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ceitfiannaOn one of my nights at Rotorua, I went to a Maori cultural experience, there are lots of them in the area, so I had a hard time choosing where to go. The one I ended up attending was called Mitai after the family that runs it and it was a pleasure. The atmosphere was fun and relaxed as they worked to make sure we understood their cultural heritage as they were striving to preserve it. So you had young people in the performance who were learning the moves and the leader who knew how to make us feel alright when we couldn't say something. I'm going to do another cut since I have some wonderful pictures.
A hangi or pit, where dinner is being smoked. They're about to open it up and show us our cooked dinner.
Dinner and the steam coming off of it smelled wonderful and the food was great.
The chief coming to greet us, he's going to place the fern in front of our chief and then commence a Maori welcoming ceremony, which takes a while since they have to make sure we're really safe.
Part of the performance, the women have poi in their hands, which are balls that the Maori use to strengthen their wrists for combat and are used in many dances.
Part of a haka being directed towards me, I loved this guy since he was so into it and worked at being intimitadating. Since a haka is a war dance, where they basically show you what they'll do to you and the sticking out of the tongue says, I'll eat you if you make me mad.
More impressive displays, sadly most of the pictures of the performance don't do it justice at all since it was just wonderful and informative.
A woman dancing with poi. And now that I've written this entry, I realize how hard it is to capture the wonderful experience I had. Hopefully I can tell you all the story of it at some point since I felt welcomed and taught about a culture full of life and filled with good food.
A hangi or pit, where dinner is being smoked. They're about to open it up and show us our cooked dinner.
Dinner and the steam coming off of it smelled wonderful and the food was great. The chief coming to greet us, he's going to place the fern in front of our chief and then commence a Maori welcoming ceremony, which takes a while since they have to make sure we're really safe. Part of the performance, the women have poi in their hands, which are balls that the Maori use to strengthen their wrists for combat and are used in many dances. Part of a haka being directed towards me, I loved this guy since he was so into it and worked at being intimitadating. Since a haka is a war dance, where they basically show you what they'll do to you and the sticking out of the tongue says, I'll eat you if you make me mad. More impressive displays, sadly most of the pictures of the performance don't do it justice at all since it was just wonderful and informative. A woman dancing with poi. And now that I've written this entry, I realize how hard it is to capture the wonderful experience I had. Hopefully I can tell you all the story of it at some point since I felt welcomed and taught about a culture full of life and filled with good food. 