Adventures in Paradise 44

Adventures in Paradise 44

Kia Orana, everyone! Our excellent adventure continues with some thoughts on earrings, women and the ties that bind.  Sometime before we came to Rarotonga, Ward and I made a bet. I had wondered aloud one day, if the earrings I was wearing would be considered overkill on the island.  I asked Ward (my resident fashionista) if he thought my earrings would be appropriate and was stunned by his answer. Ward informed me that women in the islands do not wear earrings, as it wasn’t their tradition. How wrong can one man be? I informed Ward that if there were women on that island, there would certainly be earrings. Women, after all, are the same wherever we are. We will not be found without our emblishments! So, here was the bet: The garage needed cleaning and who ever lost the bet would inherit that nasty job. If the women of Rarotonga did not wear earrings, I would be cleaning, BUT if the women did wear that particular adornment, Ward would be stuck spending the day with our junk. This bet was a “slam-dunk” for me! So, we checked with our friend, Lorna, who was living in the mission home here at the time and she laughingly told Ward that he had better get busy cleaning! Of course Rarotongan women wore earrings and the bigger the better! Lorna informed Ward that the island women loved anything beautiful and colorful, their jewelry being no exception. I think that Ward had momentarily forgotten that Cook Island pearls are world-famous! So we left our home behind with a clean garage and we both have been reminded that the women and men of this world have much in common with each other. We are far more alike that we are different. We are tied together by the things in life that have meaning to us.

My love for the women here has grown exponentially as I have lived among them. We are tied together by commonalities. Like my dear friends at home, the Cook Island women are loving, creative, talented and hard working. They are women of faith and conviction. They are nurturing mothers, aunties and grandmothers. A woman, no matter where she lives will do anything for her child. We are connected to each other through that common bond. The term auntie can refer to any woman friend of the family. A mother is the child’s mother but a mama is the child’s grandmother. My new friends, like my old friends, are thoughtful wives and kind neighbors. They are creative homemakers,  who often make do with very little, and are prolific gardeners. My friends here are artistic, inventive, funny and tender. They are loyal, intelligent and very strong-willed. They are wonderful and their friendship means the world to me. They have loved me unconditionally   I will be tied together with them for the rest of my life and happily so.

We have been so impressed by just how hard-working and inventive our island friends have proven to be. Many rely on extra money from Saturday market sales to augment their income. In many cases, this is a family effort, and all members work together. Creative minds have invented ingenious one-of-a kind products that appeal to visitors and locals alike. The women work side-by-side with their husbands. These women can pilot a motor scooter, while carrying a load of groceries. They can erect a tent at market and take it down again. They can create delicious new recipes using local ingredients and produce beautiful artwork.  They can tie a baby onto the back of a scooter using a hand-dyed pareu and drive around the island at thirty miles per hour. They are wonderful dancers who create their own costumes out of local vegetation and are charming hostesses. They are amazing! I love being tied to their apron strings!

I would like to introduce you to some of my remarkable friends. I have told them all about you, so now I would like you to know them as well.  Please understand that I consider myself very blessed to have you all in my life. I live in awe of the women you are (ok, you men as well) and am so grateful for the lessons that I have learned from the lives that you lead. You have all taught me more than you will ever know.

So, as usual, we are happy and trying to work hard. We have learned to appreciate and respect differences, while embracing those things that we have in common. You and these women are tied together because of my love for all of you. I hope you enjoy meeting and getting to know my new friends. I suspect that you will all find someone very much like yourselves in at least one of the following photos.

Love, Ward and Susan                             Elder and Sister Belliston, serving in the Cooks

Please say hello to my new friends! 

Jacquie and Connie are sisters as well as best friends. Jacquie, on the left  is a sailor, gardener and mother of three. Her sister Connie is a master chef and runs a restuarant.

Ake was one of the first people we baptized. She works in one of the resorts and is  now well -known for the delicious hot muffins she bakes and  serves every morning in the hotel lobby. She is getting married next Saturday!

Mama Rere is a mother and grandmother. She also is the caretaker during the day for a lively 1 1/2 year old whom she carries back and forth on the back of her scooter. This is her real hair color!

Teremonia lives in a log (palm logs) cabin on a steep mountainside. She makes and sells eis for the tourists and also is a master fabric artist. She grows flowers, bananas and lemons on her plantation.

Pa is a graduate of BYU Hawaii. She works at the hospital during the day and is an LDS institute teacher in the evenings. You may recognize her as the bride in the photos two blogs ago. 

Dernice is an artist as is her husband. Until recently they supported their family entirely from the proceeds of the sale of their art. She paints coconut banks and children's furniture. He husband is a master carver. Dernice now also works for the company that is expanding our harbor. Oh, yes, Dernice is the mother of three and the Primary president of her branch. She wears a hard hat to work!

Pecka is a three-time dance champion. She works at the airlines, cleans a bank in the evenings and has the most popular food booth at Saturday market.

This friend is the creator of my beautiful Tivaivai. You can see some of her work in the background. She also has a beautiful singing voice and is the mother of three.

This is Sharon, our movie star friend. She had a role in the movie, "The Other Side of Heaven". She is the Relief Society president of her branch. She works weekdays in a gift shop and spends every Satruday morning selling gifts at the market. She is always doing something for someone else. She has no spare time!

Heather is the head of nursing at the hospital and district Relief Society president. She is well-known on the island and she has earned great respect here for her work in improving the health of the Rarotongan people.

This is Leeann. Leann is the mother of three very sweet children. She works at Saturday market, waits tables at one of the resorts and runs her own nail business. She calls me Mom and I am thrilled! 

This is Ina. She and her husband just returned from a Family History mission in Salt Lake. She is "retired", but you will find her at the airport for most every incoming flight. She drives one of the island's few taxis. Don't tell anyone, but if she thinks someone can't afford to pay, she doesn't charge them. She pays the fare herself.

This is Philo. She loves to dance, visit with friends and tease Ward. She and her huband own rental homes for the tourists and  they sell their produce at Saturday market. Her goats are the ones that chase me when I pick her flowers!

This is mama Mataroa. She is a friend to all and mama to many of the island children. She growns fruit that is left on our doorsteps We are not supposed to know who leaves it, but we do and we are grateful for her thoughtfulnes..

This is Lindsay. You are looking at Miss Junior Cook Islands for two years running. She is a talented singer and her dancing will take your breath away. She was also chosen "Best Girl" by the faculty of her high school and will be heading to college on scholarship in January.

Mama Femoni has adopted four children to add to her six. She works hard to keep all of her family together, providing a home at the moment for about sixteen people.  She is holding, Janice one of her grandchildren.There is only one bathroom in her house and she is still smiling!

I am smiling becasue I am blessed to have so many beautiful friends. One of them even made my stunning head-ei.