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Dating Being Pasifika

Well I figured since I’m single as a Pringle, I should defs participate in my own series about being single! So here goes…

A Little Bit About the Woman Behind Sipping Koko

I’m a 27 year old (this will obviously not be evergreen lol) marketing manager just hanging out in good ole Nashville, TN. I haven’t had much luck in love for a myriad reasons, but it sure isn’t from a lack of trying. I grew up in a medium sized town in the Southern USA, and while I was more focused on school work and my career, I had always grown up hoping to find “the perfect man.”

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Dating Being Pasifika: Reina Pahulu

A little bit about Reina Pahulu

Reina Kapiolani Pahulu is a first generation Tongan-American Leiti, aka Transgender Woman as per western standards. Her pronouns are she, her, & hers. Reina is a local poet & community organizer in the wonderful Beehive State (Utah) and is very passionate about creating discourse, change, & space for our Pasifika people to thrive.

What is your ideal partner?

Someone unafraid to dream but more importantly willing to make them come true, can make me laugh with just a look, knows how to make me feel safe no matter where we are, and can cook a decent meal. Is very patient, open to growth but firm in his ideals as a man.

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Pasifika Love Matters: Venz & Robin

Going the Distance

I met my wife in the Philippines back in 2013. We grew really close and ended up going on our first date in 2016. After our first date, we immediately knew that we wanted to get married. We ended up having to do long distance for a while which really challenged our relationship, but it didn’t stop us from getting married in 2018. We’re expecting a baby girl in May and we are so excited to meet this little one in just a couple more months!

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Pasifika Love Matters: Roberta and Benny

Meant to Be

I’ve known him since 2015, I was 21 years old and we always talked as friends, at the time we were in our own relationships, as time went on, both our old relationships got toxic, but supported each-other as friends. Time went on, we lost all contact with eachother but carried on with our own lives & careers. Beginning of last year (2019) He decided to follow me on all the socials. So i thought i’d befriend him again, we got to talking, so he hit me up on a night i got pretty intoxicated, barring in mind, i wasn’t looking for anything cause i was on this journey of “self love & mental health well being” . So carrying onto my drunk conversation with him through video chat, i said i kind of liked him, and he was happy with that answer. The next day i didn’t even remember the conversation we had, he hits me up the next morning and i didn’t even reply until two days after when he replied to one of my stories on insta saying i should cut my hair cause i complained about it being too long 🤣.

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Pasifika Love Matters: Lou and Sal

Love Conquers All

My husband Salekai (Sal) and i first met at church as 18 and 19 year olds. Our families were part of 10 families that got together to form a new branch if our church. I had no interest in Sal as i was busy with my friends. I became friends with his older sister and would often pick her up when we were going out. Many times while i waited in my car for her, Sal would come outside and say hello and asked where we were going etc. I never thought anything if it until about until one night three months later, as i was about to hang the phone up from talking with his sister, she said oh someone wants to say hello. Sal came to the phone and said hello again and asked how my week was? etc Again i only saw him as my friends brother. He asked if was free to grab a bite after work the next day..

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Pasifika Love Matters: Paul and Mira

Taking a Chance

Paul and I have known each other for a really long time, we grew up in church together as kiddo’s and to this very day we still attend the same church (crazy right). Paul is 3 years older than me so obviously we mingled with our own age group at the time, we never really talked to each other. Being the eldest girl with no older sister to look up to, I became close with Paul’s older sister (not cringe at all lol). At the time I had no feelings, just a kid-free brain gal living her best little church life being a ka’a – what any kid would do eat, sleep and play in church. Long story short because this is going way into detail and y’all be like 🐸#faikakala. Years go by and we start to fall for each other and no he did not impress me by putting the chairs away after church like how nowadays boys be trippin lol Paul admitted he had feelings for me when I was being the innocent little girl that I am HAHA) but that was not till we already had been dating. I had a crush on Paul for a few years as I became older and ya girl told him via FACEBOOK like status on his timeline “like for a tbh” 🥴 Forgetting that I’m Samoan and the whole of Samoa would see this, I straight up went in the feels and boom everyone starts liking it but I’ve never gotten likes on anything (sad life) goes to show how everyone be lurking. Fast forward to 16 years old we started dating and because we go to the same church there were pro’s and con’s of having a relationship at a young age in a islander church. Despite everything we went through with church/parents/family/friends , we stuck by each other, we kept our distance, we prayed, we fasted, we tried to maintain a healthy God founded relationship but at the same time in trend which was really difficult. That may seem like an easy listing but it was real hard especially being in a society filled with temptation. This ain’t a perfect love story. We had our ups and downs, we fought and we still do, we cry, we say hurtful things we don’t mean but hey that’s just human nature. Fast forward a few years and we’ve now been together for 5 years and 1month and forever to go😜 Never will I ever regret that status but still CRINGE tho #28

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Pasifika Love Matters: Sione and Pepe

The Unforgettable Conversation

So I knew my husband since I was probably a teen because my first cousin was married to his first cousin. Mind you, our cousins were much older than us so we never really hung out with them where me and my husband interacted much. As we grew older, we actually had the same circle of friends… and I’m talking about his brother dating one of my best friends but still we never actually ended up talking to one another, at least nothing more than a “hi” and “bye” type of talking. LOL! So it wasn’t until we had a big church function, where everyone went to hang out at the temple grounds afterwards (yup for those people in Utah they know what I’m talking about *SMH*). Anyways my best friend ending up talking to one of her old guy friends who she went to church with when she was younger and he so happened to be with my husband (yup SAME circle). My friend practically left me stranded with my husband which at that time, I was like “heck no!” … but my friend didn’t care and yeah she left me alone standing by my husband. Ten minutes of dead air 💀.. when one of my other friends who was walking past me said Hi (this girl friend was actually my husbands best friend’s sister.. which I didn’t even know at that time 🤯), we both loved Koreans dramas and talked a little while my husband silently watched us. Lol. So after that girl friend left, my husband than asked me about Korean dramas and than our conversation started. As we kept talking and talking, I found myself looking at him even more and realizing how attracted I was to him, not only that but I started to noticed how great our conversation was. We were both so engaged, there wasn’t any awkward silence (communication was a really big turn on in a guy). So two hours past and sadly it was time to go, so I waited a bit to see if he would ask for my number… but nope he didn’t (definitely -10 points right there 🤦🏻‍♀️).

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Pasifika Love Matters: Jackie and Mani

When Sparks Flew

We’ll try to keep this short and sweet. We were both in a relationship at the time back in 2016 during white Sunday. The moment we met, we felt a spark. We were flirty here and there but weren’t really sure of what was going on. We kept going to practices and as days and weeks went by, we kept developing feelings for each other without each other knowing. It came to the day of White Sunday, night service. We were both unsure whether something was gonna happen out of what we had and what was going on during practices. We somehow managed to exchange numbers that same night, and got a selfie together as a “couple” lol that selfie is the one shown above. Our first selfie before we even started talking and making our relationship official. It only took us 2nights all nighters’ and 3 days to get to know each other and fall inlove. On the fourth day we decided to do the right thing and end our relationships with our current other half at the time(now our ex’s). On the fifth day we made it happen and from then on we took off. We went through many ups and downs as any other couple would go through, and always made it out alive. Now we are happily married with a beautiful darling angel who is such a blessing. It’s a long story that we always love to share to friends and family but we tried our best to keep it as short and sweet as possible ♡

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Pasifika Love Stories Matter

Can you believe it is finally February 2020? This means it’s time to start celebrating my second favorite holiday – VALENTINE’S DAY! The day for lovers, those who love love, and just a celebration of love.

As some of you know, I’ve been excited about spotlighting Pasifika love. I want to showcase our people. So, I’ve been asking for my followers to submit their love stories. But, before I share the first one, I thought I would answer the same questions I sent them. It seems only fair – at least in my opinion. Also, I’m still accepting submissions and will be till I run out. So, if you are a Pasifika couple or have one in mind and want to share your/their story, please let me know!

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