The waiting area at the enormous Savaii airport.
I see things on a regular basis here that are becoming normal. They aren’t normal back in the States and so before I become too accustomed to even notice, here are a few:
• Seeing one of the young women from our house head next door to borrow fire. Adjacent to where I live, there are about 15 houses, almost all belong to family, however distant the relation. These families cook outdoors, over open fires for the saka or boiled food, and in the umu or oven made from red hot volcanic stones, for the baked food such as pig, palusami, breadfruit and taro. It’s sometimes easier to run next door to borrow a few coals than to start the fire from scratch.
• People, usually kids, “sharing” a pair of flip flops. Most people in Samoa wear rubber flip flops. A lot of people, adults and children frequently go barefoot. Sometimes, I’ll see a couple of kids wearing one shoe each. They’re sharing the flip flops.
• A large, flat screen TV in an open fale. A lot of people still live in the traditional open fales. They used to be furnished with just mats for sitting/sleeping. Now that they’re getting more Westernized, though, it’s not unusual to see beds, couches and very nice, expensive televisions sitting in a wide open house. No walls, doors or locks to stop burglars.
• Chickens in the house. I’ve lived with cats, dogs, gerbils in the house. Heck, when I was a kid we had a pet skunk, although he lived in a large compound outdoors. I’m still surprised to see chickens strolling through the house. In one house, a chicken liked to roost on the dining room table. That was bad because when she laid an egg, it rolled onto the floor and broke.
• Seeing kids babysit. I still haven’t figured out the system here, but it seems that kids of a certain age are assigned younger siblings as their responsibility. In one family I met, the six year old girl was in charge of the two year old girl. It was her job to make sure the toddler was safe and happy. On the street, in the ocean, wherever. Boys seem to be frequently responsible for younger children and its common during church for a 10-12 year old boy to be handed a cranky 3 year old. And usually, the toddler calms right down.
• Seeing fathers bathe their babies in the sea. Every evening you can usually find me and Ruta in the beach fale, enjoying the scenery and the breeze. We chat with folks walking by and frequently cars will stop to say hello. I watch the people swim and bathe in the lagoon. Seeing a large, strong Samoan man gently bathing his baby in the ocean is a beautiful thing.
• Volleyball. Every day, in every village, groups of people, mostly kids and youth, play volleyball. Last night I watched some neighborhood kids. They didn’t have a volleyball, they had a rubber ball the size of a softball. They didn’t have a net, they had a stick that two kids held up. But they were playing volleyball and having a great time, judging by the amount of yelling and laughing.
• Pigs. I know, some of this stuff, including pigs, I’ve mentioned before, but it continues to amaze me. Pigs are important here. They’re used for food and as gifts to show respect at weddings, funerals and matai naming ceremonies. They’re also used as payment. If someone in your family does something wrong, the family may be fined a number of pigs. For me, they’re entertainment. They beg for food if they see me eating something outdoors. They run, they hang out and the piglets like to wrestle, just like puppies. Who needs cable TV? I have pigs.
• Ice cream eaters. I told Ruta if we got a tala for everyone we saw driving by eating an ice cream cone, we’d be rich. Most people don’t have refrigerators or freezers, so can’t keep ice cream at home. Heading to the closest faleoloa that sells it is a special treat. I’m convinced that if someone started an ice cream truck franchise here, they’d become very wealthy. Perhaps my career after the PC.
That’s part of the pleasure of being in Samoa. I crave new experiences. New sights and sounds and Samoa hasn’t let me down. I don’t like them all, but enjoy the opportunity to experience them.
The beach fales where we spent New Year's Eve day. Is it snowing where you are?
Do you pet the chickens?
ReplyDeleteSharing a pair of jandals was not the only thing that as a kid in Samoa (back in the 80s)that I shared with my friends. I used to share Hubba Bubba chewing gum that I had in my mouth with my friends, and vice versa. When asked "aumai se ta pulu" (give me some chewing gum), one would handover a bit of what one was already chewing, just enough so that we could both still blow a bubble. Thankfully, it appears this was not widespread practice or the healthworkers have put an end to it (good on you whomever you are).
ReplyDeleteIf you want free chewing gum, try breadfruit tree gum (dry sap of the breadfruit tree). It has no flavour, and your breath won't be refreshed. However, just give it a go. Go on, just once, as in: 'what the hell, I am in Samoa, during a moment of quiet reflection I will just chew breadfruit tree gum'. You have to get the dry sap straight from the breadfruit tree, which means that all creepy crawlies have probably gone over it numerous times. An ant hill might have formed over one good lump of dry sap