Dear Folks:
A quiet Sunday night after a rather full day and something different to write about this time.
A group of entertainers, hula dancers, singers and guitar players came out and gave us some native jive. The dancers were pretty good and really made their hips sway but not like the commercialized artists in side shows. I took several shots of the dancers with my camera. Near the end the girls grabbed a few soldiers and they all hula’d. Very funny. After this we had a dinner similar to the custom on the islands. The main course was a hog cooked in hot rocks and covered with banana leaves and burlap and dirt. After cooking for four hours it was dug out. Very delicious and cooked to the bone. The bill of fare was very unusual and probably one that I’ll remember a long time. Besides the hog there was octopus tentacles, poi, chicken, sweet potatoes, a gelatin like mass of coconut and an unidentified something that looked like spinach. The octopus cuts like rubber and I found them disagreeable. Poi is a food that looks, and as far as I’m concerned, tastes like library paste. It is considered a treat among islanders. The octopus was a faded red and had nabs like several chicken cords. The table was covered with red and green flowers and it wasn’t hard for me to imagine a truly native affair. It was something different and an experience although I didn’t really get filled up over the chow. A couple of boys were making hats from palm stems so I borrowed one long enough to pose for a picture.
All we hear on the radio lately is Christmas music and it really sounds good. A real Christmas seems like a long time ago.
I guess this is all for another time. I think of you all the time.
Love,
