Aso Sa Tina: Mother's Sunday

The mother’s and grandmother’s of Vaipu’a spent weeks rehearsing for the choreographed dances they performed on Mother’s Sunday. Over 50 women, ages 25 to 70, lined the church in matching white puletasis, their best hair clips and bright pink lip stick to dance for the congregation to the beat of a techno “Mama Mia”. After the dances, the women dressed in colorful robes and sequined headpieces to depict a story from 1 Kings 21. A story where Jezebel, Queen of Israel at the time, comforts her husband King Ahab about not being able to procure a sweet vineyard from a dude name Naboth and plots to have Naboth stoned because of it. Jezebel says “Why are you so sullen? Why won’t you eat? and King Ahab says “Because I said to Naboth the Jezreelite, ‘Sell my your vineyard…but he said ‘I will not give you my vineyard’”. Jezebel chastises him “Is this how you act as king over Israel? Get up and eat! Cheer up. I’ll get you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite!” After the thrilling reenactment of the stoning of Naboth (played by one of my favorite neighbor ladies, who cured my ear infection with a banana leaf massage), the mothers lined the church again and all their children and grandchildren (Samoan’s on average have 7 children…so you can do the math) came to them to kiss their cheeks and adorn them with lolly necklaces. The older and more respected the women, the more lollies they got. So the oldest lady there and the pastor’s wife were up to their chins in stacked candy necklaces. I even got some.