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Kia ora – Maori People
Posted on November 3, 2009 by scadenas in People, Places and travelsLast Saturday was our first encounter with Maori people. After we went to the Auckland Art Gallery we stopped by a church that was crowd of people and cars, it was the Anglican Maori Church and a seminar, that happens every two years, was delivering by Maori people from all over NZ, Australia, Canada, Polynesia an indigenous group from Hawaii.
First of all we talked with an old woman who was smoking a cigarette, in the main door of the church. She invited us to join them, so we passed and we started talking with a second person, called Helen. She was a beautiful Maori woman who explained us, with lot of patience, about their culture, history and language, then she invited us to have dinner and to be part of the last celebration of the day.
The celebration finished with a real haka led by the bishops, then we walked to the car (Helen was giving us a ride to the city) and we crossed with the first woman who invited us to join the celebration. She gave us a kiss as it is showed by the picture.Something that surprised both of us was the happiness that they all had, by the end, Juan asked Helen about it: she said; this is Church.
Today I received an email from Helen, with the meaning of Kia Ora that I want to share with all of you:
Thank you for being with us, it was a joy to have you both share food and fellowship with us. You made our evening special. You have my contact details now, please feel free to txt or email me if there is anything you need whilst you are in our country. Kia ora (it means lots of things e.g., thank you, I understand, greetings, have a nice day, be well. It actually means, life be with you) and life be with you both, enjoyAmazing Saturday afternoon, thanks!
if you are interest to read more about Maori culture, Maori marks, and the official site of the Maori community.
