Dear Families,

Malo mu’a ho’omou lelei. Ko ‘eku toki ha’u eni mei ‘api, ‘oku lolotonga fakahoko atu ‘a e fei’umu ‘a Sr. Clare mo ‘ene kauako-taupo’ou pea mo Neniti. Now you might all think ‘oku ou mamio that's why I’m here, but hey . . . take it easy. I came to Nuku'alofa ke tiliva atu e fo’i ‘ufi ki Aotearoa, kia Etuate Manu, Belfry Place, Wattle Downs, Manukau, New Zealand (hope I got the address right). So I came by to check you people out. And it’s good seeing every family still rolling and kicking out there.

It’s been raining here cats and dogs in the past few days. Ever since Easter, there hasn’t been a week without loads and loads of rain pouring down from the sky. Such rain is a blessing ki he'emau kumala na’e to ‘e Neniti, not to mention our manioke. And even so, we had a few leakages in the roof at home, ka ‘oku ‘osi maau pe tasipini ke tali ‘aki. That is proof ‘o e malohi mo e lahi ‘o e ‘uha. But for us, ‘oku mau kei malumalu pe ‘i he Lalo Kalosipani. Kei mo’ui lelei pe ‘a Maliana, Tiana & Neniti mo e famili, Fifita, Poini & family, kae pehe kia Rodney (our so called “prophet”;).

The latest news from our home village of Matahau is the result of the fili ‘ofisakolo. As I mentioned in my news update earlier, there were only two candidates, and although there were only two kae hange ko e lau . . .ko e toki fo’i ua fakatupu longoa’a lahi mo’oni. This is our current town officer, Mr. Asaeli Tuiaki, versus the heavy weight challenger ‘Usaia Kalamafoni. Neogo na’e ma’u pe ia ‘e Asaeli, with a unanimous vote, but building up to the election, and even during the election day itself, it reflects ‘a e ‘ikai ke toe fakama-ma ‘a e tau fakavahavaha’a mei he ongo fa’ahi poupou (supporters). He na’e lolotonga e lele ‘a e fili, ‘oku launga e motu’a ia ‘e taha (Kalamafoni) ki he police station ‘i Nuku’alofa, tokua ‘oku kaka e fili, ko hono tukuaki’i ‘o ‘Asaeli. And the Nuku’alofa cops turned up, they were surprised that the election was well attended and controlled by the Nukunuku police, but as for the complains, they realized they had just wasted their time and fuel.

Also, there were other scenes, the Nukunuku police almost arrested some of our locals for falsely claiming themselves to be someone else from our small city, thus enabling them the chance to vote twice, untl the rightful citizens later turned up to find that their names have been claimed by others during the election. Hange ko e lau, ‘oku ‘alu fakataha pe ta’emahino mo e ta’emingoi. Kaikehe, ne toki ui mai e ola e fili, pea mahino ai pe hono kotoa, and putting a stop to all the verbal battle between supporters. As for me, it was my first time to vote in any public election. And I woudn’t have voted if it wasn’t for the prophet (Rodney) who’s been annoying me to make sure I vote, in support of his brother in law (the incumbent). You know . . . the number of times that I meet the prophet, whether at home, in the shop or anywhere he would find me . . . he would never stop annoying me with the election. And I wonder pe ‘oku fefe fau ‘a e mateaki’i ‘e he motu’a ‘a e fili hono matapule . . . pe ko ha matu'aki ilifia pe ia ‘ia Melekoula (his wife). Kuo u fiefia au, he ‘osi atu e fili, kau ongo’i tau’ataina a . . . he na’e toe pe ‘eni ke ha’u e palofita ia ‘o puke hoku nima, ‘o fakahoko ‘eku fili. I thank the Lord it’s over.

Anyway famili, I think for me it’s about time, ke u fononga a ki ‘api ‘o vakai’i e fei’umu ‘a Clare and her nuns. I have a local guy here who asked me pe ‘oku ‘i ai ha ni’ihi ‘ia kimoutolu famili that would be interested in buying his manioke, especially you guys in the States. Actually this local guy told me names in particular, tokua na’e ‘osi talanoa mo kimoutolu the last time you visited here, pea ko e toe vakai mai pe, pe ‘oku mo’oni koa ha taha hena ‘e fie tokoni mai ki hono fakatau atu ‘ene manioke lahi, na'a ko ha fo’i lea mafana pe ia he fuoloa e kai.

Anyway, let me know Yankees. As the saying goes, "Ko e me'a fakavale he anga ko e masiva"! Ka mou tauhi lelei. ‘Ofa lahi atu kiate kimoutolu hono kotoa . . . mo e hufaki lahi meia Maliana.

Hiko’itaulanga

Lalo Kalosipani News Update 10