Wood Carvers

There's a village in Upolu that is famous for their wood carvings.  My friend Kyle (who has a great blog with wonderful stories and photos) lived there during his Peace Corps Service from 2009 - 2011.

We planned to rent a car to drive there so I could see his village and buy some carvings as gifts for my generous friends who have sent me love, candy, green chiles  and materials for my school during my two years here.

Sadly, we realized that we had neither the time nor the money for the trip.  We discovered, though, that some of his friends from the village were working in Apia.  They'd come in for the Tuila Festival last week and were staying on, carving and selling their wares near the Samoa Tourism Authority.  That made it easy - only a $3 taxi ride away.

I won't say what items I bought to take home...they aren't shown in the photos...but they're beautiful, representative of Samoa and heavy.

A large, traditional ava bowl

This is a more decorative version of an ava bowl.  He was sanding the inside just before I took the photo.

He was carving a model of a traditional fishing boat.

Ok, so I wss more interested in the carvers than the carvings.

Ava bowls of all sizes.

They were laughing, smiling and working.

The men sleep in a space they've created over where they work in this fale and only go home for Sunday to'ona'i with the family.