A maneapa is a sort of open-air Tuvaluan meeting hall with a roof. They are used for special occasions the way any banquet hall would, but in many ways they are the centers of Tuvaluan social life. During the day kids play in them at night people might sleep in them for the breeze. There is an especially large maneapa with a concrete floor and a modern roof--my guess is that traditional ones would have a coral sand floor and a thatched roof--in between the airport and my guest house, and just across a small square from the government building. On days that flights come in it is full of people; from inside you can see the plane land and the passengers disembark. (Note: the plane was fixed and flew out on Saturday, but the flight scheduled for Sunday was cancelled--apparently no one from the flight crew showed up in Suva.) This particular maneapa is also where parliament meets and serves as a makeshift courthouse.

This weekend it hosted to a large wedding reception, island-style. Tuvalu was converted to Christianity--the Protestant Church of Tuvalu, of which 97 percent of the islanders are members--more than 100 years ago, so the wedding itself took place in a church somewhere with the bride in a white gown.

She later changed into more traditional island clothing, a dress decorated with pandanus leaves and flowers. I believe that is her directly to the left of the festive woman in red. A number of pigs were slaughtered for the occasion and brought in in giant woven baskets. For a reason I do not understand, the pig pictured here was stabbed through with skewers that had cigarettes, which you can see in the picture, along them. Unfortunately, I didn’t see anyone drinking hot toddy, the local homebrew made of fermented coconut sap, which I am determined to try before I leave. The whole thing was wrapped up by 10:00 because everyone had church in the morning.