Yes, it's been three whole days since I posted! Some of you must be thinking that that the 'shower of death' has done me in at last...:) But I am just fine, just insanely busy. Teaching at the school, making lesson copies for Miss Emi, cooking, learning Samoan (or attempting to learn it), and getting to know the people here. There is a longer post coming, believe me, but the internet connection has been really slow over the past couple of days. It takes about five minutes to load a picture! So my pictures are likely to be scanty until the connection improves.
So, on to other matters. Over here, it's no secret that I greatly admire the traditional women's attire, the pulatasi (poo-lah-TAS-ee). It's elegant, flattering, and...well, Samoan. Hannah has two, made for her by Collala, the same lady who made our matching blue dresses that I showed you in the last post. The dress is beautiful, but it's not, strictly speaking, a pulatasi.
This morning, Hannah tapped on my door. "Do you have a minute?"
"Do you remember what I said in my last post?" I replied, following her down the hall. " 'I always have time for Hannah'."
"Yu-huh," Hannah nodded, then handed me a pile of material. "Miss Emi gave these to me to see if they would fit either of us. They don't work on me, but maybe they would look good on you." I did what any girl would do under the circumstances--after the first shock subsided, I immediately put a halt to my plans for the morning in order to see what fit and what didn't.
"You've got to stop using that phrase, 'Do you have a minute?', or I'll think you've got new clothes for me every time you say it," I told her as I headed to my room to begin the process of 'trying on' that ensued. Putting on a pulatasi was a little more difficult than I had anticipated. The skirt is a piece of material that wraps around and around your waist, secured at last by appropriately spaced buttons. Hannah had to come to my rescue several times before I was suitably attired.
So what do you think? Thumbs up or down on me in a pulatasi? Which one is your favorite? Let's vote!
Thank you, Miss Emi!!!