Saturday continued”¦ We arrived at the ferry dock exactly at 1600 (4:00 pm). When the ferry pulled up, hundreds of passengers got off, all wearing clothing of the same material. There were people with them in regular clothing, also. We were trying to figure out what the group was. There was old people and young people, men and women, all sizes, shapes and fitness levels. One of the women in the uniform handed Christi the hat she was wearing and told Christi she could have it. The hat is woven from some sort of plant and was so freshly woven, it was still green. Christi proudly wore it the rest of the day.

We boarded the ferry and saw it is much the same as the ones in Seattle, with car parking below and people seating up above. The ride over was pretty, with nice views of both Tahiti and Moorea.

We had found out from other cruisers that there was a singing and dance competition tonight at 1900. Our plan was to get dinner at the infamous roulette trucks, then walk over to the theater and buy tickets. The roulette trucks are mobile food trucks, which in the US we affectionately call “roach coaches”. Over a dozen trucks congregate in an open area near the ferry terminal. Most of the food choices were Chinese, crepes, pizza, and hamburgers. The trucks park in rows and each puts out a few plastic chairs and tables. It is quite festive looking. It was a few minutes before 18:00 and the trucks were still setting up, none of them serving food yet. We decided to skip dinner at the roulette trucks in favor of getting our tickets to the show sooner.

Next to the roulette trucks was the visitor center. Now we know. Next to the visitor center is the sea wall that parallels the road. For some reason we were unable to see the large building from the park. We retraced our steps through the park, the carnival (much busier on a Saturday night), the merchants and finally to the theater. We got tickets and bought dinner from a street vender. Eric got a ham, cheese and French fry sandwich. Christi got a couple of mystery meat brochettes. The brochettes tasted good and we probably are better off not knowing what the meat was. There was a street vendor selling churros, so of course we got some churros for dessert. This was the first Mexican food item we have seen anywhere. They are real Mexican style churros, greasy, thin and only about 4 or 5 inches long.

After eating, we went in. There were several girls in matching pink gowns that escorted everyone to their seats. The show began with a long introduction in French followed by a short movie clip in several languages, including English. Alas no video or photos allowed. So you get a textual description”¦

This festival celebrating the upcoming holiday of Bastille Day has gone on for 125 years. We were surprised to know the festival had gone on for so many years. We had been told by both Richard Dean and Aaron that the missionaries did everything they could to kill the Polynesian culture. For about 100 years the islanders followed European culture and traditions. 25 years ago a revival movement began to resurrect the culture and traditions of the native peoples on the islands. Two groups per category compete each day over a seven day period.

The first dance group came out. There were 15 musicians in the back, 40 female dancers and 25 male dancers. There was a figure who was clearly the chief. It was almost like an opera in Tahitian, with the musicians singing the story as the dancers acted out the story in their dances. Someone died and a war ensured with another tribe. The music and dancing were incredible. They were mostly fast dances, but there were a few slow dances. There were a number of costume changes. In each costume the women had on a bikini top and a skirt of some sort. Some of the skirts were quite short and provocative. At the end they wore grass skirts and elaborate headdresses. The men were bare-chested and wore little skirt-like cloths around their waist. The dance lasted an hour and a half. Those dancers must have incredible endurance. You have to have some crazy ab muscles to do the hip movements in those dances.

Then a 150 person choir came out in matching outfits. Suddenly we knew that the group we had seen getting off the ferry was a competing choir. They sang for about a half hour, and all but one song was a capella. The other song was accompanied by ukulele music. When the first choir was done, a second choir of equal size came out and did the same routine, but singing different songs.

Then came the second dance group. They had the same number of musicians and male/female dancers. This act looked like it was more of a compilation of a variety of dances than an actual story, but since we don’t speak Tahitian, we don’t really know. The routine lasted about an hour and fifteen minutes. Once again, amazing dancing and costumes. The costumes were definitely flashier than the first group’s, with a lot of colors. In each costume change the men wore little breast plates that looked like they were made of the same plant Christi’s new hat was made of. The skirts the men had on didn’t wrap around their waist. Instead, there was a flap of material covering the loin and a flap covering their the rear end, with the hips exposed. As the men danced, the little flaps would fly up. Some of the men had banana hammocks on underneath, but not all of them.

Sunday was cloudy, gloomy, and rainy all day long. We had planned to go snorkeling since everything is closed on Sundays, but since it was so ugly out we just lazed around Kosmos and visited some people on a near by boat. We should have done our long list of boat chores, but we didn’t. We are embracing the “manana” concept of time these days.