Answers to More Burning Questions

This is a fairly typical faleo'o.  This one is a bit on the small side, since it's a beach fale.  The "walls" can be raised, like Roman blinds to let in the air.  They were down because of rain.

Do They Celebrate Christmas in Samoa?  Samoa is 99% Christian.  There are churches everywhere and pastors are held in high esteem, on a par with high chiefs.  Some villages impose fines of $200 tala if you don’t go to church on Sunday.  So, yes, they celebrate Christmas but in a very different way than at home.  There seems to be very little commercialism and they were just putting up the Christmas lights/decorations in Apia last week.  A pleasant change from having Christmas start in October.

I have seen very little wrapping paper for sale.  I’ve seen absolutely no preparations for gift giving in the home I’m in and there’s no tree, lights or decorations.  Fa was planning on putting up some streamers and balloons, but that’s it.

The big focus here is on the reason we celebrate Christmas, the birth of Christ.  Churches are very busy preparing for a big day with all day barbeques, plays and services being planned.  Youth groups that are part of each church are in high gear preparing songs and dances.  One volunteer who lives in the pastor’s compound said he’s been very busy dancing and singing with the youth group and he’ll be Santa Claus, come Saturday. 

Do Samoans Travel Over the Holidays?  Many Samoans live in New Zealand and Australia.  They want to come home for the holidays.  I’d heard that things would be busy because of all the visitors.  Big deal, I thought.  I live in Orlando and we get a million plus tourists a year.  Well, it is a HUGE deal in a small island nation.

The stores in Apia last week were jammed and I saw a headline in the paper that Air New Zealand had scheduled 150 additional flights into Apia for the holiday period. They bring cash and gifts into the country and families are reunited.  New Zealand and Australian accents are everywhere.  What’s funny to me is when I say hello and ask a stranger how they’re doing (common courtesy on the street here) in Samoan and I get a blank look.  Ah, they are Samoan, but raised overseas and I know more Samoan than they do. 

Are There Bugs in Samoa? Does the pope wear red shoes?  Does the Jolly Green Giant say Ho, Ho, Ho?  You bet there are bugs.  Luckily, being from Florida, I’m cool with bugs.  Spiders, cockroaches, ants.  No big deal.  Mosquitos, I hate.  They seem to love me, especially the feet and ankles.  Bites usually get swollen and leave a large red blotch that can last for days.  And, as we all know, if you accidentally scratch one bite, they all start itching again.

In the training village I lived in a Palagi house with screens on all the windows, so except for getting chewed on during the day during training, I was good.  At twilight, I went into the house to avoid the little buggers.

Here, there are mosquitos.  It’s an open fale and even my room, which has walls and windows doesn’t have screens on those windows.  I’m using a mosquito net at night, which has been great.  It’s treated with some type of chemical to repel bugs as well as screen them out.  Unfortunately, I can’t retreat to my bed when the mosquitoes start to swarm at 6 pm. 

So, I’ve gotten bitten.  A lot.  I’d tell you how many bites I have right now, but don’t have that many fingers and toes.  The good news is that I seem to be developing immunity.  They still bite me, but they don’t leave the big welts and don’t seem to last as long.  The ones on the bottoms of my feet and tips of my fingers and toes still make me crazy, though.  And really, bug bites on my boobs?  Awkward!

Was There a Big Celebration to Welcome You to the Village?

Nope.  We were told not to expect a big deal made of our arrival.  I went for a walk yesterday evening on my own.  The village is mostly a long stretch of road along the lagoon and most socializing takes place along the road.  Lots of volleyball games for the youth (mostly 16-25 year olds), women weeding their lawns/around their beach fales, folks out for a stroll, families relaxing in their beach fales, enjoying the breeze.  Most folks ignored me.  A few said hello.  Three kids asked me for money, in English. I stopped in a very large faleolo’a and introduced myself to the owner.  A nice lady, she’s moving her kids from a private school to the primary school where I’ll be teaching. 

Another lady responded to my “hello” by saying “who are you and why are you here?”  When I first arrived, I was a bit taken aback by how direct the people are.  I’ve learned that it’s not meant to be harsh, just straight forward.  So I told her my name and that I was the new Pisi Koa English teacher.  In return I got a big smile and a thank you for coming to help their village.

Most people I spoke to seemed to assume I was staying at the nearby resort and were surprised to hear me say anything in Samoan.  Thanks, Peace Corps, for the language training.  Rooms at the resort, by the way, are $450 a night, US.  I’ll have a neighboring house, for free.  Of course, the tourists staying at the resort won’t be teaching school here for two years.

How Do You Stay In Touch With Home?

Obviously, this blog.  Also, email, when I have access.  If you don’t see a new blog entry, you know that I’m not emailing, either.  I’m using text a lot, something I always hated.  I’m slow at it and have to be very brief and I find it annoying.  Having said that, it’s inexpensive and almost always available. 

I say almost always because currently, I’m out of phone credits, which means no texting.  I can receive texts and calls, but can’t make them.  So frustrating.  I got a text from my BFF volunteer, Sesa, last night.  Seems there was a large rat in her new fale and she wanted, if nothing else, moral support.  Unfortunately, I’d just blown my phone card on a call to a friend in the US, so I couldn’t respond.  I’m itching to get to the faleoloa this morning so I can recharge. 

The most satisfying way of staying in touch is by phone.  Generous friends called a few times from the States, racking up some exorbitant phone bills.  Between all of the gift boxes they’ve shipped and phone calls, my Peace Corps service is putting my friends in the poor house.  I recently discovered a promotion, though, by Digicell, my phone company.  It costs 1 tala a minute to call home.  That’s about $.50.  The promo is that after seven minutes, the next 30 minutes are free.  That’s 37 minutes for only about $3.50 USD.  Stellar!  Not sure how long the promo will last (or why it wasn’t the first thing we heard about from Peace Corps) but am using it while I can.  Seki a, Digicell! 

Are You Happy There?  Absolutely.  Every time someone in the family walks past me (about every 3-5 minutes), they ask if I’m ok.  Yup, fine.  Swell, actually.  I love Samoa.  It’s beautiful, the weather is good (now that I’ve gotten away from the skin-melting heat of Upolu) and the people are wonderful.  Am I missing friends during the holidays?  Yes.  But, if I were home I’d be missing the friends I wasn’t with.  All in all, I can’t think of anyplace I’d rather be for Christmas this year.  

Instead of a faleo'o, I'll be living in this very nice palagi house.  Many of the other volunteers will be living in faleo'os.  Age pays off again!  That's a grave in the front yard.  Typical to bury family in front of the house.

Making coconut cream is a lot of work.  After scraping the coconut, you have to squeeze the "cream" out of it. For those who wonder, as one PCT did, there is no lactose in coconut cream.  It's just called that because it looks like cream.  And tastes delicious.