Last night, Mark and I went to a Luau put on by our ward. It was very impressive. One might think that being a ward activity, the Luau part would be weak...but no, we had some native islanders who put on a great show. It seems there are quite a few islanders in Baytown, pretty much it seems there is only one family- one extended family. They dug pits in the church lot to smoke pigs and had a pig on a spit as well. The cultural hall was about as cultural as I've ever seen one. It was beautifully and extensively decorated, the stage especially. There was a church tour before we got there so I can't fully report on that. Island music was performed before and during dinner (or you could go watch the pig being dug up and prepared for dinner).
I thought the pig was dry and bland but it seems that most others enjoyed it. After the dinner, the show began. I love island dances- especially the warrior dances. I think they are so cool and fun to watch.
All the young men and missionaries then performed the Haka dance-they were way better than the BYU football team- we were very impressed.
The graceful dances by the women and girls are impressive to but I'm a bigger fan of the warrior dances. :) Then for the finale, we adjourned outside for Fiti's fire dance!
It was a great Luau. There we are a lot of people there and it seemed like quite a few non-members. I'm glad we were able to go and participate- and have such cool people in our ward who are willing to share their talents and cultures with us.
