Christmas!

My Hubby and I had nothing planned for this christmas. We were both so depressed about not being able to spend it at home, neither of us could bother planning anything. So the friday before xmas we decide, at the very last minute, to go on a road trip! Ultimately Monday would be spent with the FamBams ( Hubbys' cousins in auckland) but we would spend a night in Rotorua on the way up and a night in Tauraga on the way down. So that was Fabulosoooo! Beats staying at home kuikui gifo-ing!!

Interesting bits re: the road trip?

1) It took us freaken 10 hours to get to Rotorua becooooossss---- we left Wellington at 11am, and hit 3 jams in 3 different little towns who were having their midday christmas parade...yup...3hours just to get outa wairarapa....bugger. So of course we arrive in Roto-vegas too late to do anything, basically eat , shower, sleep, wake up the next day, eat again, and head off for Auckland... (what a waste!)

2) We arrive in Auckland, and the room we are given ( with the fams) has a green skirt and ie faikaga waiting for us on the bed.?? hmm...whaa?? we quickly find out, the old lady of the fams had them sewn for us in the last few hours when she heard we were coming. The family were peforming an item at the church xmas service and we had been made honorary members!!hoh! thus poi and I's outfits...... (like OMG!!)

3) So.....within an hour I find myself on a stage at a church I have never been to, shoved to the front of the choir coz I am short (damned them genes! :) ) singing songs I have never heard of before, trying to act as if it were the 100th time I had done it!LOL! ( all that was going through my head at the time was my year 6 singing teacher's voice (ms solomona) going "fa'amaga le guku as if o gae ofi ai le fuamoa when you are singing!!"..so awkwardly found myself doing just that !LOL!)

4) The service was 3.5hours..yes, and I was there for the entire thing!!! But as much as it dragged on far too long, it was entertaining. My favourite performance was this one family, See all the performances were just the different families in the church doing a few christmas carols...and from the way the night was going, it was all about whos family had more people on the stage and the loudest choir with the most number of instruments being played at any one time!.

So this one family gets up, and there is only a mere hand ful of people ( compared to everyone else who had no less then 20 persons up there) the old man comes to the front, and starts a little speech which goes ( in samoan of course) Firstly, I would like to apologise that all you see up here are women, and me. ( looking at his feet and shaking his head) For the last 10 years I have been trying to get my sons to come to church, but they insist they only need to send their wives..and their sins will be forgiven ( nodding his head still) then I also apologise that their are still others missing. Only this morning I have been informed that my youngest daughter, has a boyfriend, and they have eloped to Australia to be married ( shaking his head still ) of course no one was invited.

Then he goes on about not having time to practice the songs he wants and not having a pianist. They start singing, and only a quater into the song -half of them sorta die off, as if they dont know the words and the old man looks like his face is going to fall...and then some people in the back start cheering them on, and singing along with them, and before you know it, the whole church is humming along with them, the old man and his choirs' faces all had smiles (mines tears!!LOL) and it was just the most beautiful thing ever. I think what made it great was the fact that it was acapella, no instruments, no fancy radio in the background, just pure singing...and it was lovely.!

anyways that was that. The rest of christmas was what you'd expect...eating heaps of BBQ and kalo, drinking, catching up with people I havent seen in ages, calling my fams overseas to wishem a merry christmas and ask what they're all having for lunch!! Ok guys, hope you all had a festive one too !! ciao later and look foward to reading all your xmas blogs!