In Lili's brain

Inside the brain of Lili early in the morning
It is 4:04 AM. My alarm just went off. Why did I set my alarm for this early? This is a crazy time to do anything productive. Let me lay down again.
It is 4:08 AM. Okay. I must have a real purpose for needing to be awake. The siva. The one I have been practicing for afterschool each day. They said to meet at 4:30. Is it a Samoan 4:30, or an actual real 4:30….it is too early in the morning to be sure of what time they might mean. I better just go with 4:30 means 4:30. What was my uniform supposed to be? White tasi top and green i’e. Should I bring anything else? Water. You never know when this will start and finish.
It is 4:30 AM. I am ready to head over to the church. Put the phone in flashlight mode so I do not step in any poop. There are 5 ladies already at the church. Good. 4:30 actually meant 4:30. The bus isn’t here yet… at least they are asking me to help get ready so I am feeling productive. Go to the kitchen. Open the freezer. Put the bags and bags full of chicken into the pots. These pots look big enough to cook a person. Note to self stay on everyone’s good side. So that way I don’t become dinner. Now the sausages stay in the box, but carry it to the van. Now the utensils go in a box. Put in the rest of the cooking ingredients. A few bags of potatoes, a few bags of onions, many noodles, many packages of curry, a few big bottles of oil and a big bottle of soy sauce.
It is 5:00 AM. The bus is here. It is the bus that got into the accident a few weeks ago. I hope the driver stays safe. He is driving way too fast. Please let no one else be stupid enough to be awake at this time of the day. Why is there no music on this bus? Some awesome Samoan music to dace to would be real nice right now.
It is 5:30 AM. Into the church the lotu is about to start. I love the people in this church. They are always so nice and try their best to make me feel welcome at any activity. They show this now by everyone asking me to sit with them. I feel like the popular kid at school.
It is 6:30 AM The service is still going on. STAY AWAKE! Try not to nod off like a few of the people are around you. Not working….at least it is short periods of eye closure. Wow, the girl next to me is real good at playing the snake game on her phone.
It is 7:00 AM. I think nearly everyone who is in the front of the iglesia talked. Which means it should end soon….right?
It is 7:30 AM. Finally! It is over! 5:30 is too early for a church service. At least for me. And one that is this long not fun. We are heading outside to the head of the church. Each village that came is finding their own spot to stop at. I see a few people giving their children bread. DANG IT!! That is what I should have brought. My brain is still half asleep and I think food fuel would have been good for it.
It is 7:40 AM. People are carrying bags and bags full of loaves of bread. YIPEEE! They are feeding us! I see someone taking out pounds of butter. Two tins full of crackers. Also one other container….it is…it is… coconut jam! So delicious! Everyone should make coconut jam! One person cuts the bread in half, pours delicious jam throughout the inside, cuts it in half again, and then repeats the process. Wow, she has a lot of work to do. I think counted 27 loaves of bread! The other people are opening the cracker tins and taking a spoonful of butter to create a butter sandwich. People are starting to take out their plates. Was I supposed to bring a plate and a cup. Think back to yesterday….did anyone mention ipu? “Aua le pepoli” the person next to me said when she realized that I did not bring anything to eat off of. She gives me a tin cup and a plate. The youngest of the women (Who are at the age where they probably just finished kolisi) start going around serving food. Everyone gets a half loaf of bread, 3 cracker and butter sandwiches, 2 eggs, and a cupful of Samoan cocoa. Drat! Tin cups are not good for heat! I think I burned my fingers! Never again should I hold the ipu ti while someone pours into my cup. Next time it remains down.
It is 8:00 My half a loaf of bread is devoured and I am starting to be full. Many of the women are taking out bags and solos to put their leftover food in. I should learn that I should bring something to put food inside when I go to a big event as chances are they will give me food, and expect me to take it home. I do have an extra I’e that I can wrap the food in. The person next to me comes to the rescue again and tells me to make sure to give the food to Iosefa, my bro, to eat. The lady sitting across from me said to bring the food to my family and mentions Iosefa again. Man Iosefa is popular with the ladies! It is now time to change for the games. I wonder what games they will play. The only games I ever see are volleyball, basketball, and rugby. But since it is all women…maybe it will be volleyball, and netball. What was the name of the game my family was talking about last night?
It is 8:30. Let the games begin! First up tug o war! Wow I am happy that I was wrong! This is fun! Just pull as hard as possible. Don’t think of the rope burn you are getting. Pull! Pull! And fall when the other team lets go of the rope! Yes! This is a pretty sweet victory. I few more games of tug o war go on and all the teams that were on our side won. Hmmm.. Is there some type of sun glare on the other side? Our village team which had women only over 50 won their tugging game. Time for us to be up again. Crap they are putting us on the other side. I guess I will learn if this side is jinxed. They blew the whistle too quickly and I among a few other people did not grab the rope right away. We are going the wrong way….pull! pull! Pull! We can do it! YES! There they go on the floor again. This time I get to celebrate the victory standing up!
It is 9:15. Time for more games. There is a hole in the ground where I think the volleyball pole is supposed to go. They are putting a stick inside. Someone asked me if I wanted to play and I told them the honest truth. I have no clue what this game is at all. So I enjoy it from the sidelines. Four women on each side, and when the fai fe’au blows the whistle one person runs to try and capture the stick. The other person tries to tag them. Sometimes they look like they are about to start a fight for the stick. It is a pretty intense game to watch. Some of these girls are so fast and others are funny as they try to trick the other team. It is a good spectators sport. They are bringing out bags of apples. And bowls. They say it is an apple eating contest and ask me if I want to partake. I have eaten too much already to chow down any more! I also eat so much slower than most Samoans. I think I’ll watch. They have brought bobbing for apples into a new exciting game. It is more sanitary than the US children’s game at least. (Which me and Jen did enter and win at a concert this summer.) Everyone gets a bowl of water with one apple inside. They have to be the first one to eat the apple with their mouths only, and they are blindfolded. Water was spraying everywhere it was funny! After that was the pie eating, all of the women were cheating in this event and picking up the pie and eating it with their hands. Out of the two rounds of people playing, only one person actually did the game the right way. It was easy to tell who the winner was. I think some of the women were just hungry and that is why they entered the event.
It is 10:30. Time to change for the dances. The real reason for coming to this other village. We all crowd into classrooms inside the church and begin changing out of our sports clothes. I head back out to the gym (It is amazing that this church has both an indoor basketball court and an outside one.) Someone has an extra i’a uniform bottom for me to borrow. Back to the changing rooms.
It is 11:00 The dances are beginning. In between some of the group dances there is music for people to dance to. People keep inviting me to go and dance each time. It is real funny the attention you get when you are the only Palagi. The different villages have awesome sivas and sasa. It was fun to watch. During a few of the song breaks some of the women are pulling me up to do silly dances that I would dance in America. It was a lot of fun. These are the kind of girls I would be friends with if they were in my village!
It is 11:45. All of this anticipation and it is finally time for us to go! Thank goodness! Do I remember the dances…maybe. “Talofa teine, How are you today? Do you remember the good times, when you come and play?” How does the rest of that song go? Too late to worry now. Just do whatever feels natural. A few people gave me a thumbs up sign during the entire performace.
It is 12:15. The dances are over. Time to wait for the bus. Many people are coming over to talk to me. It feels like I am one big tourist attraction sometimes. I guess it could be worse. Again the bus drives super fast. Please be okay, please me okay….
It is 12:30. Time to eat. What a good way to end the day. Chicken curry, barbecue chicken, ulu, noodles, this meal cannot be beat! They pass out birthday cake too since today was the celebration of the birthday of the Woman’s Group for this church. Again they give way too much food, and remind me to bring it to my brothers. Everyone keeps asking to make sure I had a good day. And of course, invite me to their singing practice later, and church tomorrow.
It is 1:00 and I am exhausted. The day has already been 9 hours long and I am ready for a nice nap. I love going to church events like today.