2008 Reunion Day 4

We woke up this morning and started packing up. We took down the tent and loaded everything in the truck. A lot of the kids were gathered at our campsite so I decided to take lots of pictures while Ti Tonga did most of the cleaning. When we were done we went up to Jr and Tina's campsite and ate some breakfast... again, it amazes what Tongans cook while camping! Rosemary made some Topai and so me and Ti Tonga had a bowl or two (who's counting?) And the kids played until it was time to go. We took a different route back so we could see more of the mountains and again I failed to capture how beautiful the canyons were. We went straight to my Mom's house and I swear I slept til like 8pm. Ti Tonga took a nap then headed over to help Mote and his aunts cook. Saturday night was our talent night. Pisila had invited the Samoan side of the family, so there were more people in attendance than normal. Oh my goodness the food was absolutely DELICIOUS! I completely forgot my camera, so I don't have any pictures from Saturday evening grrr! Alisi Tatafu performed an informal kava ceremony (which honestly at first I thought would be totally lame) But turned out to be awesome! They called up the guys to represent different villages and one of the Samoan representatives was included. Ti Tonga got a chance to sit in the circle too- geeze I really wish I had my camera! This was the first (and probably last) actual kava ceremony that I've seen. It was cool to see the process of the ceremony, the meaning behind it, and the reasons they perform the tradition. Most of the talents were dances. The one that was most memorable though would have to be the Fifita boys! Here's a clip of their little performance. Hilarious!



Afterwards we ended with a number from everyone in Salt Lake. I LOVED LOVED LOVED it! Everyone came out in their Tongan attire- including the little ones! And they performed a Ma'ulu'ulu. The lyrics were personally written for our Fangupo family by Sau Lahi, Katea, and Ova (if I'm not mistaken). I hope someone will upload footage so that I can eventually include it on here. It was the perfect number to end the night with. I loved hearing the male and female voices harmonizing as they sang in my native tongue. I loved watching their graceful hands as they told a story of our Fangupo family- it was beautiful!