We changed clothes and rested a little a the house before heading to the Polynesian Cultural Center in Laie. I knew the church had built the PCC, but I didn’t realize what a big deal it had become. I think it is the foremost paid attraction in Oahu. We went to the IMAX theatre first, since I was still a bit tired and thought I could rest in there. We enjoyed the movie about the coral reefs. It finished just in time to watch the canoe parade. This was amazing to me. I don’t know how they can dance while on moving boats. It was a little hot and crowded, though.
It was hard to decide where to go next, but somehow we settled on the cultural presentation in Aotearoa
(New Zealand). This was our best adventure of the day. While we were waiting for the presentation to start, a girl in costume approached us to be part of the presentation. When I realized that I would mainly be Barry that had the tough job, I readily agreed that we should participate. Barry got to be the chief of all of the tourists and I, of course, was his wife. The soldiers first greeted us from far away with what would have been a terrifying charge with a spear, if we hadn’t known better. Then the warrior dropped the peace stick. Barry had to go and pick it up to symbolize that we were there for peace and not to murder the Maoris in their sleep. The chief’s wife then sang to us (I would have had to sing back if I knew the song, but our escort took care of that for us). We were invited into the chief’s house along with all of the tourists. Here Barry was introduced as chief Barry from the beautiful island of Arizona. He then had to come and “breathe the essence” (I think that is how they said it) of the chief of the Maoris.
Then he got to come and do the same thing with me, and 
then everyone had to do it with someone. You can see Barry doing this in the pictures. You touch noses and foreheads, close your eyes, and take deep breaths. Some of our fellow tourists had fun calling Barry “chief” as we ran into them through out the day. 
After the presentation we had to get tattoos. I found it fun to get tattoos at a church sponsored facility.We didn’t get to see all of the other villages, but enjoyed what we saw. The Tongan drum show was a lot of fun. (If only Barry had gotten to participate in that one as well.) We learned Tahitian weaving out of long blades of grass. We made fishes. Mine was pretty cute, but I think I left it at Jared and Suzy’s place. We stopped by the “Hawaiian mission house to see about Ukeleles and ended up buying a basic book of songs and some strings to replace the ones on the Ukelele I inherited from my Grandparents.
Before long, it was time for the luau. We were greeted with more Leis. They had the Royal Hawaiian court come and did the traditional removing of the pig from the pit. The food was pretty good with the opportunity to try some of the traditional dishes that mainlanders don’t always like, for example poi, and poke.
(Barry and I take different approaches to drinking from a pineapple).
The night show was pretty spectacular. We were pretty exhausted by this point, and Barry thought maybe we should head home at intermission, but that would have been a big mistake, because all of the Samoan fire dancing was in the second half and it was pretty incredible. How they don’t all end up seriously burned each night is a mystery to me. I am really impressed with all of the talented young people at the PCC. They say that most are students at BYU Hawaii. But their knowledge of the polynesian culture, dances, etc., is quite impressive.
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