Bora Bora, Off the Tourist Path

A best way to learn the real culture of a country is to spend time with the local residents. Bob and I got an invitation from a member of our denomination to attend one of the two local churches. What an interesting and rewarding experience. The services were in French…a language that neither of us knows. The Pacific Island music was beautiful and we were honored with two special music songs in English that they sang “for their special guests”. Between the two services, they had invited Bob to say something about us and where we were from, but then they decided that we would be part of a special feature right before the sermon. We were both invited to the front, then several people walked down the aisle and gave us flower leis and kisses. Bob shared a few words about us and what a blessing it was to worship with fellow Christians, even though we may speak different languages. They asked if we had a song we would like to share for them. No! We don’t sing…it would not be special, unique, but not special!!! A couple times during the sermon, the preacher asked Bob a question which was translated in broken English, then his answer was translated back into French. Apparently, the preacher agreed with him as he would nod and say “amen”. At the end, they asked again if we had something we would like to sing. We didn’t, but were delighted when they sang another special song for us in English. Upon leaving, each person would file out the church, greet the pastor then us and then stand to our left. The next person would greet the pastor, us, then the person to our left, then they joined the row, so that by the time the last person walked out the church, they had a long row of people to greet and everyone would have greeted everyone else.
Our transportation to church. Te’a Hui, who took us to church, also does Safari rides. The vehicle is parked under the entrance to our resort. I loved the palm frond roofs around the island.