Local invite

Musings by Shar

Rob enjoyed doing some sailboat racing while in Neiafu, Tonga. On one of the race days, a local girl, Vi, (far right) joined them. Her real job is a crew member on one of the tall ships that do races around the world. The ships also take on paying crew as part of a way to allow people to experience sailing on a tall ship. Vi left home at 16 and was crewing full time for 8 years on Picton Castle based in Nova Scotia—that is until CoVid hit. She has now been home for the last 3 years but plans to return in December to crew on another tall ship, Bark Europa.

As a thank you, she invited the crew she sailed with on race day to accompany her to her local church and then have lunch at her place. I was allowed to tag along. It was quite the experience. The singing in church was amazing. The service was in the local language so we couldn’t understand anything, but it didn’t last long. 

We then were invited to attend the Kava drinking ceremony. Traditionally, it was a time that people (men) would sit around with the King and share this drink. In my experience, the drink tasted a bit like I imagine a watery mud puddle would taste. But they seemed to like it.  One young man wanted to know if we had a daughter he could marry!

 After saying goodbye to the church elders, we had lunch with Vi and her grandmother.

It was their traditional Sunday feast called Uma. They bake the food encased with a leaf in the ground. It takes a long time to cook, so Sundays are a good day to do it—put it in the ground, go to church, come back home, and lunch is ready.