Sunday Best

08* 52.8' South
140* 02.8' West
Controller Bay, Nuku Hiva, Marquesas, French Polynesia
May 16, 2010

We, along the Totem family and the whole town of Taipivai, donned our Sunday best for church. The priest came up to us before the service began and found where we were from and then invited us to sit in the second row. The church had stone walls about three high and then a roof that was lined with woven mats. There is about a four foot open area on the side walls between the top of the wall and the overhang of t   he roof. This allows the air to flow through across the building. There were incredible cravings everywhere. pulpit was a really neat mix of Catholic and Marquesan symbolism.
There was alot of singing throughout the service, some of it accompanied by guitar, some a-cappella, some some solo, some the whole congregation. I was able to discreetly record a couple of clips with my camera. During the service, which was all in Marquesan, we recognized the priest introducing us "de Washington" and the song that repeated "hallelujah". There was also another call and response part of the service that at the very least was sung to the tune of "Michael Row Your Boat Ashore". The people were very welcoming and several of the older folks came up to us all after the service to shake our hands.
Brad and I had ventured into town the previous day and had been helped out by the woman who was running the store. We found her and the three kids we had met and befriended. We had brought an extra set of "Uno" cards to teach the kids how to play. One of the older kids already knew how to play a little and had a few English words. We had about seven kids playing. We left the deck of cards with the kids and they immediately started playing another round!

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