PCC

I LOVED the Polynesian Cultural Center.  Hence, I have a ton of pictures.  But lets be serious, Hawaii needs to be done and over with and I haven't done a Pearl Harbor post yet.  I will try to make this quick.

Here was the rundown for the afternoon.  We checked in where we were put with a group who became our "family" for the day as we toured around and such.  We then toured around the 5 different islands that make up the Polynesian triangle.  Hawaii, Samoa, Tahiti, Tonga, and Aotoera (or New Zealand).  By the end of the day, Jacob had more than had his fill of saying "Aloha."

After all our tours, we went in for our luau dinner.  Yum.  Then after dinner we had about 45 minutes on our own to finish up touring around and getting ready for the evening show.

And that my friends is the rundown.  So now here are some pics.


Hey, Jacob, is that you?!  Oh wait, you wore a shirt today.  Nope, not you.

A brief synopsis of how to get a coconut.  Easy peasy:

When in New Zealand, do as the locals do and get a tattoo:

I was a little disappointed it didn't have my name inside a heart.


During the tour, they have a little river show that highlights the 5 different cultures.  Loved it.

My favorite part of the afternoon was called the "drum show" that was done at either the Samoa or Tonga stop (memory fails).  The man who was the star of the show was absolutely hilarious.  They also called 3 men up from the audience to be part of the show who were really good sports.  I haven't laughed that hard for a long time!  Everyone who worked there was so fun and incredibly witty- they kept us laughing and engaged the whole time.  You can't help but fall in love with the island culture.

   
The grounds were absolutely breathtaking!

The luau dinner- bring on the pork!

Hey, Brittney, is that you?!  Oh wait, nope, you wore shorts today.  Stunning resemblance.

During the luau they called up a few different groups of people who were celebrating birthdays, etc. while there.  When they called up everyone celebrating anniversaries, I was so excited and had to literally DRAG Jacob up on the stage.  That very day was our 10th anniversary!  YAY!  Poor sucker even had to dance with me while we were up there!  I LOVED it!  Jacob endured. 

After dinner we hit the evening show.  Jacob didn't like it as much as I did, but it was still a great way to end the day.  This is when we were getting ready for the show to start- they were pretty tight about no photos during the show, but here is a shot at the auditorium where they do the show:

These two were our tour guides during the day.  They were so wonderful.  Ben and Meme (Maymay).  My absolute favorite part of the PCC is how it is actually run.  I bet the majority of people who go through have no idea it is run by the Church.  The majority of people who work there are students attending BYU-Hawaii who come from the actual islands.  They do a work study deal where they work there to help pay off their college education.  Then they return home to their islands to help continue to educate the people back home.  Meme was from Samoa.  (Or Tonga, dangit, I forgot).  There are many other cultures there, like Ben who is from Asia, who also get to help out.  I loved it. 

A long day, and we were definitely tired when we got home, but a perfect anniversary!