Mothers Day

Mothers Day
Mothers Day is a different occasion to Samoans than Americans and it was quite the experience. This year I spent Mothers’ Day for the first time at church.
Leading up to the day I spent my time questioning people over which church service I could go to since an event like would be exciting. I was told to go the Methodist Church as they are the most colorful.
I put on my bright church white pulatasi early in the morning and headed over to the church. When I exited my house everyone knew where I was heading. (I wear my all white tasi for going to the Methodist church, usually a tan one for going to AOG, and different colors for 7th Day Adventist and Morman.
The church was set up for the special event. The benches were pushed to both sides to give extra room in the aisles. I sat with some teenagers in my village who also looked eager for the event to start.
It began with the mothers marching in with flowers singing beautifully. The regular church service started with many women coming up to do readings from the bible.
After that the women (I was told they did not have to be a mother to perform) sang, danced and performed a skit. It had some very funny parts and I enjoyed it completely. When they finished the children came over to their mothers and other women in the village they have love for and put candy ula’s around them. I ended up leaving church with a few myself.
The rest of the day I spent with my family as I knew I was in for an adventure the following day. My Mother’s Day celebration would continue as the day after Mother’s Day is a public holiday. Since there was no school, I would join Dana and Matt on a bike trip to Vaisala about 30 km away.