Maybe I should have been typing the name of this island Mo'orea. Most written material does not spell it this way, but it's pronounced this way. As in moh-o-REE-ah. MOOR-ee-ah, on the other hand, is a place in The Lord of the Rings.
The early part of my day was lazy, as I expected. But I finally caught up on all the extra writing I wanted to do. And I finished the text adventure I started yesterday -- Wishbringer, which is by the same company that made Zork (the awesome Infocom!). It''s one of their easier games and I even played it about 24 years ago (omg, that long?!?) so I'm not too proud of myself for finishing quickly.
This evening was fun, though. I went to one of the Polynesian shows at a place called The Tiki Village. Not to pile on New Zealand, because I already sort of did that yesterday, but this show was a lot better than the one in Rotorua. There wasn't a whole lot of cultural explanation in this show, but it was much more of a dance extravaganza, and being a dancer, I liked that a lot. Also, the dinner was definitely (mostly) local cuisine, and there was a wide variety of it. Are deviled eggs from the South Pacific? Because the deviled eggs were the best ever! So I wonder if it's a local dish.
The ukulele band played polynesian music during dinner -- no Willie Nelson. But the best part about the entertainment during dinner were the demonstrations of how to tie a sarong, one by a woman and one by a man. They must have each tied their sarongs in about 12 different ways. It was strangely captivating. Too bad I won't remember a single one. But I'm not really a sarong-wearing kind of girl anyway, so it's OK.
The performers started the dance show with a quick dance lesson for the ladies and then for the men.
In a reversal from what usually happens when people are asked to get up and dance, I'd say about half the women tried it but every single man tried it. Go men.
The dance performance kind of spoke for itself. Sorry I only have photos and not video. Not that the video would have turned out good under the bad lighting. Here you go:
One thing I saw tonight made me very sad. Maybe it shouldn't have, but it did. There was a couple at the show, I'm guessing in their mid-50s. The woman was in a wheelchair, being pushed around by her husband. I didn't think much of it at first, and assumed her legs didn't work so good. But I noticed during our tour of the arts center that while she was holding her own wine glass, her husband had to put some rings on her fingers for her. Her hand was just limp. Then I noticed she didn't say anything, or seem to have expression to her face. Well, maybe she did, but not obviously so and I didn't want to stare just to see if she could smile or anything. But every time I did happen to glance at her, I didn't see her interacting with anyone around her, no talking or smiling or anything. So then it seemed pretty clear it wasn't just that her legs didn't work, but something about her whole body didn't work.
It made me very sad for her, for obvious reasons, and also for him because it seemed a lonely way to live. Not only does he have to take care of her in so many ways, but I bet it puts a damper on their interactions with other people. Like, did the people at their table talk to them? Or would they not know how to interact with the wife, and therefore refrain from interacting with the husband too? I don't know, as I wasn't at their table. Later, when the show ended, I was waiting in line at the bathroom and the couple came up. The man carried his wife into the men's room, presumably to help her with her business. It all just ... made me sad. And I told myself "hey, they're married and they're in French Polynesia, and she must be well enough to actually appreciate it here, and most people will never visit this place, but she gets to visit" but I didn't really convince myself that they were happy, then I spent the ride home feeling sad for them. :(
The early part of my day was lazy, as I expected. But I finally caught up on all the extra writing I wanted to do. And I finished the text adventure I started yesterday -- Wishbringer, which is by the same company that made Zork (the awesome Infocom!). It''s one of their easier games and I even played it about 24 years ago (omg, that long?!?) so I'm not too proud of myself for finishing quickly.
This evening was fun, though. I went to one of the Polynesian shows at a place called The Tiki Village. Not to pile on New Zealand, because I already sort of did that yesterday, but this show was a lot better than the one in Rotorua. There wasn't a whole lot of cultural explanation in this show, but it was much more of a dance extravaganza, and being a dancer, I liked that a lot. Also, the dinner was definitely (mostly) local cuisine, and there was a wide variety of it. Are deviled eggs from the South Pacific? Because the deviled eggs were the best ever! So I wonder if it's a local dish.
The ukulele band played polynesian music during dinner -- no Willie Nelson. But the best part about the entertainment during dinner were the demonstrations of how to tie a sarong, one by a woman and one by a man. They must have each tied their sarongs in about 12 different ways. It was strangely captivating. Too bad I won't remember a single one. But I'm not really a sarong-wearing kind of girl anyway, so it's OK.
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| "Hula lessons for non-dancers." |
It made me very sad for her, for obvious reasons, and also for him because it seemed a lonely way to live. Not only does he have to take care of her in so many ways, but I bet it puts a damper on their interactions with other people. Like, did the people at their table talk to them? Or would they not know how to interact with the wife, and therefore refrain from interacting with the husband too? I don't know, as I wasn't at their table. Later, when the show ended, I was waiting in line at the bathroom and the couple came up. The man carried his wife into the men's room, presumably to help her with her business. It all just ... made me sad. And I told myself "hey, they're married and they're in French Polynesia, and she must be well enough to actually appreciate it here, and most people will never visit this place, but she gets to visit" but I didn't really convince myself that they were happy, then I spent the ride home feeling sad for them. :(
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