Yesterday we spent the day at the Polynesian Cultural Center. We left the hotel about 10:30 and arrived at the PCC for a buffet lunch. Students then had 5 hours to explore each of the island cultures represented at the PCC. They sampled traditional Samoan foods, learned weaving crafts, got traditional (temporary) tattoos, and practiced spear throwing, among many other things.
One of the daily events at the PCC is the canoe parade, where dancers from each of the island cultures perform traditional dances.
By dinner time, everyone was ready to eat again. The luau featured a pig cooked in an imu, poke, lomi lomi salmon, and, of course, poi.
Students enjoyed the entertainment, which reviewed the evolution of hula from a form of prayer performed only by men to a modern blending of traditional end entertainment styles.
Because her birthday is in the month of May, one of the students went up on stage and was serenaded with Happy Birthday by the many attendees. She was then asked to stay on stage for a hula lesson, much enjoyed by the rest of the group.
