer to the village, we stood with Tuki and Lolohea as part of their family. We are very blessed to have three amazing mothers, Nanners, Lisa and now Tuki!

That is all for now. Have a great week everyone! 

Very sensible choice at the fair, Ine. It works at home and school. Plus, ya know, its a cape. So that's good too.