December 6

Up early for a drive up one of the hills I knew from my last trip. Shooting beauty shots has taken the back seat until now. The only way to get them is to rise early before other work displaces this need. My efforts are rewarded - we accidentally end up on private property but the caretaker allows us to shoot - amazing panaroma of the city. It's Sunday, so the smoke from the Umu's (traditional Sunday meal, cooked in rock ovens) rises up through the trees. Back to the hotel to meet with Vaasili to go to church. She's dressed to the 9's in whitel I shoot an interview with her in the back of the taxi on the way. I had asked her where to go on Sunday to shoot amazing singing. She pulls it together and picks me up at 8:30. The service is at a very small church - the singing is extraordinary. You know when it's just so beautiful that you have to cry...See the pictures. The video is better. We are invited to have lunch after. The church is very small - and is within a family compound. I am invited to stay here whenever I return to Samoa. These people have invited me into their lives...an open invitation. Magnanimous hospitality and trust.