PHOTO: Tonight’s going to be a good night.
They call it hulohula here in Tonga. In English/Feleti’s definition equals dance party. Every so often through the year the Mormon Church throughout Tonga hosts these events at their church. You do not have to be Mormon to attend these hulohula, as everyone is welcome. I was told it was to help young Mormons find their “eternal family.” I don’t know if that is true or not, but these dances are actually a lot of fun (with the right attitude).
The Matamaka Mormons hosted a hulohula last weekend. The village of Nuapapu and some people from the main island made the voyage to Matamaka. The dance was right next to the beach. The church had done a superb job decorating for the event. They had use a small orange tree with ripe oranges as the center piece for the dance floor with ribbons running all around.
PHOTO: Par-tay!
These Mormon hulohulas can be best described as junior high in the US all over again. There is at least three feet gap between you and your dance partner. Don’t even think about getting closeror it will be pretty scandalous. However, pants are allowed for the men so you don’t have to wear tupenus. It does have to be khankis or black pants. No jeans. I found this out the hard way when I wore jeans to my first Mormon dance in Ha’apai and I was told, “You’re wearing devil pants.” LOL. I didn’t know Gap jeans were made in h@ll. In addition, people come up to you and bow to ask for a dance. You can’t really say no. I just wanted to watch, but ended up dancing more than I intentionally planned. In the end, it was a blast and it offered an alternative activity for the villagers on a Friday night. Until the next hulohula…
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