Day 3, August 9, 2002 - Friday

After our great time surfing, yesterday, we thought we'd get some more practice this morning. We also brought a camera in hopes to capture our grace and skill on film. Well, without a guide to push us off in to the waves, we didn't do quite as well as we would have liked. This time, each of us probably stood up once on the board, but that's it. Vienna did get up a few times. She's better than us old folks. We were again exhausted and not quite as enchanted with the whole surfing thing as we were yesterday, and I got a cut on my foot that I will be nursing for days. But, we vowed not to give up and once we go to Kauai, we'll give it another try.

After breakfast and a bit of rest, we were off to the Polynesian Cultural Center. Along the way, we passed signs that remind us of the complicated relationship between islanders, natives, and mainlanders. The sign seemed appropriate given the strange balance struck by the PCC between tourist tackiness and authentic education. I loved it, though. And, I'm not just saying that because it's run by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, a church near and dear to my heart. The center sits on 45 acres of land and is set up as seven villages, each representing a different island or group from the South Pacific; Hawaii, Fiji, Samoa, New Zealand, Tahiti, The Marquesas and Tonga.

Each village highlights the dance and music of that nation and teaches many aspects of Polynesian culture. You learn that there are at least three different kinds of Poi and one isn't edible. You learn the many uses of bamboo in Fiji, the history of hula in Hawaii, and how originally religious or warrior dances have become mainly for entertainment and celebration. It was fascinating. I love to learn stuff like this. We also got to take a canoe ride on a river that runs along the villages and saw a water pageant with each nation dancing on a flatbed canoe. Our package came with a buffet dinner but for a little more you could attend a luau. The day was capped off with a spectacular show featuring dances from six of the island nations. The show included a Tahitian wedding, many varieties of hula dancing and even fire dancing. It was all very colorful and educational. What was weird is that even though the show was so awesome, Vienna still fell asleep towards the end. We are wearing her out!

 

 

Writing by Jenny Wood ~ Web Design by Andy Wood